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Do you have questions or comments about the Babe of the Day or the Hunk of the Day?
Are you a wrestler who would like to be featured?
Email Karen Belcher at kabelchr@verizon.net

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Do you have questions or comments about the Babe of the Day or the Hunk of the Day?
Are you a wrestler who would like to be featured?
Email Karen Belcher at kabelchr@verizon.net

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Mr. J’s cartoon Drawing Blood appears in Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine every month. Now look for a new On the Mat every Monday here at PWDigest!

Questions or comments about the On the Mat cartoon? E-mail kabelchr@verizon.net

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Mister J has an invitation for all his readers:

Be sure and check out my blog to see what you have missed in the last two years if you haven’t been paying attention: http://onthematwrestling.blogspot.com/ And then come back here again next week, and see what’s been happening On The Mat.

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Friday, March 19, 2010
5:30pm – 8:30pm
Easton Area High School in Easton, PA
1278 William Penn Highway
Easton, PA

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Last Year. June 11th, 2009. Easton Area High School and Technology Student Association presented the first ever Pro Wrestling event in Easton Area High School history. This year March 19th , 2010 It’s All Happening Again! Proceeds will Benefit Haiti!

Featuring:
Easton vs. P’Burg
Women’s Wrestling
ROH Stars
Live Band Plethora!
Former WWE Superstars
Nunzio and Balls Mahoney
and Much MORE!!

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Bryan Clark & 150 other Celebrities

Saturday, March 20, 2010
8:00am – 7:00pm
Pasadena convention Center in Pasadena, California

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Former World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation Superstar Bryan “Adam Bomb” Clark will be appearing at “Autograph Nationals”

March 20th, 2010
At
The Pasadena Convention Center

OVER 150 Celebrities
will be in atendance.

Show Hours:
Saturday 9:00 am to 7:00 pm

$20.00 admission when you buy now (pre-purchase tickets get in at 9am) or
$30.00 at the door (day of show purchase doors open at 10am)

http://www.autographnationals.com/

Catherine Hicks (7th Heaven)
Jim Kelly (Enter The Dragon)
Shirley Jones (The Partridge Family)
Familt Ties Cast (Michael Gross & Meredith Baxter)
Ed Gale (Child’s Play & Howard The Duck)
Ginger Lynn Allen (The Devil’s Rejects & American Pie Band Camp)
Stacy Burke (The Girls Next Door)
Devin DeVasquez (Can’t Buy Me Love & Playboy Playmate)
Chanel Ryan (Supermodel)
Tito Santana (WWF Wrestling Legend and Wrestling HOF)
Scott Schwartz (The Toy, Kidco & The Christmas Story)
Frank Stallone (Rocky, Hudson Hawk & Easy Kill)
And Many More!

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Monday, March 15th, 2010:

WWE @ San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California, USA
CMLL @ Arena Puebla in Puebla, Mexico
DGPW @ Hungnam Hall in Kumamoto, Japan
NJPW @ Tsubame Civic Gymnasium in Niigata, Japan

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– Devin Cutting

http://prowrestlingevents.tk

http://myspace.com/prowrestlingevents

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http://prowrestlingevents.tk
http://myspace.com/prowrestlingevents
http://fans.wwe.com/prowrestlingevents
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indy-wrestling

Have you ever teased the idea of becoming a professional wrestler?  Wondered about what’s exactly going on inside the ring?  Well brought to you by our colleagues at Fordela we present to you, Slam U! the only iPhone app of its kind.

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School is in Session at Slam U!

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Professional Wrestling Video on Demand

24 hours a day at www.ClickWrestle.com

School is in Session at Slam U!

Have you ever teased the idea of becoming a professional wrestler?  Wondered about what’s exactly going on inside the ring?  Well brought to you by our colleagues at Fordela we present to you, Slam U! the only iPhone app of its kind.  With head instructors and longtime ClickWrestlers Oliver John and Melissa Anderson (Cheerleader Melissa/Alissa Flash) as your instructors you are guaranteed to be given a through experience of what is happening inside the ring.

The app hosts a variety of lesson’s including, basics, attacks, holds, counters, and more.  Learning alongside Slam U! students Christina Von Eerie and Ulysses, there is sure to be something that even the most diehard wrestling fan will never have even realized was happening.

