The Amarillo Territory: Japanese Invasion

Dan Black is a wrestling fan who grew up in Amarillo, Texas attending the matches at the Amarillo Sports Arena from 1969 - 1979.  Here are some of his memories;

Japanese Invasion 

On December 7, 1971, Terry and Dory Funk, Jr won the NWA International Tag Team Championship from Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki in Sapporo Japan. However, on May 18, 1972 Giant Baba brought the feared Seiji Sakaguchi to Amarillo to escort the belts back home. This title match was promoted several months out. 

Seiji Sakaguchi

It would be Baba's first appearance in Amarillo, however, "Big Saka" had given Junior a scare in the Amarillo Territory in the fall of 1970 and he was no stranger to the area. Japanese wrestlers had terrorized the local boys for years as the feared team of Pak Song and Al Kim nearly "killed" Terry Funk and Ricky Romero something the fans had not forgotten. This was about more than defending a championship.

A sold out historic Amarillo Sports Arena was nervous and buzzing at bell time. The Funks struggled with there bigger opponents early, both had attempted the dreaded double arm suplex but couldn't get either off the mat. Finally about 20 minutes in, Terry and Dory double teamed Baba with the suplex and Junior got the first fall. Big Saka used a knee drop to the throat to get the pin in the second. Around 40 minutes it appeared Dory was about to falter, he finally got the tag with Terry and suddenly the ring was full. 

Terry was flipped out the ring and Dory and Saka collided. Baba was covering Dory and Terry snuck in behind to drape Saka. Ref counts 1..2,Terry screams and referee Ken Farber, he's the legal man and Farber leaps over Baba/Junior and hits the mat for the three count on Saka. Titles secured!!! 

Hometown Boys prevail and National honor defended. It was a crazy night. Probably the most exciting tag match I ever seen in person. Of course, the next night the Funks lost the straps in Los Angeles, as I found out decades later. That match in LA is on YouTube in it's entirety. 

Dan Black

Roy's Review: Limitless Wrestling "Can We Kick It" April 28, 2017

Here is my review of Limitless Wrestling's Can We Kick It in Portland, Maine on April 28, 2017.

Match 1: Lio Rush defeated Jon Silver

Awesome match and an excellent opener. These guys destroyed each other trading brutal kicks. It seemed a little short but they filled the time they had with a ton of action.
9/10

Match 2: The Maine State Posse: Danger Kid & Aidan Aggro defeated Massage NV: VSK & Dorian Graves,  and Jeremy Leary & Skylar in a Triple Threat Match

Good match that had lots of fast paced action with a little comedy thrown in. Randomly during the match Leary body slammed Chris Barry. Massage NV kept trying to give a massage to Leary and he kept getting pissed. Later in the match Skylar volunteer for a massage but got stomped instead. After the match Danger Kid was really pissed at Leary and Skylar for some reason.
8/10

Match 3: Joey Janela defeated Mr. Grim

This was my first time seeing Janela actually wrestle and I was impressed. He had a great match with Mr. Grim. I was a little disappointed I didn't get to see the jumping tombstone but that's okay because the match was really good.
8/10

Match 4: Brandon Watts vs. Tyler Nitro w/Mike Gamble

This was a solid match but I kinda expected more. There was a bunch of problems between Nitro and Gamble. Gamble was trying to help Nitro but he didn't want the help. In the end Gamble caused Nitro to lose. After the match they had some words.
7/10

Match 5: Donovan Dijak defeated Mikey Webb

Awesome match. The best Mikey Webb singles match I have ever seen. Lots of hard hitting power moves and some ringside brawling as well. Check this out its really good.
9/10

Match 6: Ethan Page defeated David Starr

Another good match. These guys fought really hard. The more I see both of these guys, the more they grow on me. I was kind surprised to see Page get the win.
8/10

Match 7: Jay Freddie defeated Chris Dickinson

Awesome match. These guys beat the hell out of each other. Jay Freddie is one of the most underrated guys on the indys right now. This match was really even with both guys answer the others moves. The finish was kinda dumpy only because Barry fucked up the count which really pissed off Dickinson. Check this match out, its really good.
9/10

Match 8: Troy Nelson defeated Dick Justice w/Sidney Bakabella

If your into comedy matches, which I'm not, then you might have enjoyed this. I could do without ever seeing Dick Justice again. Almost no wrestling in this one. It really wasn't for me.
3/10

Match 9: Xavier Bell defeated Dan Barry, Josh Briggs, Jimmy Lloyd, Alexander Lee, Manny Martinez, Kai Katana and Owen Brody in an 8 Man Scramble Match

This match was really fun because there was action all over the place the entire time. Josh Briggs really impressed me. I hope he comes back. Bell got the win his sick piledriver finisher.
7.5/10

Match 10: Ace Romero defeated Michael Elgin

Great main event. These guys beat the hell out of each other with tons of hard strikes. Romero took everything Elgin had and then some. In end Ace got the win after a Boss Man Slam variation. Check this one out its great.
9/10

This show scored 77.5 out of 100 for an overall score of 77.5%. This is one of the best shows I have ever seen live and it may be the best Limitless Wrestling show in its short history. There are 3 matches rated 9/10 and there was only 1 stinker, but that really depends on taste in wrestling. Do yourself a favor and buy this DVD when it comes out. It will be worth every cent. 

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Limitless Wrestling returns to the Westbrook Armory May 13th!

That Time I Stood in Line Overnight to Buy WCW Nitro Tickets in Boston

This adventure started on Tuesday April 9, 1997 when my buddy Jay called me and said, hey want to go wait in line to get Nitro tickets tonight in Boston?  Then we can go to the Natick Mall and meet Ric Flair!  How can you say no to that?  Well I couldn't but at 17 years old my mother might have another thought about this.

