A Brief History of Pro Wrestling in Toronto: Gary Will's TWH

Originally written for the program for the "Titans In Toronto" Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame Dinner 
-held September 18, 2004.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the launch of weekly professional wrestling shows in Toronto in 1929, and the city's wrestling heritage extends many years earlier.

The most famous wrestler of the 19th century, William Muldoon, made a stop in Toronto in 1883 and in the years immediately following the turn of the century, some of the biggest names in the business made appearances in the city. Frank Gotch, George Hackenschmidt, Stanislaus Zbyszko, and women's champion Cora Livingstone all wrestled more than once in Toronto.

Mickailoff turns Toronto into a wrestling city
But while modern era fans know Toronto as one of the world's top cities for professional wrestling, it wasn't always that way. Despite these occasional visits by all-time legends, the sport had largely been a minor attraction in the city until promoter Ivan Mickailoff boldly moved -- in the face of a lot of skepticism -- to bring world-class wrestling to Toronto on a weekly basis in 1929.

He ran shows at Arena Gardens, the original home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and from a slow start built the sport within a few months to the point where Toronto became a regular Thursday night stop for top-flight professionals. Strangler Lewis, Jim Londos, and Gus Sonnenberg were some of the names Mickailoff brought to town in his first year.

Jack Corcoran takes control
After Mickailoff had paved the way with his success, competition followed in Jack Corcoran, who had promoted boxing in the city. Corcoran started running pro wrestling shows on a regular basis in November 1930. His first show -- at Massey Hall -- was a disaster, but Corcoran aligned himself with the right people and by the time he won the right to promote wrestling at the new Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931, he had surpassed Mickailoff to become the city's top promoter.

In 1939, Corcoran passed the reins to his assistants, the brother combination of John and Frank Tunney. Older brother John Tunney was the head matchmaker, and quickly signed Wild Bill Longson, Lou Thesz, and Bronko Nagurski to make their first Toronto appearances.

The Frank Tunney era begins
But just a few months after becoming promoter, John Tunney died suddenly at age 32. From that tragic beginning, the Frank Tunney era in Toronto was born. Taking over from his brother at age 27, Frank controlled pro wrestling in the city for the next 43 years and became one of the most successful and respected promoters in the world.

Whipper Billy Watson arrives
Tunney had been head promoter for less than a year when he brought in a 25-year-old East York native who had been wrestling in England for the last four years. When he left in 1936, he was known as Bill Potts. He returned in 1940 as Whipper Billy Watson and would go on to be the greatest star in Toronto wrestling history.

Within seven months of his Maple Leaf Gardens debut, Watson was being pushed as Tunney's top star, and for the next 30 years he would rarely be in any match in Toronto but the main event or the semi-main event. His most notable feuds were with Nanjo Singh and Gene Kiniski, and he had memorable matches against the two men he would beat for the world title, Longson and Thesz, and Gorgeous George, whose head would be shaved in the ring following a loss to Watson at the Gardens in 1959.

The 1950s: The golden era
The 1950s were a golden era for Toronto wrestling, as TV introduced Tunney's stars to a national audience, and Gardens fans witnessed two NWA title changes: Watson defeating Thesz in 1956 and Dick Hutton also taking the title from Thesz the following year. Toronto fans were treated to regular appearances by future world champions Hutton, Kiniski, Pat O'Connor, and Buddy Rogers.

Wrestlers from Southern Ontario and other parts of Canada were also developing rapidly. Along with Kiniski, the 1950s saw the Gardens debuts of Billy Red Lyons, Chris & John Tolos, Waldo Von Erich (who received a brief babyface push as Wally Sieber), Mike Valentino (the future Baron Mikel Scicluna), the bear-wrestling Jacques Dubois (later known as Wildman Dave McKigney), Don Jardine, and George Cannon.

The trend continued into the 1960s with the Gardens debuts of future stars Stan Stasiak and Rocky Johnson, among others. But while they all wrestled in Toronto early in their careers, many of these Canadians had to become stars in other territories before getting a push locally.

