Make Believe Mayhem - Wrestling Highlights - Part 1
Make Believe Mayhem - Wrestling Highlights - Part 1
Master 1815 - Tape 1 and 2 Say what you will about professional wrestling, but one would be hard-pressed to refute its lasting cultural significance. Still scoffing? Well, take a look at this film and re-tool yer thinking. Where else would you see well-dressed white men and women-- adults and children-- cheering Hispanics, foreigners, flamboyant showboats, black women and American Indian midgets beating up white folks, the latter being the bad guys? Remember, this was in the early sixties, not exactly a time of racial harmony, regardless geography.
Make Believe Mayhem - Wrestling Highlights - Part 1
Opening Titles
Make Believe Mayhem - Wrestling Highlights - Part 1
"Barefoot Boy from Buenos Aires": JOHNNY VALENTINE vs. ARGENTINA ROCCA (Antonino Rocca); great C/As audience really getting into match; MSs men entering ring; TLS/MSs headlocks, chops, dropkicks, stomps, torture rack submission hold, punches, etc; hammy stuff, Johnny Valentine playing the heel role magnificently while Antonino Rocca is the people's champ (babyface); even the ref gets involved!
Make Believe Mayhem - Wrestling Highlights - Part 1
"Bad Guy Wins": DICK THE BRUISER vs. PEPPER GOMEZ; MSs men entering the ring, legendary Dick the Bruiser (Richard Afflis) playing the absolute heel role; MS/TLSs gouges, punches, stomps, chokes, chicken wing submission hold, dropkicks, kneelift, airplane spin; MS Dick posing after win, antagonizing the crowd; C/As crowd cheering, applauding, yelling, standing.
Make Believe Mayhem - Wrestling Highlights - Part 1
"Gimmicks Galore": RICKI STARR vs. THE ZEBRA KID; hilarious TLSs Ricki Starr (in ballerina gimmick) prancing about the ring in tights & ballet shoes, passing out small slippers to female members of audience while opponent in zebra mask waits patiently; TLSs Starr playing up pansy image by tip-toeing, being light on feet, slapping opponent's butt, etc. TLSs Irish whip, dropkick, somersault, chops, shoulder blocks; Starr wins, does pirouette; C/As white women in audience laughing, having a ball.
Make Believe Mayhem - Wrestling Highlights - Part 1
"Bulk vs. Berber": MIGHTY JUMBO vs. THE SHEIK; MS bald bulky bearded Jumbo entering ring; MSs legendary heel The Sheik (aka The Original Sheik Ed Farhat) in robe and headdress entering ring, sinewy veiled woman dubbed the Princess in tow; the Princess showers rings with incense; TLS Sheik threatening to hit slave girl The Princess if she doesn't leave the ring (drawing heel heat); MS/TLSs wrestlers throwing each other out of the ring, slamming into ring post; the Sheik tears the ropes form their moorings and uses them against Jumbo; the Sheik wins this chaotic early hardcore match; C/As crowd taunting, threatening the Sheik.
Make Believe Mayhem - Wrestling Highlights - Part 1
"Four's A Crowd": ARGENTINA ROCCA and MIGUEL PEREZ vs. EDDIE & JERRY GRAHAM; MSs men walking through crowd past camera, entering ring; TLS men signing autographs from apron; TLS/MSs monkeyflips, lock-ups, chopping, kicking, double teaming, punching, dropkicks, Irish Whips, torture rack-- even a steel chair; the babyfaces win. "
Make Believe Mayhem - Wrestling Highlights - Part 1
"Six is a Mob": THE SHIEK & THE GRAHAM BROTHERS vs. ARGENTINA ROCCA, MIGUEL PEREZ and HAYSTACKS CALHOUN (the "600 lb" legend and his hillbilly gimmick); MSs The Sheik (Ed Farhat, wearing Arabic outfit) entering ring, veiled slave girl holding aloft incense; MS Rocca talking to referee; pure mayhem once the bell rings; nice acrobatics from Rocca; LS/MSs bodyslams, submission holds, stomps, chokes, etc.
Make Believe Mayhem - Wrestling Highlights - Part 1
"Scale-Size Mayhem": midgets match between BILLY THE KIDD and SKY LOW LOW (heels) vs. RED FEATHER (an American Indian) and BROWN PANTHER (a black man); MSs men entering the ring; TLS/MSs stomps, dropkicks, airplane spins, flips, etc; very violent match, more so than usual, with peculiar comedic interludes; C/As audience laughing, applauding.
Make Believe Mayhem - Wrestling Highlights - Part 1
"Dangerous Dames": JUNE BYERS vs. PENNY BOTTLE the Blonde Bombshell; MS Penny in ring; MS June signing autographs; MSs stomps, Northern Lights Suplex and bridge, submission holds and reversals, monkey flips, knee lifts; June wins; MSs Penny starting fight with ref, running away; MS June holding title, waving to crowd, leaving ring.
Make Believe Mayhem - Wrestling Highlights - Part 1
"Unharmonious Quartet": APPLE JOHNSON & RAMONA ISABELLE vs. MARVA SCOTT and BABS RINGO; women's tag team, all black (African-American) participants; MS/LSs flying mare, reversals, leglocks, fists, submission holds, double teams, dropkicks; C/As audience yelling, applauding, getting into match.
Make Believe Mayhem - Wrestling Highlights - Part 1
DO NOT USE End Titles