- Andrew Calvert

Welcome to another installment of Maple Leaf Wrestling. This month we will look at some of the local heroes (and villains) who shared the stage at Maple Leaf Gardens and on the Toronto circuit throughout the years. Since this column will focus mostly on the 70's I would like to use the beginning portion to showcase some of the stars from the 50's and 60's as well to provide an all encompassing look at the Toronto scene. After all it was those stars that made Maple Leaf Wrestling what it was in the later years and set the tone for what Toronto fans wanted to see in the squared circle. I think the fans in Toronto always leaned towards the "scientific" style although the brawlers had no shortage of fans, and when it came to great technical wrestlers we had more than our share - beginning with:

Whipper Billy Watson

The ultimate home town hero, William Potts was born in East York, a suburb of Toronto in 1916. He started wrestling at the Gardens in 1940 and would go on to win the NWA title twice losing to Lou Thesz both times. "The Whip" was one of the first wrestles to cross into mainstream celebrity becoming one of Toronto's most popular citizens. Of course it didn't hurt that he was a great technical worker and rarely broke the rules but he was also a tireless contributor to local charities earning respect even from non fans. Whipper won the NWA title in 1947 and 1956 and also held the Toronto version of the British Empire Title several times as well as the Canadian Tag Titles with partners like Pat Flanagan, Yvon Robert and former world champs Pat O'Connor and Bruno Sammartino. He retired from the ring in 1971 after a car slid into him and nearly severed his leg ending what had been a 40 year career but still stayed prominent in the sports scene holding his annual Easter Seals skate-a-thon at the Gardens which I attended a couple of times myself in the early 80's. Whipper died in 1990 and was accorded a heroes send-off in the local and national media, indeed worthy of a great representative of our great sport.

Lord Athol Layton

Allan Layton was born in Australia but became a "hometown hero" by virtue of a 25 year career headlining at the Gardens. Starting as a "heel" in Toronto around 1950 he had classic battles with Whipper Watson earning the wrath of the fans but after five years of being mercilessly booed ,his young son (whose schoolmates belonged to the Whipper Watson Safety Club) begged him to stop fighting the local legend and a new star was born. Immensely popular all over the world Layton used the judo chop and his 6'5 260 lb frame to battle all the top stars at the time. He was also an amateur boxer and was ahead of his time with his ring psychology and outlandish purple robes and mannerisms. Like Watson, Lord Layton became a tireless worker for handicapped children and cemented his legend as a local hero. He also had a wrestling program out of Cleveland, spent 15 years in Detroit and spent 5 years on CFTO in Toronto as a commentator in the 60's. Some of the title's he had held include the Canadian Tag Titles with Fred Atkins and the US title out of Detroit in the early 60's. A true gentleman Layton wrestled his last match in 1976 and passed away in 1984 at the age of 63

Billy Red Lyons

William Lyons was Mr. Everything in Toronto. Born in Dundas, Ontario he started wrestling in Toronto in 1959 and was visible into the late 80's as a TV announcer.  

Was part of a successful tag team with Red Bastein and were known as the "Fabulous Redheads" and later with Dewey Robertson as "The Crusaders" wrestling under masks as the International Tag Team champs. Billy Red was an accomplished mat technician and was well respected by his peers earning numerous title shots against NWA champs including several classic matches against the great Jack Brisco at the Gardens. Although he wrestled all over the world he centered around Toronto and was always a fan favorite here using the sleeper as his primary finisher. He was also the real life brother in law of The Destroyer Dick Beyer and held a Japanese Tag Title with him in 1965. After he retired he became known as the voice of Maple Leaf Wrestling on TV and stayed on when the WWF took over in 1984. I remember in the 70's he would be hosting the TV show and pumping the next card and at the end he would say _____ (fill in the name) will be facing "yours truly" and he would appear on the card to a thunderous ovation (at least to the older crowd) who remembered him in his prime. I haven't heard much about Billy Red in the last few years but with his "dontcha dare miss it" refrain he was truly one of the most memorable stars of Maple Leaf Wrestling.