The 1960s: Looking for new stars
With age, Watson's star power was beginning to fade in the 1960s and Tunney pushed several new wrestlers into main events, including Bruno Sammartino, Johnny Valentine, and Bulldog Brower, along with Canadians Johnny Powers and Tiger Jeet Singh. Lou Thesz won the NWA title from Buddy Rogers at the Gardens in 1963 and followed it up a couple of months later with a victory over Sammartino in the only match the two legends ever had with each other. Kiniski's three-year run as NWA champion from 1966-69 saw him defend the title many times in Toronto. In 1965, Tunney moved the shows from Thursday nights, where they had been from the beginning in 1929, to Sundays, where they remained for the next 30 years.

The Sheik takes over
A major turning point for Toronto wrestling occurred in 1969. Tunney brought back The Sheik, one of the all-time great heels who had caused a stir in the city in 1964-65. Sheik, with his manager Abdullah Farouk, took over wrestling in Toronto and was the city's dominant star for the next eight years, regularly drawing over 10,000 fans to the Gardens, at least for the first few years.

After his first match back, Sheik only wrestled in main events (or co-main events if the NWA champion was booked on the show) and didn't lose a match for over five years, wrestling in Toronto about twice a month, compiling a record of 100-0-27 before losing by disqualification to Andre the Giant in 1974. No single wrestler has ever dominated Toronto wrestling the way The Sheik did in this period.

Tunney beats back challengers
Through the years, there were never any serious threats to Tunney's position as ruler of pro wrestling in Toronto. Several promoters ran shows at smaller venues in the area, often with Tunney's blessing or indifference. But in the 1970s, there were two notable attempts by other promoters to run big-venue shows in Toronto.

Dave McKigney, a successful promoter outside Toronto and at smaller sites within the city, tried running a show at Varsity Arena in September 1971 with Tony Parisi booked in the main event. Tunney quickly scheduled a Gardens show directly against it. Parisi was a no-show and began working for Tunney the following week. According to the newspapers, the McKigney show drew 700 fans while Tunney got 15,500 at the Gardens.

History repeated itself five years later. George Cannon and Milt Avruskin had built strong awareness of their promotion in Toronto through a TV show broadcast on Global and taped at the Global studios in Don Mills. They tried to parlay that visibility into running a big-venue show at the CNE Coliseum, but once again Tunney moved quickly to book a Gardens show on the same day. The Toronto Star reported that only 600 people showed up for Cannon's show. The promotion moved to Montreal not long after.

Farewell to the Sheik
Meanwhile, at the Gardens, Harley Race took the NWA title from Terry Funk in 1977 in the fourth and final time the belt would change hands in Toronto. The Sheik's act had grown stale after an amazing run and fans were ready for something new. The Tunney-Sheik partnership ended in 1977, and for the next year Toronto fans saw a mix of AWA and WWWF stars performing in the main events -- sometimes with both world titles defended on the same show.

Ric Flair revives Toronto wrestling
The stars of Jim Crockett's NWA-affiliated Mid-Atlantic promotion were added to the mix the following year, as Tunney went into partnership with Crockett and his booker, Hamilton native George Scott. The first Gardens card with Crockett's talent in 1978 featured a match between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat, both making their Toronto debuts. For the first few years, AWA and WWWF stars also continued to perform in the city, including a historic meeting between AWA champ Nick Bockwinkel and WWWF titleholder Bob Backlund in 1979, with Flair vs Steamboat also on the card.

New local heroes
Along with presenting top wrestlers from the U.S., Tunney also launched the Canadian title in 1978 and used it to turn Dewey Robertson and Angelo Mosca into local babyface heroes and main event stars.

Death of Frank Tunney
By 1983, rivalries between the various promotions made it difficult to bring talent from different factions together. And it was right at this time that Frank Tunney passed away at age 70, leaving his piece of the Toronto promotion in the hands of his son Eddie Tunney and his nephew Jack Tunney -- the son of John Tunney.

Toronto joins the WWF
The next-generation Tunneys quickly moved to align themselves with Vince McMahon's WWF. Crockett had begun sending his B-team to Toronto and attendance at the Gardens was plummeting. Toronto became one of the first of the former NWA strongholds to jump to the WWF, starting a trend that would continue through the 1980s.

