Maple Leaf Wrestling House Show
Saturday, November 17, 1982      Bell time 8:00
Fort William Gardens, Thunder Bay ON
 
We head to the outskirts of our loop.  The FAR reaches of the loop.
 

 
 
Advertised Card

• Gilles Poisson vs. Great Malumba w/ Beautiful Bruce
  
• Ron Ritchie vs. Mike Allen
  
• The Hangman w/ Beautiful Bruce vs. El Matador
  
• Karl Von Steiger vs. Chris Tolos
  
• Sheik Ali & Armand Hussein w/ Beautiful Bruce vs. Caribbean Sunshine Boys (Butcher Bond & Johnny Kincaid)
  
• Mike Miller vs. Black Angus Campbell
  
• The Bounty Hunters (Jerry & David Novak) vs. vs. The Soviets (Chris Markoff & Kortsia Korchenko)
  
• Kurt Von Steiger vs. Gene Kiniski ©  
  NWA CANADIAN HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE

 
Norm Kimber has made the trip and runs down our card.  And DON'T forget to tune in EVERY Saturday afternoon to CHFD Channel 4 for "Superstars of Wrestling".
 
Beautiful Bruce adds to the warm-up, comedy-wise.  As THE Hangman hauls out Great Malumba on the rope, Brucie takes the mic.  He IS wearing the white disco suit, accessorized with a coon-skin cap!  He's carrying a pair of snowshoes.
 
BB:  "I wanted to be sure we didn't stand out from the rest of you eskimos!  We tried getting these on Malumba's bare feet but they kept falling off.  So, huddle up - there's EXCITEMENT in the air.  You lucky fur trappers are first to see all FOUR members of Beautiful Bruce Productions at once..."
 
Match 1 - Malumba is stalking the ring as Poisson comes in.  "The Fish" is never happy to see Bruce's team and he goes right after big Malumba.  The native of the Congo jungles puts on a good show!  Bruce over-reacts as things are going well...and when not so much.  After having his head hammered into the buckles, GP is set to be flattened by a cross-ring running splash.  Got both feet up in Great Malumba's mush & adds a bulldog.
RESULT - Gilles "The Fish" Poisson pins Great Malumba @ 7::20
 
Post-match as THE Hangman is hitching Malumba back up...Sheik Ali comes out - great disappointment at GM, and lots of gesturing as he confers with Bruce.
 
Match 2 - A good-natured, sportsmanlike lead in.  Mike Allen takes the mic & says he's been around Ron out west & thinks he's the best man to get the TV title.  Shakes hand, "good luck" back-pat.  The match is smooth & spirited.  A misstep by Allen - after whipping Ritchie to a corner, he zooms in with a flying knee-lift & gets nothing but buckle.  Quick submission to an Indian death-lock.
RESULT - Ron Ritchie submits Mike Allen @ 7:50
 
Match 3 - A sequel from Beautiful Bruce Productions.  Armand Hussein is along for the ride with Coonskin Bruce and rope-flicking Hangman.  As they've finished a loop of the ring to aggravate the booing & chanting fans, we have a perky entry by the Light-Heavy toreador from down Mexico way.  The masked man plays up removing his nitwit matador cap & asking ref John Bonello to take good care of it.  Flustered ref shoves it in his pants pocket, upsetting the visitor.  BUT, this reminds the ref...he goes digging in THE Hangman's MASK!  Plenty of protests but we hit PAYDIRT!  Bonello pulls out a metal plate, fortunately his pants have lots of pockets...Hussein is very dubious.  A loaded mask for THIS pipsqueak?
 
All is quickly forgotten as the bigger mascarado is feeling sadistic.  Several near-falls interrupted by Bruce instructing him to pull up El Matador & let him know who's boss.  Hangman eventually tosses El Mat at the floor where Armand takes some cheapshots.  
 
Bruce gets hissy with hands over ears as a BRUCIE chant starts.  At that he tells Hussein to let THE Hangman finish...yikes a piledriver on the hapless hombre.
RESULT - THE Hangman pins El Matador @ 8:20
 
Match 4 - Kurt escorts baby bro Karl Von Steiger out.  He tells Kimber that there vill be hell pay if Kiniski hass not brought ze belt for him to take back to zivvilization.  Chris Tolos gets a hand as he comes to the ring.  He points Kurt to head to the back - Bonello supports the request.  Kurt laughs as he complies...no, turns to hurl a few more insults...giving Karl the pre-bell back-door quick start.  Groans as good old Chris hardly gets untracked.  Scoopslams & jackboot stomps are a recipe for disaster.
RESULT - Karl Von Steiger pins Chris Tolos @ 7:10
 
As we head to intermission, Chris dusts himself off, picks himself up & gives an appreciative wave.  Norm Kimber signals intermission is drawing to a close by havin the champ offer some words.  Vows to avenge the German sneak att ack on Chris, calls the sissies who think T-Bay is chilly, they've never been to Edmon-chuk.  Good natured banter about Canadian superiority.
 
