MAY 5, 1967

A near sellout on hand for this card.

In the opener, Joe Tomasso beat Jose Betancourt.

Guy Heenan brought a 2 match winning streak into his match with Moose Cholak.

The streak ended there as Moose used his "El Squasho" move to pin Heenan. At this point in his career, Moose was being paired with villains and faces alike.

Mitsu Arakawa continued his push for an AWA title shot by defeating Cowboy Jack Lanza.

Wilbur Snyder was then matched with The Alaskan, Jay York. York got his dirty tactics in but Snyder came away with the win by using the stretch once again.

Main Event # 1 saw The Devils Duo, Chris Markoff and Angelo Poffo make their Chicago debut by defeating Ernie Ladd and Earl Maynard by DQ. Bobby Heenan was at ringside managing the Duo and tried interfering in the match a few times. Finally, Ladd grabbed him into the ring and manhandled him. The ref disqualified Ladd and Maynard for this.

Main Event # 2 saw Vern Gagne defend his AWA title by beating Mad Dog Vachon with a sleeper hold in the third fall. Vachon won the first fall with a piledriver while Gagne took the second with a dropkick.

JUNE 2, 1967

First match was Reg Parks and Cowboy Jack Lanza wrestling to a fifteen-minute draw in a scientific match.

Mitsu Arakawa beat Doug Gilbert to keep his winning streak alive.

Some of the all time great midget wrestlers were next as Little Beaver and Cowboy Bradley beat Sky LoLo and Jack Cassidy.

Johnny Valentine and Earl Maynard went to a double count out on the ring apron. Valentine was using his patented brainbuster on Maynard but Maynard's gimmick was his hard head so he shrugged them off.

Johnny Powers wrestled Wilbur Snyder to a time limit draw. Powers had a version of the figure four leglock, which he dubbed the powerluck and could never get Snyder trapped into it. 

Angelo Poffo and Chris Markoff with Manager Bobby Heenan pulled off a tremendous upset as they beat Crusher and Bruiser. It was the all out riot type of match. With each team having one fall to their credit, Heenan interfered hitting Crusher with brass knucks while Bruiser was doing something else. The fans went nuts and showered the ring with debris after the announcer said that the decision would stand.

June 23, 1967

Three weeks after the last card, Promoter Bob Luce held another one of his "wrestling extravaganzas" at The International Amphitheatre.

In the opener, Cowboy Jack Lanza used his bulldog headlock to defeat The Assassin, Joe Tomasso. At this time in Chicago wrestling, Tomasso sometimes would wrestle with the mask on or he might go it as just Joe Tomasso.

Johnny Valentine easily defeated Guy Heenan. The fans cheered Johnny as the face in this match.

The all time great champion Lou Thesz then made his return to Chicago! I had never seen Lou up to this point but had read about him in the magazines. It was a great honor to finally see Lou. In his return match to Chicago, Moose Cholak gave Lou trouble at times, but Thesz finally put Moose away and pinned him.

Johnny Powers and Wilbur Snyder then battled to a double disqualification in a rematch.

Main Event # 1 saw The Devils Duo, Poffo and Markoff with Bobby Heenan defeat Earl Maynard and Ernie Ladd when Poffo pinned Maynard with his "Italian Neckbreaker" hold.

Main Event # 2 saw Mitsu Arakawa get his title shot against Vern Gagne. They took a fall apiece but in the third fall the ref caught Mitsu using the old salt trick and promptly DQ'd him.

JULY 7, 1967

In the opener, The Assassin (Joe Tomasso) beat Jack Cain.

Ernie Ladd as the face went to a time limit draw with Golden Moose Cholak as the heel. This battle of the big men was a very good one.

Lou Thesz won an impressive victory over Johnny Powers.

The Devils Duo kept on winning with a victory over Rene Goulet and Cowboy Jack Lanza. It's funny how later on Lanza and Goulet would both turn heel.

Dick the Bruiser won a singles match over Handsome Harley Race.

In the main event of the evening, Vern Gagne defended his AWA title and pinned Mitsu Arakawa.

JULY 28, 1967

This card was wall to wall SRO. Just look at the lineup of wrestlers and you could see why.

Opening match saw Johnny Powers draw with Cowboy Jack Lanza.

Johnny Valentine easily beat Rene Goulet.

The girls went at it with Cora Combs beating Sarah Shawn.

The Destroyer (Dick Beyer) made his Chicago debut by going to a double DQ with Wilbur Snyder.

The Devils Duo, Poffo and Markoff won a match with Bruiser and Crusher when the Chicago favorites were DQ'd.

For the AWA Tile, Vern Gagne and Lou Thesz hooked it up and did they ever put on a show! Luce really hyped this match and Gagne and Thesz had the place rocking. The crowd was a little more for Gagne as Thesz played the subtle heel role. This was one of those matches that you wish you could have on tape.

Finally the ref called a no contest setting up a rematch in the future.

NEXT MONTH:

A Look at My Top Chicago Wrestlers from 1965-1985.