MEMORABILIA: 1977 Booking Calendar

1977 was an eventful year for pro wrestling in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex: David Von Erich would make his wildly-applauded ring debut in June and would be joined shortly thereafter by older brother Kevin, who began wrestling full-time in August after a spectacular showing in his first bout a year earlier.  Veteran heels such as the original Sheik (Ed Farhat) and Ox Baker would travel to the Lone Star State to feud with Fritz Von Erich; Bruiser Brody was returning for the first time since his April 1974 debut in Fort Worth; and future WWE superstars Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Big John Studd and the Iron Sheik were also headlining.  David Manning would join the promotion as well in November, taking over most of the officiating duties from ailing referee Danny "Bulldog" Plechas, who by then was battling cancer.

All of these events and more are recorded in the rare volume reproduced here: the actual booking calendar used by Jack Adkisson (Fritz Von Erich) in his office at the Sportatorium in 1977.  Although it isn't quite complete (the pages for September are unfortunately missing), it's still a fascinating look at a highly interesting period in Texas wrestling.  Penciled in by Bronko Lubich are the city ("CC", on Thursdays, stands for Corpus Christi) and matches for each evening's card (or, for spot shows, the wrestlers scheduled to appear). The gate for each show is recorded in red ink, most likely by Fritz's secretary Kathy White.

Also sprinkled throughout are reminders of the availability -- or unavailability -- of various wrestlers on certain dates, as well as birthdays and other special family occasions.  You can click each image below to display a larger and more readable copy.

Our sincere thanks to Missy Hyatt for providing the scans of this unique piece of mat history!











(SEPTEMBER PAGES MISSING...SORRY)