
Episode #154
Rasslin 154: Malden, Missouri Part 2 (Mario Galento, Movie Star?!?)
Guest Steve Crawford is back from being “on assignment”, as he joins Host Ray Russell to continue the discussion of Henry Rogers’ Malden, Missouri wrestling territory. In Part 2, thanks to Henry’s daughter Dianna, we give answers to questions we were left with from the 1960s. From there, we follow the promotion from 1970 through 1975. Rogers filled his Saturday night cards with local regulars like Buddy Chandler, Bobby Guy, and Bo and Tuffy Taylor while bringing in wrestlers from surrounding territories. Mario Galento became a fixture in Malden, where the papers even announced plans to film scenes for a movie featuring Galento in the starring role(?). We look at the murder of wrestler Bearcat Jones, as well as the young wrestlers passing through, including Pez Whatley, Larry Latham, Bill Ash, and a future David Shultz working as “Rhode Island Red”. There were masked men, bloody feuds, stretcher matches, hair matches, and stipulations that grew stranger by the year. We also follow Rogers’ shows beyond Malden and his connections with other promoters. By 1973, the arena was being billed as “Little Madison Square Garden” and the “blood capital” names that tell you plenty about the show Rogers was selling to the local fans! Help keep WrestleCopia growing by joining us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/WrestleCopia Members receive premium VideoCast series, early podcast releases, extensively researched show notes, digital downloads, access to our large wrestling archive at select tiers, and much more. Give the gift of WrestleCopia: Patreon Gift Membership Merchandise: WrestleCopia on TeePublic Direct Support: Donate Through Paypal Visit the WrestleCopia Podcast Network https://wrestlecopia.com Follow WrestleCopia on “X” (Formerly Twitter) @RasslinGrenade Follow & LIKE our FACEBOOK PAGE – https://www.facebook.com/RasslinGrenade Subscribe to the WrestleCopia Youtube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/RasslinGrenade ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★






