It wasn’t always Canada Day, of course.
Up until October 1982, Canada Day was called Dominion Day, and it’s been a national statutory holiday since 1879 when it was really just called the anniversary of Confederation, which, in case you have forgotten your Canadian history, was in 1867.
But one thing that is consistent is that professional wrestling has been a part of the celebrations.
Over the last little while, I have been deep diving into small-town Ontario wrestling shows. It brings to mind a story that the great Johnny Powers once told me.
He had been permitted to promote wrestling shows by Ontario’s major domo Frank Tunney to run shows in Sharon. Powers said it took three maps before he found the spot on a map. (It’s northeast of Newmarket, so a little more than an hour from Toronto.) It’s the last card I have listed here, and worth the scroll!
In my hunting, I’ve come across more than a few July 1 shows. Here’s what I have found and what I know – part of the fun of these searches are quite simply trying to figure things out. Who was the promoter? Who are the wrestlers? And, since some of these are very early, was it what we actually know and love as professional wrestling? Or was it an amateur show? It can be difficult to surmise. The mixed shows with boxing bouts usually lead me to believe that those were more amateur exhibitions … but hey, I could very much be wrong.
And since most of these are listed cards from the newspaper, there’s no guarantee that the match actually took place.
Friday, July 1, 1932
Kirkland Lake, Ontario
(Part of the Temiskaming Firemen’s Association tournament and day of sports)
(Mixed boxing and wrestling card)
Dr. Freddy Myers vs Lionel Conacher
Count Zarinoff vs Emil Bono
NOTES: Initially, I had thought that Lionel Conacher had been mainly an attraction in and around Toronto, where Canada’s Greatest Athlete (years before Iron Mike Sharpe, of course) had dabbled in pro wrestling on top of football, track, hockey, lacrosse, and so much more. We have a feature on “The Big Train” from a few years back: LIONEL CONACHER: BIG TRAIN ON THE MAT … Zarinoff was originally from the Ukraine and used a number of variations on that name … No idea on Emil Bono or Dr. Freddy Myers …
Saturday, July 1, 1933
Weston, Ontario * Weston Fair Grounds
Tiny Gorham vs Stan Tinker
Jimmie Allen vs John Murray
Ted McKinley vs Nuggi McDonough
(Part of Weston Field Day and Fair on Dominion Day)
NOTES: This one is almost certainly amateur, since the wrestling clubs that they wrestled out of were listed.
Monday, July 1, 1935
New Liskeard, Ontario * New Liskeard Arena
(Part of the Temiskaming Firemen’s Association tournament and day of sports)
Al Mercier vs Dobie Osborne
Dr. Freddy Myers vs Henry Graber
Jack Kogut vs Roy Shepex
NOTES: Jack Kogut was a lightweight star, very high energy, and one newspaper noted he was “a wrestler who is in big demand from coast to coast.” … Al Mercier was out of New England … Somehow Texan “George David” became “Dobie” Osborne … Not much known on Roy Shepex or Henry Graber
Wednesday, July 1, 1936
Weston, Ontario * York Memorial School
(Part of the Silverthorn Amalgamated Ratepayers party)
J. Ross beat Oliver Skinner
J. Jeffries beat Fred Mason
R. LaBella beat Scottie McKenzie
Bucky Moffat beat Nick Vitor by DQ
NOTES: Almost certainly an amateur show, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t turn pro down the road.
Thursday, July 1, 1937
Kitchener, Ontario * Kitchener Auditorium
Ivan Rasputin drew with Stanley Buresh (“The Russian appeared minus his thick mat of flowing whiskers”)
Human Blimp beat Al George
Lem Stecklin (“and his pet coon” … “Hill billy boy from Smoky Mountain, Tennessee”) vs Mike Chocomia ended in a no decision
Whitey Hewitt beat Rufus Jones by DQ
NOTES: There’s no question this a pro card, just because we finally get some gimmicks! This was the original Kitchener Auditorium, not the one currently home to the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. George Hills of the Hamilton Sporting Club would have promoted this card.
Thursday, July 1, 1937
Georgetown, Ontario * Georgetown Park
Ted McKinley beat Pete Pernokis
Terry Mallard beat Bert Crothall
Referee: Jack Forbes
NOTES: Ted McKinley later becomes a promoter, mainly out of Oshawa, and was often on Red Garner shows.
Friday, July 1, 1938
Georgetown, Ontario * Georgetown Park
Jim Beamish vs Mickey Forbes
Sam Gotler vs Ernie Lake
NOTE: Jim Beamish shows up a bunch of times on results, but I don’t know much about him … I have nothing on the other three, but wonder if the referee from 1937, Jack Forbes, is related to this Mickey Forbes … Understandably, there were a lack of cards until World War II ends.
