|
|
Post by beejmi on Jan 1, 2024 19:54:48 GMT
Where did Rivera go from there?
And better question, any idea of Rivera 'today'?
|
|
|
|
Post by beejmi on Jan 1, 2024 19:58:17 GMT
I have heard Rivera passed on but nobody really seems to be 100% sure of that
|
|
|
|
Post by chall on Jan 1, 2024 20:10:36 GMT
Where did Rivera go from there? And better question, any idea of Rivera 'today'? No idea. The IWA was already in a state of transition. By this time Jack Reynolds, Tex McKenzie, Cowboy Bob Ellis, Ivan Koloff, Rip Hawk and Ernie Ladd had left the IWA. OX Baker and Thunderbolt Patterson had left even earlier. Tommy Young has said that the last Eddie Einhorn show was the October 2, 1975 in New Haven, Conn. Ernie Ladd was supposed to face Mil Mascaras for the title but was replaced by Larry Heineimi. That is another story as when Larry showed up on IWA tv in the spring of 1975, he wrestled under his real name and wore red trunks and black boots. But without explanation during the summer he put on his Anderson trunks and boots and wrestled on IWA tv as Lars Anderson. Then in the fall of 1975 he was back to wrestling under his own name. I never figured that one out. |
|
|
|
Post by Papa on Jan 2, 2024 4:05:55 GMT
I think George Cannon was one who cleaned up on the remnants of the IWA.
|
|
|
|
Post by chall on Jan 2, 2024 18:49:48 GMT
In 1977 when the IWA was winding down, Johnny Powers, Bulldog Brower and Karl Von Stroheim were the remaining headliners. During September of 1977 Bulldog Brower and Karl Von Stroheim were seen working with other independent promotions. In early October 1977 the American Wresting Federation hosted by Charlie Babb had taken over the IWA tv time slot in my area. During the 1981-1982 tv season reruns of the 1975-1977 IWA show returned to some UHF stations in North Carolina. Johnny Powers came back and ran a few house shows that included Bulldog Brower and Mighty Igor. Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by Papa on Jan 2, 2024 21:29:03 GMT
Rivera must have been paid well for him to jump to the IWA from the WWWF, although he may have been figuring his time with the WWWF was coming to a close anyway.
|
|
|
|
Post by chall on Jan 3, 2024 13:39:25 GMT
The day the lawsuit ended. Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by chall on Jan 6, 2024 14:29:33 GMT
Cowboy Bob Ellis, Jack Reynolds, Tex McKenzie, Hartford and Reginald Love with their manager Al Costello. Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by chall on Jan 7, 2024 22:29:56 GMT
Here are the tv stations that aired the IWA show in the summer and fall of 1976. Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by Papa on Jan 7, 2024 23:00:57 GMT
Here are the tv stations that aired the IWA show in the summer and fall of 1976. The Tyler Brothers…Rip and Buzz? This is the same as “Avalanche” Buzz Tyler? Never knew he was in this team. Brower and Igor were tag champs? The IWA had all kinds of titles. |
|
|
|
Post by chall on Jan 8, 2024 11:34:08 GMT
Here are the tv stations that aired the IWA show in the summer and fall of 1976. The Tyler Brothers…Rip and Buzz? This is the same as “Avalanche” Buzz Tyler? Never knew he was in this team. Brower and Igor were tag champs? The IWA had all kinds of titles. Yes to all. Brower turned hero and remained so until around April 1977. Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by chall on Jan 8, 2024 13:45:28 GMT
Here is another IWA Title. Johnny Powers continued to defend the City Championship into 1977 in Durham, NC Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by chall on Jan 9, 2024 13:58:50 GMT
Here are the stations that aired the IWA show early on in 1975. The second one on the list should be Lynchburg, VA channel 13. Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by tamalie on Jan 10, 2024 17:17:44 GMT
Eddie Einhorn founded a sports syndication service called TVS in the late 1960s. There was no such thing as ESPN back then, so syndicators ensured coverage for lots of games and events that the networks didn’t want or didn’t have time to air.
The bread and butter of TVS was college basketball. For many years it produced the regional broadcasts for NBC. As many as 6 to 8 games would air regionally on NBC as part one of a doubleheader while the network would produce the nationally televised main game in the second part of the doubleheader. TVS also sold individual games and conference packages directly to stations.
TVS also aired golf tournaments, tennis (both tournaments and made for TV matchups of top stars for big prize money), auto racing, non New Year’s Day college bowl games, the college all star games that would follow the bowls, and other sports. In 1974 TVS aired games of the WFL which was an ill-conceived and poorly executed attempt at taking on the NFL.
TVS was the key to the IWA getting syndicated nationally at the beginning when it aimed at being a nationwide and major league promotion. TVS already had a network of stations it could call on to air the IWA. I believe some leveraging was done by bundling TVS properties with mainstream sports when making deals with stations. One issue was that most stations that aired TVS sports productions were independent stations that already aired the local promotion’s show and wanted no part of the IWA.
After the attempt to run nationally ended and Johnny Powers took whoever was left to North Carolina to challenge Crockett, TVS was no longer involved although the group was able to get locally produced TV in the Greensboro/Winston-Salem area.
|
|
|
|
Post by 1978fan on Jan 14, 2024 20:02:29 GMT
Here are the stations that aired the IWA show early on in 1975. The second one on the list should be Lynchburg, VA channel 13. Interesting that WOR is Monday 1 AM. Here is what I found on ebay - Saturday at Midnight. Attachments:
|
|
