There is no one that does detail on staging classic wrestling action figure photos quite like Barry Hatchet in his "Make Believe Gardens" series on MapleLeafWrestling.com.
This photo features Canadian Heavyweight Champion Dino Bravo vs. challenger Greg Valentine.
From the Maple Leaf Wrestling website:
Dino Bravo and Greg 'Hammer' Valentine had some great bouts in Toronto over our Canadian Heavyweight Title. This could be any one of 3 where Bravo was champ at introductions. Valentine would eventually beat Bravo for the title in April but would lose it back in June.
Bravo had recently turned back the challenge of Ric Flair and had tagged with Ricky Steamboat against the team of Flair and Valentine before starting this series.
Jim Crockett Promotions and Toronto Promoter Frank Tunney had a working relationship between 1978 and 1983, where Tunney booked a majority of his talent appearing on Toronto cards from the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling territory. The Canadian heavyweight champions during this era also appeared for Jim Crockett Promotions on cards in their cities, as well as on the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling and World Wide Wrestling TV shows, with the Canadian title belt.
This is a very rare and somewhat unusual poster from June of 1980 for a show in Niagara Falls, Ontario. It features a United States title defense by Ric Flair against Great Hossein Arab, better known to fans in the traditional Mid-Atlantic territory as the Iron Sheik. The card took place at Niagara Falls Memorial Arena, which was just across the Canadian - U.S. border in Ontario.
The show was promoted by Tony Parisi as an extension of Frank Tunney's Toronto booking office. This was during the roughly 5-year period that Tunney was booking the majority of his talent for Toronto from Jim Crockett Promotions in partnership with Crockett and booker George Scott. One of the unusual things that makes this poster so rare is that it says "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" instead of Maple Leaf Wrestling. Andrew Calvert from Toronto told us that posters were generally pretty scarce to begin with up his way, but the ones they did have were almost always billed as Maple Leaf Wrestling.
The Iron Sheik was generally billed in Toronto as Hossein the Arab or Great Hossein Arab. (His name was badly misspelled on the poster.) When he first arrived in the Mid-Atlantic area in early 1980, he was referred to on television by Bob Caudle and Rich Landrum as "Hossein the Arab, the Iron Sheik." Later, it was simply shortened to the Iron Sheik. But in Toronto, it was usually Hossein the Arab.
At the time of this card, the Sheik was Canadian Heavyweight Champion, having defeated Dewey Robertson for the gold belt back in May in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Oddly he is not billed as such on this poster, although newspaper articles in advance of this show mention he is champion. It appears Flair's United States title was the only championship on the line that night at the Falls arena. The Canadian title was mainly defended in Toronto, but it would seem a missed opportunity to not have a title-vs-title match, especially given that the finish of the match was reportedly a double count-out.
Sheik was also the reigning Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight champion at this time. He is billed with neither title on this poster.
Others featured on the poster were local favorites (and former Canadian champions) Angelo "King Kong" Mosca and Dewey Robertson, teaming up to face the top heel team for Jim Crockett Promotions, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and Ray "The Crippler" Stevens. Snuka and Stevens won the NWA World Tag Team titles just three weeks earlier from Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood in Greensboro, NC, although they are not billed as champions on the poster. Neither is their manager Gene Anderson, and it isn't clear if Anderson appeared with them on this show in Niagara Falls. Again, it seems like a missed opportunity for promoter Parisi to not bill Snuka and Stevens as tag champs and make the match a title match.
Parisi's office was spelling-challenged on this particular poster, too:
they even botched local football and wrestling legend Angelo Mosca's
name!
One other thing that seemed odd (and this was mentioned in the local paper, too) was the low placement on the card of Pedro Morales. To be sure, Morales was wrestling low-to-mid card for Jim Crockett Promotions during this era, even doing jobs on TV, but he had not so long ago been WWWF Heavyweight Champion, and was still occasionally a headliner in the WWWF during this era. With the WWWF television being seen in this area, and the history of the WWWF title being defended in Toronto, you would think that even being booked out of JCP, Morales would have had a more featured spot on the card here.
