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Action Photos 11.

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I took this backstage at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium before Rocky "Soulman" Johnson defended his title against Mr. Paul DeMarco on November 25, 1971. Louie Miller was roaming around in back and wanted to get his picture taken with Rocky. This negative was slightly damaged by a water leak during a storm, but I still like it.

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NWA U.S. Heavyweight Champion Rocky "Soulman" Johnson, minutes after shaking Louie Miller's hand. In this match, Rocky's manager was going to be Promoter Roy Shire, who obtained a Manager's License from the California State Athletic Commission to try to stop DeMarco's manager, Haru Sasaki from interfering with the match. Managers really needed to be licensed, although I think it was really established for boxing managers.

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Mr. Paul DeMarco had a tough time after one fall. Haru Sasaki tries to help him get ready for the next fall. Referee Bob Beedle is in the backgound.

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Rocky Johnson tried hard to keep Mr. Paul DeMarco down.

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The wily Haru Sasaki was tough to stop, and before you knew it, champ Rocky Johnson had been cut open. I am not sure, but I imagine Haru Sasaki played a major role in the Champ's head hitting the ringpost. Manager Roy Shire runs to help Johnson get up and back into the ring. It looks like Rocky is hiding something in his fist.

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It looks like Rocky Johnson was hurt pretty bad, as Roy Shire and Referee Bob Beadle try to get Rocky up on his feet. Sorry, but I don't know who won this match. Anyone have results for this night? I am going to start dating more of the photos so we will know what the results were for many of these matches.

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On Big Time Wrestling, taped on November 11, 1971, Pat Patterson uses the ropes to choke his opponent. Referee Jack Holloway does his best to get Pat to break before it is too late. Hank Renner has received the signal from the Control Room that it is time for a commercial because he has moved the timekeeper's bell to the center of his table. (But you didn't hear that from me.)

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Pat Patterson swears he never did it, but here is a picture of him removing a foriegn object from his mask. He had just used it to headbutt his opponent and knock him out cold. Referee Jack Holloway tries to awaken Pat's victim.

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This This was taken right after Pat Patterson took his mask off after using the foriegn object. Ripper Collins came out to do the interview with Pat and Hank Renner because they were going to be doing a tag team match that coming week.

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In one of the matches Roy Shire took part in, he was injured and had his head cut open. That's what that mark on his forehead is. He appeared on Big Time Wrestling to promise everyone that this would not go unpunished.

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Billy Graham in what I call his "white outfit" in Richmond, CA.

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This is The True Spirit of America, Billy Graham at the start of a Richmond, CA match.

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Not one of The Superstar's Prouder moments, but sometimes it was a trap.

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		I scanned this program and converted it into an Adobe Acrobat 5 file. Because it contains twelve pages of large photos, the file size is over 3MB (3,000k). I couldn't make it smaller and keep the photos in very good shape. You can download a copy of this program if you click on the program or the link below. Go to download site.

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Copyright 2003 Viktor Berry •

Illustrated History of Professional Wrestling in Northern California Promoter Roy Shire NWA Ray Stevens, Peter Maivia, Pat Patterson, Hank Renner, Big Time Wrestling, Miki Garcia

Illustrated History of Professional Wrestling in Northern California Promoter Roy Shire NWA Ray Stevens, Peter Maivia, Pat Patterson, Hank Renner, Big Time Wrestling, Miki Garcia, Pro Wrestling, Women Wrestlers