Fritz Von Erich vs. The Ox

One of my favorite childhood babyfaces was the Ox. This is before he became famous as Ox Baker. During the introductions, the Ox would applaud himself and his opponent. As an eleven year old kid, I thought that was really neat. He would also holler "I'm not mad at you" after his opponent used dirty tactics. In promos, Fritz would say that Ox was "big as an ox, strong as an ox, and as smart as an ox."

During Fritz's program with Ox, Bull Curry was brought in to be Ox's manager. Fritz and Ox had a series of matches, some of which were tag matches involving Curry.

On May 30, 1966, Fritz and Ox wrestled in the main event in Fort Worth, which I saw in person. Paul Boesch was the special referee. I do not remember why this stipulation was put in. The match was 2 out of 3 falls with Fritz winning the first fall with the Iron Claw. Curry tried to get Ox to do some exercises between the first and second falls to get in the winning mode. Ox ignored him. However, Ox did win the second fall with a bear hug. During the third fall, Ox grabbed Fritz from behind and Curry got up on the apron to hit Fritz. I was afraid that Ox was going to get disqualified but Fritz ducked and Curry decked Ox. The result was Fritz pinning Ox and winning the match. Curry punched Fritz two or three times so the feud was not over yet.

Fritz wrestled Ox and Curry in a handicap match in the blowoff. Fritz pinned Ox with the claw and Fred Curry made the save when the claw was being applied to Bull.

After that match, Ox left the territory and became the monster heel, Ox Baker. He returned to battle the Von Erichs in the '70s.