As seen in this image, the poster is in really rough shape,
worn and torn, and with a lot of apparent water damage. It was recently
sold on eBay, which is where Barry Hatchet noticed it and the image wound up
making its way to us, via our mutual friend Andrew at MapleLeafWrestling.com.
by Andrew Calvert MapleLeafWrestling.com Special to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Johnny Weaver made his Toronto debut amid a flurry of re-organization for the territory. It was late 1978 and Frank Tunney had left his brief AWA association behind. A new partnership with Jim Crockett Jr. & George Scott was soon to revitalize the area, and Weaver remained a regular through the end days of the NWA in the city.
He later took over the booking for the twice monthly shows at MLG and often the small circuit, but in the beginning he made his mark as a popular veteran, a man of 1000 holds type. The first time I saw Weaver at MLG he worked circles around his opponent, not an imposing figure but well versed and smooth in the ring. A local newsletter even asked 'why is Johnny Weaver wrestling in prelims?'
One of those early bouts was against Rudy Kay, of the wrestling family 'the Cormiers' out of New Brunswick. Weaver and Rudy and Kay's brothers -wrestling as Terry Kay and Leo Burke- were to be a big part of the scene a few years later.
In Toronto we saw a good mix of talent from all over the wrestling world and often had rarer teaming's or bouts that you may not find in other cities. Both at MLG and on TV. Weaver, who regularly teamed with Mid Atlantic regulars Tony Atlas & Jay Youngblood, also teamed here with some of our local guys. Dewey Robertson, Tiger Jeet Singh, Dino Bravo, and Terry Yorkston were some of the pairings on the circuit and on TV. Weaver also teamed up on occasion with popular Billy Red Lyons (now full time announcer, mostly) in a great pairing of classic era stars.
Since he appeared mostly in the openers or mid card we saw Weaver a lot when other wrestlers were needed ringside. A few times he got mixed up in Ric Flair bouts. At the 50th Anniversary show in Nov 1981 he came out to help NWA champ Flair after opponent Harley Race had attacked Flair after being pinned. Weaver, for his trouble, got a face full of the NWA title belt as Race swung it around the ring. After more wrestlers came out to help, a bloody Weaver assisted Flair down the ramp to the dressing rooms.
At the Return of Champions Exhibition Stadium card in July 1983 Weaver was assigned as a special referee for the main of (now) NWA champ Race vs Flair. Flair came off the ropes all set to hit Race with an elbow but Race leaped out of the way and Flair caught Weaver flush, knocking him down. Flair quickly locked Race in a figure four and had him tied up and thrashing around when Weaver raised his arm. The crowd went wild thinking that Flair had taken back the belt -however, Weaver was signifying that Flair was disqualified for hitting the referee. The crowd wasn't happy, and either was Flair. When Flair argued with him, Weaver hit him hard with his own elbow. Flair went through the ropes and returned with the timekeeper's hammer, and as Weaver started to argue with Race, Flair started chasing Weaver back across the field with the hammer. Keep in mind Flair was a fan favorite here, a huge fan favorite!
On another card Angelo Mosca was attempting to win his Canadian Heavyweight Title back from Big John Studd in a steel cage bout. The bout ended in a melee with Mosca winning, but on the receiving end of a Studd beatdown inside the cage. Out came Weaver, running into the ring to save our beloved new champ, and WHOMP. Studd flattened him. Mosca soon regained his wits and he and Weaver gained the upper hand. Weaver had been in his own cage bout earlier vs Lord Alfred Hayes and was already bandaged up as he carried Mosca down the ramp.
In mid 1982 Weaver entered into a long series with Leo Burke. The two had a bit of a history already, They had been tag team partners in the early 70's in Mid-Atlantic, where Leo had wrestled as Bobby Kay. In 1972 Weaver went on a tour of Leo's home turf on the East coast teaming with Leo against Freddie Sweetan, Mike Dubois, and others. Weaver returned again in 1975. They tried it again in Toronto only to have Burke quickly turn against Weaver. Burke was now also the North American champion, adopted in from Calgary (but not explained). The two started a long feud over the title, trading it back and forth, also involving Rudy & Terry Kay, Leo's brothers.
By this time Weaver was handling the booking of the cards. He was well respected by his peers and was said to always 'have a dip of Skoal' in his lip. Along with his long feuds vs Hayes and Burke, Weaver also teamed with some up and comers. Kelly Kiniski, Keith Larsen, and Buddy Hart (Bret) were regular partners in good veteran-rookie type teams a 'la Weaver & Youngblood. That team too was very popular. In the 1982 Cadillac Tournament Weaver & Youngblood drew each other as seeds for the first round matchup, and went on to have an exciting scientific type bout. As Norm Kimber announced 30 seconds left in the bout, Weaver trapped Youngblood in his sleeper. Time would run out and referee Tommy Young gave a referee's decision to Weaver. The two shook hands, to the delight of the fans. It was a great way to kick off the tournament and one of my favorite matchups of the era.
