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Chief Big Heart
Richard Gilbert Vest Sr. (March 5, 1927 – April 22, 1993) was an American professional wrestler best known by the ring name Chief Big Heart. One of the most popular tv wrestling stars of the 1950s, Vest won championships in numerous National Wrestling Alliance territories between 1956 and 1963. His famous "bow and arrow" submission hold was a feared finishing manouver in professional wrestling. Vest's battles with Dr. Jerry Graham in Georgia Championship Wrestling were among the promotion's biggest drawing cards of the era and regarded as one of the bloodiest feuds in pro wrestling history. He was also well-known for his work in tag teams with fellow Native American wrestlers, especially Chief Little Eagle and Kit Fox, winning tag team titles in the NWA's Dallas, Georgia, and Tri-State territories. He also worked with a number of other tag team partners, including Johnny Weaver, Abe Jacobs, Red McIntyre, and Haystacks Calhoun. In his 24-year career, Vest wrestled fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pawhuska, Oklahoma
Pawhuska ( osa, 𐓄𐓘𐓢𐓶𐓮𐓤𐓘 / hpahúska, ''meaning: "White Hair"'', iow, Paháhga) is a city in and the county seat of Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named after the 19th-century Osage chief, ''Paw-Hiu-Skah'', which means "White Hair" in English.Jon D. May, "Pawhuska." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.'' Accessed 30 Jan 2010 The Osage tribal government, which opened offices in Pawhuska in 1872 when its reservation was established in , continues to be based in Pawhuska. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haystacks Calhoun
William Dee Calhoun (August 3, 1934 – December 7, 1989) was an American professional wrestler, who used the professional name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun. Early life Born on August 3, 1934, William Dee Calhoun grew up on a farm in McKinney, Texas; a rural suburb located in Collin County about north of Dallas. By age 14, he already weighed , as he routinely ate a dozen eggs for breakfast. By the time he was in his early 20s, Calhoun weighed over . Legend has it that Calhoun was discovered by a traveling wrestling promoter that saw him pick up and move cows across a field. Calhoun first broke into wrestling in 1955 and he began competing for local promoter Orville Brown. Professional wrestling career Initially performing under the name "Country Boy Calhoun", he performed in various regional territories, including Houston, Kansas City, and Canada. However, he first appeared nationally on Art Linkletter's '' House Party'', a televised variety show where Calhoun t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New Mexico on the west, and Colorado on the northwest. Partially in the western extreme of the Upland South, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-most extensive and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 28th-most populous of the 50 United States. Its residents are known as Oklahomans and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City. The state's name is derived from the Choctaw language, Choctaw words , 'people' and , which translates as 'red'. Oklahoma is also known informally by its List of U.S. state and territory nicknames, nickname, "Sooners, The Sooner State", in reference to the settlers who staked their claims on land before the official op ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stadiums Limited
Stadiums Limited is an Australian company established in the late 1890s that owned and administered four venues on Australia's east coast at West Melbourne Stadium, Sydney Stadium, Leichhardt Stadium and Brisbane Festival Hall. It was founded in 1915 by John Wren and Dick Lean Senior who acted as the general manager. Incorporated in its final form in 1915, prior to this, Wren worked with Lean Senior, purchasing the various locations, including the site of what became the West Melbourne Hall, and ultimately Festival Hall from Reginald (Snowy) Baker. Stadiums initially began presenting both boxing and professional wrestling. Wren, as he did in other parts of his life, offered a great deal of money to boxers and wrestlers to perform. The operations of Stadiums Ltd changed in the second half of the 20th century, as the venues began to be predominantly used for live music and for television broadcasts. Notably, it was Dick Lean Junior as the promoter and Managing Director of Stadiums ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance
The was the first professional wrestling promotion to be based in Japan. It operated from 1953 to 1973. History JWA under Rikidōzan (1953–1963) Rikidōzan, a former ''rikishi'' ( sumo wrestling practitioner) who had debuted as a Western-style professional wrestler in 1951, decided in 1953 to establish a territory that would represent the National Wrestling Alliance in Japan. In those early days, Japanese professional wrestlers came from out of the sumo or judo ranks; former sumotori usually used their shikona (Rikidōzan, Azumafuji, Toyonobori, etc.) while former judokas usually used their real names or modifications of them ( Masahiko Kimura, Michiaki Yoshimura, etc.) Rikidōzan pushed himself as the top star of the promotion, first battling other Japanese wrestlers such as Kimura and Toshio Yamaguchi, but found a strong niche in feuds with American wrestlers such as Lou Thesz, The Destroyer and Bobo Brazil. In 1957 he defeated Thesz to win the title that would be the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NWA Hollywood Wrestling
NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It was founded in 1958 as the North American Wrestling Alliance, a member of the National Wrestling Alliance. It broke away from the NWA in 1959 and was renamed Worldwide Wrestling Associates in 1961. In 1968, it rejoined the NWA and adopted its final name, remaining a member until closing in 1982. History In 1942, Frank Garbutt, vice president of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, hired former California State Athletic Commission inspector Alvah "Cal" Eaton as the promoter of the Grand Olympic Auditorium at the advice of his secretary, Aileen LeBell. Eaton and LeBell married in 1948, and over the following years the couple became major professional wrestling and boxing promoters in Southern California. By the early-1950s, the Eatons, along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western States Sports
