Action Photos -- Page 1
Action Photos -- Page 1
This is "Ripper" Collins choking Pat Barrett on Big Time Wrestling. Ripper was one of the funniest people I have ever known. We went out to a restaurant near the Cow Palace one night after a show and we were all laughing so hard it was difficult to eat. Fans in the restaurant recognized him and he immediately went into a Don Rickles-like attack after the fans started making nasty remarks. No matter where I saw him, he was cracking jokes.
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This is a photo of Stan "The Crusher" Stasiak and me when I was 15. (Stan is the big guy with the cigar.) I am 6'1" so you can see how big Stasiak was. We are behind the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. He was in the main event of the first house show I ever attended. He was teamed with The Masked Gladiator against champs Peter Maivia and Ray Stevens for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Stasiak was another heel I liked a lot.
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While Mr. Paul DeMarco distracts the referee, Haru Sasaki prepares to give Ricky Hunter a chop to the throat.
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This was the card in Sacramento on August 11, 1971.
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Haru Sasaki gives Antonio Rocca a chop to the throat at the Channel 40 studios. Sasaki is using Hank Renner's table. I usually stood right behind Hank when I took pictures there. See the guy sitting at the right side of the ring post? That is my friend Bob Cartago who sold programs with me in many cities and took some photos, too. Bob and my mother often took pictures from that angle. He went to work for the WWF several years ago.
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Mr. Paul DeMarco is teaching a painful lesson to Frank Garfano in this shot on Big Time Wrestling.
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Referee Frank Nocetti gives Billy Graham an assist.
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Backstage at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, Promoter Louie Miller covers an ear as Ripper Collins teases him. Pat Patterson is walking upstairs to the dressing rooms to get ready for his match. The dressing rooms were located on a few different levels at the edge of the big stage. Ripper Collins was a really funny guy.
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In late 1972, Tag Team Champions Mr. Paul DeMarco (above) and Lars Anderson defended their belts in a rare title match on Big Time Wrestling against Pat Patterson and Rocky Johnson. There were very few championship matches taped on television.
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The Champs look pretty mad at Hank! I think they were mad because they had just found out that their title belts were on the line that night. They had been told this was not going to be a Title Match, and they were upset.
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Lars Anderson puts the squeeze on Rocky Johnson as Pat Patterson and referee Jack Holloway wait for a submission.
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Pat Patterson flips Mr. Paul DeMarco over his back.
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Rocky Johnson had thrown Mr. Paul DeMarco out of the ring. Pat Patterson is throwing DeMarco's head into a ring post.
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Mr. Paul DeMarco was seriously hurt as Lars Anderson tries to help him.
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I don't know for sure after thirty years, but the match may have been stopped by the referee because of Mr. Paul DeMarco's serious cut, leading to rematches in all of the cities where Big Time Wrestling aired.
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© Copyright 2003, 2006 Viktor Berry • All Rights Reserved
Illustrated History of Professional Wrestling in Northern California
All Rights Reserved