Once you have completed your course there is much more to do, there is a sampling of ClickWrestle matches available to download straight to your iPhone or iPod Touch.  Also included in the app is a news-feed to get the latest in the world of wrestling.  So once you graduate from Slam U! there is still reason to keep coming back for some higher learning.

ClickWrestler of the Week: Awesome Kong

There is little doubt that Awesome Kong has taken to world of women’s professional wrestling by storm.  Awesome Bombs and Implant Busters have moved her from menacing gaijin in Japan, to star in America, leading to where she is now, the single hottest free agent on the market right now.  Where will Kong wind up?  That remains to be seen in the future, but what you can see now is our full library of footage spanning her entire career.  Check out these staff picks:

Mercedes Martinez vs. Awesome Kong

Cheerleader Melissa vs. Awesome Kong

Daizee Haze vs. Amazing Kong

Wrestling Promoters – Make Money with your Footage

Are you looking for a new revenue source? Look no further than ClickWrestle as an exciting way to offer your wrestling footage to a world-wide audience. We make it easy for you to get started by offering a secure, easy to use system. ClickWrestle has been offering the best in professional wrestling footage online since 2001 and we welcome you to join our team.

Click here to access our Content Provider Sign-up Form

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Do you have questions or comments about the Babe of the Day or the Hunk of the Day?
Are you a wrestler who would like to be featured?
Email Karen Belcher at kabelchr@verizon.net

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Do you have questions or comments about the Babe of the Day or the Hunk of the Day?
Are you a wrestler who would like to be featured?
Email Karen Belcher at kabelchr@verizon.net

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Remembering The Professor

In this business I’ve met many a class act, from Lou Thesz to Dick Hutton to Bruno Sammartino. But there was one class act people told me about whom I never got the chance to meet. And that was Angelo Poffo. Besides being an exceptional grappler he was also an exceptional human being. From all accounts Poffo was one of the true gentlemen of the game, gracious and modest with the fans outside the ring, but also most protective of the rule of omerta. He was one of the few grapplers who took his family with him when he traveled, and thus it was no surprise that he stayed married to the same woman for 60 years. He got his two sons into the game and they also turned out to be stars who didn’t need their father to hand them numerous championship belts in order to be over with the fans. They were already over, and their careers were proof of that fact. His death on March 4th only deepened my regret at not meeting him, for he was an intelligent man, and I’ll bet he had a lot of stories to tell. Now I see him in Heaven’s Cauliflower Alley Club, sitting with Thesz, Blassie and Hutton, sharing the stories I never got to hear.

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Angelo Poffo was born John Angelo Poffo on April 10, 1925, in Downers Grove, Illinois, the son of Italian immigrants. He made a name for himself at DePaul University, where he majored in physical education, as a catcher on the baseball team, being known for an outstanding glove but a so-so batter. His baseball career came to an end when he was plunked rather hard. From then on he became plate shy to the point where he realized he would have to give up the game. He was also a competitive chess player, winning several local tournaments. Enlisting in the Navy during World War Two, Poffo served at San Diego as a pharmacist’s mate. He spent his free time in the weight room, working on his physique, an obsession of his dating back to being knocked around by bigger and tougher boys as a child.  He set a world’s record for sit-ups, completing 6,033 in four hours and ten minutes. He achieved instant celebrity status on the base, with the word of his feat spreading beyond the confines of the Navy. The people from the popular Ripley’s Believe It Or Not comic strip contacted him, and showcased his achievement in their newspaper strip.  They also presented him with a gold belt emblazoned with his record.

He returned to DePaul after the war, where he met future wife Judy Sverdlin, also a physical education major. Their decision to get married was a bold one because Judy was Jewish. Interfaith marriages were strongly discouraged in those days, especially in the Midwest, where Anti-Semitism was still in bloom. Angelo also found his career calling after the war when he stopped by Karl Pojello’s gym on Chicago’s south side to work out. There he ran into old classmate Carl Engstrom, who wrestled for DePaul and helped run the establishment. Engstrom complimented Poffo’s physique and emphasized a career in professional wrestling, offering to train Poffo for the game. He made his wrestling debut in Beloit, Wisconsin, in 1949, losing to Ruffy Silverstein. He then put in his time doing local shows around Chicago, including a few carnivals in the Illinois countryside. Occasionally he would work the undercard for promoter Fred Kohler at the Marigold Arena.

