He used to wrestle under his real name, Joe Scarpa, and was quite successful in the mid-south. When he signed with Vince, they came up with the Native American gimmick.
This is a show from Jonesboro in the early 60s when matches were held at the American Legion Arena. In the main event, he teams with the legendary Sputnik Monroe. Evidently, at this time, Monroe was wrestling baby face. Sputnik alternated between baby face and heel much like Jerry Lawler did.
Sputnik is a civil rights hero in Memphis. He single-handedly integrated the old Ellis Auditorium by refusing to wrestle unless blacks were allowed to sit anywhere in the building they wanted (not just in a special section for colored). Since Monroe was the biggest draw, the promoters had to go along with him.
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