Western States Sports (also known as the Amarillo Territory) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Amarillo, Texas in the United States. Founded by Dory Detton in 1946, the promotion enjoyed its greatest success in the 1960s and 1970s under the management of Dory Funk and, later, his sons Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk, with its top performers including the Funks themselves and Ricky Romero. Western States Sports promoted professional wrestling events in multiple cities across West Texas including Amarillo, Abilene, El Paso, Lubbock, Odessa, and San Angelo, along with Albuquerque in New Mexico, Colorado Springs and Pueblo in Colorado, and the Oklahoma Panhandle. Sold by the Funks in 1980, the promotion closed in 1981. History Western States Sports was founded by Dory Detton in 1946. Detton staged his first show in the Tri-State Fairgrounds on March 14, 1946, marking the first professional wrestling show to be held in Amarillo in over five years. In October 1951 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the promotion competed with other promotions such as NWA All-Star Wrestling and Pacific Northwest Wrestling and regularly ran events in Calgary's Victoria Pavilion, Ogden Auditorium and the Stampede Corral between 1948 and 1984. Bought out by promoter Vince McMahon, the company was briefly run by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) before being sold back to the Hart family the following year. Run by Bruce Hart until January 1990, he and Ross Hart reopened the promotion in 1999 and began running events in the Alberta area. Along with its wrestling school known as " The Dungeon", many of the promotion's former alumni becoming some of the most popular stars in the World Wrestling Federation and other American promotions during the 1980s and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maple Leaf Wrestling
Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name in the 1970s and 1980s of the professional wrestling promotion run by Frank Tunney in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History Queensbury Athletic Club The promotion, initially known as the Queensbury Athletic Club, traces its roots back to 1930, when it was launched by Jack Corcoran, who had previously promoted boxing in Toronto under the Queensbury name. Initially, Corcoran was involved in a promotional war with rival promoter Ivan Mickailoff, but after Corcoran allied himself with the new Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931, he took control of professional wrestling in Toronto. The Gardens would remain the main venue for the promotion for more than 60 years. The Tunneys take over Corcoran stepped down in 1939 and was bought out by his assistants, John and Frank Tunney. John died just a few months later, and the promotion was then run by Frank. Through most of the 1940s and 1950s, Frank Tunney's biggest star was local hero Whipper Billy Watson ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kola Kwariani
Nicholas Nestor "Kola" Kwariani ( ka, კოლა (კოლია) ქვარიანი) (January 16, 1903 – February 27, 1980), known by the ring name Nick the Wrestler, was a Georgian professional wrestler and chess player. Early life Kwariani was born in Kutaisi, the son of Nestor and Caserines (née Kesaria) Kwariani. Professional wrestling career Kwariani had been a Greco-Roman champion in Europe before the war and a professional wrestler in the United States afterward. He participated in many wrestling matches, most famously with "Mr. America" Gene Stanlee, which was featured as one of the top 10 matches of the wrestling Golden Era in the U.S. From 1959 to 1960, he coached Antonino Rocca. From 1959 to 1962, he closely worked with Bruno Sammartino. Chess career According to ''Chess Review'' magazine, Kwariani was the only chess-playing professional wrestler in the U.S. In the 1950s, he was an active player at the Chess and Checker Club in New York City, also known a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promotion emerged as a cornerstone of the National Wrestling Alliance. By the 1980s, Jim Crockett Promotions was, along with the World Wrestling Federation, one of the two largest promotions in the United States. The Crockett family sold a majority interest in the promotion to Turner Broadcasting System, which was acquired by Time Warner (later became WarnerMedia from 2018–2022, now known as Warner Bros. Discovery) in 1996, resulting in the creation of World Championship Wrestling from 1988. History Early history (1935–1952) Jim Crockett (1909–1973) was a promoter of live events including professional wrestling, music concerts, plays, minor league baseball, and ice hockey. In 1935, he founded his own professional wrestling promotion, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Quinn
Edmund R. Quinn (May 22, 1906 – December 14, 1965), was an American manager and professional wrestling promoter in Canada and the United States. He grew up in Massachusetts and organized boxing and wrestling events in New England and such cities as St. Louis, Missouri, Chicago, Illinois, and Montreal, Quebec. Bringing gimmicks and showmanship back to professional wrestling in Montreal, he helped restimulate local interest in the sport. Quinn died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1965. Early years Quinn was born in Waltham, Massachusetts and got involved in boxing as a youth. He later took a job as a taxi driver in Brookline, Massachusetts. In the 1930s, Quinn began promoting professional wrestling shows in Massachusetts, where he had a business relationship with fellow wrestling promoter Paul Bowser. Montreal Quinn’s big break came on July 27, 1939, when the Montreal Athletic Commission granted him rights to promote wrestling events in the Montreal Forum. He chose to avoid th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