Friday, July 1, 1949
Timmins, Ontario * Hollinger Ball Park
(Part of Canadian Legion Field Day)
Saturday, July 1, 1950
Timmins, Ontario * McIntyre Arena
(Card unknown)
Wednesday, July 1, 1953
King City, Ontario * King City Memorial Park
Wrestling bouts as a part of the Sports Day & Carnival
Wednesday, July 1, 1953
Collingwood, Ontario * Collingwood Community Arena
(Card unknown)
NOTE: I wish I could find results on some of these, but that is definitely the nature of the beast with researching.
Wednesday, July 1, 1953
Stouffville, Ontario * Stouffville Arena
Bud Browes beat Bert “Killer” Conroy when Conroy broke his collar bone and couldn’t continue
(no other results)
NOTES: Bert Conroy wrestled at least another decade around Ontario … No idea on Bud Browes.
Thursday, July 1, 1954
Richmond Hill, Ontario * Richmond Hill Arena
Red Garner (Canadian Middleweight champion) beat Ed Mangotich in two out of three falls
Jacques DuBois beat Tony Rocci
Jim Krotcher beat Hassan Bey
Stoney Brooks beat Harold Van Dyke
NOTES: This is probably a show promoted by Red Garner and he had a crew that he used regularly. Andrew Calvert has a great piece on Garner over at his website: Red Garner: The Pride Of Langstaff … Jacques DuBois is probably a very young “Bearman” Dave McKigney … Ed Mangotich became a star in England … Hassan Bey was not Ali Bey, though it’s easy to confuse …
Tuesday, July 1, 1958
Barrie, Ontario * Barrie Arena
Bill Curry beat Shag Thomas in a Death Match
Professor Toyama beat Bob Boyer
Jack O’Reilly vs Dinty Parks (North American Junior Heavyweight champion)
Promoter: Northland Wrestling Enterprises (Larry Kasaboski)
NOTES: Now we’re talking, with some well-known names. Larry Kasaboski didn’t run Barrie in later years, but did in the late 1950s. … Bill Curry was a mainstay, and featured here: BILL CURRY: UNSUNG HERO OF THE NORTHLAND … Shag Thomas was a huge star out in the Pacific Northwest but here he was just finding his legs … If this is the same Bob Boyer who ended up becoming Bobby Bold Eagle, then it’s a few years earlier than most sources say he started, but it makes sense since he was a Toronto guy … Professor Toyama could be just about anyone … We wrote about Bill “Dinty” Parks when he died in 2004 … Dunno much on Jack O’Reilly
Monday, July 1, 1963
Barrie, Ontario * Barrie Arena
Yukon Eric vs The Beast
Terrible Ted (bear) vs Jack Dubois (Gene Dubois)
The Masked Destroyer vs Lorenzo Parenti
Killer Kowalski vs Tony Parisi
NOTES: Would you call this a pretty stacked card? How the heck does Killer Kowalski end up listed at the bottom of the ad? (Assuming it was indeed Walter.) … The Beast would have been John Yachetti … Do I need say much about Yukon Eric? Or Tony Parisi? Of course not … Bearman McKigney faces one of his early bears and he probably promoted this show … Lorenzo Parenti / Parente later ran a bar in Nashville … The Masked Destroyer is NOT Dick Beyer, since he was in California at the time, but no way to be certain who it actually was.
Wednesday, July 1, 1964
Georgetown, Ontario * Georgetown Arena
Professor Hiro beat Yukon Eric by DQ in the second fall
Scufflin’ Hillbillies (Rip and Chuck) beat Fred Atkins & Mephisto in two straight fans
Suni War Cloud drew with Ike Eakins
Referee: Bunny Dunlop
NOTES: All these names were regulars in Toronto so this is likely a Frank Tunney-promoted card. … lots of people used the Mephisto and variations thereof through the years … Another wrestler out of Quebec became the Suni War Cloud as seen on International Wrestling in the 1980s and this is not him … Fred Atkins not only wrestled but he later refereed (slowly) and trained Tiger Jeet Singh and Adrian Adonis, among others.
Thursday July 1, 1971
Sharon, Ontario * Sharon Arena
Whipper Billy Watson & Haystack Calhoun vs The Love Brothers
Whipper Watson Jr. vs Red Pollard
Dewey Robertson vs Mr. X
Joey Russell vs Frenchy Lamont (midgets)
NOTES: Though I mentioned earlier that Johnny Powers running Sharon, I am not certain this is his card, as he was involved with the NWF in upstate New York by this point … So I will guess that it was either a show promoted by Whipper Watson himself — who lived very locally — or by the Love Brothers, who promoted a number of shows in this era … Who was Mr. X? … Joey Russell was from out in Alberta, but not much else is known about him, whereas I have spent a lot of time with Frenchy Lamont and have collected his story, as featured in The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Storytellers … Red Pollard was a local wrestler and his sister, Kathy, briefly wrestled, er, exhibition-ed, at a time when women weren’t allowed to wrestle so they did judo demonstrations. … You have to be careful when you see Whipper Watson Jr. listed, as both of Whip’s kids, John and Phil, used the name, but Phil was younger and wrestled far longer so this is likely him. … As for Dewey Robertson, I miss the big lug.
Happy Canada Day! Happy Dominion Day!
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