NWA All Star Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Vancouver) is a Canadian

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

promotion, based in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. All-Star Wrestling folded in 1989 but returned in 2007 no longer affiliated with the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

Mark Vellios is the current owner.

History

Early history

Although other wrestling promotions existed in Vancouver prior to the early 1960s (particularly a predecessor of All Star's called ''Big Time Wrestling''), All Star (an affiliate of the

(NWA) for most of its existence) became the longest-lived and perhaps best-remembered of all promotions operating in the Vancouver area before or since. The promotion began coming into its own around the time

CHAN-TV CHAN-DT (channel 8), branded on-air as Global BC (formerly British Columbia Television or BCTV), is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Global Television Network. Owned and oper ...

began broadcasting their TV program (also called ''All Star Wrestling'') in 1962, when

Gene Kiniski Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he b ...

arrived in Vancouver and became a regular on the roster. At the time All Star began, the NWA British Empire heavyweight title was the top singles title in the Vancouver territory, while the Pacific Coast tag team title initially served as the tag team championship (both titles were carried over from Big Time Wrestling); however, after the British Empire title was abandoned sometime after 1963 (when Kiniski last won it), All Star had no singles title of its own until 1970, when the Pacific Coast heavyweight title (which was first introduced in 1948 in Big Time Wrestling, but became inactive around 1958) was reactivated.

Kiniski/Kovacs era (1968–1977)

All Star started becoming a serious force in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

wrestling scene during Kiniski's reign as NWA World Heavyweight champion (which he won from

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 ...

in 1966), when he and Sandor Kovacs, along with Portland promoter Don Owen, joined forces to promote the territory at the start of 1968,KM : Reading Topic : Sandor Kovacs career record
/ref> forming Northwest Wrestling Promotions as the parent company to run All Star. During this time, the promotion shared talent (including many of the sport's big names of the time) with Owen's nearby NWA affiliate Pacific Northwest Wrestling while also developing local talent. At the same time, the ''All Star Wrestling'' program began to be seen across Canada via syndication. Ron Morrier was the original host of the TV show and served in that capacity until his death on August 6, 1981; after that, former CFUN disk jockey Ed Karl took over as the host for the remainder of the show's run on CHAN-TV.

Al Tomko era (1977–1989)

Kovacs promoted his final All Star show on January 17, 1977, before selling his share in the promotion to

Al Tomko Al Tomko (22 November 1931 – 5 August 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. Professional wrestling career Tomko started out as a wrestler in his hometown of Winnipeg on 9 July 1954, with the Madison Wrestling C ...

, a veteran wrestler and former

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

promoter for the

AWA Awa (or variants) may refer to: People * Awa (given name), notable people named Awa or Hawa * Awá (Brazil), an indigenous people of Brazil * Awa-Kwaiker, an indigenous people of Colombia and Ecuador Languages * Awa language (China) or Wa (Va) ...

. While the promotion managed to hold steady through the late-1970s following the sale, All Star began going into decline by the early-1980s, due partly to the aging Tomko (who was physically past his prime and had poor wrestling skills) pushing himself as the company's top star, and partly to the rise of the WWF around the middle of the decade (a situation which actually affected many other North American promotions besides All Star). Late in the promotion's NWA affiliation, during episodes of ''All Star Wrestling'', Tomko and Ed Karl would also present and commentate on highlight clips of matches from fellow NWA affiliates Central States Wrestling and

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promot ...

, as well as matches taped at All Star's main house shows in Vancouver and Cloverdale. Noticing the decline of the promotion, Kiniski sold his ownership stake and got out sometime around 1983, after which he began promoting shows in Vancouver in association with

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...

and the

. In late 1985, Tomko withdrew All Star from the NWA and created a new sanctioning body for the company called the Universal Wrestling Alliance; those changes did nothing to reverse All Star's fortunes, however, and the promotion would eventually cease operations, holding its final event in Elk Grove, British Columbia on July 2, 1989.

Mauro Ranallo Mauro Domenico Ranallo (born December 21, 1969) is a Canadian sports announcer, commentator and mental health advocate. He is currently signed as a play-by-play announcer with MMA organization Bellator, and also performs play-by-play duties for b ...