Andrew Calvert's "The Canadian Heavyweight Title: The Complete History 1978-1984" is proudly featured in the Mid-Atlantic Gateway Book Store
On my latest visit to see my friend Roger Baker I was able to take him a copy of Dick Bourne's new book Crown Jewel The NWA World Championship 1959-1973. One of my favorite of Roger's photos is featured in the book, a shot of Kiniski (lifting his ring jacket to show the belt) facing off before a title bout with Carpentier in Toronto in '66.
The book is jammed full with the history of the title, the origins of the belt, and the names that held it. Pat O'Connor, Buddy Rogers, Lou Thesz, Gene Kiniski, Dory Funk, Jr., and Harley Race. This time Dick goes back a bit before the scope of the Mid Atlantic Gateway site -and it is a fascinating read with all of the quality and great photos you expect with all of Dick's books.
Of course Toronto was a big part of that title, especially in the earlier years......
In late 1978 or early 1979, I started noticing in some of the newsstand wrestling magazines that the top stars in the Mid-Atlantic wrestling area were regularly headlining in Toronto. At the same time, the Canadian Heavyweight champion, with his Canadian Heavyweight title belt, started showing up on our weekly Mid-Atlantic television programs and on our local cards.
This was long before the days of the Internet and behind-the-scenes wrestling newsletters, and I had no idea what was going on. One of our weekly TV programs was called "World Wide Wrestling" and so I just assumed that maybe we now really were worldwide!
It wasn't until well into the 1980s that I learned the our promoter Jim Crockett, Jr. and the promoter in Toronto Frank Tunney had a working relationship.
My first exposure to Toronto wrestling was in 1977 when the tape of an NWA World Title change in Maple Leaf Gardens aired on our local TV shows. "Handsome" Harley Race defeated Terry Funk for the famous "ten pounds of gold." The TV commentators were former NWA president Sam Muchnick and a former NWA champion I later would learn had been a fixture of Toronto wrestling for decades, Whipper Billy Watson.
Two things made Toronto seem special and unique to me right off the bat. First was that elevated walkway, the famous Toronto "ramp", that led to the ring. I had never seen such a thing, and that whole concept intrigued me. Secondly though, and more lasting in my memory over the years, was the iconic call by Toronto ring announcer Norm Kimber announcing the new champion. I actually made an audio cassette recording of that, and the many times I've listened to it over the next years had it burned into my brain. It wasn't just what he said, it was the dramatic way he said it...
"The winner of the match, the time 14 minutes 10 seconds with an Indian deathlock, the new heavyweight champion of the world Harley Race!" - Norm Kimber LISTEN TO THE AUDIO (14 sec.)
In my opinion, Kimber was one of the great ring announcers of all time.
I later learned there were many other things that made Toronto unique and special. Toronto was one of those towns that was similar to St. Louis and Houston in that they often booked wrestlers from lots of different territories and promotions to make up their big cards, and although it was an NWA town, all the various world champions from the NWA, WWF, and AWA all defended their titles there. And of course the name of the venue sounded cool to me, too. Maple Leaf Gardens. This sounded akin to Madison Square Garden and gave it a more mythical feel as a teenager at my great remove.
I've recently had the pleasure and good fortune to assist author Andrew Calvert in publishing his new book "The Canadian Heavyweight Title: A Complete History 1978-1984." Andrew publishes the popular Maple Leaf Wrestling history website (MapleLeafWrestling.com.) His book chronicles Toronto's Canadian Heavyweight title during those years, a time period known to locals as the "Mid-Atlantic era" because of the close relationship with the NWA territory of that name in the United States. Andrew has done a wonderful job in telling the story of the title and all of the champions who held it during those years, many of whom were headlining in the Mid-Atlantic territory as well.
The research and writing in the book is Andrew's; I only did the layout and design, and helped structure the book in a similar fashion to what I've done with a few of my Gateway history books on our championships. We are honored to include it here in the series of books we've published on the Crockett championships. The book is available exclusively on Amazon, with links included in our Mid-Atlantic Gateway Book Store.
