Wrestling From Maple Leaf Gardens – January 17, 1957: What Goes Around Stays Around
Wrestling From Maple Leaf Gardens
Date: January 17, 1957
Location: Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentator: Dave Price
I think the title speaks for itself here but the date is what interests me the most. Unless I’m missing something, this is the oldest full show I’ve ever seen by a pretty wide margin. I’m not even going to pretend to have an idea of what to expect here so this is pretty much a blind trip back several decades. Let’s get to it.
Dave Price, our host and commentator, runs down the card and MY GOODNESS that ring is huge. It’s probably a good six or more feet bigger than what we see today. That has to be a boxing ring.
Billie Red Lyons vs. Baron Gattoni
We get the official introductions and Price spells the ring announcer’s name (Jerry Hiff) for some reason. Lyons is a Canadian mainstay and wrestled until the 80s while Gattoni (a rather stocky guy) was mainly a territory wrestler who never became a big star. Gattoni shoves him around to start and easily gets in a slam as Lyons can’t do much with someone his size.
A headlock works a bit better for Lyons until Gattoni runs him over with an elbow to the face. Lyons works on the arm so Gattoni grabs the hair to break it up. Back up and Lyons hammers away on the ropes until a single forearm drops him again. The bearhug goes on and Lyons gives up at 3:50 (Other places list the time at 8:48 so either the other places are incorrect or that’s a heck of an editing job).
Rating: C+. Gattoni was a monster with some size and power and I could easily see him being brought in as someone to wreck various people. That’s what he did here and there is a good chance that he would be moving on to face one of the biggest stars. It’s simple and basic stuff but they sold it well so points for making something work.
Post match Lyons is out and does not move for well over three minutes until a stretcher is brought to the ring. That’s some GREAT selling and makes Gattoni look like an even bigger monster.
Miller Brothers vs. Ken Kenneth/Pat Flanagan
The Miller Brothers are Bill and Ed, with Bill being a future AWA World Champion. Bill and Kenneth get things going and Bill, the smaller of the Brothers at 290lbs, works on the arm to start. That doesn’t work so we pause for a meeting with Ed, who apparently advises a hair pull. Bill works on the arm for a change but Kenneth is quickly in the ropes.
Kenneth seems hesitant about a handshake so Bill grabs a full nelson and Ed gets in a cheap shot from the apron, followed by some rather evil choking. Bill works on the leg but the referee shoves him away, allowing Flanagan and Ed to come in for a change. Flanagan is rather energetic and some mule kicks have Ed bailing out to the floor. A tag on the floor doesn’t count so Ed has to come back in, much to his chagrin.
Flanagan manages to send the Millers into each other before Ed takes him down by the arm to slow the pace. The arm cranking continues and Ed kicks him in the ribs, only to get caught pulling the trunks. That’s good for a break…so Ed is right back on the arm. Makes sense. Flanagan reverses into a headlock but Ed breaks it up with a shot “right in the tummy”.
Bill comes back in to work on the arm again and drags him into the corner, which draws Kenneth in for a failed save attempt. Bill throws Flanagan around and monkey flips him, only to get hiptossed down for two. It’s off to Ed, who takes Flanagan down and starts working on his leg. Some cannonballs down onto the leg set up some generic cranking but Flanagan grabs a quick backslide for two. That’s enough for the tag off to Kenneth…but the referee doesn’t see it. I’ve always loved that spot and there’s something awesome about seeing it so long ago.
Bill is right there to cut the tag off again and he switches to an armbar to keep Flanagan down. Bill’s big right hand misses though and he takes quite the tumble out to the floor so Ed grabs a choke from the apron. The referee GRABS ED BY THE FACE to pull him off but Flanagan fights out on his own and throw Bill. We even get a bit of a strut and a backdrop gets two, with Ed making the save.
A sunset flip (upside down cradle according to commentary) gets the same and they go to some grappling on the mat. It’s FINALLY off to Kenneth but Ed comes in as well as things reset. Ed gets in a bodyscissors and chokes a bit, even staying with the hold as he’s on his back and Kenneth is on his feet. It’s finally broken up so Bill kicks away on the ropes a bit. A torture rack of all things goes on, with Bill passing Kenneth over to Ed for the same hold. They pass him back and Kenneth is finally done at 18:53.
Rating: B-. It was far longer than I was expecting but dang this really kind of worked. It was a simple story and they were working with what would become a pretty standard formula. There was no hot tag in the end or anything like that but it was about the big monster team wearing the good guys down until the finish. The best thing I can say here is that it didn’t feel like a nearly twenty minute match, which is quite the good sign.
Post match the Millers beat on Kenneth and Flanagan a bit more before leaving.
Edouard Carpentier vs. Steve Stanlee
Carpentier was a huge star and an outstanding high flier while Stanlee was a guy who started back in 1947 and has a cool ring jacket. Stanlee isn’t having a handshake to start so Carpentier backs him to the ropes, where Stanlee trips him down. Carpentier trips him down for a change and Stanlee complains about a non-existent hair pull. Some grappling goes to the mat and Carpentier gets two off a rollup, leaving Stanlee frustrated.
Stanlee’s armbar is escaped with a backflip and he can’t figure out how Carpentier is doing this stuff. A headscissors is escaped with a handstand, followed by Carpentier nipping up to escape a reverse front facelock. Stanlee works on the arm a bit, only for Carpentier to do the same (not to his own arm of course). Back up and Stanlee tries his own flip and lands square on his back, with the referee even laughing at him.
Stanlee goes for the arm again and has a bit more success this time, managing to keep Carpentier down for a bit. That’s reversed into an arm crank from Carpentier, who rocks back and forth in quite the motion. Stalnee gets out and hammers away before grabbing a reverse front facelock. Carpentier backflips over him and lands on top in kind of a reverse DDT for the pin at 5:25.
Rating: B-. Carpentier is one of those guys who was WAY ahead of his time and you can absolutely see the star power in there. He could do the flips and impressive looking moves but also had a good physique to back it up. I haven’t seen much of him but everything I have seen is very impressive, which shouldn’t be a surprise given his reputation.
Post match Stanlee jumps him again and gets beaten up again, leaving an angry Stanlee in the ring.
Overall Rating: B-. This is one of those things that is absolutely fascinating to me as it’s almost seventy years old but they’re doing quite a few of the same things that you’ll see in modern times. It’s a completely watchable wrestling show and I had fun with the whole thing. That’s one of the cool things about wrestling, as while it has evolved over the years, so many of the elements are still the same. They were on display here and it was quite the easy watch with a bunch of people you might not have heard of before.
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Carpentier also trained Andre the Giant in a cool fact.
In order to make his national expansion more appealing Vince McMahon would hire wrestling legends as interviewers and commentators every time they visited a certain market so when WWE visited maple leaf gardens at the start of the expansion Billy red lioyes would be on camera for cards at the Maple leaf gardens.