When Wrestling Was Rasslin'

by Birkholz, Wrestling Promoter Peter

Gorgeous Gino and Tommy “Wildfire” Rich put on a show with their Texas Death Match inside the steel cage. Gino was the controversial winner, an important step for him on his way to the top of the business. As for Tommy “Wildfire” Rich, he continued to headline across the nation, never missing a beat.

  The fierce battle between Mil Mascaras and Manny Fernandez had the Mexican fans on their feet and screaming during the entire confrontation. There were Mexican flags waving and chants of “Mexico-Mexico-Mexico” from every section of the sold-out crowd. Mascaras was the ultimate winner; however, the battle got out of hand as both men had to be physically separated. Even though Mascaras’s hand was raised, much to the delight of thousands of Mexican wrestling fans, they wanted more. That would come later when the two superstars met in a “Mexican Death Match” two weeks later in the same Coliseum.

  Chief Wahoo McDaniel was victorious over Tully Blanchard in the “Indian Strap Match”. The sold-out crowd erupted into a thunderous celebration as Wahoo kept his perfect winning record. Devious Tully Blanchard attacked Wahoo from behind, however, and injured the Indian star. The feud would continue.

  Did our fantastic team effort create the “Greatest Wrestling Card in Houston Wrestling History?” Fans and historians may debate that for some time. But was it a promotion that changed Houston Wrestling history? Absolutely!

  Houston Wrestling was alive and well, but the time for change had arrived. Houston Wrestling could be successful, even without Paul Boesch. Never again would there be just one captain at the wheel of the Houston Wrestling promotion!

  AFTER MAY 14, 1982

  American Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion Nick Bockwinkel was a guest at Paul Boesch’s home on the night of May 14, 1982. Boesch and Bockwinkel had a friendship that dated back to the 1940s, when Paul met young Nicki, the son of Paul’s good friend Warren Bockwinkel. Boesch watched Nick grow up and develop into one of the premier professional wrestling stars in the business. The relationship grew through the years as both men respected each other and enjoyed each others’ company.

  For many years, Nick Bockwinkel and Boesch had had unofficial conversations about what would happen after Boesch retired from the professional wrestling business. Bockwinkel had asked Paul to let him know when that time came, because Nick was interested in buying the Houston Wrestling promotion. Nick knew that he could not wrestle forever, and if he wanted to stay involved with the business that he loved, he would need to be associated with a professional wrestling promotion. Boesch was interested in selling the promotion to Nick, whom he felt would make a great promoter and would add a vital, personal touch. That was important to Paul Boesch. Both men agreed to continue the conversation when the time came.

  The emotional high from the huge success of Friday, May 14th created that moment. Bockwinkel was very impressed with the gate and by Houston Wrestling’s prospects, so he approached Boesch at the breakfast table the next morning. Boesch, due to health reasons as well as other personal reasons, felt the time had arrived for him to start to pull out of the Houston Wrestling promotion. After finishing breakfast, they went upstairs to Paul Boesch’s office and finalized the deal.

  Nick Bockwinkel wrote out a check for the down payment and immediately acquired ten percent of the Houston Wrestling promotion. He agreed to buy the remainder on an installment plan. Both men were very happy with the deal. That Saturday afternoon I received a phone call from an elated Nick Bockwinkel informing me that he was buying the Houston Wrestling promotion and wanted me to stay on as a partner.

  I informed Nick that I had started to make arrangements to go back to teaching at the university and work on my PhD. Nick asked me to please wait and give him a year to finish out his wrestling commitments. He also needed the time to buy a house in Houston and move from Minneapolis. I, too, had a great deal of respect for Nick Bockwinkel and was very appreciative of the help he'd given me in promoting the show the night before. I told Nick that I would stay on one year and help him with the transition from AWA World Champion to his new career as the Houston Wrestling promoter. I was given ten percent of the Houston Wrestling promotion, and it was agreed by all three parties that the transaction would remain private until Nick Bockwinkel wanted to make an official announcement.

