The biggest wrestling star in Texas from the '60s to the '80s was Fritz Von Erich. He was being established when I first started watching wrestling in 1964 and was a heel who rarely lost a match. Fritz would defend the Texas Heavyweight Title against the top babyfaces and heels at the time. In my opinion, he had the best heel interview of any one I had ever seen because it was so convincing. I was still convinced even thought the superintendent at my school knew Fritz as a baby and told me his real name.
The Iron Claw was a unique hold. He applied it to the head and his victim would start bleeding and submit. Later on, Fritz would shove the person down and pin him. The claw was outlawed on the Dallas studio show but was present on the arena show. The claw did not get much exposure on KTVT until around 1966 when parts of the main events were put on TV.
One night on Fort Worth TV, Fritz had a special match with Danny McShain to give a good illustration of the claw. In an interview with Paul Boesch, Fritz described how the claw was going to be used when McShain bounced off the ropes. It was applied and McShain bled and submitted. I read in Lou Thesz's book that McShain made using the blade popular. I guess that is why he was chosen to show the effects of the claw.
There is a match on one of the old Von Erich documentaries between Fritz and Joe Blanchard [11/21/66, with Blanchard winning the Texas belt]. Joe bounces off the ropes and Fritz applies the claw. Referee Marvin Jones then reaches over and blades Blanchard and blood starts gushing out of his head. This same match is on YouTube but the sequence of Joe being bladed is cut out.
After Gary Hart turned Fritz babyface, many heels were brought in over the next several years to face him. Also, the American Title was invented and the Texas Title became secondary. Fritz dropped the American Title many times over the next few years and won it back. The last time he won it back was during his retirement match with King Kong Bundy.
I wish there was still film of Fritz's matches from the '60s and '70s.
Paul Boesch, Dan Coates and the Ed McLemore-Morris Sigel Promotional War
In 1966, when the promotional war was going on, I was 12 years old and did not realize it. I remember Dallas TV had some matches from the Bronco Bowl. I just thought the Sportatorium was undergoing repairs.
Paul Boesch was announcer on KTVT. One night he was not there and there was no explanation given. That is when Dan Coates moved from ring announcer to TV announcer. Boesch's last night in Fort Worth was 8-8-66. I remember this because he was interviewing Danny Little Bear one week and Dan Coates was interviewing Little Bear the next week. Paul Boesch was really a good announcer and I hated to see him go.
There was a subtle change in the television programming on KTVT. Over the next several months, they started to show part of the main events on TV. The first partial main event to be shown on TV was the third fall of the Fritz Von Erich-Joe Blanchard match for the Texas Heavyweight Title. It can now be seen on YouTube. When Fritz turned babyface, more entire or partial main events were seen.
Another change in booking was Duke Keomuka coming to Fort Worth. He did programs with Fritz at this time in Dallas but was not used in Fort Worth. Gene Kiniski also did a program with Fritz in Dallas but did not come to Fort Worth before he was champion. Boesch may have been the booker coming in from Houston and chose not to use Kiniski and Keomuka.
Gary Hart said in his book that he came in during the promotional war. I looked back at the results from 1966 and his first match was on 10-31-66. He added a lot more excitement as did Fritz's babyface turn also because he brought in a lot of top heels to face him.
Paul Boesch was announcer on KTVT. One night he was not there and there was no explanation given. That is when Dan Coates moved from ring announcer to TV announcer. Boesch's last night in Fort Worth was 8-8-66. I remember this because he was interviewing Danny Little Bear one week and Dan Coates was interviewing Little Bear the next week. Paul Boesch was really a good announcer and I hated to see him go.
There was a subtle change in the television programming on KTVT. Over the next several months, they started to show part of the main events on TV. The first partial main event to be shown on TV was the third fall of the Fritz Von Erich-Joe Blanchard match for the Texas Heavyweight Title. It can now be seen on YouTube. When Fritz turned babyface, more entire or partial main events were seen.
Another change in booking was Duke Keomuka coming to Fort Worth. He did programs with Fritz at this time in Dallas but was not used in Fort Worth. Gene Kiniski also did a program with Fritz in Dallas but did not come to Fort Worth before he was champion. Boesch may have been the booker coming in from Houston and chose not to use Kiniski and Keomuka.
Gary Hart said in his book that he came in during the promotional war. I looked back at the results from 1966 and his first match was on 10-31-66. He added a lot more excitement as did Fritz's babyface turn also because he brought in a lot of top heels to face him.
Channel 4's Studio Wrestling and Sportatorium Wrestling
When I started watching wrestling regularly around 1964, the wrestling show was from the Channel 4 [then KRLD, now KDFW] studio in Dallas. Studio Wrestling was in black and white, came on from 5 to 6 P.M. on Saturdays and usually had three matches. It was taped on Wednesday mornings to promote the matches at the Sportatorium.
The studio show did not have theme music. A voice-over announcer introduced the show and then it turned to announcer Bill Mercer. The matches were usually one-sided to promote the big names. There was a competitive match booked every now and then. (The matches listed for Dallas TV on 3-27-65 in the Results section came from the studio.)
