Posted July 28, 20223 yr comment_5986798 History of Pro Wrestling #63 (04:36:41) Matches from May-October 1969 ANTONIO INOKI vs CHRIS MARKOFF (05/16/1969; JWA World League; 00:22:57) A terrific match with Inoki fighting from underneath and turning into a bloody mess, and Markoff using every cheating tactic imaginable. Inoki wins the league for the first time, ending Baba’s three year-streak. It’s notable that this is also the first time Inoki used his famous manjigatame (octopus stretch), which was hyped in training videos prior to the match. 4 1/4* SHOHEI BABA vs BOBO BRAZIL (05/16/1969; JWA World League; 00:33:13) These two matches represent the end of the 11th annual World League, as all four wrestlers were tied and the two final matches were determined by a native-foreign wrestler double coin toss. This was the other half of the final. The tease of a Baba-Inoki match was used for drama, but they never followed through. (h/t the incomparable Cameren Lee for the information on this series) BLACKJACK LANZA vs JOHNNY KACE (05/17/1969; WWA Indianapolis, IN; 00:13:37) DICK THE BRUISER & THE CRUSHER vs JOHNNY DIAMOND & JIM ASKEW (05/17/1969; WWA Indianapolis, IN; 00:09:44) DICK THE BRUISER & THE CRUSHER vs CHAIN GANG (06/01/1969; AWA House Chicago, IL; 00:05:51) JOHNNY VALENTINE vs BULL CURRY (06/20/1969; Houston Wrestling; 00:19:39) A brilliant bloody match, and a rare look at a complete Johnny Valentine match. What a tremendous wrestler he was. This match was also chronicled in Phil Schneider’s Way of the Blade. 4 1/2* DICK THE BRUISER & THE CRUSHER vs CHAIN GANG (07/26/1969; AWA House Chicago, IL; 00:05:11) BRUNO SAMMARTINO vs GEORGE STEELE (08/09/1969; WWWF House Philadelphia, PA; 00:24:21) Speaking of rare, how about this: A full-length Bruno Sammartino title defense from a house show! ANTONIO INOKI & SHOHEI BABA vs DICK THE BRUISER & THE CRUSHER (08/13/1969; JWA Summer Series I; 00:16:24) A good brawl, as you’d expect. Superstar Sleeze gives the match 3 1/2*, as reviewed in the link above. DICK THE BRUISER & THE CRUSHER vs MAD DOG VACHON & BUTCHER VACHON (08/30/1969; AWA House Chicago, IL; 00:04:29) LE PETIT PRINCE vs MICHEL SAULNIER (10/04/1969; French Catch; 00:35:48) Segunda Caida review of the match. These two had what were probably the most thrilling and action-packed matches of the era. JEAN FERRE vs ROBERT DURANTON (10/25/1969; French Catch; 00:06:55) VASILIOS MANTOPOULOS & UNKNOWN WRESTLER vs PIERRE BERNAERT & PIERRE LAMAGOROU (10/25/1969; French Catch; 00:32:38) GREAT KUSATSU & THUNDER SUGIYAMA & TOYONOBORI vs BUDDY COLT & GORGEOUS GEORGE JR. & GORDON NELSON (10/29/1969; IWE; 00:45:54) Our first look at International Wrestling Enterprise! This forum has some excellent history on IWE from the above-mentioned Lee Cameren for those who are interested. This is also by far the longest match we have on tape for Buddy Colt, a Florida-based wrestler who was considered one of the best workers of his time.
