The Territory Photo Albums--AWA 1974

Who doesn't love looking through the old territory photo albums? Even non-collecting wrestling fans get a kick out of them. They're a time capsule of a particular promotion and are usually from a golden era. If business was down and the stars weren't exactly top notch the promoters probably weren't going to spend a lot of money to advertise that fact. As I said in the first installment of this feature many years ago, you didn't have the Internet where you could fly to any promotion's website or app and instantly view the current roster, alumni, Hall of Fame, etc. So what did you do? You spent a couple bucks and bought a photo album if your area was lucky enough to have one.

Being one of the premiere wrestling promotions in the country, the American Wrestling Association had many photo albums. In this case, way back in 1974, it's a yearbook. I've long wanted this particular publication and the price is usually fairly high when it comes up. I've not only been on an AWA "kick" as of late, but I happened upon a small but amazing collection chock full of items from both this promotion and "nearby" Central States. I'm sure we'll be seeing much more from that lot both here on the blog and on the associated social media pages. I must say that I'm particularly thrilled over the inclusion of a side of a popcorn box that was used for collecting autographs. It really isn't even the autographs that are as exciting to me as it being an actual piece of a popcorn box from a nearly fifty-year-old wrestling show. If you wouldn't be feeling the same, get off of this blog now.

Kidding, of course! We've got 1974 to go back to here. If you've already browsed through the photos or own this book yourself, you may notice the resemblance to the 1976 World Wide Wrestling Federation Championship Wrestling Yearbook. That yearbook was also published by the team of Gary Halvorson and Gary Juster and is very similar in feel and format. Juster, of course, is best remembered for his involvement in World Championship Wrestling in the early '90s and was still around the wrestling business within the last few years. Seeing as that the WWWF version was listed as being published in St. Paul, Minnesota, one has to wonder if Vince McMahon or another WWWF promoter saw this AWA work and decided that they wanted to commission one for themselves.

The table of contents for this AWA yearbook lists Verne Gagne, The Crusher, Billy Robinson, Billy "Superstar" Graham, Nick Bockwinkel, Ray Stevens, Bobby Heenan, Larry "The Axe" Hennig, Ivan Putski, Baron Von Raschke and Horst Hoffman, Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell, Dick The Bruiser, Buddy Wolff, Geoff Portz, Chris Taylor, Andre The Giant, and Nikolai Volkoff among the top wrestlers. Of course there are also a few pages with additional wrestlers as well as other dignitaries. In showing how everyone wanted to stay "fresh" in those days, several of the stars featured would end up in the WWWF version two years later. 

It's no surprise our cover boy is Verne Gagne himself. I've said it many times, but I still can't believe that we didn't get a Remco Verne figure. Nonetheless, here he is demonstrating his pure wrestling prowess on Billy Robinson and featuring in the first, and biggest, bio. Son Greg is on the inside cover. I don't agree with the hate that Greg gets, but it's just simply telling that he's right there. While you might've guessed Robinson as the second bio, you would be wrong. He came in third right behind The Crusher. Even as he was getting up in age, I'm sure that Reggie "Crusher" Lisowski was still a top drawing card in the region, especially in Milwaukee. Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!

We get a look at Billy Graham (when "Superstar" got middle billing) and then arrive upon the man that I, personally, connect most closely with the AWA, the one and only Nick Bockwinkel. He may have been the classiest champion that there ever was, but you could also argue that he was the classiest heel, too. While I'm sure that Nick Aldis in our modern era is mostly trying to emulate Ric Flair, he actually comes across much more in the style of Bockwinkel as far as promos and presentation. Nevertheless, both in and out of the ring Bockwinkel is unmatched. 

While they don't have the bios that the "home based" AWA talent gets, Andre the Giant and Nikolai Volkoff share a featured page that obviously points out their importance. With Andre it was no secret. Looking through AWA results of the era you can see the many tours that Andre did throughout the Midwest, often competing in a battle royal or helping dispose of the most dastardly AWA heels. Volkoff was likely coming in from the WWWF, as he's pictured with a nice head of hair and "Classy" Freddie Blassie who would not have made the trip, being a WWWF lifer at that point.