  Shortly after the deal was completed, Boesch received a phone call from Mid-South Wrestling President Cowboy Bill Watts during our usual Monday morning strategy meeting. Paul signaled for me to stay in the office while they spoke. Watts, never known for beating around the bush, came right out and asked Paul if he was ready to sell the Houston Wrestling promotion. Boesch informed Watts that he had just sold the promotion to Nick Bockwinkel and thanked him for his interest.

  My uncle looked at me after he hung up the phone and asked what my thoughts were. I told Paul that Bill Watts was an outstanding promoter and had done a great job raising the Mid-South Wrestling promotion to an all-time high. I had been watching Bill Watts for a couple of years and traveled to some of his big shows, including one at the Superdome to which he drew nearly forty thousand fans. That had been the same night that Junkyard Dog approached me about working Houston. I suggested to Boesch that we might want to meet with Bill Watts and listen closely to what he had to say.

  My uncle called Bill Watts back. A meeting was arranged, and Watts came to the Houston Wrestling office with a very interesting and lucrative proposal. It was not just the financial offer that interested Boesch and me, but the fact that being partners with Cowboy Bill Watts would mean a stable supply of top wrestling talent from his booking office. A deal was cut for Bill Watts to initially buy one-third of the Houston Wrestling promotion from Boesch, with an option to purchase the remaining third later and buy Paul Boesch out completely.

  Although Nick Bockwinkel was disappointed, he knew he could not move fast enough to buy the entire Houston Wrestling promotion immediately. He was also a smart businessman who realized the association with Bill Watts would make the Houston Wrestling promotion big enough and strong enough to withstand any assault on the Houston market by Vince McMahon Jr. and his WWF.

  We also knew that if Bill Watts was not allowed to be a partner, that he and his Mid-South Wrestling organization were in a great position to move into the Houston wrestling market on their own. After the numbers had settled, Paul Boesch owned one third of the Houston Wrestling promotion, Bill Watts had one third ownership, Nick Bockwinkel had eleven percent ownership, and I had twenty-two percent ownership. The Houston Wrestling promotion was no longer a business entity owned by Paul Boesch. It was now a full-fledged corporation owned by four different entities.

  Now that the ownership interests were determined, the next order of business was to decide how the operating structure would be established. Cowboy Bill Watts called and wanted to meet with me to discuss how the new corporate promotion would be structured. I agreed to see him in his motel room to start preliminary discussions.

  On the drive to the motel, I reminded myself to keep an open mind and be prepared to make some sacrifices in regards to the duties and responsibilities that Paul and I had in the past. I knew that in the area of creativity, Paul and I would have to relinquish much control. It was with great anticipation that I went to the face-to-face meeting. In typical Bill Watts fashion, he did most of the talking, and I did most of the listening. However, I liked what I was hearing. Bill Watts wanted to keep it very simple and effective. He insisted that he have control over the wrestling talent, the dressing room, and have a major voice in the production of the Houston Wrestling television show.

  I would be in charge of all the administrative responsibilities, including the ticket office at 1919 Caroline, the arena box office, the staffing of the promotion, and all promotional activities outside of the wrestling ring. It was not easy giving up control of the creative aspect since I found that to be the most challenging and rewarding aspect of promoting professional wrestling. However, I knew that Bill Watts was one of the best in the business, and that this would free me to spen
d more time focusing on what I knew well--the promotion of the wrestling show itself. The meeting was quick and decisive, the structure fell into place, and the Houston Wrestling promotion became bigger and better than ever before.

  Bill Watts did an excellent job with his responsibilities, which encouraged me to put everything I had into mine. Boesch remained the figurehead of the Houston Wrestling promotion, a role he welcomed since he was still intending to slowly ease out of the professional wrestling business. Paul was starting to face more health challenges, but he enjoyed the limelight and his new role gave him limelight without the stress and headaches.

  It did not take long to realize that working with Bill Watts would be very different than working with my uncle. In the first week of Watts handling the wrestling talent, I received a phone call from the Cowboy who informed me that Ted DiBiase, a wrestler in our main event that night, had broken his hand in a match in Corpus Christi. I said that it was a shame that our first night of promoting together would involve a damaging substitution, especially for the main event. Cowboy Bill Watts screamed, “What the hell are you talking about? I said he broke his hand, not his neck.” Ted DiBiase was in the ring that night.

