@Billy Mcpherson That's when he first started out. I wonder if people watching him back then thought that he would go on to be such a legend in sports entertainment. R.I.P Nick Bockwinkel.
Oh man...Bockwinkel was such a young baby in this interview! Being a kid in the 80s and having seen him in his latter days, this just blows my mind! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Actually Mr. Moto was a very clean wrestler. It was around 1963 or 1964 my mom and I used to watch wrestling on TV, KTLA channel 5 out of Los Angeles, CA. on Wednesday nights. Wrestling, Boxing (on Thursday nights) and Roller Derby, the Los Angeles Thunderbirds (also known as the L. A. T-Birds on Sunday afternoons. All of it at the Olympic Auditorium.
I'd never seen that Blassie interview before...so THANKS for posting so all these pencilneck geeks out here could hear and see the great fred Blasie from the early days!!
Remember, it is NOT classy Freddie Blassie, it is...."The classy Freddie Blassie". I recall in the early 1960's as a boy in LA you could walk down town and look in store windows. I loved walking by the TV store with the TV's on different stations, and in the day one of them always had Pro wrestling on. I remember watching Fred Blassie in his prime and walking into the shp to see the TV he was on. This is before the world turned upside down. Blassie was an incredible wrestler and entertainer, as was Gorgeous George. I believe that Mr. Moto was actually Toru Tanaka who went on to play Odd Job in the Goldfinger movie and wrestle as Proffessor Toru Tanaka. Mike Sharp I wasn,t too familiar with was one big solid dude. Much respect to these men who lived this tough life out of love for it or necessity. You never realize until you get older how you can get trapped making a living in a specific occupation.
@Robert A. Lofgren Jr. Everybody remembers Frankie Williams. Nobody remembers you. That tells you everything you need to know. Also, learn the difference between "your" and "you're".
I do remember Freddie Blassie and Mr. Moto when I was a kid in the 60's. The other wrestlers I never heard of. Blassie calling Mr. Moto J#! on TV. That's the way it was back then. Not anymore.
"Classy" Freddie Blassie:The King of Men! These 4 Wrestlers must've really been something else back then. The Good Guys were good, and even the Bad Guys were at least somewhat polite... until you got 'em riled up, that is! Great stuff here, and I'm glad I subscribed!
Nick bockwinkle is a dang baby right here, when I was a kid I always thought he looked old, I appreciate him more now that I’m old and can see what great all around skills he had
4:08 - "Nah, I don't want to hear any more out of you ! ....(nudges Mr. Moto away)" I love it. Looks like the announcer is big & bad enough to kick all of their asses at the same time.
That Mr. Moto must've been like the inspiration for Mr. Fuji's character years later. I could certainly see the similarities. Because you know America still needed a sneaky, diabolical Japanese heel to carry on the torch once Moto retired.
@imjustpassinthru Are you kidding me? My whole family were Wrestling Maniacs. Ever since we came to Los Angeles back in 1967, we would have Wrestling on every week on KTLA Channel 5. And do you remember when Dick Lane would get a break from Wrestling, he would do an ad on Reliable Mortgage Incorporated from his own Announcing Booth? And do you also remember the Lakers and Angels being broadcast on KTLA Channel 5? Known back then as "Golden West Broadcasting".
This is the original Jules Strongbow, who started out as an actor, became a wrestler, and later a promoter. He died in 1975. The wrestler most of us know as Jules Strongbow was named Frank Hutchinson, is a legit Native American, and took his ring name from this guy. For that matter Joe Scarpa, AKA Jay Strongbow, took his last (ring) name from Jules as well.
@TNO73 He looks great, i grew up watching mainly WWF wresling being from New York so i didnt have the opportunity to watch Bockwinkel wrestle but watching videos recently assures me that you are right, he was a talented and articulate wrestler.
I don't know why there was debates about Obama in the comments. Shouldn't we just appreciate these steroid free wrestlers who are clean and well versed in the art of making love?
Jules Strombow makes all those guys like tiny. Strombow used to be a wrestler, as I recall. Does anyone remember the announcer Dick Lane on KTLA channel 5 in Los Angeles?
@imjustpassinthru Also, I forgot to mention back in the Old days, KTLA Channel 5 also did UCLA Basketball. Do you also remember those old days of KTLA Channel 5? Dick Lane was probably an actor before I was born, considering that I was born in 1962. And also back then, Dick Lane was the announcer for Roller Derby when KTLA also did the Thunderbirds. Back then I thought that Roller Derby was like Wrestling on Roller Skates.
The LA T-Birds were never a part of the original Roller Derby, but were the marquee team in Roller Derby's rival promotion, Roller Games; LA's Derby team was the LA Braves, which skated from 1954 until 1965, relocating to New England in 1966, becoming the Northeast Braves in 1968 after the original New York Chiefs were disbanded in 1967.......
wow , at first i wasnt looking at the video when mike sharpe sr spoke..it sounded almost like his son iron mike sharpe...iron mike sharpe was huge in stature just like his father. i remember when being trained by mike in brick nj he spoke of his father fondly.
moto was actually a native southern californian. in the 50s and 60s he was known for finishing with his sleeper hold. in '54 or '55 he had an epic match with 6'9" (billed) rookie cowboy tex mckenzie, in which he brought mckenzie to his knees with karate chops and put him to sleep in two consecutive falls. 'i chop down the tree,' he bragged in the post-match interview.
the mr moto i know of wrestled into the late 60s, perhaps the early 70s. in his last years he turned face, the gimmick being that his son was in high school and it was embarrassing to his son to be identified with his father's ultra-heel image. he lived into the 1990s.
@eric ~ I believe this answers your question: sites.google.com/site/wrestlingscout/profiles-by-country/profiles/moto In all honesty, I was not aware that Mr Moto had that great an influence over West Coast wrestling and really learned something thru that link.
@Jiltedin2007 ... Dick Lane was a Hollywood actor in his younger years. Do a RU-vid search for this video: Joe Penner and Dick Lane in The Day the Bookies Wept. Dick Lane is the one on the far left doing the talking.
Is Mike Sharp the father of Iron Mike Sharp? Aaah Mr. Moto ......most honorable and sneaky wrestler. Freddy Blassie =a pencil neck geak=priceless. Nick Bockwinkel = a great interview always.
