Quick Bits: North Bay with Tunney & Sobel 1941

North Bay Nugget

Cool ad for a Frank Tunney-Sammy Sobel card in North Bay 1941. This is prior to Larry Kasaboski and his Northland Wrestling taking over the northern part of Ontario in 1945. 

The Toronto promoters mostly stayed closer to home (excluding Ottawa) but did branch out, more so in the early days.

Ivan Mickailoff who started the weekly cards in Toronto in 1929 ran across the region and as far north as Timmins in the early 30s. Jack Corcoran and his Queensbury Club also went into Timmins, North Bay, Barrie, and other near north towns. 

Tunney never went that far north again (North Bay etc) but did hit Huntsville, Barrie, and others in the 50s & 60s, mostly in the summer. Whipper often ran those and likely got in some prime fishing time. 

Whipper's son Phil/Whipper Jr and his crew ran the near north in the early 70s while Dave McKigney and Big Time wrestling went further up in the 70s and early 80s hitting North Bay, Sturgeon Falls, and some of the other one-time Kasaboski stops.-AC

Quick Bits: More with Great Kudo 1961

Clad in a yellow full judo style outfit with mask and wrestling barefoot, Red Garner- as Great Kudo-  tore up the outer circuits before making it to MLG for a few big bouts against Bruno. By 1960 Red was winding down his own CCWA and went in with Gus Marmon & his Olympic Wrestling Club while he went under the mask as Kudo. They ran un-masking bouts around the circuit including one in Kingston in 1961 that caught my attention. 

Initially notable because Whipper is appearing on what was then an Indy fed. Through the history of Red Garner's CCWA there was no crossover that way. Many wrestlers ended up on the Tunney circuit but not the other way around. A few including George Scott and Bull Johnson crossed back to the Indy’s early in their careers but not after they were established.

Kudo was feuding with Scissors Joe Greenfield, Red's real life son-in-law. They had some heated battles before Kudo then faced Whipper in Napanee that ended in a no decision. Scissors Joe taking over the referee spot for the big bout. And again for the rematch in Kingston later in the season. 

This time Whipper beat Kudo winning 2/3 falls. The recap in the Kingston paper written by Paul Rimstead no less tells of Greenfield & Watson having to forcibly remove the mask to reveal ....'a fat faced fellow with a square-cut-goatee.' It goes on to name the un-masked Kudo as 'Kudo Tokida background and personal statistics unknown.'

Later that year Yukon Eric came to Kingston (along with fellow Tunney homesteaders Pat Flanagan & Bunny Dunlop) to face Kudo. This time they had more info. Kudo was Cam Takeda (an actual wrestler) from Vancouver. His father Japanese, mother Irish, and wrestling for 18 years. It claimed he had put on the mask a year before and that most fans think the story is a falsehood. 'Is the old devil trying to pull a fast one? No one knows except the promoter.'.... Wink!

Interesting that Garner's previous gimmick as Mr Moto is as confusingly entangled; there was the U.S. based Hito & Moto that were here during that time (mid 50s). Was Red also Kudo - yes he was. Was he always Kudo - who knows! 

More with Garner at Red Garner: The Pride Of Langstaff  and around the site

Some footage of Kudo vs Bruno  and more on the MLG Film 

-AC

Quick Bits: Terry Yorkston

Terry Yorkston was our eras reliable if not quick thinking (or thinking at all sometimes!) referee of note. A regular at MLG and on the circuit during the Mid-Atlantic years 1978-1984 he was part of most of the big bouts and feuds of the day. 

Main pic: exiting the ring after a Youngblood-Ninja strap match Apr 1982

As a wrestler he was often mid card or lower but frequently went under a mask so may have had some bigger bouts while El Santo or Assassin, or Masked Marvel, among others. He started back around 1960 showing up as a referee for Kasaboski's Northland while wrestling as a lightweight on the busy Indy circuit around Toronto. 

He went on to do several tours as a wrestler for Kasaboski who favored the lighter stars. While often billed as from Detroit or sometimes Hamilton, in later years he became Tough Terry from Hollywood. 

