At New Orleans on February 17, 1906, Charles Olson beat Oscar Wasem at the
Greenwald Theater, winning the second, third, and fourth falls after Wasem took the
opener.  In another match, Buck Talton beat Abe Daniels.


On the amateur front, the New Orleans Athletic Club wrestling team was preparing for
an international meet against a Japanese squad in December 1938.  The New Orleans
team was coached by "Cyclone" Schriever.  According to the Times-Picayune, the
Japanese team was made up of wrestlers from the Kelo and Waseda Universities and
they were making a "goodwill tour of the United States." The local delegate welcoming
the Japanese team was Kenzo Ito.  Exhibitions of jiu-jitsu were planned.  The matches
were planned for Saturday, December 17, 1938.  The Times-Picayune (12/16/1938)
stated that "for the first time in the history of amateur wrestling, New Orleans will get a
glimpse of a team of Japanese collegiate grapplers, who are on a goodwill tour of
America."

The event was staged at the New Orleans Athletic Club.  The matches were:

Sake Kusubayashi, Waseda U. vs. Meyer Rosenfeld (165 pounds)
Elichi Kazama, Waseda U. vs. Paul Schumacher (AAU Champion) (155 pounds)
Toshikatsu Inaba, Kelo U. vs. Louis Morgan (145 pounds)
Masatoli Hayashi, Waseda U. vs. Mike Lucia (AAU champion) (135 pounds)
Noriaski Matsuuchi, Kelo U. vs. Eutace Shearman (126 pounds)
Akira Michiaki, Waseda U. vs. Albert Lachin (124 pounds)
Tetsu Ohta, Waseda U. vs. Lloyd Broussard (118 pounds)

An amateur boxing show was staged on Friday, December 16, 1938 in New Orleans at
the St. Aloysius gymnasium.  Jeff Albert was facing george Calongue and Lloyd
Broussard meeting Eustace Sherman in wrestling matches.



In 1939, Marty Burke was the matchmaker for matches in New Orleans and likely had a
working agreement with Chris Jordan in Birmingham, Alabama.  During the early parts
of 1940, wrestler Joe Gunther took more of a role in Jordan's promotion when the
latter became sick.  In late March 1940, Gunther took over the Birmingham operations
and ran his first show on April 1 using the same types of high quality (non
heavyweight) talent seen in New Orleans.  Gunther, who was a headliner in New
Orleans, was said to be "associated" with Burke, and they may have been full business
partners.



Gus Short, recently discharged from the Army Air Force, replaced Marty Burke as the
promoter in New Orleans on May 29, 1945.


Jim Murtagh took over the promotional position in New Orleans in the summer of 1947
at the Coliseum Arena for the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the local sponsor for
pro wrestling.  He was originally from Algiers, Louisiana, and worked previously at City
Hall and in the railroad business.


By 1950, Murtagh had become ill, and his wife Ernestine took over as the promoter.



Murtagh and Gunther touted the debuts of two African American wrestlers, Charles
Spencer and Tex Rosenthal (Simon McGinnis), who were going to wrestle on the
Thursday, August 12, 1954 show at the Coliseum in New Orleans.  Early on
Wednesday morning, the two wrestlers and their companions were traveling south of
Alexandria when they swerved from the road to avoid two tractor trailer trucks driving
side-by-side in the road.  Their car ended up hitting a tree, killing Spencer, Oprha
Morris and Alma McGinnis (Simon's wife).  Jack Rush (The Canadian Angel) was
following in a separate car and witnessed the accident.  The McGinnises were from
Chicago and lived at 6540 Ellis Avenue.



On Monday, August 8, 1960, Jim Murtagh, the well known New Orleans promoter,
passed away.  He was survived by his wife, Ernestine, two brothers and a sister.  
Murtagh was 61.

It was reported that Ernestine and Gunther were going to keep the wrestling promotion
in New Orleans alive, but it never materialized.  Their promotion ceased operations in
1960.

Professional wrestling in New Orleans was dormant going into 1961 with smaller shows
held every two weeks in Arabi, Louisiana at the SBARD Arena by matchmaker Joe
Gunther.  On June 22, 1961, however, big time heavyweight grappling returned under
the auspices of Gunther and promoter Andy Tsimpides at the Municipal Auditorium.  
That night, NWA World Junior Heavyweight champion Danny Hodge appeared and
beat Nelson Royal in three-falls.  Primarily with talent from the Oklahoma territory,
Tsimpides and Gunther ran programs over the next few months, with some shows
being held in nearby Harvey at the Westside Sports Center.  Hodge was a fixture,
bringing great class to the territory.

During the first week of December 1961, Jack Pfefer entered New Orleans to help
Tsimpides and Gunther, and changed the local landscape completely.  He brought his
colorful group of wrestlers, including Nick the Bruiser, Bob Bellis, Armand Rocca,
Young Carnera, Chief Lone Eagle, Women's Champion Bambi Ball, and World
Heavyweight Champion Jackie Fargo.  Both Ball and Fargo were referred to in publicity
pieces as "NWA" champions, a nice dig at the organization Gunther used to belong to.






Corporations:

Leroy McGuirk Championship Wrestling, Inc.
Incorporated:  April 29, 1977
Address:  1919 Fourth National Bank Building, Tulsa, Oklahoma  74119
Louisiana Address:  4401 Lake Shore Drive, Shreveport, LA  71109
Officers:  William F. "Bill" Watts, Leroy McGuirk, Dorothy McGuirk
Revoked:  October 21, 1985
*According to the Louisiana Secretary of State, January 12, 2003

Mid-South Sports, Inc.
Incorporated:  September 11, 1979
Address:  145 Robert E. Lee Blvd. Suite 206, New Orleans, Louisiana
Registered Agent:  Charles Emile Bruneau, Jr.
Officers:  William Frederick "Bill" Watts Jr., Georgiana Seay
Change of Agent:  November 5, 1980, January 19, 1981, February 16, 1983, April 30,
1984
Revoked:  November 16, 1999
*According to the Louisiana Secretary of State, January 12, 2003

American Wrestling Enterprises, Inc.
Incorporated:  January 30, 1981
Address:  1515 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana
Registered Agent:  Rader Jackson
Officers:  William F. "Bill" Watts Jr., Douglas W. Black, David J. Smith
Revoked:  November 19, 1990
*According to the Louisiana Secretary of State, January 12, 2003












Research by Tim Hornbaker
Louisiana Wrestling Territory