Eddie Einhorn, at the time the owner of the Chicago White Sox, had a dream of being a wrestling promoter, too.
In 1975, Einhorn, who already was involved with the Hughes Television Network's syndication network, launched the International Wrestling Association (IWA). Unfortunately, the promotion suffered from the fact that they couldn't clear enough markets or get primo time slots that were already committed to either the National Wrestling Alliance in the south, or the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation in the northeast.
In New York, for example, channel 9 carried the matches after harness racing from either Yonkers or Roosevelt Raceway, which meant the matches began around midnight, later if a Mets game airing that night ran late.
Einhorn's roster included names familiar to most fans, including Ernie Ladd, Ivan Koloff, Dino Bravo, Mil Mascaras, Gino Brito, and Lars Anderson, who was working under a different name at the time.
This sampler was shown on ESPN Classic 25 years after its initial broadcast, headlined by Ernie Ladd and an angle involving Cowboy Bob Ellis, which woke up some memories for this writer.
Koloff won his only world title with the 3WF four years earlier. Ladd later went to the WWF as a color commentator. Brito & Bravo turned up in the 3WF a year or so after this show originally aired. "Big" Jim Wilson was involved in a famous scandal that landed him on the talk show circuit (i.e. Donohue) years later, his career cut short. Frenchy Martin & Joe Mirco also landed in McMahon country in the 80's, with Martin landing a manager's job, dressed as a French painter. Ref Tommy Young officiated a bazillion matches in the NWA during the 70's & 80's.
You needed Sominex to sit through some of this.
Rating: B.
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