Match 5 - We carry on in the same vein as Bruce brings out Ali & Hussein.  Sheik is playing the hypothermia card.
 
BB:  "Sheik Ali wishes this match cancelled on the grounds of weather!  If you heated this IGLOO with good ARAB OIL, we'd be very toasty - can someone in the boiler room put another log on the fire?  Anyways, Beautiful Bruce Productions is PLEASED to present - before we all freeze to death, the NEXT World Tag champs...THE ARABIAN KNIGHTS!
 
The fellows from the West Indies race in with NO complaining about the change of climate.  Johnny Kincaid starts with big Ali.  Butcher Bond does a little jogging on the apron & shadow boxing - tells the fans he and Johnny plan on staying warm by giving Brucie's men a hot time!  
 
Ali is proving to be able to back up his superiority complex well.  And has little patience when Hussein is in jeopardy.  Sense of entitlement regarding run-ins.  The CSB's are tiring of this - on the next assist for Armand, Ali is double drop-kicked to his corner.  A brief four-way before Ali decides to do it all himself.  Hussein gets a long break on the apron.  Ali is getting tired but declines several tag-out opportunities.  After he suffers a big double back-drop, Brucie is VERY anxious - he reaches under the ring...oh, THERE'S where the snowshoes ended up!
 
Bond is still struggling with Ali and turns him...just as Hussein swings a snowshoe!  Flat to back shot ain't a mortal wound, but we're playing the Sheik as a huffy, thin-skinned type - he turns to rip his "countryman" who apologetically suggests "I'm Arab, what do I know from snowshoes?"  As the fans pop, Bond rolls up the Sheik!
RESULT - Butcher Bond pins Sheik Ali @ 15:10
 
Not making a close-knit group that exits, Brucie & Hussein trail the irate big-head to the back.
 
Match 6 - Black Angus Campbell is out first.  "Mean" Mike Miller requests some mic time.
 
MMM:  "Ain't gonna lie to ya, this is a lot colder than I've been before!  But, I can't afford no excuses, sure not against my 'ponent tonight.  Don't much care iffen I hurt yore feelings, Campbell.  You had a good career, they tell me but there's a chance fer me to let the world know it's time fer some NEW blood...catch my drift?"
 
With that, he menacingly slips a black glove on his right hand!
 
Campbell does not back down or take the easy way out.  But unrelenting Miller starts getting some boo's as he plows ahead on the bleeding older vet.  Well, a piledriver always puts an exclamation point on things.
RESULT - Mike Miller pins Black Angus Campbell @ 11:00
 
 
The Soviets are out wearing their CCCP hockey jerseys!  Markoff has some warm words, I'm sure, as he rips the mic from Kimber!
 
CM:  "See, Comtade Korchenko, THIS is why you follow what I say or go sent back to SIBERIA!  Siberia almost as bad as THIS frozen outhouse, no Kimber, I not mean "outpost" - NEVER correct my talking in English...how you say, "if HELL freezed over"?  I think it DID, last week!  HERE!"
 
Match 7 - The Novaks are out & ditch their vests & hats.  Wayne Cashman, our senior ref, is tasked with eventually restoring order.  Big Kortsia is not very good at ducking clotheslines, either solo or doubles.  The Novaks are certainly showing how when the are faced with them.  Argh, off a whip, David tries a flying cross-body - Comrade Markoff catches & slams him!  Korchenko in for double duty stomping.  Jerry tries a run-in, takes a boot from Markoff to the head & is chucked over.  Korchenko hauls up David, and Markoff hits the Russian Hammer off the 2nd rope.
RESULT - Chris Markoff pins David Novak @ 9:50
 
CM:  "Comrade Korchenko, you owe me ten rubles, I said UNDER ten minutes!  Novaks, you get NO bounty hunter work because you STINKS!"
 
MAIN EVENT - Both Von Steigers are out.  Kiniski enters and waves the belt before passing it to Ron Ritchie, who escorted him out.  As Karl ain't going nowhere, neither is Ron - we have seconds.
 
And a darn good thing, after 6:00 the glowering Germans are starting to look a bit desperate - Karl has some hijinks planned on the apron but Ron gets him down right quick each time.  Even before Cashman gets diverted - he has plenty of fouls to call on Kurt (no hair pulling here, chrome vs. crewcut).  Hang on!  Gene counters a face rip with the dreaded GOATEE-GRAB!  Karl knows the peril & storms in - and clotheslines his brother when Gene swings him by the beard!  Ron in & he and Karl tango down the tunnel.  Gene never loses traction & gets an atomic drop, a bearhug, buckle smashes and the like.  A BIG body slam & the arena erupts!RESULT - Gene Kiniski pins Kurt Von Steiger @ 9:50
KINISKI REMAINS NWA CANADIAN HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
 
As the crowd stretches their legs, Norm Kimber promises a return after spring thaw.

Can't believe the Sheiks got beat. I am very excited to see how Miller comes along, along with the young lion, Ritchie. The Russians were a surprise winner over The Bounty Hunters. Kiniski brought home the Canadian honor.
 
Great show.