If anybody knows why it insists on blowing every single scan up 300%, I could use some advice.
Or I suppose I could just throw it out of a two storey window and buy a new one that isn't a bastard.
Moving on...
The following are all from the September 1966 issue of Ring Wrestling and hopefully will provide an interesting snapshot into the grappling game of those bygone days.
How often do you see a cover with women wrestlers on it these days?
Hell, I used to have a stack of wrestling mags from the 80s up to 2013 and the only
women you ever saw on any of them were in glamour shots.
I wonder who the unfortunate blonde currently suffering the wrath of June Byers might be?
The unfortunate Don Eagle.
He committed suicide in 1966 and the magazine suggests that one of the causes may have been
the way he was screwed out of the World Title in 1950, after a reign of only 3 days.
Back in the day it wasn't unheard of for unscrupulous grapplers or promoters to try pulling a fast one, which is why the champions used to be guys that had a legitimate rep as hard-cases.
Wrestling Magazines in the 1960s would apparently sneak in a gallery of lady wrestlers at least once per issue.
Nita Hagen looking lovely.
Ramona TeSelle backstage with Ada Ash.
Ada is the blonde smiling sweetly.
As well as being a wrestler, Ada Ash was a noted strong-woman.
Tell you what, go and google her right now.
The first image that comes up is of her bending an iron bar with her teeth.
Sticking with the ladies, a bit further on you get some European stars.
Yannick L'Henoff (France) shows us her serious face.
Basque wrestler Janine Sorbadhill
"Basque" as in the people who live in the Pyrenees so no jokes, fellas.
.
If I hadn't found this pic in a wrestling magazine, I'd be convinced that this young lady was a model or a dancer.
Some sort of glamour girl anyway.
You know, I am convinced that some of these girls only hung around long enough to do a
photoshoot or two then quit for a job that didn't involve being dropped on their heads.
Has anybody ever seen a picture of Janine actually wrestling.
"Wrestling Cop" Frank Holtz gets a two page feature.
Supposedly he was a real-life police officer who was also a big mat star in Philadelphia.
Another Karl now, this one being the semi-legendary "Master Of 1000 Holds" Karl Gotch.
Remember how I was talking about wrestlers with a legitimate rep? Gotch was one of them.
To this day he is revered in Japan
Supposedly there was a match he had with Lou Thesz (another bona-fide hardcase) where Karl accidentally broke Lou's ribs. Thinking he was being double-crossed, Lou promptly gave Karl a lesson in "real" wrestling. And won!
There's a generous spread on famed Greek pro-wrestlers.
Luckily, unlike the old Olympic wrestlers, these guys kept their pants on.
1930s star George Kandilis displaying a magnificent moustache.
Some more Greek (or Greek-American) grapplers, all of whom look like they'd
pull your arms out of your sockets if you annoyed them.
And lastly, try to imagine this advert appearing in a magazine nowadays.
That's right, folks, all you have to do is send me $3.98 and I will teach you how to freaking kill people!
It really was a whole different world back then.
That's all folks.
Fun to see these old pictures. My interest in pro wrestling slightly preceded this time. The big names were Antonino Rocco, Killer Kowalski, The Graham Brothers, etc. Lou Thesz was legendary but no longer active. Bruno Samartino was the upcoming star, but by then I had started to lose interest.
ReplyDeleteThat's some genuine legends you got to see there. And all probably legitimate hard men in their own right.
Deletegreat post bigD. who would have though? a wrestling pole dancer
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it Ian. Been anywhere nice lately?
Deletehullo big D.
ReplyDeleteliked the wrestler with the moustache too. those really were the days!
been living out of a pack for the last year, between Africa & Korea...& now have 2-blogs; so you'll see me out & about a little more now
Hi Dale, Great post. Brings it all back. As a died-in-the-wool wrestling tragic I recall watching the mighty Waldo Von Erich on 'World Championship Wrestling'. I remember a couple of other Von Erich's as well...Kevin and Kerry. 'The Iron Claw' hold....There's something really appealing about big strong female wrestlers.....
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it Neil.
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of Von Erichs in wrestling and unusually most of them were actually related to each other. It is more than tragic what happened to that family though. Out of Fritz Von Erich's 5 sons, 4 of them died young.
The wrestler misidentified as Janine Sorbadhill is really Margit Koltay - Hungarian, not Basque, and, quite obviously, a looker!
ReplyDeleteWeird. I wonder why the mag had her down as Janine Sorbadhill? Maybe that was what she was calling herself at the time.
DeleteGorgeous anyway.
Thanks for the heads-up Richard.
the opponent of June Byers is Penny Banner.
ReplyDeletewell spotted. Thank you.
Delete