Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives!
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Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives! |
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- Andrew Calvert Welcome back to Kayfabe Memories. This month we will look at some of the greatest moments in Maple Leaf Wrestling and relive some memories from Frank Tunney's promotion in Toronto, Canada. Title vs. Title This kind of match was fairly rare with only a few cases of two promotions matching their respective world champs against each other. These matches would have the fans salivating at the prospect of seeing an "Undisputed World Champion", only to have an indecisive result such as a count out or double disqualification. We were lucky to have one on March 25 1979 when Frank Tunney managed to bring the WWF and AWA title match to Maple Leaf Gardens. There were no finer wrestlers than these two and even though Bockwinkel was the favorite due to his experience, everyone wanted to see Bob prove his superiority and take both belts home to the New York area. This would be Backlunds first appearance at the Gardens but we knew well of the man that had beaten Superstar Graham and was on his way to a lengthy championship run. Bockwinkel on the other hand was no stranger to the local fans having wrestled here a number of times as AWA Champion and the moment he stepped up on the ramp the boo's rained down on the classy champ. The place erupted when Backlund hit the ring and both belts were held up to the fans before being placed on the timekeepers table where anyone with a camera scurried over for a quick picture of a bit of history. The match was as expected, a constant barrage of holds, counters, counter-counters and everything else we had come to expect from these two classic matmen. Bockwinkel kept it clean for most of the match but eventually reverted to his underhanded (read-brilliant) techniques and ended up enraging Backlund and brawling on the floor to a count out after about 39 minutes. Of course being a total mark I fully expected a clear winner but the match itself was a great one for the ages and hey, the rest of the card wasn't bad either. Full Card Lineup: The Sheik in, The Sheik out The Sheik had made Toronto his home away from home for close to ten years, capping an incredible run of U.S title defenses and numerous gimmick type matches against the best wrestlers from around the world. There were Indian Survival Matches, Indian Strap Matches, Texas Death Matches, Cage Matches, Arkansas Chain Matches, Mexican Death Matches, Special Referees like Andre The Giant, Haystacks Calhoun, Lord Athol Layton and Chris Tolos and matches in which his manager Abdullah Farouk would be handcuffed to Bobo Brazil or Layton much to the chagrin of the evil Sheik. He used to scare the living daylights out of the fans and would have the crowds screaming as Gorilla used to say to "literally rip his head off" - ouch! He rode this intense hatred to a great career at the Gardens and the other stops on the circuit and even upon his exit from the Tunney promotion would continue to show up on Indy dates in the area. The proximity to Detroit (about a three hour drive) made for an ideal stomping ground for many of the regulars that graced the Michigan mat scene. In 1977 The Sheik would stop appearing at Tunney's cards. As it was in the kayfabe era there would be no "official announcements" or news coverage as to the reason why. Frank may have felt it was becoming stale and it was time to move on. There was also the fact that The Sheik had been appearing on fewer cards as Mr. Tunney had been bringing back his old friend and WWWF Champ Bruno Sammartino to headline and the crowds were revitalized (as was usually the case whenever Bruno wrestled). The scene changed after his departure to a more varied booking style, which was more to my liking. Without The Sheik as the headliner it opened up the spot(s) for some of the worlds best to appear and paved the way for the eventual co-promotion with the Crocketts. More...
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