After my father passed away much to early in life, my mother and brother continued the family tradition of the 2 pm Saturday wrestling moment. By now, young lions like Bret Hart, Davey Boy Smith, and the Dynamite Kid were in main events side by side with the legends. I watched as a child, when John Foley changed his name to J.R. Foley and his army of henchman had grown to include Bad News Allen, and K.Y.Wakimatsu, as well as referees turned bad, Rod Hater and Cedric Hathaway.

In the mid 80's it fell apart. The WWF came to town and the days of regional wrestling where doomed. Gone were the stars, so the promotion ceased its Saturday TV shows and the Tuesday night slot at the old auditorium. But just like the heroes I saw as a child, Stu Hart’s grapplers returned in the mid 80's after a brief hiatus with a few familiar nasty veterans like The Cuban Assasin (not the same as the one who worked in the South), Jerry Morrow, Bad News, and Mike Shaw. To balance this out, Stu Hart had found four young cheetahs… Chris Benoit, Brian Pillman, Ben Bassarab, and... Owen Hart. If Bret, Davey and Dynamite were lions, these four where cheetahs!! These four along with a renewed youthful Bruce Hart set arenas across the prairies on fire as they brought aerial moves to heights I never saw before in feuds with a resurected Foley army mostly run by The Great Gama called Karachi Vice.

The lions in Stampede Wrestling changed a lot as the torch was passed but the wrestling never did. Stampede began in the ‘50-‘60's and ran mostly in the four western Canadian provinces and at times ventured into Montana, and North Dakota. Its formula was simple: present an hour of wrestling on TV from the weekly card in Calgary, Alberta... actual matches from the weekly show you would see if the gang came to town. There were no "mega superstar vs. John Doe" type matches setting up the first pay per views in the 80's (okay, so I had to lament just once). Oddly enough, current WWF shows are very much what like Stampede did in those days minus the glitz and pyrotechnics, of course. TV matches were joined in progress usually at the 15-20 minute mark and often would jump ahead to the 45-minute mark. There was no such thing as a 7-minute match. Matches were called by, I believe, the most underrated announcer the wrestling business ever saw, Mr. Ed Whelan. He announced every match from a small chair (which would find its way into the ring) at ring side with a calm demeanor. He rarely took sides and gave credit where credit was due even if it was one of Foley's goons. He instilled in me a sense of respect. Bad guys where not two-dimensional anymore and if they wrestled well he gave them credit. This was exemplified when he would call Duke Myers/Kerry Brown matches. He would interview wrestlers right after the three count in ring and right there the wrestlers interview skills would either put them over the top or side line them to preliminaries as they had no time to rehearse the coolest new lines. They barely had enough time to catch their breath! Mr.Whelan sat at ringside alone almost the entire run of the promotion until the late 80's when it became the thing to do to have bad guys like Makhan Singh (Mike Shaw), and "Bulldog" Bob Brown playing the Devil’s Advocate. Even with this added announcer, Mr.Whelan STILL stole the show!!

The wrestling and feuds like the announcing were simple. No involved complicated plots involving car crashes or spousal infidelity. A Stampede feud would usually begin with a simple jump in by a heel that would involve wrestlers from the locker room storming out to the ring. A wayward punch would be thrown and a feud would erupt. The most extreme I ever remember Stampede go using a prop angle would be when Mr. Hito had his North American belt stolen from ringside by Foley's fiends after weeks of trying to win it. This simple formula kept the focus on the wrestlers and for me at least it worked.

I hope to do that on this wrestling site. I hope to remember the wrestlers who worked in the area, their feuds, their interviews and share them with you. I do not want to change the wrestling world or bash the big two. I also have very fond memories of my favorite Stampede stars in those areas and will hopefully share those too. Maybe you’re a old time Stampede fan who’s saying, "you didn't mention Whipper Billy Watson or ‘Doctor D’ David Shultz." Maybe you’re a former wrestler who worked in the area for Mr. Hart and only have memories (nightmares?) of Saskatchewan’s backroads in –45 degree winters. Maybe you are a fan who is familiar with Bret, Davey, Dynamite, Brian Pillman, but curious about Bruce, Keith, Bad News, perennial referee Wayne Hart's stint as a wrestler (it really happened!), and J.R. Foley. Or maybe you are just a wrestling fan period.

That's what Stampede Wrestling was to me... wrestling period. I hope I can do this justice. I invite anyone with knowledge of Stampede to get in touch with me here with comments or suggestions. Thanks to Kayfabe Memories for the opportunity to let me share my memories here. In a way Bret showed me how to always hold my head high, Owen showed me how to soar high as possible, Bruce showed me how to believe, Mr. Whelan showed me how to be fair, and J.R. Foley… well, he showed me how to stamp my feet, shake my fist and yell at a 12" black and white TV!

NEXT MONTH:

John Foley… Bad guys rule!!