50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

headquartered in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

in the United States that promoted

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

matches throughout Hawaii. The promotion was founded by Al Karasick in 1936 and became a member of the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a ...

in 1949. In 1961, Karasick sold the promotion to "Gentleman" Ed Francis. Along with his business partner

Lord James Blears Lord Blears (born James Ranicar Blears, August 13, 1923 – March 3, 2016) was a British-American professional wrestler, ring announcer, promoter, actor, mariner, and surfing personality. Early life Blears was born in Tyldesley, Lancashire, ...

, Francis created a "

golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the Go ...

" of professional wrestling in Hawaii that lasted throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, with ''50th State Big Time Wrestling'' becoming one of Hawaii's most-watched programs. The promotion came to an end in 1979 when Francis sold his interest to Steve Rickard.

History

Mid-Pacific Promotions was founded in 1936 by Russian emigrant Al Karasick. Assisted by booker Bobby Bruns, Karasick staged weekly shows in Honolulu's Civic Auditorium, which he managed. Thanks to Hawaii's tropical climate, Mid-Pacific Promotions emerged as a popular destination for wrestlers looking for a "working vacation", with high-profile wrestlers such as

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 ...

and

Rikidōzan (born Kim Sin-rak; ; November 14, 1924 – December 15, 1963), better known as Rikidōzan (), was a Koreans in Japan, Korean-born Japanese wrestler who competed in sumo and professional wrestling. He was known as The Father of Puroresu, and on ...

visiting Hawaii. In 1949, Karasick joined the

. In the early-1950s, Karasick began expanding into Japan, lobbying NWA president

Sam Muchnick Samuel Muchnick (born Jeshua Muchnick, August 22, 1905 – December 30, 1998) was an American professional wrestling promoter from St. Louis, Missouri. He is often regarded as wrestling's equivalent of Pete Rozelle (the forward-thinking commiss ...

to recognise Japan as his territory. By the 1960s, Hawaii was established as a hub for American wrestlers travelling to and from Japan. In 1961, Karasick retired from promoting, selling the territory to "Gentleman" Ed Francis, who rebranded it "50th State Big Time Wrestling". Francis continued promoting weekly Wednesday shows at the Civic Auditorium, with the venue regularly sold-out. Shortly after Francis took over the promotion, a bout between

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawai ...

wrestler King Curtis Iaukea and Samoan wrestler

Neff Maiava Neff Alfred Maiava (May 1, 1924 – April 21, 2018) was an American Samoan professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with the Honolulu, Hawaii-based promotion 50th State Big Time Wrestling in the late-1950s ...

resulted in a violent riot. Francis appointed

as booker, with Blears quickly gaining a name for his "outrageous" and "goofy" characters. The promotion's top stars included

Johnny Barend John R. Barend (March 27, 1929 – September 20, 2011), better known as "Handsome" Johnny Barend, was an American professional wrestler. Early life Born in 1929 in Rochester, New York, Barend started wrestling as an amateur at the age of eight. ...

, Curtis Iaukea,

Don Muraco Don Muraco (born September 10, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler and podcaster. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1981 to 1988, where he held the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Cham ...

, Neff Maiava,

Peter Maivia Fanene Leifi Pita Maivia (born Fanene Pita Anderson; April 6, 1937 – June 13, 1982) better known as Peter Maivia was a Samoan-American professional wrestler. Maivia was the maternal grandfather of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and was also part o ...

, and Sammy Steamboat. The promotion helped introduce several concepts that later became ubiquitous in professional wrestling, including the

steel cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

and the backstage interview. Johnny Barend became infamous for his outlandish interviews, which began with him emerging from a coffin while smoking a cigar. In 1967, Barend married Annie Lum in the ring at the Honolulu International Center shortly before a title match. Francis secured a Saturday afternoon live television slot on

KHVH-TV KITV (channel 4) is a television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Allen Media Group alongside multicultural independent station KIKU (channel 20). The two stations s ...

. As the promotion increased in popularity, it moved to

KGMB KGMB (channel 5) is a television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside NBC affiliate KHNL (channel 13) and Kailua-Kona–licensed Telemundo ...

and increased its output to two programs a week: a taped show featuring interviews, vignettes and replays on Friday nights and a live show on Saturday afternoons. Hosted by Francis and Blears, ''50th State Wrestling'' was at one point the most watched television program in Hawaii. Television tapings rotated between

, Kauai, and Maui. After the Civic Coliseum closed in 1974, Francis ceased promoting for three years. In June 1977, he revived the promotion in the

Honolulu International Center The Neal S. Blaisdell Center is a community center near downtown Honolulu, Hawaii. The complex has a multi-purpose arena, concert hall, exhibition hall, galleria, meeting rooms, Waikiki Shell and others. Constructed in 1964 on the historic ...

. With costs rising and revenues falling, Francis sold the promotion to Steve Rickard in 1979. With Francis no longer promoting,

Verne Gagne Laverne Clarence Gagne (February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer, and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrestli ...

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

expanded into Hawaii.

Championships

Alumni

* Dick Beyer * Joe Blanchard *

Nick Bockwinkel Nicholas Warren Francis "Nick" Bockwinkel (December 6, 1934 – November 14, 2015) was an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in the 1970s and 1980s. Bockwinkel ...

* Russ Francis * Mr. Fujiwara *

Giant Baba , best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter, and professional baseball player. He is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972 along with Mitsuo Momota ...

* Ripper Collins *

Hard Boiled Haggerty Don Stansauk (April 2, 1925 – January 27, 2004) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor, known by his ring name, Hard Boiled Haggerty. He was previously a professional American football player, and became a succe ...

* King Curtis Iaukea *

Killer Kowalski Walter Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008), known professionally as Killer Kowalski, was a Polish-Canadian professional wrestler. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, includin ...

* Pampero Firpo *

* The Missing Link *

Sweet Daddy Siki Reginald Siki (born June 16, 1940) is an American-Canadian retired professional wrestler and singer, best known as Sweet Daddy Siki. He is believed to be the first African-American to challenge for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Professi ...

* Sammy Steamboat *

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty ...

* Tosh Togo *

Maurice Vachon Joseph Maurice Régis Vachon (September 14, 1929 − November 21, 2013) was a Canadian professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Mad Dog Vachon. He was the older brother of wrestlers Paul and Vivian Vachon, and the uncle of wrestl ...

Bill Watts William F. Watts Jr. (born May 5, 1939) is a retired American professional wrestler, promoter and former American football player. Watts garnered fame under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a promoter in the Mid-South Un ...

* Billy White Wolf

Works

* Ed Francis (2012) ''Gentleman Ed Francis Presents: 50th State Big Time Wrestling!''

Footnotes

External links

50th State Big Time Wrestling

Mid-Pacific Promotions at WrestlingTitles.com
{{Professional wrestling in the United States 1936 establishments in Hawaii 1979 disestablishments in the United States Companies based in Honolulu National Wrestling Alliance members Professional wrestling in Hawaii