There are two full pages of smaller pictures displaying "More Wrestling Stars." It's sort of surprising to see Dusty Rhodes here instead of getting a full profile, though this would be right when he was becoming "The American Dream" in Florida. We do get to see a photo that I have never seen before of young "Rick Flair," probably not too far removed from the days when he yearned to be known as "Rambling" Ricky Rhodes. We also get to see Rene Goulet, Red Bastien, Larry Heiniemi (Lars Anderson), Khosrow Ali Vaziri (The Iron Sheik), and a young, slim, dark haired grappler named Paul Perschman who would later be immortalized in plastic by the AWA as "Playboy" Buddy Rose. Interestingly we also get a photo of "Odd Job," labeled as such. This is obviously actor Harold Sakata who played the famous James Bond villain, but I wasn't aware that he actually wrestled under the character name. Rather I recall him being billed in the ring as Tosh Togo.

After the wrestlers we get a full page dedicated to promoter Wally Karbo (who Bobby Heenan had a million stories about) and a subsequent page with other AWA officials. Stanley Blackburn, Bob Luce, Al DeRusha, Lord James"Tally Ho" Blears and Ed Francis are a few of the more familiar names. We end the publication with a profile on longtime AWA broadcaster Marty O'Neill and two unsurprising ads. The first is for the publications produced by "The Wrestling News." Although the ordering address is in New York, these publications were largely produced out of the AWA territory and always seemed to have a large focus on that area. Last but not least is an ad for the film "The Wrestler." This is, of course, the 1974 version which co-starred Verne Gagne and Billy Robinson. It's worth going out of your way to see, is widely available, and the bar fight featuring The Texas Outlaws (Rhodes and Dick Murdoch) is a real highlight. And there's Harold Sakata again looking a lot like Odd Job.

Did I say how much I love these old books? I know that I'm not the only one. I can't cram all of the pictures into one blog entry, but I do try to feature enough to convey the look and feel. If you want to see more, give us a follow over on Instagram (@jws_wrestling_memorabilia) where I just recently posted a brief tour of this yearbook with photos you did not see here including Wahoo McDaniel, Vivian Vachon, Ken Patera, Wilbur Snyder, and one of my off-beat favorites from the era, Bull Bullinski. If there was ever a wrestler of the '70s, it's Bull.

While Ron Trongard wasn't in this particular AWA publication, can't you just hear him? "From coast to coast, continent to continent, border to border, it's the A-DOUBLE-YEW-A!"

Bloody Disgusting!

Maybe this list should've been saved for Halloween! Who else loved the bloody wrestling magazine covers of yesteryear? I can't imagine many saying that they didn't. These covers are almost a foreign concept in a world where wrestling matches are stopped when a drop of blood comes trickling out. It's a different time, and not necessarily a better one. Thankfully, we have these artifacts to look back on, showcasing the gory, wild west world of vintage professional wrestling.

The stars of the '70s were wild in and out of the ring. Two of the most notorious were Harley Race, who could fill a bloody cover story all by himself, and the late Blackjack Mulligan. In March 1979, the two were seen in a gruesome bloodbath on the cover of Inside Wrestling. Mulligan's infamous clawhold seems to be actually causing the blood to squirt from the head of Race...

Speaking of wild, how about Buddy Colt? This top talent in such areas as Florida and Georgia may not be a common name to today's fans, but students of the past are more than familiar with the grappler. In fact, it's the very photo used on the cover of a 1974 Wrestling Yearbook issue that shows up time and again when Colt comes into the conversation. The caption? "Buddy Colt Loves Blood - Even If It's His." Well then...

Speaking of loving their own blood, you get a feeling that "The Brain" may have been the same way. There are tons of magazine covers featuring Bobby Heenan's mug covered in a "crimson mask," but none are more iconic than the November 1970 issue of The Wrestler. The magazine had it's own feature on this blog at one point, and Heenan still lights up when he sees this particular cover.

One of Heenan's most connected protege's also shed blood on occasion, that being Nick Bockwinkel. On a 1980 Wrestling Annual magazine, the erudite champion is seen on the cover after a brutal AWA Championship defense. His famous belt barely held up, the dazed Bockwinkel likely just had the fight of his life.

Of course, bloody covers can come in the form of programs, too. Each territory had their programs, but few may have been cooler than those from Memphis. The September 26, 1979 program cover features a very young Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy covered in a mass of blood. The photo may be black and white, but that does not stop the intensity of the moment from coming through.

A small sampling? Yes, but some of the best. The blood is often missed from today's product, but looking at these images certainly keeps the gruesome past alive. Bloody Hell!