Since first discovering way back in the late 1970s that Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat were selling out Toronto cards at the same time they were headlining here, I've always wanted to know more about that special time in Toronto. As a result of helping Andrew lay out his book, I've learned a great deal about this special time, including the fact that the working relationship between Tunney and the Crocketts was much more formal and corporate than I ever knew before. It actually involved Tunney, Crockett, and George Scott, as the three formed a separate company behind the scenes. You'll learn all the details of that in Andrew's book, how it came together, and how it eventually fell apart.
The book includes a detailed history of the Championship from its inception in 1978 until its demise in 1984, as the Toronto office developed a new relationship with the WWF. Plus, a look at all the champions that held the title, the championship tournaments, and all the title changes. The book also includes a brief history of Toronto wrestling in general, a spotlight on Frank Tunney, newspaper clippings, vintage photographs, and more.
And for those interested in the belt itself, the book is lavishly illustrated with detailed photos of the original Canadian title belt, crafted by the famous belt maker Alex Mulko, aka Nikita Mulkovich, as well as details on how you can own a cast replica of the original for your very own.
It was a magic time, during a wonderful period when the Canadian and U.S. titles were defended on the same Toronto cards, alongside the NWA, WWF, and AWA titles. Experience all this rich history in Andrew Calvert's great new book, available now on Amazon.com.
Originally posted October 8, 2019 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.
My favourite period in wrestling is the Mid-Atlantic era and the Toronto territory of the late '70s to the early '80s.
I vividly remember sitting on the edge of my seat in the front row of the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, seeing greats like Johnny Weaver, Billy Red Lyons, Sweet Daddy Siki, the Great Kabuki, and "Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant.
That's why Andrew Calvert's new book, The Canadian Heavyweight Title: The Complete History 1978-1984, feels like it was written for fans like me, who long for the glory days of Jim Crockett Promotions and Maple Leaf Wrestling....
"The Canadian Heavyweight Title: The Complete History 1978-1984" is published by MapleLeafWrestling.com and available on Amazon.com as well as via links in the Mid-Atlantic Gateway bookstore.
In late 1978 or early 1979, I started noticing in some of the newsstand wrestling magazines that the top stars in the Mid-Atlantic wrestling area were regularly headlining in Toronto. At the same time, the Canadian Heavyweight champion, with his Canadian Heavyweight title belt, started showing up on our weekly Mid-Atlantic television programs and on our local cards.
This was long before the days of the Internet and behind-the-scenes wrestling newsletters, and I had no idea what was going on. One of our weekly TV programs was called "World Wide Wrestling" and so I just assumed that maybe we now really were worldwide!
It wasn't until well into the 1980s that I learned the our promoter Jim Crockett, Jr. and the promoter in Toronto Frank Tunney had a working relationship.
My first exposure to Toronto wrestling was in 1977 when the tape of an NWA World Title change in Maple Leaf Gardens aired on our local TV shows. "Handsome" Harley Race defeated Terry Funk for the famous "ten pounds of gold." The TV commentators were former NWA president Sam Muchnick and a former NWA champion I later would learn had been a fixture of Toronto wrestling for decades, Whipper Billy Watson.
Two things made Toronto seem special and unique to me right off the bat. First was that elevated walkway, the famous Toronto "ramp", that led to the ring. I had never seen such a thing, and that whole concept intrigued me. Secondly though, and more lasting in my memory over the years, was the iconic call by Toronto ring announcer Norm Kimber announcing the new champion. I actually made an audio cassette recording of that, and the many times I've listened to it over the next years had it burned into my brain. It wasn't just what he said, it was the dramatic way he said it...
"The winner of the match, the time 14 minutes 10 seconds with an Indian deathlock, the new heavyweight champion of the world Harley Race!" - Norm Kimber LISTEN TO THE AUDIO (14 sec.)
In my opinion, Kimber was one of the great ring announcers of all time.
I later learned there were many other things that made Toronto unique and special. Toronto was one of those towns that was similar to St. Louis and Houston in that they often booked wrestlers from lots of different territories and promotions to make up their big cards, and although it was an NWA town, all the various world champions from the NWA, WWF, and AWA all defended their titles there. And of course the name of the venue sounded cool to me, too. Maple Leaf Gardens. This sounded akin to Madison Square Garden and gave it a more mythical feel as a teenager at my great remove.