, who went on to become a radio announcer for Abbotsford station CFVR (now

CKQC-FM CKQC-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 107.1 FM in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Owned by Rogers Sports & Media, the station airs a country format branded as ''Country 107.1''. CFVR was established in 1962 as a semi-satellite stati ...

) and the TV play-by-play announcer for

Pride Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

King of the Cage King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstr ...

KVOS-TV KVOS-TV, virtual channel 12 ( UHF digital channel 14), is a Heroes & Icons owned-and-operated television station licensed to Bellingham, Washington, United States. Owned by Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting, it is part of a duopoly with Seatt ...

's ''NWA Top Ranked Wrestling'', and most recently ''

WWE Smackdown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...

'', got his start as an on-camera personality with ''All Star Wrestling'' while still in his teens, late in the show's run.

Alumni

*Delta Dawn *

Abdullah the Butcher Lawrence Robert Shreve (born January 11, 1941), better known by the ring name Abdullah the Butcher, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He has a reputation for being involved in some of the most violent and bloody hardcore wrestling ma ...

André the Giant André René Roussimoff (; 19 May 1946 – 28 January 1993), better known by his ring name André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. Roussimoff was known for his great size, which was a result of gigantism caused by exce ...

* The Assassins *The "Atomic Kid" Buddy Wayne *Bobby Bass *Kevin Jefferies * "Bulldog" Bob Brown *The Brute (

Bugsy McGraw Michael Davis (born November 1, 1945), best known as Bugsy McGraw, is a retired American professional wrestler. He also wrestled under the name The Skull. He is not to be confused with the other wrestler named Mike Davis. McGraw is known for hi ...

) *Buzz Grogan *

Buzz Tyler Buzz Tyler (November 4, 1948 – November 11, 2021) was an American professional wrestler who competed in North American regional promotions during the 1970s and 1980s including the National Wrestling Alliance, most notably teaming with J. J. Di ...

*Genie *Wendy Reicher *JJ Jetson *Crusher von Haig (

Road Warrior Hawk Michael Hegstrand (January 26, 1957 – October 19, 2003) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known as Road Warrior Hawk, one half of the tag team known as The Road Warriors (The Legion of Doom in WWF), with Road Warrior Animal. ...

) * Dale Lewis (wrestler) * Dean Ho *The Idols *"Diamond" Timothy Flowers *

Don Jardine Donald Delbert Jardine (March 24, 1940 – December 16, 2006) was a Canadian professional wrestler best known for his masked gimmick as The Spoiler. Jardine was a major star in various wrestling promotions. He worked in the World Wrestling Federa ...

Don Leo Jonathan Don Heaton (April 29, 1931 – October 13, 2018), also known as Don Leo Jonathan, was an American-Canadian professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Jonathan, nicknamed "The Mormon Giant" was a second generation star (his father was f ...

*"Gentleman" Jonathan Sayers *Don Morrow (

Don Muraco Don Muraco (born September 10, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler and podcaster. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1981 to 1988, where he held the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Cha ...

) *

Dominic DeNucci Domenico A. Nucciarone (January 23, 1932 – August 12, 2021) was an Italian-American professional wrestler and trainer better known under his ring name of Dominic DeNucci. He held over a dozen championships around the world in the 1960s and 197 ...

Dutch Savage Frank Stewart (June 9, 1935 – August 3, 2013) was an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter, best known for his time spent competing in Pacific Northwest Wrestling under the ring name Dutch Savage. Career Savage made his pro deb ...

*Rocky Dellesara *"Dirty" Dan Denton *Bruiser Costa *"Blackjack" Hoss Taylor *

Sonny Myers Harold "Sonny" Myers (January 22, 1924 – May 7, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, involved in the business for sixty years. Professional wrestling career Myers held prominent heavyweight championships in several territories, most ...

Dennis Stamp Dennis Stamp (December 6, 1946 – March 13, 2017) was an American professional wrestler and referee. He was best known for wrestling extensively during the 1970s and 1980s for the American Wrestling Association, and for the National Wrestling Al ...

