I received an e-mail from Mr. Daniel C. Wilson from Soddy Daisy, Tennessee. He is 19 years old, and his dream is to be a wrestling promoter and a color commentator. His uncle is one of the wrestling legends, but he knows very little about his uncle's career, because his uncle lives far away from him, and his family also hates wrestling. His uncle, Gypsy Joe, 66 years old, "King of the Death Matches in the 1970's," is legitimately one of the toughest men in Japanese Puroresu. He is still wrestling on the indy circuit in Tennessee today. He is still taking great bumps. He is still getting too many head shots.
Gypsy Joe (real name: Gilberto "Pepe" Merendez) was born in Puerto Rico on December 2, 1933. He lost both of his parents when he was very young, and he and his brother raised themselves. He trained with Pedro Morales and Carlos Colon, and he wrestled in Puerto Rico shortly, but soon moved to the United States to wrestle. He debuted in the United States against Lou Albano at Sunnyside Garden in Long Island, New York in 1963; since then, he has been wrestling professionally for 46 years. He said Al Costello had helped him a lot early on in his career. He was named as Gypsy Joe, Aztec Joe (Indian gimmick in Mexico), and Gene Madrid (in Virginia and West Virginia), and he also wrestled under masks as one of the Blue Infernos (in Tennessee) and El Grande Pistolero (in USWA / WCCW).
March 23, 1967---Chattanooga, Tennessee
World Tag Team title tournament
Blue Infernos (Gypsy Joe & Frank Martinez) beat Jackie Fargo & Gene Dundee
April 27, 1967---Chattanooga, Tennessee
World Tag Team title match
Billy Hines & Jimmy Hines beat Blue Infernos
May 11, 1967---Chattanooga, Tennessee
World Tag Team title tournament
Blue Infernos (Gypsy Joe & Frank Martinez) beat Billy Hines & Jimmy Hines
May 27, 1967---Chattanooga, Tennessee
World Tag Team title match
Billy Hines & Jimmy Hines beat Blue Infernos
Blue Infernos (Gypsy Joe and Frank Martinez) got over in Tennessee until the summer in 1967, when they were unmasked. Then, he wrestled in Grand Prix wrestling in Montreal and Stampede Wrestling in Calgary in the late 1970's. He teamed with Mad Dog Vachon; however, they were unable to control each other and had a bloody feud. He beat Vachon to win the Grand Prix World Heavyweight title in January 1975.
Gypsy Joe was booked into Isao Yoshihara's IWE (International Wrestling Enterprise) by Vachon and Tokyo Joe (Tetsunosuke "Joe" Daigo). IWE had strong relationships with the AWA and Stampede Wrestling in the 1970's and appealed to us with a great many cage death matches in Japan. He met one of the biggest rivals in his career, Rusher Kimura. Kimura was another king of the death matches in those days.
Gypsy Joe was just an unknown and mysterious wrestler when he came to Japan for the first time for the IWE from September 7 to October 11 in 1975 with The Killer (Benjy Ramirez), Jose Rivera, and Isaac Lothario. He raised his status in Japanese Puroresu by his guts and blood and hard work.
September 9, 1975---Isawa Komatsu Public Hall, Yamanashi
IWA World Tag Team title match
Great Kusatsu & Mighty Inoue beat Gypsy Joe & The Killer (Benjy Ramirez) (2-1)
(1) Joe beat Kusatsu (15:34)
(2) Inoue beat Killer (6:19)
(3) Kusatsu beat Killer (3:42)
October 6, 1975---Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
IWA World Heavy weight title match
Rusher Kimura beat Gypsy Joe (2-1)
(1) Joe beat Kimura (10:36)
(2) Kimura beat Joe (3:12)
(3) Kimura beat Joe (8:18 countout)
October 8, 1975---Koga City Gym, Ibaraki
IWA World Heavyweight title match / Cage Death Match
Rusher Kimura beat Gypsy Joe (14:55)
October 26, 1976---Sakai Town Gym, Ibaraki
IWA World Heavyweight title match
Rusher Kimura drew Gypsy Joe (1-1)
(1) 6:55 double countout
(2) 8:46 double countout
November 1, 1976---Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center, Hokkaido
IWA World Heavyweight title match
Rusher Kimura drew Gypsy Joe (13:07 double countout)
December 3, 1976---Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
IWA World Heavyweight title match / Cage Death Match
Rusher Kimura beat Gypsy Joe (14:37 knockout)
December 4, 1976---Yamato Shatai-kogyo Gym, Kanagawa
IWA World Tag Team title match
Great Kusatsu & Mighty Inoue beat Gypsy Joe & Gil Hayes (2-1)
(1) Joe beat Inoue (12:12)
(2) Kusatsu & Inoue beat Joe & Hayes (2:57 disqualification)
(3) Inoue beat Hayes (1:18)
Gypsy Joe and Mad Dog Vachon had one of the greatest brawls in Japanese wrestling history at Toyohashi City Gym in Aichi on March 15, 1977.
