By the spring of 1971, I was working seven days a week, fifty weeks a year.  KCOP, channel 13, picked up the contract to televise wrestling, but would only do it in the studio on Saturday evenings.  The old Wednesday night slot vacated by KTLA, was picked up by KMEX, channel 34, the Spanish TV station.  So, now we had two TV shows plus a house show every other Friday.  In addition to going into the Olympic Monday through Friday, my schedule went like this; Monday night Ventura, Wednesday night Olympic TV, Thursday night Bakersfield, every other Friday night Olympic house show, Saturday evening KCOP-TV studio, night Northridge and Sunday night San Bernardino.  Fortunately, everything shut down for two weeks during Christmas and New Year. However, we did tape TV shows to air during the holidays.  These shows were used to promote the first big extravaganza of the new year, the annual 22 man battle royal.

As I stated earlier, everybody involved with the Olympic Auditorium wrestling operation wore many hats.  This is what made each and every day truly unique.  It is also why those of us who were there during this time still consider it the best years of our lives.  So many wrestlers, so many stories.  New careers launched, old wrestlers hanging on past their glory days.  The eating champ.  The spitting champ.  The liar’s poker champ. The master ribbers.  The wrestler who almost got me killed.  Ah, but those are stories for the future.  Now back to the past.

When I was a kid back in the 50s, one of my uncle’s favorite TV shows was wrestling.  There was no way to know it at the time, but I was watching the pioneers who launched the Golden Age of wrestling.  None of us ever envisioned the future of wrestling.  Today, there are those of us who feel that for wrestling to survive its recent self-inflicted wounds, it needs to take a step back to the past.  Arguably, it might be too late, but that is also another story.

I have always said that I am thankful to have been born when I was, for a multitude of reasons. Obviously, the one I’m talking about here is the literal creation of a wrestling hall of fame.  My earliest recollection of wrestling is watching the likes of Gorgeous George, Baron Michel Leone, Lord James Blears, Jules Strongbow, Sandor Szabo, Mr. Moto, Tosh Togo, the Christy Brothers, Vic and Ted, Gino Garibaldi, Dangerous Danny McShane and Count Billy Varga.  Not only were they instrumental in making wrestling popular, they were the very foundation of Olympic Auditorium wrestling.

The next wave of wrestlers to hit the L.A. area in the early 60s was a big one.  I seriously doubt that any territory can boast of a bigger lineup of great talent than we saw during this period.  Actually, I¹m talking about the time from about 1959 to around 1968.

Some of the wrestlers that came through the Olympic during this time frame were (and I apologize in advance for anybody I forget) Don Leo Jonathan, Ray "Thunder" Stern, Nick Bockwinkle (yes, he did wrestle here), Enrique and Alberto Torres, Pepper Gomez, Hans Hermann, The Preacher, Antonino Rocca, Edouard Carpentier, The Sheik, Bobo Brazil, El Mongol, "Tricky" Ricky Starr, Cowboy Dick Hutton, Cowboy Bob Ellis, Dick The Bruiser, The Kangaroos, The Assassins, "Killer" Buddy Austin, Dr. Jerry Graham, Crazy Luke Graham, Superstar Billy Graham, Pedro Morales, Haystacks Calhoun, Hard Boiled Haggarty, Don Manoukian, Lonnie Mayne (later Moondog Mayne), Dick Garza (later Mighty Igor), Iron Mike Sharpe, The Mummy, Vittorio Apollo, Kurt and Karl Von Brock, Prince Curtis Iaukea, The Alaskan,  The Medics, Antonio Inoki, Shohei Baba and Lou Thesz.

Before you say, "wow, you forgot a couple biggies," no I haven’t.  There is no way that I could ever forget the two wrestlers who had, by far, the biggest impact on Olympic Auditorium wrestling. And, I might add my two all-time favorites, both as wrestlers and as human beings.  First off, there’s Freddie Blassie.  The most charismatic showman I have ever seen.  Next comes The Destroyer.  The most athletic wrestler I’ve ever seen.  Now, before I get any hate mail from the Bay Area, I have to say that I can’t argue against your case for the legendary duo of Ray Stevens and Pat Patterson.

Ironically, the match most responsible for putting Olympic Auditorium wrestling on the map, did not occur at the Olympic.  It happened on a warm summer night in 1961 at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles.  A match for the WWA World’s Heavyweight Championship between the champion, Edouard Carpentier and the challenger, Freddie Blassie.  Blassie won the title, the crowd went berserk and the Olympic Auditorium was on its way to establishing itself among the best venues in wrestling.

New York has Madison Square Garden, Detroit had Cobo Hall and St. Louis had Kiel Auditorium. Which one was the best?  That’s debatable.  However, I will put the rickety old Olympic Auditorium’s personality and charm up against any arena in the world.  It was truly magic.

NEXT MONTH:

I will talk more about my memories of Freddie Blassie… his tag team partners, his feuds, his matches with Japanese superstar, Rikidozan and how the most hated wrestler in the history of the Olympic became the most loved.  Until the next time, take good care of yourselves.