After a 34-year run, the NWA title -- which had made its Gardens debut in January 1950 --made its final appearance in the building in May 1984. Whatever nostalgic feelings long-time fans had for the old days, the McMahon-Tunney alliance and Hulkamania captured a whole new audience, attracting sell-out crowds to the Gardens and drawing over 65,000 people to Exhibition Stadium in 1986 and 68,000 to SkyDome for Wrestlemania VI in 1990 to see Hulk Hogan lose the WWF title to the Ultimate Warrior.

Rivals take a run
With the Gardens locked up by the WWF, the AWA held a show at the CNE Coliseum in December 1989 that drew what remains the smallest crowd ever in the city for a show from major promotion -- just 200 people. WCW, which evolved out of Crockett's Mid-Atlantic promotion, ran three shows at the Coliseum in 1990 with better results, but not good enough to keep Toronto on their schedule. WCW came back in 1993 and drew about 4,000 to SkyDome, and then made a big return to Toronto with two well-attended shows at the Air Canada Centre in 1999 before the promotion fizzled out.

End of the Tunney era, and Maple Leaf Gardens
McMahon ended his relationship with Jack Tunney in 1995 and the 64-year affiliation of pro wrestling and Maple Leaf Gardens ended in September of that year. The WWF has continued to run shows in Toronto ever since. It drew another 68,000 back to SkyDome for Wrestlemania X8 in 2002, with Hulk Hogan vs The Rock in what was generally seen as the main event. That card made Hogan the main event performer in the top-drawing Toronto show of the 1980s, the 1990s, and (so far) the 2000s.

In 2003, Toronto was host to just three major-league pro wrestling shows, all from the sole surviving big-name promotion, Vince McMahon's WWE.

- by Gary Will



OWH: Peterborough 1952-1953

A look at the winter wrestling season of 1952-53 in Peterborough ON. It's part of the Toronto circuit locally promoted by Oshawa promoter Pat Milosh.

This Peterborough season starts when the 1952 Oshawa season ends and finishes a few days before the 1953 Oshawa season opens. Peterborough was a regular spot from the 1930s and by this era was full with the Tunney stars and assorted indys. Red Garner (CCWA), Toar Morgan, and Larry Kasaboski (Northland) all ran cards in the area.

Some highlights of the year include a visit by Primo Carnera to take on another giant Sky Hi Lee. The tag team of Dirty Dick Raines & Lou Plummer was on top of the busy tag scene while the Red Mask (later unmasked as Dutch Hefner at MLG -by Lou Thesz) would task the fan favorites. 

Sourced from the Peterborough library microfilm
-AC




52/11/05 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Chief Big Heart W Lee Henning
Lou Plummer W Jim Coffield
Dick Raines D Jack Pesek





















52/11/12 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Chief Big Heart W Lou Plummer
Johnny Barend D Bull Montana
Dick Raines W Tony Lanza













52/11/19 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Chief Big Heart DCOR Bobo Brazil (Sub for The Great Togo)
Billy Stack W/DQ Dick Raines
Jim Coffield D Kenny Ackles














52/11/26 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Dick Raines/Lou Plummer vs Chief Big Heart/Billy Stack
Kenny Ackles vs Lee Henning
Tony Lanza vs Lou Pitoschia




52/12/03 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Dick Raines/Lou Plummer W Chief Big Heart/Kenny Ackles
Wee Willie Davis W Bull Montana
Jack Wentworth D Jim Coffield












52/12/10 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Dick Raines/Lou Plummer W Chief Big Heart/Pat Flanagan
Lee Henning D Johnny Barend
Bull Montana DCOR Joe Christie












52/12/17 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Canadian Tag Titles: Dick Raines/Lou Plummer D Pat Flanagan/Bobo Brazil
Sky Hi Lee W Johnny Barend
Man Mountain Dean Jr W Jim Coffield













53/01/07 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Canadian Tag Titles: Dick Raines/Lou Plummer DCOR Pat Flanagan/Whipper Watson
Sky Hi Lee D Earl McCready
Man Mountain Dean Jr W Johnny Barend






