I've recently had the pleasure and good fortune to assist author Andrew Calvert in publishing his new book "The Canadian Heavyweight Title: A Complete History 1978-1984." Andrew publishes the popular Maple Leaf Wrestling history website (MapleLeafWrestling.com.) His book chronicles Toronto's Canadian Heavyweight title during those years, a time period known to locals as the "Mid-Atlantic era" because of the close relationship with the NWA territory of that name in the United States. Andrew has done a wonderful job in telling the story of the title and all of the champions who held it during those years, many of whom were headlining in the Mid-Atlantic territory as well.
The research and writing in the book is Andrew's; I only did the layout and design, and helped structure the book in a similar fashion to what I've done with a few of my Gateway history books on our championships. We are honored to include it here in the series of books we've published on the Crockett championships. The book is available exclusively on Amazon, with links included in our Mid-Atlantic Gateway Book Store.
Since first discovering way back in the late 1970s that Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat were selling out Toronto cards at the same time they were headlining here, I've always wanted to know more about that special time in Toronto. As a result of helping Andrew lay out his book, I've learned a great deal about this special time, including the fact that the working relationship between Tunney and the Crocketts was much more formal and corporate than I ever knew before. It actually involved Tunney, Crockett, and George Scott, as the three formed a separate company behind the scenes. You'll learn all the details of that in Andrew's book, how it came together, and how it eventually fell apart.
The book includes a detailed history of the Championship from its inception in 1978 until its demise in 1984, as the Toronto office developed a new relationship with the WWF. Plus, a look at all the champions that held the title, the championship tournaments, and all the title changes. The book also includes a brief history of Toronto wrestling in general, a spotlight on Frank Tunney, newspaper clippings, vintage photographs, and more.
And for those interested in the belt itself, the book is lavishly illustrated with detailed photos of the original Canadian title belt, crafted by the famous belt maker Alex Mulko, aka Nikita Mulkovich, as well as details on how you can own a cast replica of the original for your very own.
It was a magic time, during a wonderful period when the Canadian and U.S. titles were defended on the same Toronto cards, alongside the NWA, WWF, and AWA titles. Experience all this rich history in Andrew Calvert's great new book, available now on Amazon.com.
From our friends over at Wrestler Weekly, this weeks "Action Figures Friday" features a look at mid-to-late 1970s Dino Bravo, who held the Canadian Heavyweight Championship in Toronto, but just prior to that was one half of the NWA World Tag Team and Mid-Atlantic Tag Team champions with Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods.
on the magazine cover far left you see an art depiction of Bravo wearing the NWA World Tag Team title belt. in the center and far right, you see photos of Bravo wearing the Canadian title.
The magazine at right, featuring a cover photo shot by Jackie Crockett, was a special photo-album issue of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Magazine. Bravo appeared in the Mid-Atlantic area throughout his reign as Canadian champion as a result of a working/business/booking relationship Toronto promoter Frank Tunney had with Jim Crockett Promotions.
Andrew Calvert at MapleLeafWrestling.com recently announced a new book forthcoming on the history of the Canadian Heavyweight championship that existed during that era. Details to be announced in the coming months.
Andrew Calvert at MapleLeafWrestling.com announced an exciting book project on his website in late June.
"We are excited to announce that a book on the history of the Canadian Title as defended in Toronto 1978-1984 is beginning to take shape," he wrote to his website visitors. "It will include both the champs and the bouts as well as the history of the belt alongside some features of the era."
It was during this era that many of the stars appearing regularly on Toronto cards were booked through the office of Jim Crockett Promotions, and as a result of that, we have a great deal of interest in this project here at the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.
Calvert is inviting longtime Toronto fans to contribute.
"Some friends and fellow fans will be contributing and we would love to feature other fan photos and memories of the Canadian Title and the M-A era here in general," he wrote. "It is turning into a collaborative effort and it would be great to include other fans to help tell the story."
If you would like to contribute in any way to this project, you can contact Andrew at his website or on Twitter at @mapleleafwrest1.
There is no one that does detail on staging classic wrestling action figure photos quite like Barry Hatchet in his "Make Believe Gardens" series on MapleLeafWrestling.com.