He and Judy then traveled to Columbus, where Angelo’s wrestling career began to take off. Deciding to become a heel due to his dark looks, he modeled his style on Professor Roy Shire. He soon formed a tag team with fellow heel Frankie Talaber, and several of their matches were televised on the old Dumont Network, giving Angelo national reach. A couple of years later he began teaming with Bronko Lubich, who later became his manager. As a single, Poffo became the Man to Hate, especially with manager Lubich at ringside. Poffo used to proudly boast in interviews after retirement that his fellow Italians came to see him to cheer, but his antics were so despicable they, too, turned on him with a vengeance. Poffo would spend most of his match building up the babyface, then Lubich would interfere at ringside, giving Poffo the upper hand, and sometimes, the victory. It all made for a great show and Poffo began to be in demand in other territories as well. Poffo used a reverse neck-breaker as his finisher, calling it “the Italian neck-breaker.” It was an effective and good-looking finisher, also used by such as Freddie Blassie, except that Poffo leaped in the air before coming down.

It was during this time that he won his first belt – the Midwest Heavyweight Title – from David Johns on August 9, 1956, in Milwaukee. Shenanigans involving Poffo’s manager, Lubich, caused the promoter to vacate the title. A tournament was held, which saw Bill Melby defeat Billy Goelz in the finals. Poffo then won the title for a second time, defeating Melby in Milwaukee on May 25, 1957. Melby then won it back the next month.

Though he may have played the heel, Poffo was one of wrestling’s most generous and decent men, known for his sense of fair play. In 1958 he was driving Joe Louis, who by this time had become a wrestling referee. They stopped at a restaurant, but Louis was refused service because of his color. So Poffo ordered to go and brought the food back to the car so he and Louis could eat. Another time Poffo was working in West Virginia, doing his usual heel routine, the crowd rioted. Later, from the sanctuary of another town, Poffo asked the promoter if the riot was because of his antics. The promoted told him that the crowd rioted because his opponent was black, and although people in that time had no problem with blacks boxing whites, the thought of a black man’s skin touching a white man’s was too much for them to take. Poffo’s response was to ask to work the same town with the same opponent to teach the folks a lesson, but the promoter, knowing of the crowd’s proclivity for guns, wisely said no.

The highlight of Poffo’s wrestling career was when he won the Chicago version of the United States Heavyweight Title from Wilbur Snyder on December 27, 1958, in Cincinnati in a televised bout. Poffo’s next move set the tempo for wrestling history. He and Snyder took the belt and defected to Detroit, selling the title to Bert Ruby, Jim Barnett, Harry Light and company. After several lucrative rematches, Snyder would regain the belt on May 2, 1959, in Detroit, and from then on the belt stayed in Detroit, becoming the central piece of the promotion. Poffo then re-teamed with Bronko Lubich and toured the Dallas-Houston area, winning the Texas Tag titles on May 12, 1962, from Pepper Gomez and Dory Dixon in Houston before dropping them back in the same city a month later. After a year or two, Poffo migrated to Dick the Bruiser’s WWA promotion in Indianapolis, where he and the original Nicoli Volkoff (Steve Gob) defeated The Bruiser and Wilbur Snyder for the WWA World Tag Title. They dropped the titles back a month later.

Poffo joined with Chris Markoff in 1966 to form a very effective tag team called the Devils. Managed by 18-year old Bobby Heenan, they became two time holders of the WWA Tag Title, winning the first time from Snyder and Luis Martinez, and the second time from The Bruiser and the Crusher.  In 1973 Poffo teamed with Ken Dillinger (Ken Russell) called themselves The Graduates. They were managed by a young Mark Manson (Mark Kroll). His last title hurrah was in 1975, when he and son Lanny won the Detroit version of the U.S. Tag title from Fred Curry and Bobo Brazil in Detroit in June, 1975. They dropped the belts a couple of months later to the team of The Mighty Igor and Hank James.

