The Olympic Auditorium was such a great place to attend pro wrestling matches. I landed in California in 1973 and immediately started going there. California wrestling was then spelled T-O-L-O-S (as in Golden Greek John Tolos) and I even saw Freddie Blassey's last match there (with Tolos). It was after the days of the all-white mixed male/female audience that we see here. But it was still an adult audience with few children. Ringside seats were $5. The auditorium seemed to have been built of solid cement that hadn't been clean or painted since its construction in the early 1920's. The poorly lit hallways stunk of stale beer and perspiration. The ring announcer seen here is Jimmy Lennon, who for many years announced all the wrestling and boxing shows at the Olympic. He was known as being the best ring host in the business and was well known for being the uncle of the Lennon Sisters, a very cute and popular musical group at the time. Dick Lane was the TV announcer when I first got there. He was a well known actor in 1950's B&W gangster movies, equally adept at playing a cop or mobster. Unlike today's announcers, Dick Lane didn't take guff from any heel. Whatever they gave to him, he gave right back in spades . Dick always gave true love to the baby faces and hatred to the heels. When doing interviews his emotions could change on a dime. In my 60 years of being a wrestling fan I have watched thousands of matches and seen them from every territory. I have never seen an announcer that could touch Dick Lane in terms of interviews or announcing the action. Lane quit a few years after I got to Los Angles, at which point announcing was taken over by Gene LeBell (who with his brother were the promoters) and Jeff Walton. Nobody could hold a candle to Dick Lane and the promotion went into decline, undoubtedly fed by other factors such as inadequate parking and a high-crime location. It got so bad that even I stopped going. The territory slowly slipped away and then died when WWWF moved into town. Gene LeBell died at the age of 89 last week, the last real human connection to the glory days of wrestling at the Olympic. Years ago the Olympic Auditorium was bought by a Korean evangelical religious group and I believe they are still holding their services there. Sad.
One of my all time favorites, Mr. Moto. I surprised we didn't see him throw salt in Thesz's eyes, one of Moto's favorite heel moves. The Olympic Auditorium was unmatched for wrestling in the 60's and 70's for star power. Mil Mascaras made his U.S. debut there in July, 1968.
Très bon match! Il est sur le dvd cheap de Thesz, ça valait la peine! En passant, la compilation ROH que tu m'as acheté, c'est malade; Daniels vs Christian est l'un des meilleurs matchs ever. Merci encore, Jo 🍻
This video is like a time machine! This is how I remember the Olympic from when I went there with my dad in the 1960s! I can almost smell the cig smoke mixed in with cheap perfume and spilt beer ! Good Times!
One of my all time favorites, Mr. Moto. Surprised he didn't throw salt in Thesz's eyes, one of his favorite heel moves. Wrestling at the Olympic Auditorium was the best in the 60's and 70's, they had all the star power. Mil Mascaras made his U.S. debut in July, 1968 at the Olympic.
My first exposure to pro wrestling came in 1963 at the ripe age of eight. We had moved to Bakersfield and we got wrestling from the Olympic on the local channels. Mr. Moto was a face at that time and was teamed with Bearcat Wright.
One of the guys I work with at Kaiser Hospital, Armando (The Hawk) Medina, was one of the last boxers to fight at the Olympic before it was sold and became a church. My uncle fought there too, back in the 60s, though that was up in the stands when some guy spilled beer on his fedora.
My dad started taking me there in the middle 60s. Lots of boxing, roller derby and wrasslin’. When the great Jack Needleman owned the place, and later when his sons, Dennis, Steve and Marc ran the place, my wife was the Security manager there and I worked security as well. I got to meet Mayor Tom Bradley, Chief Daryl Gates, Peter Uberoff, Brenton Wood, Freddie Blassie, Green Day, Steppenwolf, Antonio Anoki, Nickleodeon cast members, the Thunderbirds Roller Derby team, Black Flag and several boxers, musicians and wreslters. Later, when the Needleman family sold the Olympic, they made sure that subsequent buyers could not tear down or alter the building, and though its now a church, the building still stands.
Mister Moto was a great Japanese wrestler, but my favorite Japanese wrestlers were Antonio Inoki, Masa Saito and Kenji Shibuya. I became friends with the Shibuya family and was pleased to find out Kenji had attended my high school, Belmont, in the late 1930s, (I was a 1976 grad).
Mr Moto went by another wrestling 🤼♀️ name but can’t remember it. So many interesting wrestlers there Blassie, Tolos, Dr Death with his black mask, Rivera and Gordman and Goliath just to name a few!