This photo features Canadian Heavyweight Champion Dino Bravo vs. challenger Greg Valentine
From the Maple Leaf Wrestling website:
Dino Bravo and Greg 'Hammer' Valentine had some great bouts in Toronto over our Canadian Heavyweight Title. This could be any one of 3 where Bravo was champ at introductions. Valentine would eventually beat Bravo for the title in April but would lose it back in June.
Bravo had recently turned back the challenge of Ric Flair and had tagged with Ricky Steamboat against the team of Flair and Valentine before starting this series.
Jim Crockett Promotions and Toronto Promoter Frank Tunney had a working relationship between 1978 and 1983, where Tunney booked a majority of his talent appearing on Toronto cards from the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling territory. The Canadian heavyweight champions during this era also appeared for Jim Crockett Promotions on cards in their cities, as well as on the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling and World Wide Wrestling TV shows, with the Canadian title belt.
by Dick Bourne Mid-Atlantic Gateway with Andrew Calvert, Maple Leaf Wrestling
I'm not normally into fantasy booking, although one can't help but wonder what a tournament in Toronto would have looked like in 1982 when the NWA World Tag Team titles were up for grabs in tournaments being held in many cities across three different promotions.
I'm referring, of course, to the nearly 5-month long multi-city tournament for those vacant tag team titles that we recently covered in a 12-part series. And by all accounts, Toronto was supposed to host one of those regional city tournaments, but did not. (We discuss all of this in Part Eight - Lost Tournaments of our 12-part series on that 1982 extravaganza.)
Andrew Calvert, of the excellent Maple Leaf Wrestling website, and I began an email exchange while I was working on that series imagining "what if" a tournament had been held in Toronto. I asked him to come up with an imaginary bracket based on who was regularly working Toronto at the time, figuring in some "special appearances", too, similar to the other tournaments.
We kicked it around and here is what we came up with:
In addition to the tournament matches, the card would feature three other main event bouts, all apropos of the times:
NWA World Championship: Ric Flair vs. Harley Race
WWWF Championship: Bob Backlund vs. Greg Valentine
Canadian Heavyweight Championship: Angelo Mosca vs. Ivan Koloff
What a card! And it very easily could have been put together in those years. Obviously a 10 match card would be somewhat out of the ordinary, but as long as we're fantasy booking this, might as well have both the NWA and WWWF champion make a title defense, as both champions regularly appeared atop Toronto cards in this era.
Let's take a look at the tournament teams:
Gene Kiniski/Kelly Kiniski
Former NWA World Champion Gene Kiniski was a fixture in Toronto and one if its biggest all-time stars. His son Kelly was just getting started in the business and would work much of 1982 for Jim Crockett Promotions learning his craft. We obviously would want this rare father-and-son pairing in the tournament.
Rick Martel/Tony Garea
An extremely popular tag team in the WWWF at the time and widely known to Toronto fans as they saw WWWF TV in their market. This would be one of the "outside" special guest teams, similar to what we saw in the other city tournaments.
John Bonello/Tony Parisi
As Andrew described them, this would be a good "local team." Both were local favorites, Parisi was in nearly every opener, and Bonello was the popular local youngster.
Adrian Adonis/Jessie Ventura
Coming off a big win in their Toronto tag-team debut over Tony Parisi & Dom Denucci earlier that year, they were familiar to Toronto fans as they had AWA TV in the Toronto market for years. Adonis and Ventura legit appeared in the tournament held in Greensboro, NC in February and were presented on Crockett TV as an AWA representative in the tournament. They got over huge in their first Toronto appearance as a team and would have made a great team for this tournament.
Dino Bravo/Ricky Steamboat
The two popular stars had teamed in Toronto before. Bravo was a former Canadian champion who had just returned after a two year absence. Steamboat had become a huge star in Toronto over the years that Jim Crockett Promotions booked talent into the Toronto office. A perfect babyface team for the tournament.
Ole Anderson/Stan Hansen
According to Andrew, Stan Hansen never wrestled in Toronto, but it seemed to me that this would have been the perfect time for him to make that debut. The Anderson/Hansen team were the only team to wrestle in all of the legit tournaments, and I would hate for that streak to have been broken here. And of course they wound up winning the whole thing.
An alternate plan was to have The Destroyer (Dick Beyer) team with Ole instead. Beyer was regular in Toronto and a heel the fans loved to hate (similar to Kiniski). According to Andrew, the fans would have loved this team.
Blackjack Mulligan Sr. and Jr.
