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Topics: 170
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Post: #895022
PT: #1/5
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Despite a troubled end, I thought International Wrestling still hosted a pretty good roster near the conclusion of the promotion. True, it was a far cry from their 1982-1985 glory years, but upon watching shows from the last couple months and reading card line-ups/results, there were still some solid names who kept the product entertaining.
For those curious, I've constructed a list of the active wrestlers who were still competing on the IW circuit in their final month, June 1987. I've split this into listings by faces, heels, enhancement guys, and non-wrestling talent (managers, referees, etc.). I encourage your thoughts, memories, questions, etc. Add any names I may have forgotten.
Faces:
Gino Brito, Jr. (International TV Champion)
Steve Strong
Dan Kroffat
Gino Brito, Sr. (plus PBP for English and French TV)
Hawaiian Punch & The Great Mendoza
Len "Kojak" Shelley
Denis Goulet
Heels:
Abdullah the Butcher (International Heavyweight Champion)
Richard Charland & Pretty Boy Chuck Simms (International Tag Team Champions)
Kendo Nagasaki
Rocky Della Serra
The New Guinea Headhunters
Jason the Terrible (this one was the same guy who wrestled in Florida briefly as Tombstone)
Bob Della Serra
Gilles the Fish Poisson
Enhancement talent:
Yvon Laverdure
Louis Laurence
Vicious Verne Siebert
The Dragons (A pair of guys in long black-and-white tights with permed mullets and bushy moustaches, I think they may have worked here earlier in the year and in 1986 under different names)
Ludger Proulx
Tony Gatillo
Joe Milano
Non-wrestling talent:
Pretty Boy Floyd Creatchman (manager of Charland & Simms, Jason, and Rocky Della Serra, and a color commentator)
Eddie the Brain Creatchman (manager of Abdullah, the Headhunters, and Nagasaki)
George Cannon (PBP on English TV)
Reynauld Dube (referee)
Andre Roy (referee)
Albert Di Fruscia (interviewer)
Tray Travis (trainer/manager for Brito, Jr. during the latter's feud with Rocky Della Serra)
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Topics: 28
Replies: 295
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Post: #895028
PT: #2/5
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This message was edited by luckystarr on November 24th, 2016 02:18 GMT
Faces: Armand Rougeau was there until the end wasn't he? ''The Hangman'' Neil Guay too if i remember correctly
Huge lack of main event talent at the very end.
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 TORFAN |
November 29th, 2016 17:17 GMT |
 
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Topics: 119
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Post: #895593
PT: #3/5
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Yes, Vince took alot of the key guys. However, despite all of that, I still enjoyed their shows.
Also on one of 80sWrestlingBuffs full shows, Troy Martin worked against Bob De La Serra. I sent the video to Shane Douglas and he remembered working there, he said Dominic DeNucci got him and a few other trainees the gig with Gino.
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Post: #895626
PT: #4/5
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Wasn't Abdullah the Butcher a face feuding with Kamala at the promotions end?
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Topics: 170
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Post: #895756
PT: #5/5
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Quoted from: luckystarr, November 24th, 2016 02:17 GMTFaces: Armand Rougeau was there until the end wasn't he? ''The Hangman'' Neil Guay too if i remember correctly
Huge lack of main event talent at the very end.
I thought Armand Rougeau was injured towards the end of IW? Aside from seeing him accompany Dan Kroffat to the ring for a match against Ludger Proulx, I have nothing from the month of June 1987 with Armand wrestling. Ditto for Neil Guay, although the last match of his I have on DVD is a squash from March 1987 against Claude Hebert.
I concur with the dire lack of names with marquee value near the end of IW. Steve Strong just didn't work out as a lead face, especially given how well he projected arrogance in his interviews and in-ring work. He was effective at projecting the "I hate the fans and the good guys, but I hate the Creatchmans even more, so I'll team with anyone if it means I can get a crack at their guys" angle. He would have been better off as a tweener than a full-fledged face for that reason.
Gino Brito Jr., although he showed some fire in his feud with Rocky Della Serra and was capable of having a good match, just didn't have the experience, charisma, or all-around talent to carry the promotion near the end. Had Brito Jr. taken a few years to travel the other territories and build up experience, I could see him having a somewhat more substantial push upon returning to Montreal. That said, his dad was pushed into the corner with the talent losses and remaining options for guys to push to the top. I feel Dan Kroffat would have carried that role more suitably. In fact, Kroffat was being positioned into a feud with Kendo Nagasaki at the very, including a series of kendo stick matches. If IW had managed to survive another 6 months to a year, I imagine Kroffat would have either been launched into the top face position and taken the IW Title from Abdullah or turned heel and beat Brito, Jr. for the belt, assuming the plan was to have Brito Jr. beat Abdullah.
Quoted from: Dan Shocket's Ghost, November 29th, 2016 19:42 GMT
Wasn't Abdullah the Butcher a face feuding with Kamala at the promotions end?
Actually, the Abdullah-Kamala feud took place over a year earlier. Luckystarr or one of the other regulars could elaborate on how long that played out and what matches they wrestled, but the setup was that Abdullah and Kamala were teaming against Rick Martel and Austin Idol in a Paul-Sauve Arena bout. Kamala had Martel in position for Abdullah to strike, but Martel ducked in time and Abdullah ended up delivering a chop to Kamala. This caused Eddie Creatchman to enter to berate Abdullah and slap Abby. This caused Abby to snap and attack the Creatchmans and Kamala as the faces watched. Abdullah turned back heel a year later during a tag team match w/Steve Strong against Richard Charland and Buster Brody (Killer Tim Brooks playing Bruiser Brody's insane cousin). Aside from Strong mentioning on interviews that he didn't trust Abdullah but was willing to team with him because that gave Steve a chance to wrestle the Creatchman stable, there was no build up for Abdullah turning back heel.
However, there was a Kamala knock-off who had a cup of coffee in IW around March-April 1987. I still haven't been able to identify the guy who played The Great Kharma (sometimes called Kaboo) in Montreal. He was terrible and had none of Kamala's agility or ability to project any sort of menace. There was an equally bad Kamala clone who wrestled under the name (I swear I'm not making this up) Prince Kamalamala a year earlier for the Maivias' Hawaii promotion. To confuse matters even further, Tony Condello's rock-bottom (check out some footage on YouTube if you wish to see for yourself) West-Four promotion in Winnipeg used a Kamala clone named Kamala Mala. I have yet to see footage of the Winnipeg Kamala (nothing on YouTube), but I suspect he was just as pitiful as the other two clones.
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