*Terry "The Ripper" Rivera * David Schultz *

Eddie Morrow Edouard Etifier (born 1936) better known as Eddie Morrow, is a retired Martinican professional wrestler. He is the brother of Gerard Etifier (aka Gerry/Jerry Morrow). He wrestled as Jack Claybourne (Junior) in Australia and New Zealand. A re ...

*Mike Allen *"Wildthing" Steve Ray *Erich Froelich *Mike Roselli *The A-team *The Blue Angel *

The Fabulous Kangaroos :''This team is not to be mistaken for the similarly named team The Royal Kangaroos of Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles III'' The Fabulous Kangaroos were a professional wrestling tag team who existed in various forms from 1957 until 1 ...

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...

*The Frog (Terry Tomko) *Athol Foley *J.R. Foley *The Flying Peacock *

Gama Singh Gadowar Singh Sahota (Punjabi: ਗਦੋਵਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਸਹੋਤਾ); born December 8, 1954) is an Indo-Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler known as Gama Singh (Punjabi: ਗਾਮਾ ਸਿੰਘ) and Great Gama Sahota was a villa ...

* Gerry Morrow *Gidget *

*"Gorgeous" Michelle Starr *

Hard Boiled Haggerty Don Stansauk (April 2, 1925 – January 27, 2004) was an American professional wrestler and actor, known by his ring name, Hard Boiled Haggerty. He was previously a professional American football player, and became a successful character actor ...

Haystacks Calhoun William Dee Calhoun (August 3, 1934 – December 7, 1989) was an American professional wrestler, who used the professional name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun. Early life Born on August 3, 1934, William Dee Calhoun grew up on a farm i ...

The Honky Tonk Man Roy Wayne Farris (born January 25, 1953), better known by the ring name The Honky Tonk Man, is an American retired professional wrestler. He previously wrestled for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE ...

The Iron Sheik Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri ( fa, حسین خسرو علی وزیری, romanized: Hossein Xosrô 'Ali Vaziri; born March 15, 1942), better known by his ring name the Iron Sheik, is an Iranian retired professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and a ...

Jake Roberts Aurelian Smith Jr. (born May 30, 1955), better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American professional wrestler and actor currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs as manager to Lance Archer. He is be ...

Jay Youngblood Steven Nicolas Romero (June 21, 1955 – September 2, 1985) was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Jay Youngblood. He wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions in a tag team with Ricky Stea ...

* Dr. Jerry Graham *Corey Collins * John Quinn *Billy Two Eagles * Big John Tenta *Mike Palace *The Great Dave Scott *

Jimmy Snuka James Reiher Snuka (born James Wiley Smith; May 18, 1943 – January 15, 2017) was a Fijian American professional wrestler. He is better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Snuka wrestled for several promotions from the 1970s to 2010 ...

John Tolos John Tolos, nicknamed "The Golden Greek", (September 18, 1930 – May 28, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler, and professional wrestling manager. Professional wrestling career Tolos was born on September 18, 1930, in Hamilton, Ontario ...

Kinji Shibuya Robert "Kinji" Shibuya (May 16, 1921 – May 3, 2010) was an American professional wrestler and actor. Professional wrestling career In 1952, promoter Al Karasick suggested Shibuya try professional wrestling. He was originally given a villainous ...

*King Kong JR Bundy *

Killer Kowalski Walter Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008), known professionally as Killer Kowalski, was a Polish-Canadian professional wrestler. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, includin ...

*Joe Martin *Bobby Jones * Klondike Mike *

Mark Lewin Mark Lewin (born March 16, 1937) is an American retired professional wrestler. Early life Lewin was born in Buffalo, New York. He had two elder brothers, Donn and Ted, both of whom also became professional wrestlers. He attended Lafayette High ...

*Doug McCoil *

Igor Volkoff Pierre Lafleur (born February 13, 1939) is a former French Canadian professional wrestler who is best known for his appearances with the World Wide Wrestling Federation under the ring name Lumberjack Pierre where he was the half of The Yukon Lumber ...

