Moving along to the year of 1967,the November 23^rd Thanksgiving Day card saw Wilbur Snyder defend his WWA belt against Johnny Powers. Mitsu Arakawa and Dr.Moto went to a no contest to retain their AWA-WWA tag team title against Bruiser and the Moose. Blackjack Lanza stopped Assassin Joe Tomasso, Bobby Heenan stopped Bob Boyer, Paul Christy and Bad Bart went to a 20 minute draw, and here she is!: Gorgeous Mae Young drew with Cora Combs. A crowd of 6,800 was on hand. 

The December 27^th Coliseum show saw Blackjack Lanza make Wilbur Snyder’s reign a short one, as he walked away with the WWA championship before 5,500 fans. Arakawa and Moto retained their tag team title although losing to former champs Bruiser and Crusher on a disqualification. Paul Christy stopped Dennis Dolly 10:23, Assassin #2 pinned Doug Gilbert 14:10, Lord Littlebrook pinned Mighty  Atom 12:47, Moose Cholak stopped Johnny Powers 15:35. 

In the year of 1968, the November 28^th Thanksgiving Day show at the Coliseum saw the WWA champs Mitsu Arakawa and Dr. Moto lose to Wilbur Snyder and Dick the Bruiser. The tag title was held up as all 4 men were in the ring for the deciding fall. It was last appearance for the unpopular champs, as Bruiser and Crusher stopped them December 28^th in Chicago and were awarded both AWA and WWA tag team titles. Blackjack Lanza kept his WWA title with a disqualification loss against Edouard Carpentier. Moose Cholak stopped Frank Dillinger (subbing for Chris Markoff), the Chain Gang stopped Luis Martinez and Fernando Stampos, Prince Pullins, subbing for Paul Christy and Igor Volkoff, won decisions over both Angelo Poffo and Chris Markoff. Attendance was 6,000. 

The December 27^th Christmas show saw a WWA heavyweight title bout booked with defending champ Lanza putting his laurels on the line against Eduoard Carpentier, and the Chain Gang taking on Bruiser and Moose Cholak at the Coliseum. Carpentier didn’t make the show, however, so Bruiser saw double duty. Bruiser’s team lost to the villainous Chain Gang 2 out of 3 falls, but Bruiser came back to beat champ Lanza 2 out of 3 in a non title bout. Other bouts saw Luis Martinez stop Chris Markoff in 24 minutes, Angelo Poffo draw with Paul Christy in 30 minutes, Prince Pullins defeat Kenny Russell 14 minutes, and Johnny Kace draw with the Assassin Joe Tomasso 15 minutes. Looking at the lengths of the bouts its obvious they were stalling trying to give Carpentier a chance to get to the show, who was reported weather bound. Attendance was 4,500. 

The next night in Chicago, Bruiser and Crusher gave their fans a belated Christmas present when they stopped the hated Japanese duo of Mitsu Arakawa and Dr.Moto to win both the WWA and AWA tag team titles. 

Moving to the year 1969, we see the reconstituted Chain Gang, dubbed as the new Dillingers, take the WWA title back with a 2 straight fall win over Moose and Bruiser on the November 27^th Thanksgiving show. Jim Dillinger (Chuck Harris) was brought in to replace Frank Dillinger (Laurence McMullen) who had been shot and lost his leg as a result, and the WWA title had been vacant until this night. Other bouts saw rising Baron Von Raschke battle to a draw with Wilbur Snyder, Bobo Brazil stop Chico Garcia, Apache Louie stop mainstay Joe Tomasso, Angelo Poffo beat Porky Pig Loren, and Jay Valen (a young Jimmy Valiant) stop Ken Russell. Parts of this show looked like a Cobo lineup. 

The December 26^th Christmas show had the Chain Gang defend their newly rewon WWA belts with a 2 out of 3 falls win over the Fabulous Kangaroos! I would have loved to have seen that one. The Sheik returned to Indianapolis for a one off date and went to a 3 falls draw with Wilbur Snyder, each winning a fall before going to the floor in the 3^rd stanza. Bobo Brazil lost to Baron Von Raschke when he headbutted the ref, Paul Christy stopped Joe Tomasso, Angelo Poffo went over Gary Valen, and Apache Chief Louie defeated Bobby Heenan. With the presence of the Sheik its obvious there were some ties between the Detroit and Indianapolis offices which explains the influx of Cobo performers on the cards of the time. In a little over a year the offices would be rivals in the Detroit market. 

For 1970, I have no Thanksgiving card listed, the dates being November 7^th and December 5^th. But December featured two cards as on the 26^th the annual Christmas card featured Wilbur Snyder and Moose Cholak defeating the Fabulous Kangaroos to take the WWA tag team title once again. They won their first tag title on Christmas night in 1965, so the Christmas shows must have been good luck for them. The other main event at the Coliseum featured Baron Von Raschke stopping Bobo Brazil to retain his WWA title. Mighty Igor stopped Mitsu Arakawa in 15 minutes, Bill Miller stopped Luis Martinez, now shed of his Apache Louis gimmick in 22 minutes, Ivan Kalmikoff  defeat Bull Ramos,  and Jack Dillinger draw with Paul Christy. 

NEXT TIME:

Well, that’s its for this year. Tune in next year for part two of great holiday cards, and if you have results from other holiday cards on the WWA  circuit, email them to me at dupreemail@rasslinrelics.com. Have a great holiday season!