From The Musty Yellowed Pages--1976 Wrestling Yearbook

I'm often asked where I obtain all of my items. It isn't anywhere special and hardly just one place. You never know where you'll find something, and more often than not I tend to "run into" things. Following along with the old saying, it usually is where I "least expect it." Because of that, and the fact that wrestling memorabilia is a truly undocumented collecting niche, I rarely "look" for something. Unless it's a loose end in a series of items, I wouldn't even know what to look for! In this entry, we're spotlighting an item that was in one of those random finds and slowly became one of my favorites.

Around fifteen or so years ago, my eyes centered behind the counter of a used book store. Sitting on a rolling cart piled in about three stacks was a collection of 1970's wrestling magazines. At the time, my wrestling collection was largely confined to the 1980's and 1990's, so much of what was piled up was new to me and looked absolutely fascinating. My dad and I inquired about their availability. The Janeane Garofalo-clone who worked at the store was more than happy that we were interested, but told us that they weren't priced yet. Immediately I pictured huge dollar signs for each and pretty much gave up then and there. We frequented the store, but between the inevitable prices and the knowledge of many other wrestling fans who would probably want them, I all but gave up. As I walked away, crestfallen, the fake Garofalo shouted after me: "There are even some covers with Dino Sammartino on them!"

"Dino." Yeah.

A few weeks later when we returned to the store, I had all but forgotten about the dusty, old, treasure trove. It's hardly a surprise at this point, but there they were, bundled in about seven or eight different stacks for a few dollars each. For the next few days my knowledge of 1970's wrestling swelled. The words and photography of the Stanley Weston magazines (as well as a few titles such as the legendary WWWF Wrestling Action) filled my brain. Bill Apter, Dan Shocket, and everyone's favorite perennial old crust Matt Brock were there, as were the champions. Several of these issues were the Weston "Wrestling Yearbook" titles. Published quarterly, the Yearbooks were yet another title that joined The Wrestler, Inside Wrestling, and Sports Review Wrestling on the '70s wrestling magazine shelf.

It seems as if once a year, the Wrestling Yearbook magazine was a "Special Championship Issue" that focused on the "big three" champions from the WWWF, NWA, and AWA. These were among my favorites from the magazine bounty that I had purchased. Several of these championship issues featured a motif that could have come from the opening title cards of "Love, American Style." It was red, white, blue, and stars all the way. It looked great. It looked '70s. It looked special.

In addition to the normal departments such as ratings and pen pals, the championship issue had a full article on each of the three champions. Bruno Sammartino's is titled "Wrestling's Living Legend," a label that has stuck with him to this day. Terry Funk was deemed to be the "Accidental Champion" while Nick Bockwinkel was "The Man Who Had To Win The Title." There are also "Ringside Report" sections telling of how each man respectively won the title. For fans of the era, this had to have been amazing. Almost all areas of the country would have recognized one of these men as the true world champion. To see whichever two that you DIDN'T recognize as champion right up with your own hero was likely infuriating.

While the Sammartino and Funk stories are known, the Bockwinkel article is a classic magazine tale. Bockwinkel was "the man who had to win the title" because of his wrestler father, "discovery" by Bobby Heenan, and learning from partner Ray Stevens. Although the article recognizes that the championship was Bockwinkel's "dream," they feel that because of his rulebreaking, attitude, and Heenan's constant interference that it had become a "nightmare." Only in the wrestling mags!

Although the infamous "Love Doll" ads don't show up here, other dubious product offers do. Ads for the sister publications called "Battling Girls" featuring apartment wrestling are here, as are pellet guns, miracle ginseng capsules, and many ways to either bulk up or trim down. If the kids of the '70s had written and paid for all of these valuable products, today we would have an entire fleet of 50-somethings with bulging muscles, trim wastes, endless ways to defend themselves, skills in dozens of different courses including vinyl repair, x-ray vision, and unmatched knowledge in the art of love making...with or without a partner.

Forty years later and I know that I'm not the only one who is fascinated by these publications. There's footage available from the era, but the magazines offer something different. We get a great glimpse at the wrestling industry of the time and see it through the eyes of the fans. To learn of wrestling around the country, this is basically all that you had. If you lived in the Northeast, you saw Bruno but you probably didn't know much about Funk and Bockwinkel. Here was your chance to compare the champions as well as you could from a color cover and black and white pages. This was your Internet. This was your WWE Network. This was your ultimate source of wrestling knowledge. Many fans from the time miss it being that way...