Fritz Von Erich wrestled occasionally on the program but usually he was dressed in a suit and did promos. He smoked cigars constantly on the show. There was a stipulation on the show that he could not use the Iron Claw. If you wanted to see the claw, you had to pay at the arena. Ed McLemore told Fritz if he used the Iron Claw on Channel 4, he would never wrestle in Texas again. I think their explanation for it was that it was too bloody for TV.
The wildest feud that I remember seeing was Fritz Von Erich and Duke Keomuka. They had a big brawl on Studio Wrestling with Keomuka using karate chops with the point of the fingers to get the best of Fritz. When Keomuka was a heel, he would always use the illegal chops behind the referee's back and win the match. He also had the stomach claw and the feud was billed as "claw versus claw." He had been turned babyface against Fritz, who broke up with Keomuka after being accidentally hit with a judo chop. Von Erich also had feuds with Bull Curry and Cowboy Bob Ellis during the studio show era.
On a Saturday in September of 1965, the show suddenly appeared from the Sportatorium with no explanation given. They would show some underneath matches and sometimes one or two falls of the main event. The main events were 2 out of 3 falls back then. The stipulation that Fritz could not use the claw on Channel 4 was also dropped without explanation.
After the show went to the Sportatorium, Fritz took exception to something that Billy Red Lyons had said during an interview. Fritz went down and challenged Lyons to a match and was pinned in three minutes. It was the only time on that show that I remember Fritz getting pinned without interference or distractions from the outside of the ring.
George Preston was the ring announcer and always showed partiality to the babyface after the introductions. I believe Sportatorium Wrestling went to color in the late 60's. The show went to about 1970 and was then dropped.
I wish the film from those shows was still available. It was much better than what is on today.
The studio show did not have theme music. A voice-over announcer introduced the show and then it turned to announcer Bill Mercer. The matches were usually one-sided to promote the big names. There was a competitive match booked every now and then. (The matches listed for Dallas TV on 3-27-65 in the Results section came from the studio.)
Fritz Von Erich wrestled occasionally on the program but usually he was dressed in a suit and did promos. He smoked cigars constantly on the show. There was a stipulation on the show that he could not use the Iron Claw. If you wanted to see the claw, you had to pay at the arena. Ed McLemore told Fritz if he used the Iron Claw on Channel 4, he would never wrestle in Texas again. I think their explanation for it was that it was too bloody for TV.
The wildest feud that I remember seeing was Fritz Von Erich and Duke Keomuka. They had a big brawl on Studio Wrestling with Keomuka using karate chops with the point of the fingers to get the best of Fritz. When Keomuka was a heel, he would always use the illegal chops behind the referee's back and win the match. He also had the stomach claw and the feud was billed as "claw versus claw." He had been turned babyface against Fritz, who broke up with Keomuka after being accidentally hit with a judo chop. Von Erich also had feuds with Bull Curry and Cowboy Bob Ellis during the studio show era.
On a Saturday in September of 1965, the show suddenly appeared from the Sportatorium with no explanation given. They would show some underneath matches and sometimes one or two falls of the main event. The main events were 2 out of 3 falls back then. The stipulation that Fritz could not use the claw on Channel 4 was also dropped without explanation.
After the show went to the Sportatorium, Fritz took exception to something that Billy Red Lyons had said during an interview. Fritz went down and challenged Lyons to a match and was pinned in three minutes. It was the only time on that show that I remember Fritz getting pinned without interference or distractions from the outside of the ring.
George Preston was the ring announcer and always showed partiality to the babyface after the introductions. I believe Sportatorium Wrestling went to color in the late 60's. The show went to about 1970 and was then dropped.
I wish the film from those shows was still available. It was much better than what is on today.
Krusher Karlssen
I will start off with one of my favorite heel gimmicks: The aviator's helmet that Krusher Karlssen used.
Karlssen also would go by the name of Swede. He was tall with a barrel chest and long, skinny arms. He wrestled in the preliminary matches and usually lost. I guess he was considered a "jobber." However, his matches were entertaining. He would use the helmet to rub in someone's eyes or hide a foreign object for a head butt.
That night, he wrestled against the Blue Avenger. Before the introduction, kids would go up and get autographs from the babyfaces. I had just gotten mine and was standing there watching before I went back to my seat. All of the sudden, Karlssen ran up and kicked the bottom rope while hollering. His goal was to make the kids scatter. I certainly got back to my seat quicker than I had planned. It was my 11th birthday that night and I guess that was his way of wishing me a happy birthday.
The match started and Karlssen beat down the Avenger. Then he climbed to the top rope to do a knee drop. Every time you would see a heel do this, the babyface would move and the heel would miss. It held true this time. The crowd came alive as the Avenger asked them for permission to punish Karlssen. The wrestlers back then knew how to work a crowd. That is one of the things missing in today's wrestling.
The match ended up being a 15 minute draw. When the ring announcer said "ten minutes" during a 15 minute time limit match, it was probably going to be a draw. When the announcer said "only two minutes time remaining," it was definitely going to be a draw.
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