The famous Bulldog Bob Brown returned to Vancouver where he was a star in the 70’s as a tag team champ with Dutch Savage. Bulldog was billed as the top U.S. star and was treated with almost world champion status when he traveled to Vancouver.  Brown came in to clean up the area and put Tomko out of action. Wrestling with Igor Volkoff as a partner and battling Tomko in strap matches Brown dominated Tomko in match after match in the spring of 1982. The Bulldog’s unique style of brawling made him a huge fan favorite in the Vancouver area. Brown would come up from St. Louis and play the role of policeman often bringing with him his tag partner Buzz Tyler in later years. Most of the Bulldog Brown’s TV time was doing promos from the Central States wrestling shows and arena match highlights he was able to stay very over with the crowd.

Another wrestler who returned to Vancouver was Terry Adonis. Adonis teamed with the bleach blonde crazy man Bruiser Costa and the two formed the B.C Blondes. Adonis the smaller of the two at 215lbs was a former Canadian Mid Western tag champ and hailed from Miami Florida. Costa was a Boston native who packed a few more pounds on his frame and was a sensational interview for the time. The Bostonian always started off his rants with “let me tell you morons something” and usually had announcer Ed Karl cracking a smile and shaking his head by the end of the interview. The B.C. Blondes were quite successful winning the International tag titles from Dean Ho and Sonny Myers in Cloverdale April 3/82 and the two ruled the tag scene for several months.

Head heel and promoter Al Tomko had his hands full in 1982. He feuded with his ex Peoples Army partner Igor Volkoff, Sonny Myers, Bulldog Brown and Dean Ho. Tomko was able to win the Canadian heavyweight title from Silvano Sousa in Vancouver May 31/82. The Sergeant went on to defend the belt that summer against West Coast legend John Tolos in July 1982 and later against Moondog Morretti that same year. Tomko often got by using a foreign object, which he hid in his long trunks, and putting his opponents out with the sleeper. One of the story lines from 1982 was the steak dinner match. Tomko came on the TV and said he would face anyone, anywhere, anytime and announcer John Poser bet him a steak dinner the fans could choose an opponent that would defeat Tomko. For several weeks fans were able to write in and vote on an opponent for Tomko to face. If Tomko won Poser bought him a steak dinner if Tomko lost the dinner was on him. The fans chose Igor Volkoff and Poser got the free meal. Tomko delivered a steak dinner to him on the air still complaining that Volkoff had cheated him out of the win.

 Yet another challenger to Tomko would step forward in the fall. Mr. Pro from the Midwest brought a taste of his International prowess to the table in mid 1982. Billed as a former Australian champ the masked Pro won match after match and quickly went to the top of the ladder and a title shot with Tomko. Mr. Pro used the airplane spin and his version of the abdominal stretch to finish off opponents. Pro was able to lift the Canadian title from around Tomko’s waist in September 1982 but the decision was reversed by NWA special representative Jack Lalonde. There was controversy surrounding the match even though there were two referees and the title was held up. Tomko attacked Pro and beat him with the belt during a T.V. interview setting up the grudge rematch signing for the title. The fans chants of “Pro Power” and Pro’s thunderous European uppercuts got the title back around the popular Pro’s waist. 

The International tag champs Adonis and Costa formed an alliance with the bald headed 270lb Butcher Hughes. They often teamed in six man tag matches with Hughes and Al Tomko who was occasionally in the mix. As all good tag teams go the Blondes ended up in a wild feud, the domineering team now battled each other with a ferociousness shared only by enemies. July 1982 Adonis even managed to cut off a few locks of Costa’s hair when he beat him in a “hair vs. hair” match in Vancouver. The feud had started while the two were still tag champions, Costa tried to claim the belts for himself and new partner Hughes but they were stripped of the belts. A tourney was held August 23/82 in Vancouver to fill the titles. The finals saw Dean Ho and Moondog Morretti come out on top in a match versus Costa and Hughes. Morretti was on a roll after a big win the previous week over Al Tomko. Moretti who was substituting for John Tolos beat Tomko in a cage turning him into a bloody pulp. After the match Tomko cut a promo in front of the cage in an empty arena. He brought a list written in blood of wrestlers he was going after.

Other wrestlers working the territory in 1982 were Surrey B.C. native Larry Watts, Sandy Barr the barefoot wrestler from Portland and father to Jesse Barr and the masked Iron Duke with his mysterious gloved hand. There were veterans Lumberjack Luke an eight year pro from Dawson Creek. Luke a 257lb spark plug finished many an opponent off with the full nelson. Vern Seibert and Kevin Jefferies were two more local boys that also doubled as referees and wrestlers. Kevin Jefferies was trained by Roy McClarity and was a third year pro. Vern Siebert was trained by Rocky Dellesara and was new to the mat game. Buddy “Tiny” Anderson teamed with Costa occasionally. He was billed as tag team champ in California and as a wrestler with Japanese experience who used a shoulder breaker as a finisher. Also wrestling in British Columbia in 1982 were Tony Demato and Rocky Dellesara, the 235 lb Montreal native and younger brother of Bob Dellesara.

In the fall of the year Bob Steele broke away from Tomko and was reinstated as head referee. Tomko teamed with Grizzly Evans in October 1982. The man with the 20” arms, Moose Morrowski, was able to defeat Mr. Pro for the Canadian title November 15/82. The big man from North Carolina was master of the shoulder breaker and would go on to feud with Mr. Pro heavily in the next year. Morrowski often wore a mask and wrestled as the Black Avenger. Several big name stars traveled into the area in November and December. Chris Colt teamed with Tomko and had several matches with Terry Adonis, Mighty Igor won a big battle royal December 27/82 in Vancouver and future top dog Tim Flowers wrestled in Vancouver at the end on 1982.

Unlike the independent promotions of today All Star was able to run shows almost every night working towns and cities all over British Columbia such as Cloverdale, Kitimat, Prince Rupert and Burns Lake. The All Star TV tapings were always quite informative, as mentioned in my previous columns the majority of my writing comes from memory and watching tapes from the 80’s. The announcers always acknowledged the other promo’s and were able to bring you background info on most of the wrestlers, where they had wrestled, how long they had wrestled and the titles they had held previously. The TV shows always featured mainly squash matches with at least one video taped bout from an arena show usually Kerisdale arena. There was always the famous time limit duration match. And the shows were always filled with fans letters and comments.

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