...are we sure that's such a bad thing?

2015: Losing the Icons of Wrestling

It was not a year for smiles in the wrestling world. One loss is too much, but it felt as if we were mourning another icon daily. Just when the shock and hurt of one began to subside, more news hit the industry like a ton of bricks. They aren't friends or family to most of us, but they have visited us in our living rooms for weeks on end. They tugged at our emotions, lightened our lives, and even made us open our wallets. They did their jobs and made us the fans that we are in the process.

Those that left us in 2015 included Steve Rickard, Tito Carreon, Buddy Landel, Dusty Rhodes, Cora Combs, Larry Winters, Duke Myers, Perro Aguayo Jr., Nick Bockwinkel, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Don Fargo, Ron Wright, Lizmark, Tommy Rogers, Percival A. Friend, Tony Charles, Verne Gagne, Daisy Mae, The Great Malumba, and Marie Darnell.

What more can one say about Rhodes and Piper? Would even the two men themselves have predicted the worldwide mourning of their losses? They captivated millions and became not only stars in their industry, but faces of it. Both had the gift of gab, boatloads of charisma, and the ability to back it up physically. If you know me or the writings of this blog, you know that I lost two of my all-time favorite wrestlers here. I feel extremely lucky that I made personal memories with both, and had the opportunity to thank them for their contributions to pro wrestling.

The AWA lost both of its pillars with the passings of Gagne and Bockwinkel. A pioneer in television wrestling, Gagne built his brand in the business and rode it to the end. A whole new generation is now getting a mainstream look at the American Wrestling Association thanks to WWE Network, and hopefully we will get to see some of the work of Nick Bockwinkel sooner rather than later. "Bock" is considered by many to be the greatest champion in wrestling history. Upon hearing his promos and seeing his fluidity in the ring, I'm sure that many more will be agreeing in the future.

All of these men crammed a lot of life into their years, but perhaps none more than Don Fargo. A true chameleon of wrestling, it is estimated that Fargo had more personas in his long career than any other wrestler. As the brother of Jackie, Don Kalt found perhaps his most lasting name, also teaming with Sonny and Johnny (Greg Valentine) Fargo over the years. His reunion with Jackie at the 2009 NWA Fanfest in Charlotte is one of my favorite wrestling memories. Two wild men, together one last time.

As always, this is just a brief overview of the many men and women lost during 2015 who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to professional wrestling. We remember them all, and those they left behind, as we transition into the new year.

Remembering The Champ Of Class...Nick Bockwinkel

The immense losses for the wrestling world in 2015 continue. Although I would not say that there have been more wrestling deaths this year than in others, those who have passed certainly represented the upper echelon of anyone who ever graced the squared circle. Verne Gagne, Dusty Rhodes, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and now Nick Bockwinkel. These men ruled the industry. These stars were pioneers who are still emulated today. These men were champions in every sense of the word. With Mr. Bockwinkel, it would not be out of the question to label him as the champ.

Although I knew the name early on, Nick Bockwinkel was one of those names that I went back and discovered after the fact. It may very well have been after I acquired his famous Remco AWA action figure. With his blonde hair, yellow tights, and white cloth jacket and knee pads, the figure was something special. That made me think that the wrestler himself must echo that sentiment. I was very much on the right track with those thoughts. How many wrestlers can you list that, after listening to one promo or watching one match, you totally understood the greatness of? Not too many, but that was Nick Bockwinkel. In fact, if a bad promo or match from the man even existed, I challenge you to find it.

Bockwinkel brought class to an industry that's often missing such a concept. He was definitely best as a "bad guy," but he didn't yell or scream. He rarely seemed riled up in promos or even for much of his matches. He was smarter than you. He was more talented than you. He was all-around better than you. That's why you bought a ticket to see him get his comeuppance. For whatever number of "smart" fans that existed in Bockwinkel's heyday, they probably paid to see just who he could outwrestle next. He was Flair before that name was even known, and with a lot more class. There's that word again.

