Hello again, still have a bit of research to do so instead of looking at some of the great feuds in Maple Leaf Wrestling I thought we would look at some of my favorite performers – “the prelim guys” or ” the enhancement talent”. Every territory had it’s own favorites, the guys who would never win or would almost pin the champ only to be denied at the last moment. Maple Leaf was no different in that we had a mix of guys who were either on their way up or their way down and would appear in the opening two or three bouts to get the crowd going.

Of course in those days it was customary to have the older workers “help” the younger ones and it kept some of the greats around a few more years, I’m thinking of guys like Johnny Weaver, Swede Hanson, Sweet Daddy Siki, Chris Tolos, Al Costello, Len Denton or Jacques Goulet who would appear on the opening bouts late in their careers but were all stars in their own day. There were also guys who may have been prelim in Toronto but were headlining in other areas so some of these names may seem out of place depending on where you attended matches. As the years go by it’s amazing how the fans seem to remember the lesser stars of a territory with the respect usually accorded only to the stars, which  proves the difference between the two was a very thin line. With that said, let’s look at some of my favorites starting with: 

Iron Mike Sharpe 

AAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHH. A classic wrestler you could hear up in the grays when he was selling in the ring. He patterned himself after Gene Kiniski and used the moniker of “Canada’s Greatest Athlete” and wore the jacket with “Canada” on the back just like the former World Champ. The Sharpe family were from Hamilton, Ontario but Mike (Jr) grew up in California where both his father-Mike Sr and uncle-Ben Sharpe were NWA tag team champs in the 50’s.The elder Sharpes would hold versions of the world tag titles in numerous areas and would headline in Japan as well. Mike (Jr) looked a lot like his father in build and was a throwback to the 50’s and 60’s style of wrestling in his moves and mannerism’s. Iron Mike held several titles in other areas such as Vancouver where he held tag titles with the Black Avenger (Moose Morowski) in 1977 and Salvatore Bellomo in 1978. He also held titles in Louisiana and Mississippi and had a successful run in Stampede where he would partner with Duke Myers to win the tag belts in 1981.

When Maple Leaf got “McMac’ed” Mike stayed on and even got a bit of a push in 84 but was always a favorite in this area drawing the boos like no other. In the 90’s he was running a wrestling school out of New Jersey, no doubt teaching the art of “selling”. I always wanted to see him against Wahoo or Johnny Valentine taking the chops and waking people up two counties over with that grunt and groan. 

Kurt Von Hess 

Ah the good old days when you knew who the villains were, The Germans, or The Russians, didn’t matter that they were actually from Hamilton or Quebec City or Memphis for that matter cause we didn’t know any better. To this day I am still pretty sure Ivan Koloff is from Russia (he says he is from Canada, as if) because of the talent of the wrestler to get his persona over with the fans. Well Big Bill Terry was one of those guys. He had been a mainstay in the Carolina’s in the 70’s and would appear in the Toronto area up until 1986 when he retired due to kidney disease. He would eventually get a donor kidney but sadly passed away in 1999 at the age of 56. Kurt held many belts in his prime and teamed with Karl Von Shotz (Handsome John Anson from Vancouver) as a heel German team winning belts in the Detroit area (NWA Tag Titles) and in Japan teamed with Mighty John Quinn. He was another who was always working with his opponent to make a great match and could generate incredible heat even in his later days in Maple Leaf.  

I will include them together as they tagged for years in several different areas, sometimes getting a push for a short time and winning belts in the Detroit region (NWA) as well. I always thought they were deserving as they were well schooled and played the underdog most of the time. I   thought they were comparable to Gagne and Brunzell without the polish and were always entertaining. They sometimes fought solo and I even remember Bonello refereeing on occasion around ’81. I know Bonello got in some major trouble with the law a few years back but have heard contrasting stories so would neglect to comment. Anyways the name on the marquee said wrestling and that’s what you got with these two.  More...