53/01/14 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Canadian Tag Titles: Dick Raines/Lou Plummer W Ski Hi Lee/Frank Valois
Man Mountain Dean Jr W Chief Big Heart
Joe Christie D Frank Taylor























53/01/21 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
The Red Mask W Chief Big Heart
Earl McCready D Joe Christie
George Scott W Ray Clarke






















53/01/28 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
The Red Mask W Yukon Eric
Man Mountain Dean Jr W Frank Taylor
Don Beitleman W Bill Stack






















53/02/04 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Yukon Eric W The Red Mask
Ovilia Asselin W/DEC Frank Taylor (Asselin refuses victory after hitting Taylor with a low blow)
Earl McReady D Frank Valois













53/02/11 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Ski Hi Lee/The Red Mask W Whipper Watson/Yukon Eric
Larry Moquin W Frank Valois
Earl McCready D Steve Stanlee












53/02/18 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Ski Hi Lee/The Red Mask W Larry Moquin/Sammy Berg (sub for Yukon Eric)
Pat Flanagn W Joe Christie
Billy Stack W Frank Valois












53/02/25 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Ski Hi Lee/The Red Mask W Larry Moquin/Pat Flanagan
Lou Plummer W Ovilia Asselin
Joe Christie D Frank Taylor



53/03/04 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Primo Carnera W Ski Hi Lee
Larry Moquin D Steve Stanlee
Firpo Szybsko W Hardy Kruskamp













53/03/11 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Canadian Tag Titles: Dick Raines/Lou Plummer W Pat Flanagan/Bobo Brazil
Sammy Berg D Firpo Szybsko
Ovilia Asselin W Joe Christie



53/03/18 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Man Mountain Dean Jr W Bobo Brazil
Sammy Berg DCOR Don Beitleman
Ovilia Asselin W Steve Stanlee





















53/03/25 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Man Mountain Dean Jr/The Red Mask W Yukon Eric/Timothy Geohagen
Larry Moquin D Firpo Szybsko
Ovilia Asselin D Frank Taylor




53/04/01 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Timothy Geohagen/Larry Moquin/Pat Flanagan W The Red Mask/Man Mountain Dean Jr/Firpo Szybsko
Earl McCready W Jan Gotch















53/04/08 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Timothy Geohagen D The Red Mask
Midgets- Little Beaver/Prince Salie Halassie W Tom Thumb/Mighty Schultz
Larry Moquin W Bert Ruby











53/04/15 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Hans Hemann W Timothy Geohagen
Siamese Foot Boxers - Exhibition
Pat Flanagan W Ben Sherman














53/04/22 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Canadian Tag Titles: Dick Raines/Lou Plummer W Hans Hermann/Bobo Brazil (Hermann refuses to tag in)
Pat Flanagan W Firpo Szybsko
Billy Stack D Jan Gotch













53/04/29 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Canadian Tag Titles: Dick Raines/Lou Plummer W Pat Flanagan/Bobo Brazil
Abe Zvonkin D Steve Stanlee
Billy Stack W Firpo Szybsko












53/05/06 Peterborough, ON Brock Arena
Bobo Brazil/Timothy Geohagen W Hans Hermann/The Red Mask
Pat Flanagan W Jan Gotch
Abe Zvonkin DCOR Billy Stack

-AC

Top drawing matches, year-by-year, 1929-1977: Gary Will's TWH

These are the main events of the cards reported to have been the largest draw each year from 1929 to 1977. There are two problems with this list 1) not all cards had an attendance figure reported and 2) the reported numbers weren't always accurate.

I think it's likely that the biggest crowd of the year would be mentioned, so if there was no attendance reported, it was likely not the biggest draw of the year. But there's no guarantee of that, and after 1974 the attendance reports become highly infrequent. The inaccuracy of the numbers could be a bigger issue. Usually the figures in the papers made sense, but sometimes there would be a huge number out of the blue, and occasionally different papers would report completely different crowd sizes, sometimes separated by thousands. But this is the best information available.