Up here in Canada Mr. Moto wrestled as Professor Hiro. His matches in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens were the stuff of legend. Especially the ones vs Johnny Valentine. Great villain!
@@tonypastor705 thanks for the reply. I guess I got Mr. Moto and Professor Hiro mixed up. The Valentine vs Hiro matches here in Toronto were unbelievable with the crowd solidly behind Johnny. Hiro was a tough tough villain. Great Memories. Cheers from Canada
He might have wrestled under the name Taro Sakuro who wrestled in the Toronto area and Buffalo area in the early Sixties. Saw him a lot and he also had a Shinto ritual which involved praying and throwing salt in his corner of the ring pre match which he later used to temporarily blind his opponents. He was a total villain with his “Salt Ritual” and all round dirty play. Just guessing. Cheers from Canada
Sadly though, the Grand Olympic Auditorium (where this match was held) has since been converted into a worship place for the Korean-American evangelical congregation.
Is this shoot or performance. Never really seen lou thesz matches before but seeing clips of him. He sure loves talking bad about sports entertainment rip
Check out The Chicago Film Archives channel here on UA-cam. The estate of an NWA announcer from the 1950s and early-1960s donated a treasure trove of kinescope films of matches that took place at the Chicago International Amphitheater. There are some great matches involving Lou Thesz there.
The Olympic Auditorium was such a great place to attend pro wrestling matches. I landed in California in 1973 and immediately started going there. California wrestling was then spelled T-O-L-O-S (as in Golden Greek John Tolos) and I even saw Freddie Blassey's last match there (with Tolos). It was after the days of the all-white mixed male/female audience that we see here. But it was still an adult audience with few children. Ringside seats were $5. The auditorium seemed to have been built of solid cement that hadn't been clean or painted since its construction in the early 1920's. The poorly lit hallways stunk of stale beer and perspiration. The ring announcer seen here is Jimmy Lennon, who for many years announced all the wrestling and boxing shows at the Olympic. He was known as being the best ring host in the business and was well known for being the uncle of the Lennon Sisters, a very cute and popular musical group at the time. Dick Lane was the TV announcer when I first got there. He was a well known actor in 1950's B&W gangster movies, equally adept at playing a cop or mobster. Unlike today's announcers, Dick Lane didn't take guff from any heel. Whatever they gave to him, he gave right back in spades . Dick always gave true love to the baby faces and hatred to the heels. When doing interviews his emotions could change on a dime. In my 60 years of being a wrestling fan I have watched thousands of matches and seen them from every territory. I have never seen an announcer that could touch Dick Lane in terms of interviews or announcing the action. Lane quit a few years after I got to Los Angles, at which point announcing was taken over by Gene LeBell (who with his brother were the promoters) and Jeff Walton. Nobody could hold a candle to Dick Lane and the promotion went into decline, undoubtedly fed by other factors such as inadequate parking and a high-crime location. It got so bad that even I stopped going. The territory slowly slipped away and then died when WWWF moved into town. Gene LeBell died at the age of 89 last week, the last real human connection to the glory days of wrestling at the Olympic. Years ago the Olympic Auditorium was bought by a Korean evangelical religious group and I believe they are still holding their services there. Sad.
Such a great piece of footage. Moto was so charismatic, terrific heel. 😁
One of my all time favorites, Mr. Moto. I surprised we didn't see him throw salt in Thesz's eyes, one of Moto's favorite heel moves. The Olympic Auditorium was unmatched for wrestling in the 60's and 70's for star power. Mil Mascaras made his U.S. debut there in July, 1968.
Très bon match! Il est sur le dvd cheap de Thesz, ça valait la peine!
En passant, la compilation ROH que tu m'as acheté, c'est malade; Daniels vs Christian est l'un des meilleurs matchs ever. Merci encore, Jo 🍻
This video is like a time machine! This is how I remember the Olympic from when I went there with my dad in the 1960s! I can almost smell the cig smoke mixed in with cheap perfume and spilt beer ! Good Times!
Tell us more!
One of my all time favorites, Mr. Moto. Surprised he didn't throw salt in Thesz's eyes, one of his favorite heel moves. Wrestling at the Olympic Auditorium was the best in the 60's and 70's, they had all the star power. Mil Mascaras made his U.S. debut in July, 1968 at the Olympic.
Dang….Lou Thesz was a god, one of the all-time greats!
