Dick Hutton © vs Pat O’Connor – NWA
NWA World Heavyweight Title Match
01/09/1959
At a time period were the biggest wrestling companies were content to look back at their history in plain sight, paying homage to those that had built this great sport, Starrcade 1990 played host to the Pat O’Connor International Memorial Cup Tournament. In one night, eight teams representing eight different countries battled it out in honour of one of the early pioneers, a man who held the NWA World Heavyweight Title for close to three years. After formulaic quarter and semi-finals (which saw names such as Chris Adams, Normal Smiley, Rey Mysterio Sr. and Konnan get WCW PPV time), the one really marquee match graced the grand final: The Steiner Brothers versus the Japanese team of Mr Saito and The Great Muta. Unsurprisingly, it would be the Michigan natives who picked up the victory, and the Pat O’Connor Memorial Cup.
Pat O’Connor was an NWA World Heavyweight Championship dream. With a legitimate military and amateur wrestling background, he was the epitome of a man who could handle himself in the ring when necessary. Having made his debut in 1950, O’Connor had numerous title success, both in singles and in tag team competition. Competitors who wrestled alongside him included such luminaries as Verne Gagne, Lou Thesz and Edouard Carpentier; all wrestlers that O’Connor was often shown to be more than the measure of.
Having received several shots at the NWA World Heavyweight Title over the years, many against a stubbornly resistant Thesz, O’Connor finally managed to win the biggest prize in the sport to date, defeating Dick Hutton, the man who had eventually toppled Thesz. The match took place and St Louis, and was contested under one fall rules rather than the usual two out of three. O’Connor’s patented move was the spinning leglock, and he utilised it liberally to wear down the champion, finally defeating him fifteen minutes into the contest. O’Connor had become the first, and to date only, New Zealand born NWA champion.
During his reign as champion, the American Wrestling Association (having left the NWA) chose to recognise him as their first ever AWA World Heavyweight Champion. This came with a caveat; Verne Gagne declared that the title would be stripped from him if O’Connor didn’t defend the title within ninety days. Indeed, O’Connor was champ in name only. The title was never defended, and unsurprisingly sat around the waist of Gagne when the ninety days had passed. This behaviour started a trend, as WWWF also seceded from the NWA shortly after and proclaimed their singles title a World championship.
O’Connor’s reign came at a time when television began to play a major role within the world of wrestling. With names such as Lou Thesz dominating the title lineage over many years, and with lights and cameras appealing more to flamboyant characters such as Buddy Rogers, it feels that Pat O’Connor gets lost somewhat in the shuffle when the big names of the NWA are considered, especially when it comes to the more casual wrestling fan. There just isn’t as much footage around of men who made their career in the 50s and 60s, and as wrestling becomes ever more forward looking, dwelling upon names such as O’Connor seems like a distant memory.
When Buddy Rogers defeated Pat O’Connor for the title in 1961, 38,622 fans turned up at Comiskey Park – an attendance record that lasted all the way until the Big Event in Toronto over thirty years later. Records such as this, as well as having the sixth ever recognised reign as NWA World Heavyweight Champion, speak volumes about O’Connor’s importance in the history of wrestling. The tag tournament truly was just the tip of the iceberg.
