Originally written for KayfabeMemories.com

Frank Tunney’s promotion was not the only game in town. As in other areas, there was no shortage of smaller outfits to work for. The most common name on the Ontario circuit was known at different times as Big Bear, Big Time, or All Star Wrestling, run by Dave McKigney.

Known as The Wildman, McKigney promoted in most of the small towns that dot the Ontario landscape with tours in the summer months and occasional forays into the cities and mid size arenas.

I attended many of The Wildman’s shows through the years, and sometimes preferred them to the Gardens shows. This was partly due to the small venue feel but also a result of the big name talent he would book.

left: Johnny Davis vs The Spoiler

The Sheik, Bulldog Brower, Killer Kowalski, The Valiants, Domenic Denucci, Cowboy Frankie Lane, Andre The Giant, Haystacks Calhoun, Bobo Brazil, George Steele, and most of the other veterans of the northeast area would appear here regularly.

McKigney would work with the other promoters in the northeast area booking talent to tour the small Ontario cities, and by all accounts was a good honest guy who worked his tail off for the life he loved.

As a wrestler, McKigney would usually be on the losing end, putting over one of his stars for the good of the show. A lot of times he would be teamed with The Wolfman (Willie Farkus) as the ultimate wildman duo from Northern Ontario, usually losing to the good guy teams. He would also tour the states and have some success in the WWWF including a title shot against short term Champ Ivan Koloff.

If you attended some of these cards back around 1976, say in Leamington, or Goderich, or Gravenhurst, you may have seen a wrestler about 6’5, 260 pounds by the name of “Handsome Johnny Davis. The Detroit area regular would make several forays into the Ontario circuit, working the small towns and supplementing his income through the enviable tasks of driving Andre The Giant, The Sheik, or Mike Loren between the small towns.

McKigney would book a lot of the wrestlers himself or through Lou Klein or The Sheik, and the proximity to Toronto made for an ideal working relationship. The fact that he was a good payoff man didn’t hurt either. As Davis tells me, “Great guy, paid good, made one of my biggest mistakes not going to work for him full time when he asked me, I was fed up and wanted out, if I had gone with him I may have lasted a few years longer and had some fun.”

McKigney also had somewhat of a working relationship with Tunney at this time and the highlight for some of the wrestlers were stops at the famed Maple leaf Gardens. “I loved going to MLG” said Davis, “wish I could have worked there more, big building, clean, great crowds, big ring and I loved the ramp”. And what about Frank Tunney? “Nice guy, used to pick up his Export A butts for him at the border” adds Davis.

McKigney had trouble with the boxing/wrestling commission later on but in those days seemed to have an easier time of it all and according to Davis, “I always thought of Dave as the Canadian Lou Klein. He must have had the blessings of the Tunneys or they wouldn’t have used him on the MLG shows”.

A TV Taping for the Tunneys at the Hamilton Studios would also be part of the tour, and Davis would pick up a cool 50 bucks for an afternoon of taking bumps. As a mid carder Davis would see his share of losses, and when asked about his biggest win, replied, “Win? Not many of them so I should remember, but I don’t”.

Some of those losses would come from heroes like Bobo Brazil,” worked with him a lot and every one was a dream,” while one would come from legendary tough guy and long time Toronto stalwart Johnny Valentine. “ He beat the hell out of me,” remembers Davis, “Wasn’t long after this that he had his plane crash so I never worked with him again.

He came back to do some booking for Sheik from a wheelchair. I got to know him a little during that time. Got along good and he got a good laugh when I reminded him about the ass kicking he gave me. I wasn’t the only rookie to get this from him.”

right: Johnny Davis (as The Spoiler) vs John Ruffin

The small towns made for interesting match-ups like Davis teaming with McKigney (The Wildman) against the mammoth Haystacks Calhoun in one of those handicap matches that seemed to be on every card. On the trips through Ontario, the familiar names pop up, Chris Tolos, Dewey Robertson, Red Lyons, Sweet Daddy Siki, and local favorite heel Waldo Von Erich, “He was funny and real nice to me. Taught me a few things about the biz too” Davis remembers fondly.

Some of the other familiar stars on those shows would include Ox Baker, Tony Parisi, Stan Stasiak, The Beast, Ron Doner, Kurt Von Hess, and Tiger Jeet Singh. One of the great attractions of this circuit was the Wrestling Bear. “Never wrestled it” said Davis “Got in the ring with it one time just playing before a show.” The Bear would be a big hit down in Roy Shire’s San Francisco promotion as well during tours of the States in the winter months.

Ontario was the home away from home for The Sheik in those days and he would appear on many cards throughout the circuit. “Scary at first,” Davis says of the feared Arab wildman, “but I got along great with him, even though his payoffs sucked.” The exalted one would appear here long after his exodus from MLG, sometimes headlining a small card on the same night as a Gardens show.

Davis, like most of the wrestlers at that time, faced an uphill battle for monetary security. Unless you were one of the few big stars, the traveling expenses, the lack of any health insurance and the low drawing cards leading to low payoffs could kill a career fast. “Nearest thing to a salary would be a weekly guarantee that Bill Watts paid. Only got the minimum guarantee one week around Christmas when I only worked one show that week,” recalls Davis, “WWWF paid hotel and transportation. Most of the time, the BIG boys had their trans paid, and the only way mine was paid was when you drove them to a show.”

Vital Stats

Johnny Davis Aka The Spoiler
Aka Ed White
6’5, 260 lbs
Territories Worked: Toronto, Detroit, WWWF, St. Louis, Mid South
Training: Lou Klein’s gym “from whoever happened to be there that day. Mostly Denny Alberts.”
Debut: Late 1974 against Ricky Cortez in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Retired: Early 1979 vs. Gino Hernandez at Olympia Stadium in Detroit
Toughest Opponent: Johnny Valentine
Favorite Wrestler/ Opponent: Bobo Brazil
Wrestling Hero’s:The Sheik, Dick The Bruiser, Bruno, Jimmy Valiant, Bobby Davis, Buddy Rogers
Tag Partners: Denny Alberts

left: Johnny Davis & Ripper Collins

Photos courtesy of Ed White

For more on Johnny Davis see Wildman Lineup

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