Excellent video. The walk to the ring, multiple cameras, crowd reaction shots.
Zim it is awesome
So nice to see a classic match with the late Lou Thez in it.
Harry VanHoudnos i agree Lou was awesrl
My first exposure to pro wrestling came in 1963 at the ripe age of eight. We had moved to Bakersfield and we got wrestling from the Olympic on the local channels. Mr. Moto was a face at that time and was teamed with Bearcat Wright.
Bigger ring than they use today.
I think thesz was almost 60 years old in this match . Dude wrestled in the 30s
One of the guys I work with at Kaiser Hospital, Armando (The Hawk) Medina, was one of the last boxers to fight at the Olympic before it was sold and became a church. My uncle fought there too, back in the 60s, though that was up in the stands when some guy spilled beer on his fedora.
Lol... Ya don't mess with a man's fedora!
Great stuff by Lou Thez ! Even greater stuff by Mr Moto. 'Booooo !!' What a great crowd ?!! Loved it. Thanks for posting.
moto was a legendary heel. was hoping to see his sleeper.
1on1 My dad told me that Mr. Moro would often hit someone over the head with his wooden Geta slippers 😆🤣
The legendaty Jimmy Lennon as the ring announcer.
My dad started taking me there in the middle 60s. Lots of boxing, roller derby and wrasslin’. When the great Jack Needleman owned the place, and later when his sons, Dennis, Steve and Marc ran the place, my wife was the Security manager there and I worked security as well. I got to meet Mayor Tom Bradley, Chief Daryl Gates, Peter Uberoff, Brenton Wood, Freddie Blassie, Green Day, Steppenwolf, Antonio Anoki, Nickleodeon cast members, the Thunderbirds Roller Derby team, Black Flag and several boxers, musicians and wreslters. Later, when the Needleman family sold the Olympic, they made sure that subsequent buyers could not tear down or alter the building, and though its now a church, the building still stands.
Mister Moto was a great Japanese wrestler, but my favorite Japanese wrestlers were Antonio Inoki, Masa Saito and Kenji Shibuya. I became friends with the Shibuya family and was pleased to find out Kenji had attended my high school, Belmont, in the late 1930s, (I was a 1976 grad).
Charlie has his hands full with this great wrestler!
Mr Moto went by another wrestling 🤼♀️ name but can’t remember it. So many interesting wrestlers there Blassie, Tolos, Dr Death with his black mask, Rivera and Gordman and Goliath just to name a few!
Up here in Canada Mr. Moto wrestled as Professor Hiro. His matches in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens were the stuff of legend. Especially the ones vs Johnny Valentine. Great villain!
Keithalcock7173- But it was another name he wrestled under, when I find it, I’ll text it.
@@tonypastor705 thanks for the reply. I guess I got Mr. Moto and Professor Hiro mixed up. The Valentine vs Hiro matches here in Toronto were unbelievable with the crowd solidly behind Johnny. Hiro was a tough tough villain. Great Memories. Cheers from Canada
He might have wrestled under the name Taro Sakuro who wrestled in the Toronto area and Buffalo area in the early Sixties. Saw him a lot and he also had a Shinto ritual which involved praying and throwing salt in his corner of the ring pre match which he later used to temporarily blind his opponents. He was a total villain with his “Salt Ritual” and all round dirty play. Just guessing. Cheers from Canada
Mr. Moto... was Freddie Blassie's brother-in-law.
Listen to the heat&pop form the people back then,it was better then the bull shit in 2015!
Abraham Mitchell great stuff
The referee said "No Karate chops!"
Sadly though, the Grand Olympic Auditorium (where this match was held) has since been converted into a worship place for the Korean-American evangelical congregation.
Is this shoot or performance. Never really seen lou thesz matches before but seeing clips of him. He sure loves talking bad about sports entertainment rip
lou is only 46 here, but he looks like he is 65
試合直前の四股、髪の毛を掴んで倒したり等 ショーマンシップのモトさん。
E
"Mr. Moto treats the audience to the PONDEROUS RITUAL practiced by the Sumo wrestlers of Japan" says the uncultured oaf of an announcer.
Matches sure were different...tthis one so far kinda sucks....need to find better lou thesz matches
Check out The Chicago Film Archives channel here on UA-cam. The estate of an NWA announcer from the 1950s and early-1960s donated a treasure trove of kinescope films of matches that took place at the Chicago International Amphitheater. There are some great matches involving Lou Thesz there.