Whipper Billy Watson was in the top drawing match 21 times. The Sheik is next with 10.


1929Gus Sonnenberg vs Dan Koloff (9,000)
1930Gus Sonnenberg vs Stanley Stasiak (9,600)
1931Jim Londos vs Gino Garibaldi (15,800 - first Maple Leaf Gardens show)
1932Jim Londos vs George Zaharias (14,350)
1933Jim Browning vs Joe Savoldi (11,000)
1934Jim Londos vs Joe Savoldi (11,000)
1935Dan O'Mahony vs Jim Browning (16,000)
1936Dan O'Mahony vs Ray Steele (9,000)
1937Dan O'Mahony vs Dean Detton (7,000)
1938Masked Marvel (Ted Cox) vs Vic Christie (10,000)
1939Elimination Tournament, won by Vic Christie (6,000)
1940The Angel vs Jerry Monahan (11,000)
1941The Angel vs Masked Wolf (10,000-)
1942The Angel vs Strangler Lewis (10,000)
Whipper Billy Watson vs Wild Bill Longson (10,000)
1943Whipper Billy Watson vs Jack Claybourne (11,000)
1944Whipper Billy Watson vs Hard Boiled Hannigan (12,000)
1945Whipper Billy Watson vs Frank Sexton (10,000-)
1946Whipper Billy Watson vs Wladyslaw Talun (14,000)
1947Whipper Billy Watson vs Wild Bill Longson (15,000)
1948Whipper Billy Watson vs Nanjo Singh (13,000)
1949Whipper Billy Watson vs Masked Marvel (14,000)
1950Whipper Billy Watson vs Yukon Eric (13,000)
1951Whipper Billy Watson vs Lord Athol Layton (14,000)
1952Hans Hermann vs Yukon Eric (13,000)
1953Al Mills/Tiny Mills vs Whipper Billy Watson/Yvon Robert (16,000)
1954Al Mills/Tiny Mills vs Ernie Dusek/Emil Dusek (13,000)
1955Whipper Billy Watson vs Antonino Rocca (13,000)
1956Whipper Billy Watson vs Lou Thesz (15,000)
1957Whipper Billy Watson/Yukon Eric vs Gene Kiniski/Dick Hutton (15,000)
1958Whipper Billy Watson vs Al Bunny Dunlop (13,000)
1959Whipper Billy Watson vs Gorgeous George (14,000)
1960Whipper Billy Watson vs Gene Kiniski (10,000)
1961Bulldog Brower vs Yukon Eric (10,000)
1962Buddy Rogers vs Bruno Sammartino (14,000)
1963Buddy Rogers vs Lou Thesz (11,000)
1964Whipper Billy Watson vs The Beast/Martino Angelo (11,000)
1965Johnny Valentine vs The Sheik (7,000)
1966Masked Yankees vs Whipper Billy Watson/Lord Athol Layton (7,500)
1967Tiger Jeet Singh/Fred Atkins vs Whipper Billy Watson/Mighty Igor (7,500)
1968Ivan Koloff vs Edouard Carpentier (10,000)
1969The Sheik vs Gene Kiniski (15,000)
1970The Sheik vs Whipper Billy Watson (17,000)
1971The Sheik vs Tiger Jeet Singh (18,000)
1972The Sheik vs Carlos Rocha (18,000)
1973The Sheik vs Andre the Giant (18,000)
1974The Sheik vs Andre the Giant (16,000)
1975The Sheik vs Abdullah the Butcher (12,000)
1976The Sheik vs Mark Lewin (8,000)
1977The Sheik vs Tiger Jeet Singh (7,000)

-by Gary Will 






Toronto debuts in main events: Gary Will's TWH

Starting From The Top: Wrestlers who made their Toronto debuts in main events, 1930-1989

Whipper Billy Watson didn't do it. Neither did Hulk Hogan, The Sheik, Buddy Rogers, Lou Thesz, Bruno Sammartino, Ric Flair, or even Andre the Giant. In fact, very few wrestlers did it after the 1930s -- made their big-venue Toronto wrestling debuts in a main event.