  Yes, the Houston Wrestling promotion was in for a change, one that allowed Paul Boesch, Bill Watts, Nick Bockwinkel, and myself to make a lot of money in the years to come. Promoting professional wrestling with Bill Watts was serious business and that is exactly what the new promotional team did for the next four years---serious business.

  After both Bockwinkel and Watts bought into the Houston Wrestling promotion, securing top wrestling talent was no longer a problem. Bockwinkel provided a strong connection with Verne Gagne and the American Wrestling Alliance, while Watts provided plenty of top talent from his booking office, and also developed his own wrestling talent. Watts was a genius in that regard, and was responsible for many of the top stars in the business. Paul Boesch and I kept securing additional talent from our own connections and relationships with other promoters.

  In addition to the stars already mentioned, Houston fams watched The Mongolian Stomper, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Terry Gordy, Killer Khan, Ken Lucas, Dick Murdoch, Ted Dibiase, Dos Caras (brother of Mil Mascaras), Mr. Wrestling II, El Gran Apollo, Ray Candy, Gene Lewis, Coco Samoa, and Kamala, the Ugandan Giant.

  One of the most entertaining stories at Houston Wrestling that year was the phenomenon of “Stagger Lee.” It all started with the Junkyard Dog losing a hotly-disputed loser-leave-town match with Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Television cameras caught Jim Duggan cheating with Ted Dibiase to defeat JYD, but JYD still lost the match and had to pack his bags. Or did he?

  Next week on the television show, a masked man calling himself “Stagger Lee” showed up and claimed to be a good friend of the Junkyard Dog. He looked just like the Junkyard Dog. He talked just like the Junkyard Dog. He even howled just like the Junkyard Dog. He also wore a t-shirt that said, “I am not the Junkyard Dog.” Of course he was the Junkyard Dog! Some of the television interviews that Junkyard Dog, excuse me, Stagger Lee, produced were classics. In one such interview, Stagger Lee claimed he would prove once and for all that he was not the Junkyard Dog. He excused himself, and all of sudden the Junkyard Dog comes in front of the camera with his hair messed up from the fact that Stagger Lee had quickly removed the mask. The Junkyard Dog hadn't even taken the time to comb his hair. JYD told the announcer he would bring back Stagger Lee, and, when Stagger Lee returned, his mask was on crooked. The interview was hilarious, and wrestling fans loved the gimmick.

  Naturally Ted Dibiase and Hacksaw Duggan were furious and protested to the “wrestling officials.” When the protests failed, they vowed that they would unmask Stagger Lee and prove once and for all that it was indeed the Junkyard Dog. As you can imagine, this only added fuel to the fire as Dibiase and Duggan battled “Stagger Lee” in all the Mid-South markets and everybody made big bucks. You couldn't do this in football or baseball--only professional wrestling!

  Due to the changes made in the Houston Wrestling promotion, 1982 was a super year for wrestling talent. And this was just the beginning!

  The new corporate Houston Wrestling promotion made important changes to the Houston Wrestling television show and to the scheduling of live shows. The success of our Friday, May 14th, show proved that the promotion did not have to run on a weekly basis to be successful. With careful planning, a bi-weekly promotion could be more profitable than a weekly promotion. We also had access to more wrestling action on tape, which was plenty for the two television shows on Channel 39 each week. The promotion taped matches from the live cards at the Sam Houston Coliseum and combined that with wrestling action from the Mid-South television show to produce two action-packed television shows each week. This formula was a big hit with wrestling fans. Ratings began to rise alongside box office receipts.

  While there were many changes, there were many Houston Wrestling traditions that remained. One of those was the Twenty-Two-Man Two-Ring Battle Royal starting off the new year. The event had become such a success that there were years where the Houston Wrestling promotion would promote the Battle Royal on July 4th weekend. As long as the cash registers kept ringing, the Houston Wrestling promotion would promote the action-packed event. The Ugandan Giant, Kamala, won, but only after he received illegal help from Jim Duggan to beat the favorite, Tony Atlas. Kamala rampaged through all opposition, either legally or illegally. Fans screamed for someone to stop him. As always, Houston Wrestling promoters met these demands, and brought in Andre the Giant to face Kamala in a “Battle of the Giants” on Friday, January 28th. Andre came to Houston and once again, good won over evil.