Stacy Carter Stacy Lee Carter (born September 29, 1970) is an American retired professional wrestling valet and professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in the World Wrestling Federation from August 1999 to February 2001 under the ring names ...

*The Iron Maiden *The Mighty I-Ton *

Mike Sharpe Michael Sharpe (October 28, 1951 – January 17, 2016) was a Canadian professional wrestler better known as "Iron" Mike Sharpe. A second-generation wrestler whose father and uncle ( Mike and Ben Sharpe) also competed in the profession, Sharpe w ...

*Mike Edwards *Mike Webster *

Masa Saito was a Japanese professional wrestler better known as Mr. Saito or , who wrestled for 33 years around the world. He had success as a singles wrestler, winning the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1990, and as a tag team wrestler with multip ...

* Moondog Mayne *Moose Morowski *Neil Drummond/The Wizard *Todd "Ole" Olsen/Thor/Thor "The Body" Olsen *

* "Playboy" Buddy Rose *Rick Davis (Todd Tomko) *

Rick Martel Richard Vigneault (born March 18, 1956) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, trainer, and television presenter, better known by his ring name, Rick Martel. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association, the ...

*Rick Patterson *

Ron Starr Bobby Eugene Nutt (April 3, 1951 – June 8, 2017), better known by his ring name Ron Starr, was an American professional wrestler. Starr was a mainstay for numerous wrestling territories throughout the 1970s and 80s, capturing almost three doze ...

*Harley the Nightrider *

Ricky Hunter Charles B. Sprott (March 1, 1936 – February 8, 2022) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring names Ricky Hunter and the masked wrestler The Gladiator. He was best known for his title-winning success in Championship Wrest ...

Rick Rude Richard Erwin Rood (December 7, 1958 – April 20, 1999), better known by his ring name "Ravishing" Rick Rude, was an American professional wrestler who performed for many promotions, including World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling ...

*Denuda The Polish Princess *Ivan Gorky *Dale Housten *Mad Dog Rex *Chris Colt *Terry Adonis *American Ninja *Avalanche Tyler *Randy Taylor *

Rip Oliver Larry Richard Oliver (October 6, 1952 – March 5, 2020) was an American professional wrestler, known as "Crippler" Rip Oliver, who had success in Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW). Early life Oliver was born in Florida. His father was Dennis Lee ...

*Ed Karl *Joe Cagle *The Robotrons (Craig Bresett and Fabio Chiesa) *

Rocky Johnson Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles; August 24, 1944 – January 15, 2020) was a Canadian professional wrestler. Among many National Wrestling Alliance titles, he was the first Black Georgia Heavyweight Champion as well as the NWA Televisi ...

* Roddy Piper * Salvatore Martino * The Samoans *

Scotty the Body Scott Levy (born September 8, 1964) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Raven. He is known for his appearances with professional wrestling promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Champions ...

*Sean Regan *Siegfried Steinke *The BC Blondes *

The Sheepherders The Bushwhackers are a professional wrestling tag team who competed first as the New Zealand Kiwis and then as The Sheepherders during their 36-year career as a tag team. They wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation, Jim Crockett Promotions, ...

*Snake Williams * Stan Stasiak *Steven Little Bear *

Tiger Jeet Singh Jagjeet Singh Hans (born April 3, 1944) is an Indo-Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He was known for his elaborate ring entrances, and generally performed as a heel. He wrestled in Japan ...

Tony Borne Anthony Wayne Osborne (July 13, 1926 – August 27, 2010) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Tough" Tony Borne. Professional wrestling career Osborne was an amateur wrestler in both high school and in the Unit ...

*"Vicious" Verne Siebert *"Tiger" Dory Signh * Whipper Billy Watson * Mr. X (Guy Mitchell) *Shalimar

Championships

NWA-sanctioned championships

UWA-sanctioned championships

References

External links

All Star Wrestling forum
at Kayfabe Memories
NWA All Star Wrestling title histories
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nwa: All-Star Wrestling 1960s establishments in British Columbia Canadian professional wrestling promotions National Wrestling Alliance members Professional wrestling in British Columbia