It was easier to do in the 1930s because the weekly shows only began in 1929, so more wrestlers were making their debuts. And the undercards were much shorter, so a greater percentage of wrestlers on a card were in the main event. These lists are in chronological order.

1930s: (31)
Cyclone Ress
Bill Demetral
Jack Winters
Jim Browning
Jack McCarthy
John Pesek
Glenn Wade
Jack Sherry
Joe Wagner
Ed Don George
Pinky Gardner
Lee Wykoff
Jim McMillen
Jim Clinstock
Dick Shikat
Casey Berger
Vanka Zelesniak
Abe Kashey
George Godfrey
Lionel Conacher
Sammy Stein
Jack Brown
Young Angelo
Dan O'Mahony
Ali Baba
Frank Sexton
Dave Levin
Vincent Lopez
George "Dazzler" Clarke
Cliff Thiede
Bronko Nagurski
1940s: (2)
Golden Terror
Gorgeous George

1950s: (5)
Lord Athol Layton
Lord James Blears
Antonino "Argentina" Rocca
Reggie Lisowski
Art Neilson
Nikita Kalmikoff

1960s: (1)
Mighty Igor


1970s: (5)
Harley Race
Jack Brisco
Abdullah Farouk
Terry Funk
Nick Bockwinkel

1980s: (3)
Assassins
Buzz Sawyer
Tonga Kid



- by Gary Will



Indie show with Terry Yorkston, 1972: Gary Will's TWH



This poster went up for sale on eBay in early 2003. If it hadn't been for Terry Yorkston's name in the opening match, I might not have given it a thought. Yorkston was a prelim wrestler for Frank Tunney in the 1970s who went on to be a referee for Maple Leaf Wrestling. He had been wrestling for years before coming to the Gardens, including a good mid-card run in Quebec. He had just come off a stint in the Maritimes before arriving in Toronto in 1972.

(A few years later, he also worked under a hood for George Cannon. Somewhere in taped-over video heaven is a Cannon TV show with a scrawny teenager in the fourth row yelling "Hey! Terry Yorkston!" all through one of his matches. It took a couple of minutes to solve the puzzle, but I recognized him as someone I knew as soon as he came to the ring.)

 I don't know much about the show on the poster, but I was able to track it down. It was held on August 30, 1972 at the York Centre Ballroom -- south of Eglinton and east of Dufferin -- just a couple of months after Yorkston had made his Maple Leaf Gardens debut for Tunney (as a sub for Chris Colt).

Pat McMahon would go on to become Shillelagh O'Sullivan, who got a brief push at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1973. Andy Martin, from the main event, would make his first Gardens appearance in December. Pat Scott made it to Carlton Street for two matches in 1973. Ernie Schwaab (name misspelled on the poster) had done a job for Killer Kowalski at the Gardens in December 1971. There was a Golden Boy Apollo who wrestled at the Gardens in 1974, but I don't know if it's the same guy. The other names don't ring any bells.

I couldn't find any other shows at the Ballroom advertised in the Star, which is where the ad above is from.

-by Gary Will




Hercules Angelo Mosca?, 1970: Gary Will's TWH

This column by Jim Proudfoot appeared in the Toronto Star on August 1, 1970. It's a nice story about the success Angelo Mosca was having as a pro wrestler -- particularly his work for Roy Shire in Northern California as Hercules.

The only problem with the piece is that I can't find any record of a wrestler named Hercules working for Shire at the time.

The late Ron Valim kept detailed records of Shire's shows in San Francisco and other cities in the territory, and there's no Hercules to be found.

So was he using a different ring name with Hercules as a nickname? I don't see any likely candidates in Valim's results. Other than a few prelim guys, the workers Shire was using at the time are all well-known wrestlers. I don't see anyone who could have been Mosca.

In Proudfoot's column, Mosca is quoted saying the shows could draw 30,000 people to the Cow Palace in San Francisco. That's about double the actual maximum (the annual battle royal in November 1969 drew 15,974 and that seems to be the biggest crowd of the year).

Was the whole thing made up?

