These two also squared off against Red Lyons and Red Bastein, Snyder & O'Connor, Snyder and Ed Carpentier, Bobo Brazil and Ernie Ladd and eventually dropped the straps to Red Bastein and Hercules Cortez.

5. The Road Warriors... this team came on like a storm and the fans really took to them, even though they were cast as heels. They had great matches against The Fabulous Ones, The Freebirds and Bruiser & Crusher. The match with Bruiser and Crusher was definitely a changing of the guard here in Chicago as the fans were evenly divided that night. The Roadies faced the Freebirds in Comiskey Park one night and retained their AWA Title when an instant reply reversed the decision in their favor. After the AWA folded, the Road Warriors went on to greater fame in the NWA and had many more great matches in Chicago.

6. Mitsu Arakawa and Dr. Moto... Moto was known as Tor Kamata in other territories. This great Japanese team took the belts from O'Connor and Snyder and held them for awhile. They used the old salt gimmick a lot to win their matches. Chicago opponents included Bruiser & Crusher, Snyder and Watts, Moose Cholak and Rock Rogowski (Ole Anderson), The Mighty Igor and Big Luke Brown and Snyder and Cholak. 

7. The Blackjacks Mulligan and Lanza... together with Bobby Heenan had a heck of a run as one of the nation's top tag teams. Mulligan was Bob Windham before promoters teamed him with Heenan and Lanza. Their feud with Bruiser and Crusher ended with the famous cage match in Soldier Field where Heenan was puking in his own blood at the conclusion. Jersey Joe Wolcott also refereed this match. Other victims of theirs included Snyder and Paul Christy, Cholak and Art Thomas and Bruiser and Dr. X.

8. The Chain Gang... were ahead of their time. They developed an underground cult following as many biker types would attend their matches. Frank and Jack Dillinger, AKA Kenny Mack and Don Fargo played their roles to the hilt as they lived the gimmick outside the ring. This angered some of The Hells Angels who lured the boys to a party and shot Mack in the leg, causing him to lose it and also lose his career. Bloody battles with Bruiser and Crusher were the high points of their teaming. Also Bastein and Lyons and Snyder and Cholak were top opponents.

9. The High Flyers - Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell... I know I'll catch flak for this one but they sure knew how to put on a show against larger opponents. The crowd would take to them because of their "underdog" role. Never a boring match when they appeared. Greg Gagne takes a lot of undeserved heat because of being Vern's son. Great bouts here were with Bockwinkel & Stevens, Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura, The Valiants, The Legionnaires, Duncum & Lanza and Stevens and Pat Patterson.

10. The Valiant Brothers round out my top 10. They drew a monster crowd against Bruiser and Bruno Sammartino here. Also huge houses with Bruiser & Crusher, Larry Hennig & Jos LeDuc, The High Flyers, Snyder and Pepper Gomez and Red Bastien & Billy Robinson. Handsome Jimmy was great on the mike and in studio segments with Bob Luce too. 

Apologies to other great teams here like The Kangaroos Kent and Costello, Poffo and Markoff, Buddy Wolfe and Larry Heinimi, Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdock, Red Lyons & Red Bastein, Red Bastein & Hercules Cortez, The Assassins, Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera, The Freebirds, The Fabulous Ones, Snyder and Pepper Gomez, Hans Schmidt & Baron Von Rashcke, Bobby Duncum & Blackjack Lanza and many, many others. Chicago was a great town for tag team wrestling.

NEXT MONTH:

The Man Who Made Chicago Tick... Promoter Bob Luce