  Due to the fact that Tony Atlas was cheated out of the $25,000 prize money in the Battle Royal, “Mr. USA” was given an opportunity to settle the score. Atlas got his revenge the next few weeks as he defeated Jim Duggan and later Kamala. Justice was served in the professional wrestling world. If only that could be the case in real life.

  In the early months of 1983, the dressing room was full of talent. AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel was making more trips to Houston to defend his title, which Houston fans were starting to respect more than any other title in the business. Bockwinkel was taking a more active role in the promotion since he was now an eleven-percent owner, which made him a great asset inside and outside the ring.

  On Friday, May 20, fans watched two World Title matches on the same night. For Houston Wrestling fans, it was the first time that both the American Wrestling Alliance World Title and the WWF World Title were at stake. AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel took on a serious challenge from Dusty Rhodes, while WWF World Champion Bob Backlund, battled Afa the Samoan.

  The revitalized Houston Wrestling was becoming a magnet for even more stars and box office attractions. Fans watched King Kong Bundy, Butch Reed, Steve “Dr. Death” Williams, Larry Zybsco, “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer, Big John Studd, Russian star Nicoli Volkoff, The Iron Sheik, General Akbar, Krusher Darson, Mr. Olympia, Matt Borne, The Super Destroyer, Magnum Terry Allan, the Missing Link, Jim “The Anvil” Niedhart, and the Midnight Express tag team managed by Jim Cornett.

  The 1983 season saw the return of Jose Lothario. Lothario made several appearances that year, delighting fans who had cheered him on for over twenty years. Lothario always gave one hundred and ten percent. He was also one of the finest individuals that ever stepped into any wrestling ring in any town, and gave wrestling fans their money’s worth.

  Another special event was the debut of Steve “Dr. Death” Williams, the outstanding collegiate wrestler and four time All-American football star at the University of Oklahoma. Cowboy Bill Watts had been a great wrestler and football player at the University of Oklahoma, and took Steve Williams under his wing. His influence helped Dr. Death rise to the top of the professional wrestling world. Recently, I had conversation with Billy Sims, the sensational running back who won the Heisman trophy in 1978 while playing for the University of Oklahoma. He was one of Steve Williams’ t
eammates. With a smile, he expressed his gratitude for Dr. Death, who blocked for him and was one of the main reasons why he won the Heisman Trophy. Williams was one of many superb athletes to come out of the University of Oklahoma, including Leroy McGuirk, Danny Hodge, Bill Watts and Wahoo McDaniel. Unfortunately, Steve Williams passed away from throat cancer on December 29, 2009, but not before battling the deadly disease with everything he had.

  Those of you who are hardcore wrestling fans will quickly discover that many of the stars featured at Houston Wrestling that year went on to dominate McMahon’s WWF later in the decade. The talent enabled the new corporate Houston Wrestling promotion to shatter all annual attendance records in 1983!

  The Houston Wrestling television show was rising in the ratings as excitement rose in the ring, creating a powerful synergy. As television ratings increased, wrestlers got more excited and worked harder, producing more excitement for the television show, pushing ratings still higher and toward new records.

  By the beginning of 1984, the new corporate promotion was running on all cylinders. Paul Boesch was enjoying his stress-free figurehead role. He became an ambassador of professional wrestling during his world travels and trips to entertain television sponsors. He did some interviews to keep his well-known image on the television show, and when he was planning his long trips, we taped interviews to air while he was away. Houston Wrestling fans never knew he was playing a limited role, and that was fine with him.

  I was more comfortable with my responsibility taking care of the Houston Wrestling ticket office and various promotional duties outside of the wrestling ring. Gone were the days of getting the list of available wrestlers from the booking office every Monday morning, then meeting with Paul in his office. In those good old days, I would be sure to have the calendar book filled with the names of top stars, who we booked with our own efforts. Paul and I then drank coffee and discussed our creative strategy for the next few weeks. This discussion focused on who we would have work together. We also planned our television shows. At the same time, I took notes on what to write about in the Houston Wrestling program, and I began writing the various press releases to be sent to the local media.