1960s

1950s << | >> 1970s

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World Champions at the Beginning of the Decade:

* Singles titles only. Italicized letters indicate that the title is billed as an NWA title but not officially recognized by the head office.

  • Heavyweight: Pat O’Connor
  • Junior Heavyweight: Angelo Savoldi
  • Light Heavyweight: Ray Mendoza
  • Middleweight: Rolando Vera
  • Welterweight: Karloff Lagarde
  • Women: June Byers / Fabulous Moolah

1960

05 ~ 08 Minnesota
Wally Karbo and Verne Gagne, who have taken over the Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club from Dennis Stecher the pervious year, break away from the NWA and start the American Wrestling Association. Gagne is awarded the world heavyweight title and defends it for the first time on 08-16 at the Minneapolis Auditorium against Joe Scarpello.

07-17 Boston, MA
Paul Bowser, a local member between 1949 and 1957, passes away.

07-22 Oklahoma City, OK
Danny Hodge wins the world junior heavyweight title for the title time.

1961

03-04 San Francisco, CA
Backed up by Jim Barnett, Roy Shire runs his first ever wrestling card at Cow Palace in opposition to the local member Joe Malcewicz.

06-30 Chicago, IL
Buddy Rogers defeats Pat O’Connor to win the world heavyweight title at Comiskey Park.

08-24 ~ 27 Toronto, ON, Canada
The annual convention is held (Read more at mapleleafwrestling.com).

1962

04-20 San Francisco, CA
Joe Malcewicz, a local member since 1949-11, passes away.

08-09
Sam Avey, a Tulsa, OK member since 1949-09, passes away. Leroy McGuirk continues to run the territory.

08-18 Newark, NJ
Bobo Brazil defeats Buddy Rogers in a match for the world heavyweight title but refuses the victory.

08-31 Columbus, OH
World heavyweight champion Buddy Rogers is assaulted by Karl Gotch and Bill Miller in the dressing room of Fairgrounds Coliseum. Due to the injuries sustained in the attack, Rogers misses most of the bookings in September.

1963

01-24 Toronto, ON
Lou Thesz defeats Buddy Rogers to win the world heavyweight title. New York-based Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), headed by Vincent James McMahon (Vince McMahon Sr.) and Toots Mondt, refuses to recognize Rogers’ one-fall loss.

02-07 Toronto, ON, Canada
Lou Thesz defeats Buddy Rogers in a two-out-of-three-falls rematch. CWC continues to recognize Rogers as the champion, splits from the NWA, and starts the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Fred Kohler of Chicago, IL, who has a working agreement with CWC, also continues to recognize Rogers, eventually leaves the NWA, and starts the International Wrestling Alliance.

1964

10
Johnny Doyle and Jim Barnett sell their Detroit promotion to Ed Farhat (The Sheik), who establishes “Big Time Wrestling”, and move to Australia where they start a new promotion “World Championship Wrestling”.

12-14 Northampton, NH
Eddie Quinn of Montreal, QC, member between 1949 and 1964, passes away.

1965

1966

01-07 St. Louis, MO
Gene Kiniski defeats Lou Thesz for the world heavyweight title, ending Thesz’s final reign of the title.

01-10 Hollywood, CA
Cal Eaton, member between 1954 and 1956, passes away. The Los Angeles-based Worldwide Wrestling Assocaites are taken over by his widow Aileen and step son Mike LeBell.

08-07 Muskogee, OK
Ed “Strangler” Lewis passes away.

08-18 Las Vegas, NV
The annual convention is held. Mike LeBell (Los Angeles, CA) of the Worldwide Wrestling Associates is admitted to the organization. WWA world heavyweight title is retired on 12-11 by the champion Bobo Brazil.

09 Dallas, TX
Local promoter Ed McLemore splits from the Houston booking office, headed by Morris Sigel. McLemore and Jack Adkisson (Fritz Von Erich) establish Southwest Sports, Inc.

12-27
Morris Sigel (Houston, TX), member since 1949-09, passes away.

1967

02-25 Columbus, OH
Al Haft, member since 1948-10, runs his final card at Cooper Arena. The territory is taken over by Ed Farhat of Detroit, MI.

05-28 Amarillo, TX
Karl Sarpolis, member since 1955, passes away. His partner Dory Funk Sr. becomes the sole promoter in the area.

1968

1969

01-09 Dallas, TX
Ed McLemore passes away. His protégé Jack Adkisson becomes the sole promoter in the area.

02-11 Tampa, FL
Dory Funk Jr. defeats Gene Kiniski to win the world heavyweight title.

08-22 ~ 24 St. Louis, MO
The annual convention is held. Jim Barnett (Sydney, Australia) is admitted to the organization. Junzō Hasegawa, the president of the Japan Pro Wrestling Association who has been an associate member since 1967, becomes an official member and is elected to the 2nd Vice President of the NWA.

08-24 Sun City, AZ
Fred Kohler (Chicago, IL), former NWA president who is listed as one of the founding members, passes away.

09-06 Los Angeles, CA
Jack Kent Cooke and Don Fraser run their first show at the Forum with the talents from the American Wrestling Association, in opposition to the local NWA member Mike LeBell who, through the help of the fellow members, brings in the wrestlers from eight different territories to complete against the Minnesota-based group. The promotional war lasts for four months.

10-09 San Bernardino, CA
Johnny Doyle, a Los Angeles member between 1949 and 1954, passes away.

World Champions at the End of the Decade:

* Singles titles only. Italicized letters indicate that the title is billed as an NWA title but not officially recognized by the head office.

  • Heavyweight: Dory Funk Jr.
  • Junior Heavyweight: Danny Hodge
  • Light Heavyweight: Carlos Elio Colisetti
  • Middleweight: El Solitario
  • Welterweight: Karloff Lagarde
  • Women: Fabulous Moolah

1950s << | >> 1970s

Other Video Clips from the 1960s