-by Gary Will







Whipper Watson's fifth decade in wrestling, 1970: Gary Will's TWH


This Globe & Mail story ran on March 5, 1970 and is a look back at the career of Whipper Billy Watson, who had just started his fifth decade as a pro wrestler.

The story doesn't try to hide the unhideable -- that the 54-year-old Watson's career is winding down and he can no longer go more than once or twice a week. Even so, he would continue to wrestle for nearly two more years until an accident put an unwavering end to his career in the ring.

In the story, Watson says that when he returned to Toronto in 1940 after a lengthy stay in Britain, promoter Frank Tunney wasn't all that enthusiastic, although Tunney says he saw something in Watson right away. There's no question that Watson got the home town boy push from the start.

The writer of this story, Louis Cauz, went on to become a well-known figure in the Canadian horse racing world. He has been the managing director of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and the archivist/historian for the Ontario Jockey Club. In 1978, he wrote a book on the Toronto Blue Jays called Baseball's Back in Town. He also wrote a book on the King's/Queen's Plate that was published in 1984.

-by Gary Will







































































Frank Tunney's 30th Anniversary, 1969: Gary Will's TWH

There were several anniversary shows at the Gardens in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Some were anniversaries of the first Gardens show in 1931. Others celebrated Frank Tunney's years as a promoter. Those were always tricky since there were three different years that could be used -- the year he started working for Jack Corcoran, the year Corcoran passed the promotion along to the Tunneys (1939), or the year John Tunney died, leaving Frank the main promoter (1940).

Tunney's 30th anniversary show was held on May 18, 1969 and featured a rematch between The Sheik and Whipper Billy Watson and the Toronto debut of NWA world champion Dory Funk Jr. The show drew 13,000 fans, making it the highest reported attendance at a Toronto card in years.

The writer of this retrospective piece from the Globe, Jim Vipond, went on to become Ontario Athletics Commissioner -- he's the unnamed guy in Jim Freedman's book DRAWING HEAT who's accused of being a friend of Tunney's and a thorn in the side of Dave McKigney.



-by Gary Will



CARTOON: Henri DeGlane by Chuck Templeton, April 12, 1934: Gary Will's TWH



This cartoon is more of interest for the artist than the subject. Chuck Templeton was still a teenager when he drew this cartoon featuring Henri Deglane. He had been been hired by the Globe as a sports cartoonist in 1932 -- his first job in media. He quit in 1936 to become a very successful evangelist, which ended when he became an agnostic. Templeton later became better known as Charles Templeton, one of Canada's leading journalists, broadcasters, and writers.

In his memoirs, Templeton wrote that Tommy Munns, who handled publicity for promoter Jack Corcoran, hired him to draw sketches of wrestlers for the programs sold at the events.

-by Gary Will



Grey Cup Preview: The 1952 Edmonton Eskimos: Gary Will's TWH




The Edmonton Eskimos played the Toronto Argonauts in the Grey Cup final in 1952. In its preview of the game, the Globe & Mail ran profiles of the Eskimos players, including three 23-year-olds who would go on to be pro wrestling stars:

The Argos won the game, 21-11. It would be their last Grey Cup victory for 31 years. Kiniski would make his Maple Leaf Gardens debut as a wrestler in 1956, Blanchard in 1957, and Snyder in 1958. Snyder and Blanchard didn't make many appearances in Toronto. The card at right, from March 6, 1958, is the only time they were on the same show. Kiniski went on to become one of Toronto wrestling's all-time greats.

One of their teammates was an all-time star player for the Eskimos, Ted Tully. Maybe that name stuck in Blanchard's head a couple of years later when his son was born.

There were reports in 1950 that Whipper Billy Watson was going to play for the Eskimos, but nothing ever came of it.

-by Gary Will







Tunney-Crockett partnership approved, 1980: Gary Will's TWH

Tunney-Crockett partnership approved, 1980



After Jack Tunney's death in 2004, there was some discussion of whether North Carolina-based promoter Jim Crockett was ever a partner in the Toronto office. Crockett and Frank Tunney worked together from 1978 to Tunney's death in 1983, and Jack and Eddie Tunney continued to work with Crockett for several more months until switching their allegiance to Vince McMahon and the WWF in 1984.

