While Kendo and Gordienko were on many of the same cards in Stampede, they did not wrestle each other. Kendo feuded with the Harts, Dan Kroffat, and Geoff Portz. I think they could have had some good matches, but Gordienko was 44 yrs old in 1972 and had slowed down considerably from his earlier visits. Gordienko retired a few years later to focus on a career as a painter.

Hi Ron. Yes I was aware of the Stampede circuit. TV host Ed Whalen would often announce what cities would be hosting cards on the weekly TV show. The shows were taped Friday evenings and shown Saturday afternoon. The main cities on the circuit were Calgary on Friday and Edmonton on Saturday. Sunday was a day off. The rest of the week varied over the years but Regina, Saskatoon, Lethbridge, and Medicine Hat were usually in the mix. I'm pretty sure there is footage of Kendo in Stampede but I've never seen it since the original broadcast. As soon as I saw him on TV in 1972, I knew I had to see him in person. I have vivid memories of Kendo pummeling the Hart brothers in a tag match. In 2015 Vince McMahon bought the Stampede tape library. There was a brief dispute over ownership as Bret Hart was able to prove he owned the video of his Stampede matches. The WWE doesn't release much footage of Stampede matches, usually only when profiling WWE wrestlers who were previously in Stampede. There is a good Facebook page "Ring a Ding Dong Dandy/Stampede fan group" which has a lot of good information and links to videos.

Here are a couple of photos from the December 4, 1972 card that featured Kendo. Also on the card was Geoff Portz. His stay in Stampede was far too short but he made a huge impression on me.

Nowhere in my comments did I mention Buddy Rogers so I'm not sure where your comment is coming from. As for a hypothetical dream match Lou Thesz vs Billy Robinson, I'll let this quote from Lou's book "Hooker" speak for itself. "It's not a boast for me to say the Alliance like having the belt around my waist for reasons other than my ability to draw money. I had a reputation by then as a serious hooker, and had been around long enough to know I had to have my hands up every time I went into the ring." He was the best in the 20th century in my opinion. I realize this is a British Wrestling forum and Billy Robinson is held on a pedestal, but as an "outsider" who saw Billy many times, I agree he was legitimately excellent but not the best. It's too bad Billy confined himself mostly to the AWA while active as I think it held back his career and he was underrated in North America.

It wasn't my intention for comments to veer from the original Kendo Nagasaki topic but I wanted to clarify that the original Kendo Nagasaki's only North American appearances were in Stampede, and that it was the Japanese "Kendo" who wrestled in Portland. As I also mentioned, Sakurada got the idea when he was in Stampede which I was told first hand by Bret Hart. The Japanese Kendo also had a mask although he only wore it occasionally. I kind of wish Sakurada had not copied the idea as it created a lot of confusion.

Yes Sarurada got the idea for the Kendo persona when he came to Stampede Wrestling and adopted when he left. Hence the appearance of "Kendo Nagasaki" in Portland.

Yes he was Sakurada in Stampede and that's where he got the idea for the Kendo persona.

I never said that Dory Funk Jr. and Harley Race were shooters. I mentioned them to denote that Archie Gouldie was a top level talent facing the biggest stars of the day. The training he got from Pat O'Conner and Lou Thesz was legit and covered shooting. As you may be aware, the NWA required their world champions to be proficient in this regards in case a local promoter thought they could pull a fast one and have their local boy submit the world champ. I saw Archie Gouldie wrestle many times as well as Billy Robinson when he was in Stampede. Both were superb craftsmen and legends in their own right. As for your claim Billy would tear Archie to shreds, I strongly disagree. It's just not an plausible outcome based on what I know. But I respect your opinion and agree Billy was one of the best wrestlers to ever lace up the boots. RIP Billy.

David, I think you are incorrect regarding Kendo Nagasaki wrestling for Don Owen's Portland promotion. There was a Japanese wrestler named Sakurada who adopted the name and persona of the original Kendo Nagasaki. I have seen YouTube video of the copycat "Kendo Nagasaki" who wrestled in Portland but it wasn't Peter Thornley. Incidentally, while Sakurada was a copycat, he was a pretty good wrestler in his own right and had a hand in training Bret Hart in Stampede Wrestling along with another Stampede stalwart Mr. Hito.

No disrespect to Billy Robinson, but Archie could shoot too. After his initial training in the dungeon in 1962, Stu Hart sent him to Kansas territory for additional training (hooking as it was called back then) under Pat O'Conner and Lou Thesz. By 1969, when Billy arrived in Stampede, Archie had already wrestled Pat O'Conner many times as well as Harley Race, Lou Thesz, Gene Kiniski, and Dory Funk Jr (the latter three for the NWA World Championship). And Archie could go sixty minutes all day long. It's always tricky when discussing a wrestler's pro wrestling skills and then mixing in their shoot background. While a wrestler may be skilled in both, shoot fighting is the antithesis of pro wrestling which depends on trusting your opponent with your body while convincing the fans it is real. I understand that most of the members here cherish their old school British wrestlers and rightly so. Count me as a fan of Billy Robinson, Kendo Nagasaki, Les Thornton, Geoff Portz, and The Dynamite Kid. But to say Billy would have torn Archie to shreds is wishful thinking. As regards the comment that Stu could not start a hold from standing position, age must be taken into account. By 1972, Stu was in his fifties and had arthritis and bad knees. So starting from a standing position was not really an option for Stu at that time.