A second great father and son duo for this tournament. Blackjack Jr. (Barry Windham) made his Toronto debut in February of 1982 and got over with the Toronto fans in a big way. Mulligan Sr. was also a favorite in Toronto.
John Studd/Sgt. Slaughter
Studd was the #1 contender to the Canadian title and U.S. Champion Sgt. Slaughter always a huge (hated) favorite in Toronto.
As far as how the tournament might play out:
Martel and Garea would advance over the Kiniskis, which could be booked in such a fashion that it was Kelly Kiniski's inexperience that resulted in their first round defeat.
Ventura and Adonis would dominate Bonello and Parisi, establishing them as the top heel team quickly since they would be going to the finals.
Bravo and Steamboat would go over Anderson and Hansen in one of the most competitive bouts of the entire tournament, a match that would be hard to pick if you were filling out your brackets early.
Slaughter and Studd would defeat the Mulligans with heavy heel tactics. This would be one of the more heated matches in the tournament since there were established singles-issues with all of these four men.
The semi-finals would provide two excellent match-ups:
Ventura and Adonis would use every dirty tactic possible to go over Martel and Garea in what would amount to a WWWF vs. AWA match-up. (There was some thought to having the Kiniskis advance to face Ventura and Adonis, a heel-vs.-heel match up, which might have been a ton of fun. In the end, we settled for the more traditional approach here.)
Likewise Sarge and Studd would be taking every shortcut in hopes of getting to the finals, but Steamboat and Bravo would rise to the occasion and advance.
In the finals:
It would be a dream final, and many fans would cheer for the popular "bad guys" Adonis and Ventura in the match-up against Steamboat and Bravo. Eventually, the "good guys" would prevail (as they almost always did in Toronto tournaments of that era, according to Andrew.)
Your Toronto Tournament Winners: Dino Bravo and Ricky Steamboat!
Oh, what could have been!
LATE EDIT:
Andrew posted this video, Johnny Weaver explaining the NWA World Tag Team tournament structure on Toronto's Maple Leaf Wrestling TV show. Even though Weaver mentions they were hopeful for a tournament to be held in Toronto, it never happened.
Special thanks to Andrew Calvert for his input in coming up with this fantasy tournament in Toronto. For more information on the history of wrestling in Toronto and the Maple Leaf Gardens, visit the Maple Leaf Wrestling website.
Gene Kiniski figure Photo by Barry Hatchet, Maple Leaf Wrestling Blog
Barry Hatchet has some very cool photos of his custom action figures over at Andrew Calvert's Maple Leaf Wrestling Blog. We featured a few earlier, and have included links below to many of the pages on the MLW blog that feature Barry's photos.
Many of these feature wrestlers from Jim Crockett Promotions, as the Tunney's booked much of their talent from late 1978 through 1983 from JCP.
Here is a cool look at the great Gene Kiniski (at right) who was NWA World Champion from 1966 through early 1969.
Check out these pages from the MLW blog with lots of cool photos of not only the figures, but of the "Make Believe Gardens" venue as well.
Two of my favorites from the 1970s meet in the ring in Brantford, ONT, Canada in the early 1980s. Former 6-time NWA World Champion Harley Race battles Johnny Weaver as Race makes his move to establish himself as the number one contender for the Canadian Heavyweight championship at that time.
Norm Kimber was a great ring announcer in general, but I love his call at the end which is very reminiscent of his call of the match when Race defeated Terry Funk in 1977 in Toronto for the NWA world title. I think Kimber just loved saying Race's name.
The video isn't the best quality but the memories are top notch.
Always cool to see some Toronto flavor on the site. That [Race vs. Weaver] bout is from Nov. 16, 1981, the day after the big 50th Anniversary show here.
Amazing that [Race] put in 4 bouts after a wild bout with Flair the night before, both covered in blood and fighting up and down the ramp with suplexes and headbutts. Regards, Andrew 81/11/16 Brantford, Ontario (TV TAPING)
Johnny Weaver beat Doug Vines
Harley Race beat Tim Horner
Johnny Weaver & Ron Bass beat Charlie Fulton & Doug Vines
Harley Race beat Mike Miller
Ron Bass beat Charlie Fulton
Harley Race beat Mike Davis
Tony Parisi beat Mike Miller Harley Race beat Johnny Weaver
Mike Miller & Charlie Fulton beat Mike Davis & Tim Horner
