5.  Co-Main Event: FOR THE CENTRAL STATES CHAMPIONSHIP Harley Race (of Hollywood, CA!) vs. Dick “The Bruiser” (one fall, to a finish) I emphasized the Central States Title being on the line in this bout only because of questions on our St. Louis board asking whether or not the Central States title was defended in St. Louis. Apparently it was, up until 1972 when the Missouri Title would be created and give St. Louis its own regional belt. Another notable is that Handsome Harley at this time was being billed as from “Hollywood”. Later on, not sure when, he started going by Kansas City, then even further down the line, he got even more specific and was hailed as from Leawood, Kansas, his actual home. And a very ($) nice suburb of Kansas City. Anyhoo, the May 8, 1971 copy of “Wrestling” also describes Race as being “lean” – I think he was still in his 20s at this point. This must have been a great bout. I saw the two face off 10 years later and it was still good then! 

6.  Main Event: Von Raschke vs. Johnny Valentine (one fall to a finish) This match might have been a blowoff, as these two had feuded for weeks on St. Louis television and at the Kiel. Part of the angle for this match was that Von Raschke had tried to “deliberately injure” younger brother Greg Valentine during a tag team match on April 16. This must have been a great match. Johnny Valentine was back in the area after a four-year absence and Von Raschke was an absolutely hated heel at this point. This match is also interesting to me, as I could not remember Von Raschke main eventing in St. Louis. I remembered him in many matches, but not at this level. Good to see that he had enough talent and charisma to main event for Sam Muchnick. That says alot about Jim Raschke. Johnny Valentine is/was a certified legend. I never go to see him work and am sorry I never will. This match departs a bit from Sam’s usual booking – this match has a clear heel (Von Raschke) and a roughousing (borderline) face. Usual St. Louis featured a clear heel and a clear (“scientific”) face. This match must have been an entertaining slugfest! 

Some last tidbits of information from May 1971: 

ü      Ticket prices were $1.50-2-$3-$4. What a bargain by today’s standards! Just curious in what the difference was between the buck fifty and two dollars seats?

ü      In the standard plug for WATC at 11:00 am Sunday morning, the program noted the final TV shows from St. Louis for the year would be 12-13 June. Then, videotapes of matches would be carried from Kansas City, Florida, North Carolina and Texas before St. Louis  action resumed in late July. This was always a special event and I looked forward to it every summer. Remember, before cable and the internet, this was the only way to see action from a different area. Note the regions featured were all strong NWA areas.

ü      The program also plugged the “final card of the 1971 season” on June 18^th. The next card to begin the next season would be held on August 20^th. Guess Sam wanted to take some time off every summer. Makes sense to me! 

Thanks for stopping by the site and reading this month’s article. Questions, comments, and suggestions for future articles are always welcome in the St. Louis section of the message board. See you next month! 

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Announcers, Referees, and Other Characters