When Randy was old enough to wrestle, Angelo bought into Emile Dupre’s Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling in Canada’s Maritime Provinces. Angelo didn’t hold any titles, but worked under the hood as The Masked Carpet Bagger. His ring attire consisted of a yellow mask with a dollar sign on the forehead and a blue sequined jacket with a big dollar sign on the back. However, as Grand Prix worked only in the summers, Poffo cast around for another territory to run. He found such an environ in the Lexington, Kentucky, area. It was rarely visited by other promotions and seemed ripe for a promotion of its own. In 1978 Poffo, along with sons Lanny and Randy, founded International Championship Wrestling. At the time they were working Memphis for Nick Gulas, being paid peanuts, and looking for opportunities. As always in wrestling, when a new kid moves in, the old kids, even if they weren’t using the playground, wanted compensation. The leading voices in this demand were Ron Fuller’s southeastern Promotion and Nick Gulas’ Mid-American Promotion out of Memphis. Instead of paying indemnity, though, Poffo stole several of Fuller’s stars: Ron Garvin (brought in as ICW Southeastern Champion), Bob Roop, Bob Orton, Boris Malenko, and Ron Wright all left for ICW. This act of ingratitude on the parts of the wrestlers earned them a blacklist with other promotions, and because ICW didn’t affiliate itself with the NWA, it was branded an “outlaw” promotion.

Angelo Poffo couldn’t have cared less. In addition to his roster, he brought in stars like Ernie Ladd, Ox Baker, Thunderbolt Patterson and the Sheik for guest appearances. Though they were past their prime, they were still names and had good drawing power. He also developed young talent like George Weingeroff (son of famed manager Saul), Crusher Broomfield (George Gray, who later went on to become The One Man Gang) and Don Starr (who later became Eric Embry). Poffo also ensured they would draw by featuring them on his television show, which he syndicated to several local stations in his territory.  He further used the show to conduct a war with his competitors, breaking kay fabe by revealing real names and other embarrassing facts. He didn’t break kay fabe for his promotion, though. From the beginning, Randy Savage was billed as ICW Heavyweight Champion, the story being that he won the belt from Lanny Poffo in Halifax. Lanny and Randy were not acknowledged as brothers at first, but word travels through the fans’ grapevine, and in 1980 it was left to Ronnie Garvin to state on television that the two were indeed brothers.

Randy went on to refine his working “Macho Man Savage” gimmick that would serve him well later for Jarrett and the WWF. ICW television also had a soon to be famous announcer, Liz Hulette, who would later marry Randy Savage and gain fame as Miss Elizabeth. But here she was strictly an announcer. Savage’s manager was Steve Cooper. Savage and Lanny would swap the title back and forth for most of the promotion’s tenure. Angelo also worked himself under a hood as The Miser, using the same costume he had employed in the Grand Prix, but aside from a brief run with the Television Title, he held no other belts. In a later interview he said he learned from the lesson of The Sheik, who burned his promotion beyond saving with his constant holding of the main belt.

The peak years for ICW were from 1980 to 1983. Attendance was good and the promotion entered a messy feud with Jarrett and Lawler’s Memphis promotion, the low point of which came when Savage threatened Lawler in a Memphis bar. But as attendance declined Angelo began giving serious thought to closing down the promotion. He gave Randy permission to leave in 1983. And where did Randy go? Why to Memphis, of course, where Lanny and Angelo joined him in 1984 as Angelo closed the promotion in and sold its assets to Jarrett and Lawler. Paul Christy tried to revive it a few months later, but by then it was too late, and the promotion folded for good in 1988.

Poffo continued to work for Jarrett as well as a few independent promotions. His last match was against Luis Martinez in 1991. His last appearances were in WCW in 1995 managing Randy Savage. The highlight of this stint was when Ric Flair jumped him and applied the figure-four leglock. I remember seeing this on television and thinking to myself that Angelo at his age was in better shape than Flair. WCW returned the favor of his presence by inducting him into their Hall of Fame the very same year.

Finally saying goodbye to the game, Angelo and Judy retired to Florida, where Angelo spent his last days. They had built up a good nest egg, for Angelo always saved his pennies. He was known for being frugal and his masked name of The Miser was an inside joke on his frugality. He and Judy also had good pensions to lean on, for Judy worked in the school system, and as his wrestling career wound down, Angelo also worked teaching physical education. He was a figure of a bye-gone era in pro wrestling, one that we’ll never see again. And we are all the poorer for it.

– The Phantom of the Ring

You can write to the Phantom care of Karen Belcher

kabelchr@verizon.net