Big Time Wrestling (Boston)

rdf:langString Big Time Wrestling (Boston)

rdf:langString Big Time Wrestling

rdf:langString right

rdf:langString Tony Santos, Sr.

rdf:langString Gene Santos

rdf:langString Tony Santos, Jr.

rdf:langString Tony Santos, Sr.

rdf:langString Santos Wrestling Enterprises, Inc.

rdf:langString So a good opportunity to work with all these guys, it was a good little territory – so that's where I broke in up there. I had no idea that I would make it, had no idea where I would end up but I knew it was something I wanted to try and that was actually the only opportunity out there because nobody around this area was willing to give me a shot.

rdf:langString I had guys like Luke Graham [who] broke in up there, Pat Patterson, Terry Garvin, Ronny Garvin, [a] guy named Ronny Dupree who was one of the Hell's Angels, [and] Alex Medina, a Puerto Rican kid who was a tremendous high-flyer at the time.

rdf:langString I started up there in Boston with Tony Santos and the good thing about that was that there was a good mix in a small territory of some old veterans that had come off the road and settled in that area, and some young guys still trying to find their niche, so I was able to work with some good guys.

rdf:langString Big Time Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the New England area of the United States from 1960 to 1975. For much of the 1960s, BTW was the top professional wrestling promotion in Boston, Massachusetts, and was a significant competitor to the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). The company was founded by Tony Santos Sr. in 1960, following the death of Boston's longtime promoter Paul Bowser, and the departure of Bowser's rival Eddie Quinn. Partnering with Jack Pfefer, Santos solidified his control over the city after securing the Boston Garden that same year. Big Time Wrestling was a staple of the regional carnival circuit and regularly visited New England's summer resort towns. Its live events often featured female and midget wrestlers, as well as a variety of wrestling animals. Under Pfefer's guidance, the "outlaw" promotion became infamous for using "soundalike" wrestlers which parodied a number of stars from both the National Wrestling Alliance and World Wide Wrestling Federation. Big Time Wrestling was one of several promotions to recognize the Atlantic Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship, a world title created by Bowser in 1957, although it gradually diminished in importance after the mid-1960s. In 1963, Abe Ford spearheaded the WWWF's expansion into Boston. Santos was able to keep the New York-based promotion at bay for several years. A rivalry developed between Big Time's top star Frankie Scarpa and the WWWF's Bruno Sammartino which attracted big crowds in New England, particularly among the Italian-American population in Boston, and saw Sammartino eclipse Scarpa as the region's top "babyface" performer by the end of the 1960s. Santos slowly lost his hold on Boston due to the WWWF's superior television exposure and the emergence of Sammartino as a major star in the Northeastern United States. Big Time Wrestling went on an unofficial hiatus following the in-ring death of Scarpa in 1969. The promotion enjoyed one last big run in the mid-1970s, this time operated by Gene and Tony Santos Jr., before finally shutting down in 1975. The promotion was revived by former BTW mainstay Richard Byrne in 2006 and began touring nationally in 2013.

rdf:langString BTW