I read the article on Billy Robinson in Stampede and have a few first hand comments. Billy's first match in Edmonton was against a lower card wrestler who he easily disposed of. The promoter, Stu Hart, had a formula for building up stars by having them matched against progressively better wrestlers until they reached main event status. The top star at the time was Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie. Archie was the real deal - extremely fit, tough as nails and a talented wrestler (trained by Stu Hart in the Dungeon). The year before Billy arrived, I saw Archie take the NWA World Champion, Dory Funk, to the point of defeat before being disqualified. Now this is where the story takes a turn with the arrival of Billy Robinson to the territory. Archie was planning on dropping the belt as he was leaving to go to the US. The plan was for The Stomper to wrestle Billy before Dory Funk arrived and turn back the challenge. Archie would then face Dory Funk for the second year in a row and presumably go to a draw or a disqualification. After Dory had left the territory, Archie would drop the belt to Robinson and also leave the territory. As has been reported,. Archie's match with Billy did not go as planned. Billy refused to sell any of Archie's offence. Archie had a temper but, rather than retaliate, he simply rolled out of the ring and told Stu Hart he was quitting early. There is blame on both sides. Pro Wrestling is scripted and selling is an essential part of the game. Billy's ego and desire to show off led him to deviate from the script. Likewise Archie should not have just up and quit. I am positive Archie could have handled himself in a shoot. He was bigger and stronger than Billy and had been trained by Stu Hart himself. Another Stampede star, Dan Kroffat wrestled both Billy and Archie several times. He is on record as saying Archie was the consummate professional who knew how to sell tickets and make money. Indeed, Archie went on to be a main event wrestler wherever he went. Billy was equally talented but had an ego and wanted to prove he was better than everyone else - hence the comments about being a bully. He too became a main eventer wherever he went. Now on to Billy challenging the NWA World Champion! I saw Billy go to a one hour draw with Dory Funk in Edmonton. It was a fantastic match, probably the best technical match I have ever seen. Billy had moves and holds that were fresh and innovative. And Dory proved why the NWA trusted him as their World Champion. He could go against anyone. The sell-out crowd loved it. The following week, Billy and Dory had a rematch with a 90 minute time limit. It too was a sell-out. I can't remember exactly what the finish was, but Billy was either "knocked out" or "injured" before the time limit expired. These are two matches I will never forget! Now a word of caution...there are some matches of Billy vs Dory on YouTube. Sadly, these matches were much later in their careers and show two wrestlers well past their prime. They do not hold a candle to the matches I saw in Stampede. Postscript. I think Billy learned a valuable lesson from the Archie incident. In a subsequent match, I saw him face a pretty green wrestler named Derrell Cochran. Billy could have pinned the guy in two minutes but carried the match and gave the kid a 45 minute lesson in ring psychology. Oh, and Billy actually let the kid get in some offence 😁. Billy also had some tremendous matches with Abdullah the Butcher in Stampede but that's another story.

I was around 21 when Kendo did his tour of Stampede Wrestling. I live in Edmonton and the cards were held on Saturday nights. I thought Kendo was fantastic. He had stiff style which suited the Stampede territory and had an impressive persona. I particularly remember a tag match with Kendo and Lord Sloan (George Gillette) vs Dan Kroffat and Bruce Hart. Kendo carried the match as I don't remember Sloan even tagging in. The finish saw Kendo laying a beating on Bruce Hart and Keith Hart came in to make the save and got a beating too. A disqualification as I recall. Good stuff. I was fortunate to be in the only territory in North America where Kendo wrestled. Of all the British wrestled that worked in Stampede (Billy Robinson, Geoff Portz, Les Thornton, Dynamite Kid etc.) he and Dynamite were my favourites.