Tag Archive: Historians

  1. PatMan Picks Stampede Classics.First Televised Ladder Match? Bad News Brown vs Bret Hart.

    Leave a Comment

    Welcome back to another Stampede Wrestling classic encounter as we once again travel back in the pro wrestling time machine and return to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This time around I have discovered what could very well be the first ever televised ladder match. The ladder match is of course a very popular event made very famous in the WWF. However unlike what some younger pro wrestling fans may think,Vincent Kennedy McMahon did not invent the ladder match. This type of match had been done long before it ever made its way to that big time federation. It was actually Stampede legend Bret Hart himself who suggested the ladder match type should be used in the WWF. So,when was the first ladder match, you ask? The first ever ladder match is up for some minor debate, but most “wrestling historians” strongly suggest that Dan Kroffat, way back in 1972 , invented the first ladder match in Stampede Wrestling. Kendo Nagasaki has also been mentioned, by some, as perhaps inventing the match around that same time but less confedently. In either case, no televised account of either match seems to exist but I do remain hopeful that there is some evidence of the first ladder match somewhere. I do, however, have one of the first ever internationally televised ladder matches. It involves Bert Hart and his opponent Bad News Allen ( Brown), two men who had been feuding for some time in the Stampede territory. Of course in the years to come they would continue this feud in the WWF. Enjoy this classic ladder match, possibly the first on TV, and I will return next time with more Stampede Wrestling classics! If you want more “PatMan picks” or you like video game podcasts, chech out www.wonderpodonline.com !

    [youtube bIda2Q8ghBM]

  2. Patman Picks Stampede Wrestling Classics. Young Bret Hart vs AWA World Champ Nick Bockwinkle.

    Leave a Comment

    One of the great things about Stampede Wrestling was its inter promotional matches. Many classic encounters took place in Calgary between the Stampede roster and champions from other wrestling territories such as the AWA, NWA, Japan and even other Canadian organizations. Here is a classic encounter out of Stampede Wrestlings rich past thats bound to interest wrestling historians. A young Bret Hart challenges the 4 year world title reign of the legendary AWA heavyweight champion, Nick Bockwinkle. Bret was legitimately injured at this time and, of course, in the early “learning phase” of his career. However that did not stop Bret , the future “best there ever will be” and Nick,who was at the time “the best there was” from putting on a good wrestling match for all the fans. Worth noting is the mention of Davey Boy Smith winning the Stampede light heavyweight title, earlier in that same night.  Worth also noting are the post match interviews by Ed Whalen with Nick Bockwinkle and  “Dr. D” Shultz ,who of course, competed in Stampede for several years. Dr. D also competed in the AWA, NWA, WWF and is most famous for his assault on a reporter who told him wrestling was fake! Enjoy the classic match, check out www.wonderpodonline.com for more PatMan picks and videogame podcasts, and I will see you all back here for another  “ring-a-ding-dong-dandy”, next week!

    [youtube XNp1xkXEP60]