In Canada, during most of the 1970s and the early 1980s, there was a law called the Foreign Investment Review Act (FIRA) which regulated the foreign ownership of Canadian companies. In November 1980, the Canadian Press reported that the government had approved the creation of a new business called Frank Tunney Sports Promotion, which was co-owned by Frank Tunney Sports Ltd., Jim Crockett Promotions Inc., and 410430 Ontario Ltd., said to be based in Hamilton.

The owner of the numbered corporation wasn't identified (it would be a matter of public record, but you have to pay a service charge to access Ontario corporate records), but Hamilton native George Scott is thought to have been the third partner. He continued to own a part of the office after the affiliation with McMahon and is said to have received a large settlement after he was pushed out of that partnership

- Gary Will











The Panther vs the Lion: A Hand-Drawn Ad, 1933: Gary Will's TWH

This is the only fully hand-drawn ad that was ever used for a wrestling show in Toronto and looks completely unlike anything used before or after. Jack Corcoran's show at Maple Leaf Gardens on January 26, 1933 featured the Utica Panther and the Balkan Lion and the artist put the feline references to full effect.



Bulldog Cox would later be better known as King Kong Cox. Dick Shikat was a no-show and was replaced by Frank Speers.

RESULTS
Joe Malcewicz W Dan Koloff (2-1)                 31:51
Sammy Stein W Gentleman Jack Washburn    19:06
Frank Speers WDec Herb Freeman                 30:00
Ted Bulldog Cox W George Hagen                 19:38
Earl McCready W Mike Romano                    15:10
Jack Riley W Cy Williams                               11:26


-by Gary Will


Two Leafs wrestle, rival promoters combine for charity: 1932: Gary Will's TWH

A charity show in 1932 saw two teammates oppose each other and two rivals work together.

There were two big-time wrestling promoters in Toronto in 1932. There was Ivan Mickailoff, who brought weekly shows to Toronto in 1929 and promoted shows at Arena Gardens, and Jack Corcoran, who booked cards at Maple Leaf Gardens.

The two promoters came together to benefit the 50,000 Club Unemployment Relief Fund. Each promoter provided two matches -- one preliminary and one featured event -- to a combined show at Maple Leaf Gardens.



Mickailoff's main bout was between Count George Zarynoff and Pat McGill, who had both worked main events for him in the past. Corcoran's featured presentation saw Ray Steele take on Joe Cox, with a strong preliminary featuring Gino Garibaldi and John Katan -- past and future main-eventers, respectively.

Rounding out the card was a match between two notable members of the Toronto Maple Leafs: team captain Clarence "Happy" Day and penalty leader Reginald "Red" Horner -- both future hall-of-famers. It was the only time in Toronto history that members of the Leafs got involved in a wrestling show. When the match was announced, Montreal Maroons defenceman Lionel Conacher -- Canada's greatest all-round athlete -- offered to take on both Day and Horner simultaneously (two weeks later, Conacher made his pro wrestling debut with Mickailoff).

The show, held on Monday April 25, 1932, drew only 4,500 -- about half of what had been hoped (each promoter drew bigger crowds for his next show).

Apparently, Day and Horner were pro wrestling fans and were able to mimic moves popularized by real grapplers. About the match, the Globe reported that "It was expected that this would be a farcical bout, but the athletes crossed the guessers and made it an honest-to-goodness struggle, with nearly all the modern tactics on display."

William Hewitt at the Star (father of broadcasting legend Foster Hewitt) wrote, "This act was a knockout and the fans got a great kick out of it. ... The hockey players showed the fans a lot of new holds and contortions and displayed surprising speed and agility on the mat."

After the match, Leafs owner Conn Smythe said he'd never let his players risk injury like that again.

Results:
Ray Steele W Joe Cox                                    24:05
Count George Zarynoff W Pat McGill      26:50
Hap Day D Red Horner                                  10:00
Tony Catalana W Ali Hassan                         12:39
Gino Garibaldi W John Katan                        17:13

-by Gary Will