I asked my mom who told me to ask my step-father Irving thinking there is no where he's going to let her baby boy skip school to stand in-line over night in Boston to buy wrestling tickets.  She was wrong, that's what you get for not wanting to be the bad guy.  The next thing she knew Irving was giving me a ride to Jay's house.  I had a job flipping burgers at Burger King so I had my own money, but my mom insisted on giving me some to make sure I had enough, and once we got to Jay's Irving gave me some more so I was set!

This was Jay & I's first big wrestling adventure together, certainly wasn't our last.  We made the 150 mile drive from Maine and got to the FleetCenter, now the TD Garden, about two in the morning on Wednesday April 10th.  There was no one standing outside the box office which was exciting, however by the time we found a parking spot and walked back to the building there were two people in line.

At the time I didn't fully grasp the magnitude of what we were doing but looking back I can see it.  Think about it, yeah I'm a senior in high school, but I'm 17 years old, Jay is only 18 at this time and we just drove down the Boston our first time on our own to stand outside on an early Spring night, in not the best part of town so we can buy wrestling tickets.  Keep in mind, this was before the internet as we know it today, you couldn't go on-line to buy tickets, there was no pre-sale, you had to go to to a licensed Ticketmaster dealer or charge by phone, but the box office went on sale about an hour before other agents.

It was very cold that night in Boston, and we had a great time talking to other wrestling fans.  I've learned a lot about wrestling fans over the last 20 plus years standing in line waiting to get into shows and one thing that remains true is that we are all there for the same thing, wrestling.  We all have our opinions good and bad, and we undoubtedly will never agree about everything, but all agree that we love wrestling.

I can't tell you anything we talked about that night, but I'm sure these are some of the topics included who is going to see Ric Flair after this, this is WCW's first time coming to Boston I bet the show is going to be amazing.  Isn't Ric Flair the man!  Damn it's cold!

Just before it was time for tickets to go one sale the staff at the Fleetcenter put us at different windows, five or six of them.  When it was time for them to go on sale the ticket agent put up the shade blocking the window and we said two tickets for front row, he printed one ticket.  So we said no, two front row.  By the time he selected two tickets we ended up with second row seats. We said, hey we want front row, he checked, they were all gone.  Seriously there are two of us standing at the window, why the hell would he print one friggin ticket!  Not going to lie, that was a bit discouraging, but hey we're going to Monday Nitro!

My actual ticket stub.  I've always saved all my tickets stubs going back to my first WWF show in 1989.

We said goodbye to our new friends, some of who we would sit near at Nitro two months later, and headed the 22 miles to the Natick Mall where "Nature Boy" Ric Flair was scheduled to make an appearance at Filene's department store, I know such an odd location.  We got to the mall and grabbed some lunch and got in line because the line was already starting to fill up.  We managed to get close enough to see the start of the line, but still had like three hours until the signing was going to start.

We took turns exploring the mall first Jay and then myself.  I went to a video store, back when we had them, and searched the wrestling tape section.  For $10 I found a Women's Championship Wrestling VHS that featured Wendi Richter on the cover.  You have to understand I was, and am, a huge Wendi Richter fan and finding this tape was pretty awesome!

I had never seen any of the matches on it before and it featured what they billed as the first ever women's Steel Cage Match with Richter defending the NWF Women's Championship against Heidi Lee Morgan.

I went back in-line with Jay and it had grown huge snaking out of the store and down the hall in the mall.  In Filene's they had televisions suspended in the departments that they use to run commercials on for the items they sold.  Someone working there had a genius idea and popped in a tape of The Great American Bash 1996 to entertain us while we waited in line.

I remember watching this live on PPV when it first aired sitting at Jay's house.  Ironically it was during Ric Flair's match when they announced The Nature Boy had arrived, and he had a surprise guest with him The Giant, now known at The Big Show.

We couldn't get photos with either of them but they were supplying an official WCW 8x10 photo that they signed for us.  I also had Flair sign what is my first ever signed wrestling trading card.  From the 1995 Topps WCW Main Event Cardz set.

I'm not going to lie, I was awestruck being in the presence of The Nature Boy!  I slid the card across the table and I said something about loving it because he has the figure four on Hulk Hogan on it.  He was smiling and said something, I don't remember because it didn't register but he was smiling.  He signed the back because he only had a black sharpie and the front of the card is so dark.  I collected the card, the photo, and shook his hand.

I took a step to the left and was in front of The Giant, as star struck as I was for Flair I was completely opposite about The Giant.  He said, "You want a picture?" I said I guess and took to 8x10 thanking him.  Jay, somehow, completely missed getting an autograph photo of The Giant, he was that star struck.  

It had been a long journey until now, and not being very well thought out in advance we both found ourselves awake for over 30 hours with only a couple hour nap.  We had a long 165 mile drive back to Jay's house and it was daunting.

The adrenaline kept us going for the most part but it started to wear off in Maine and as we neared Portland I dozed off.  I woke up a few minutes later and the first thing I noticed is that we were going exceptionally fast and when I looked over at Jay I couldn't help but notice that he was asleep!  I struck him yelling at him to wake up, and he did in a massive panic.  It was at this time we both noticed the flashing lights from the police cruiser behind us.  The adrenaline had returned in a big way in the form of heart pounding fear!

Jay had gone to college in Alaska for a semester and had just come home a few weeks back and still has his Alaska license, and the vehicle was registered to his mother.  We had been stopped for speed and Jay used the excuse that he wasn't familiar with the roads and he only got a warning.  We were extremely lucky! I don't mean because he got a warning.

That June we went back to Boston for Nitro, but that story will be in another blog post.

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