Nick Bockwinkel was revered not only by fans, but by his peers in the wrestling business. Even when he was without a belt, he carried himself as a true champion and sportsman. Pull up one of the "Legends of Wrestling" programs on the WWE Network in which he participated in, and you'll see the respect that his fellow legends have for him. That gratitude carried over whenever Bockwinkel made an appearance at a convention or fanfest. Wrestlers and fans alike were thrilled to be in the presence of the champ, and I'm fairly sure that the feeling was mutual.

It was those same wrestlers and fans who knew quite early that Mr. Bockwinkel was suffering with ailments that were gradually taking their toll on the legend. For a few years I actually marveled that these facts seemed to stay confined to scuttlebutt at shows in which Bockwinkel attended. Wrestling gossip travels fast, yet it was quite awhile before I saw even a mention of his health problems in written form. Once again, I do believe that the respect this man earned, and held, among us all aided in these horrible truths being suppressed.

80 years is a long lifespan for a wrestler, and I think that we can look back on Nick Bockwinkel's life with a lot of happiness. He never seemed anything but pleased about his career, beginning with his legendary father at his side and ending in several behind-the-scenes capacities. He was a multi-time world champion, Hall of Famer, and topped the list of many "greatest of all-time" lists. He will always be the champ. He will always be better than his lowly opponent. He will always be...pure class.

The 1970's: Nixon went to China...Sammy kissed Archie...Race beat Funk...and another Funk...

All decades and eras in wrestling can be special to those who lived through them. Many fans in their twenties and thirties celebrate the "Attitude Era" now as a bygone time. As hard as it is to believe, the industry is nearly completely different now only a decade and change later.

Still, there are some who celebrate the times that came before they were even born. The allure and mystique of being able to look back at a time where black and white photos and grainy video footage are often the only looking glass.

For me, this era is the 1970's.

Did the '80s and '90s contain great stars, events, and rivalries? Absolutely. However, something about the "Me Decade" and the wrestling therein has an extraordinary appeal.

The '70s, to me, could be dubbed the last great "wild west" era of wrestling. Driving through the back roads, jumping from territory to territory, wrestling in armories, high school gyms, and barrooms. While all of these concepts survived for at least a little while longer, they all truly embody the idea of the '70s.

The NWA was still the great governing body of the sport. True, gritty, tough-as-nails names like Harley Race, Jack Brisco, and the Funks not only showed how to be a great champion, but how to be a true man. At this time in Florida, an American Dream was born.

In the Midwest, the AWA was thriving with the likes of regional favorites such as The Bruiser and The Crusher. Nick Bockwinkel was proving that a champion could be tough yet refined. Other stars here, such as the legendary Bobby Heenan, were just beginning their years of contributions to the business.

Vincent J. McMahon, independent from any other organization with his WWWF, had the man that many claim to be the greatest of all-time as the cream of his crop for much of the decade. Bruno Sammartino had the second of his championship reigns while Pedro Morales, Superstar Billy Graham, and Bob Backlund rounded out the era's title holders. The WWWF perhaps also included the most colorful cast of characters in wrestling at that point, foreshadowing what was to become of the company in the 1980's.

While promoters had yet to truly see the value in merchandising their stars, you can slowly begin to see the seeds being planted for the boom of the next decade. Photos and programs still ruled the roost, especially at shows where fans could take home a souvenir of their favorite star. Occasionally items such as the earliest t-shirts and even pennants, often locally made, will appear from the decade. Still, the early in-house publications from the wrestling companies themselves such as Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Magazine and the WWWF's Wrestling Action are the number one indicator that promoters were beginning to notice the need for merchandise.

One carryover from the 1960's was the fan club. Ranging from fly by night setups to decades-long devotion, fan clubs for individual stars were all the rage. Magazines like Wrestling Revue and Wrestling World devoted full sections to these fan clubs. For a nominal fee, fans were usually treated to newsletters, photos, and other items pertaining to their favorite star. Some of the bigger names even had multiple fan clubs. For years the late, legendary, wrestling journalist Georgiann Makropoulos ran the Bruno Sammartino fan club and in turn cultivated a decades-long friendship with the champ.

Champions who were champions. Men who were men. Midgets that were...midgets. Women wrestlers who were WRESTLERS with, just perhaps, a dash of "Diva" mixed in. Those were the days. While I may not have been around to have enjoyed it as it happened, I will certainly promote and celebrate the era and its stars as long as possible.

For a gallery of wrestling merchandise from the 1970's, please visit and join our Facebook Fanpage.