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#1
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1979 Rax Roast Beef Wrestling Mystery Solved....
I started collecting wrestling cards in August of 2009 by chance after browsing EBAY and looking to see if Brock Lesnar had any football cards prior to him joining the UFC. Within in weeks I was hooked and began to buy every set I could find from the 70's on up. This particularly trading card set has eluded me the entire time.
There was little information known about the set and only one EBAY lot in at least ten years of some loose beat up cards. I did know of one person who owned a card and it was Dr. David Shultz himself. A wrestling aficionado from NY is very close friends with him and he disclosed that to me and I asked him to offer him $200 for the card. Shultz just laughed and said this guy doesn't know who he is dealing with. I continued to hunt for information and found the name of Scott Teal on the back. I had purchased a few wrestling books from him and contacted him to see if he had any information. In December of 2014 I contacted him and he did reply and said he had a complete set that was sealed. It turns out he created them. I informed him that it was the most rare set of wrestling cards and that they could be worth $1,000 sealed. He was shocked that they had value and especially potentially that much. A little over a week ago a loose lot of cards was listed on EBAY and the titling caused many to miss the auctions. I only have two saved searches and one is Rax Roast Beef but it didn't get listed that way and I missed them. I emailed some of the results to Scott and he was stunned. Friday he posted the sealed pack to a Facebook group that focuses on Memphis Wrestling History and I was losing my mind when I saw them. I immediately contacted him and he said he was keeping them. I put a very serious offer on the table later in the day and eventually he caved. Here are the scans of the set. This is the first time Prince Tonga has ever been seen. I plan to work with PSA to try and get these graded. A collector Steve has a checklist site that is often used and he has updated it. I am absolutely thrilled to add this set to my collection. Last edited by Dpeck100; 07-19-2016 at 05:58 AM. |
#2
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#3
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It was long thought that the cards were handed out at Rax Roast Beef restaurants. It turns out they were only offered one night and handed out at this show.
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#4
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This is the poster for the show. In further research I have found that Graham didn't end up working the date. I plan to look for further information on the reported attendance that night. The promotion shut down a little over a year later so it makes me think attendance was starting to dwindle. No telling how many survived.
In a conversation with Bob from NY last night he said Shultz put out want adds for the cards in Tenn. with no luck in the past year. I am excited to learn that he did win the Shultz card that was auctioned off as he too desperately wanted one. Last edited by Dpeck100; 07-19-2016 at 06:00 AM. |
#5
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http://x-titles.com/wc/years/1970-1979/index.html
1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Cover card (Coupon for free fries) 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - * Nick Gulas (promoter) 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Dennis Condry 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - * Mike St. John 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - * Tommy Sloan (referree) 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - George Gulas 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - * Len Rossi 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Hans Shroeder 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Robert Gibson 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - * Donna Bower 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Tojo Yamamoto 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Pat Smith 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Bobby Eaton 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - * Tommy Kerkeles 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - The Red Terror 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Tommy Resesto, Jr. 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Cheif Thundercloud 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Ken Lucas 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - * Tommy Resesto, Sr. 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - David Shultz 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Ricky Gibson 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Jerry Barber 1979 - Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Prince Tonga Note: Sealed sets were distributed to the first 1200 attendees at the Sport Arena at the Tenness State Fairgrounds on November 21, 1979. Note: Non-wrestlers designated above with "*" Note: Cards are unnumbered. Note: Cards were sponsored by Rax Roast Beef Restuarants and Pabst Blue Ribbon Note: Order the cards above shown in order from an opened sealed pack. |
#6
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Here is the famous clip of Dr. David Shultz slapping John Stossel. I had to have his best card!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrX9Ca7LSyQ |
#7
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David,
I have absolutely no interest in wrestling, or in cards this recent for that matter, but I thoroughly enjoyed this thread. This is what collecting is all about IMHO. Thanks for sharing. |
#8
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Here is a back scan.
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#9
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Thanks for the checking out the thread.
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#10
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennes...d_Sports_Arena
http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/def...?itok=6aI0IXig Here is a picture of the venue and the historical information. In the wiki link it says there was a sellout in 2011 of 1,700 fans so the 1,200 packs offered were probably intended to be given to each fan in 1979. When looking at the Google images one link calls the venue "Tennessee State Fairgrounds Sports Arena. The worst dump imaginable and the best Wrestling venue imaginable." Last edited by Dpeck100; 07-20-2016 at 05:12 AM. |
#11
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Awesome thread. Thanks for sharing.
Joshua Van Pelt |
#12
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I have got them all in hand!
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#13
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I haven't made a video in a while but wanted to cover the set.
Last night after getting my second batch of cards in the mail from PSA I filmed this and uploaded it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKj-sSu_AB8 |
#14
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I had a chance to get the scans done Thursday night.
Here they are. |
#15
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