By the mid 60's he was appearing on Tunney's CBC TV Wrestling and occasionally on the Hamilton cards. His debut at MLG came in 1972. By the time of the Mid-Atlantic era he was a regular referee though he still wrestled up to 1979. I'm not sure if he promoted at all but was frequently found on the many lesser promoted Indy type cards held in those days.  

He had a softer look, even as a wrestler, but sported tattoos (not so common back then) on his beefy forearms and looked like he could go a round or two. 

A picture is worth a thousand words...

I remember a few notable bouts with Yorkston as ref. One was the highly anticipated Toronto debut of the East-West Connection Adonis & Ventura matched up against the similarly named Italian Connection of Tony Parisi & Domenic DeNucci. The veterans had Adonis & Ventura stumped at every turn until the bad guys started bending the rules. With Yorkston none the wiser Adonis pins DeNucci while holding the tights. As Adonis & Ventura celebrate their successful debut Paris & DeNucci protest to Yorkston who firmly slaps his head in a classic move now known as 'Doh.' See photo above.

You will note also the fans in front of me celebrating the bad guys big win. As I was too!

See also Indie show with Terry Yorkston, 1972: Gary Will's TWH
More on the Referees of Maple Leaf

-AC and photos by...

Quick Bits: George Richards

George Richards 'Mr. Big & Tall' was famous for his clothing shops which catered to athletes and big men including many of the Toronto wrestlers. He dressed the ever sharp Whipper Watson, Pat Flanagan, Athol Layton, and Frank Tunney, among others.

    

Before opening his chain of stores Richards was a pro wrestler here in the 1930's-40's. Born in 1914 he had taken up wrestling to help support his family after his father died. When Maple Leaf Gardens opened in Nov 1931 the teenage Richards was selling programs at the arena he would later wrestle in. 

Main pic: Training for boxing 1936 with Ed Kellar

He went pro in the early 1930's and in addition to the local scene he traveled a bit working around New York and Ohio (as Benny Stein) alongside fellow Toronto stalwart Jerry Monahan. Here he was mostly a prelim type guy wrestling on the openers. One listing in NJ has him (if he is that Benny Stein) wrestling Gino Garibaldi.

 In 1936 he tried his hand at boxing and entered into the Jack Dempsey White Hope tournament under the tutelage of Ed Kellar who had competed in the 1930 British Empire games in Hamilton.

During World War II he enlisted in the Air Force and helped to train troops on the ships going from Halifax to London. On the return trip he'd be in charge of German prisoners of war coming to Canada.

After the war he opened his first store and noticed he was seeing a lot of his athletic colleagues so started catering to men taller than 6'1 (sized 38-60) and to stout men 200-450lbs (sizes 42-66), It was an instant hit for football players and the wrestlers who were now able to get quality suits in their sizes.

Athol Layton who was 6'6 265 wore a size 52 tall and appreciated the bright colors, shirts in pink, lilac, and chartreuse. He was one of the snappiest dressers among any athlete, both on TV as a commentator and at the many charity functions he appeared at. .

It wasn't exclusive to athletes, some of the city's more famous 'stout' men were customers including former police chief Harold Adamson (6.2 210lbs) and Sam Shopsowitz of Shopsys -the hot dog king (5'10 270lbs). Shopsowitz once said about Richards suits 'The fact that I'm fat doesn't mean that I don't like to follow fashion trends. I object to elephant pants but I like patch pockets on my suits,' indeed!

1968

In 1954 after the Toronto Tag Trophy (sponsored by Calvert Distillery dubbed the Calvert trophy) was destroyed by the Mills Brothers,  Richards donated a new trophy to be awarded to the Tag champs - the George Richards Trophy which was awarded through the balance of the 1950's.

By 1980 under the banner George Richards Kingsize Clothes  it had grown to 16 locations around the country and while George still remained active his son Michael was running the day to day operations. The Grafton-Fraser company who had bought 50% share in 1977 purchased the balance of the company in 1981

George was still leading exercise classes for seniors into his mid 80's and at 87 (2002) was still working out 4 times a week. He passed on in November 2010 at the age of 96. 

Note: some info from the book I Know that Name!: The People Behind Canada's Best-known Brand Names from ...By Mark Kearney, Randy Ray

Thanks also to Renata G 

-AC

1957 with Whipper and Pat