Action Photos 23

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The Great Pampero

Pampero Firpo was known as the Wild Bull of the Pampas. He is walking around the ring with his shrunken head before his match in this picture. He was loudest wrestler I have ever heard. When he shouted "OOOH YEEAAAH!" in the Cow Palace, everybody heard him! He was definitely one of a kind. When I was really young I was never quite sure just how strange he really was. He had a very strong accent (he really is from Argentina) and I remember he always called Hank "Meester Honk" in his interviews. He stared into the cameras for a long time and turned his head sideways, kind of like dogs do when they are trying to figure out what you are doing. I recently read a great interview with Pampero in Mike Rodgers' Ring Around the Northwest newsletter and he sounds like a really interesting guy. I wish I got to know Pammpero better when he was in Roy's territory, but he stayed pretty Kayfabe while he was here. I talked to him a few times and gave him some pictures without getting bitten, but we had no deep conversations about anything. He is now living in San Jose and working as a personal trainer I think.

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Pepper Martin put his Sleeper-Hold on a masked wrestler I don't recognize. Larry Williams is checking to see whether the masked man is unconscious or not. Who was that masked man? Does anyone know?

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Pepper Martin seemed to have the advantage during his entire match with the masked man.

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On another night, Pepper Martin talked to Promoter Roy Shire during his run as cohost of Big Time Wrestling.

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The Night Pat Patterson Became A Good Guy

This photo was taken the night Pat Patterson turned babyface. He's telling Hank Renner about the disagreement he had with Lars Anderson and why he just knocked Lars out. You could hear a pin drop in the studio that night as the studio audience started to realize what was happening. Pat wasn't screaming like he usually did and then Hank held out his hand to shake hands with Pat for the very first time. Everyone was floored when Hank Renner said "Good Luck, Pat" and Pat said "Thanks Hank," after years of spitting out "Renner" at the top of his lungs. Fans who saw this episode of Big Time Wrestling still remember it very clearly.

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Another look at Lars Anderson unconscious on the studio floor. The chair leaning on the wall in the top left corner was Pat's weapon of choice.

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As Pat Patterson listens in the background, Roy Shire and Pepper Martin discuss what just happened during a commercial break. Lars Anderson was out cold for quite a while. I wish I had a videotape of that evening.

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Dr. Richard Russell (on the left side of the monitor) had just revived Lars Anderson and talks to a cameraman while Roy Shire watches him get helped to the dressing room by the one and only Leroy Drake. It was a night the studio audience will never forget.

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Copyright 2003 Viktor Berry •

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Illustrated History of Professional Wrestling in Northern California

All Rights Reserved Roy Shire Hank Renner Miki Garcia Pro Wrestling Wrestling pictures history Sacramento Memorial Auditorium Stockton Sacramento San Francisco Cow Palace Stockton Civic Auditorium

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