August 4, 1977---Hitachi Ikenogawa Central Gym, Ibaraki
IWA World Tag Team title match
Great Kusatsu & Animal Hamaguchi beat Gypsy Joe & Killer Tor Kamata (22:50 Kusatsu beat Kamata)
August 7, 1977---Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
IWA World Heavyweight title match
Rusher Kimura drew Gypsy Joe (15:23 no contest)
December 25, 1977---Nashville, Tennessee
Mid America Tag Team title tournament
Gypsy Joe & Leroy Rochester (Big Daddy Ritter / Junkyard Dog) won the tournament
Gypsy Joe won the Mid America Tag Team title with Tojo Yamamoto, Dutch Mantell, and Buzz Tyler at various times. Tojo had often given Gypsy Joe a "Toughness Test" on TV by slapping him and hitting him with his "Geta" (Japanese wooden shoe). Tojo called him "The No Pain Train."
Many Japanese wrestlers who wrestled in Tennessee were managed by Tojo Yamamoto (a.k.a. P.Y. Chang), real name Harold Watanabe, a Japanese-American from Hawaii ("Tojo" was from Hideki Tojo, who was the Army general and prime minister of Japan from 1941 to 1944 and indicted as a class A war criminal; he was hanged in 1948. "Yamamoto" was from Isoroku Yamamoto, who was the naval officer who proposed the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor). He managed Mr. Chin, Masa Fuchi & Mr. Onita, "Hiro & Shima" (Akio Sato [Shinja in the WWF] and Tarzan Goto), Shinya Hashimoto & Shinji Sasazaki, and many more.
September 30, 1978---Chattanooga, Tennessee
Mid America Tag Team title tournament
Gypsy Joe & Tojo Yamamoto beat Ken Lucas & Dutch Mantell
November 15, 1978---Nashville, Tennessee
World Brass Knuckles title tournament
Gypsy Joe beat Mexican Angel
December 26, 1978---Chattanooga, Tennessee
Mid America Tag Team title tournament
George Gulas & Bobby Eaton beat Gypsy Joe & Tojo Yamamoto
Gypsy Joe, Tojo Yamamoto, & The Beast won the World Six-Man Tag Team title in Tullahoma, Tennessee in January.
May 6, 1979---Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
IWA World Tag Team title match
Mighty Inoue & Animal Hamaguchi beat Gypsy Joe & Killer Tim Brooks (1-1)
(1) Hamaguchi beat Joe (2:44)
(2) Joe beat Hamaguchi (11:31)
(3) 2:59 double countout
May 7, 1979---Fuji Civic Gym, Shizuoka
IWA World Heavyweight title match / Cage Death Match
Rusher Kimura beat Gypsy Joe (9:52)
July 4, 1979---Nashville, Tennessee
Mid America Tag Team title match
Gypsy Joe & Tom Renesto Jr. beat Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes
November 7, 1979---Hirosaki Civic Gym, Aomori
WWU World Junior Heavyweight title match / Cage Death Match
Ashura Hara drew Gypsy Joe (15:13 double knockout)
Gypsy Joe and Bobby Eaton had a "Backdrop Contest" in the late 1970's in Nashville, Tennessee, to see who could hit the light fixture. They were touching the rafters or lighting rig with their feet.
January 7, 1980---Osaka Furitsu Gym
WWU World Junior Heavyweight title match
Ashura Hara drew Gypsy Joe (17:56 double countout)
January 14, 1980---Nagasaki International Gym
WWU World Junior Heavyweight title match
Ashura Hara beat Gypsy Joe (2-1)
(1) Joe beat Hara (10:53)
(2) Hara beat Joe (1:33)
(3) Hara beat Joe (3:58)
January 30, 1980---Chichibu Civic Gym, Saitama
IWA World Tag Team title match
Mighty Inoue & Animal Hamaguchi beat Gypsy Joe & Killer Karl Von Krupp (22:41 Inoue beat Joe)
March 19, 1980---Nashville, Tennessee
Mid America Tag Team title match
Tojo Yamamoto & Gypsy Joe beat Rocky Brewer & Pat Rose
May 25, 1980---Memphis, Tennessee
Southern Tag Team title match
Gypsy Joe & Skull Murphy beat Rocky Johnson & Jimmy Valiant
June 22, 1981---Koriyama Central Hall, Fukushima
IWA World Heavyweight title match
Rusher Kimura beat Gypsy Joe (2-0)
(1) Kimura beat Joe (9:41 no contest)
(2) Kimura beat Joe (8:07)
June 25, 1981---Shimizu City Suzuyo Memorial Gym, Shizuoka
IWA World Tag Team title match
Mighty Inoue beat Ashura Hara beat Gypsy Joe & Carl Fergie (17:15 Hara beat Joe)
IWE folded in summer 1981. Gypsy Joe started with Giant Baba's All Japan Pro Wrestling from August.
September 4, 1981---Osaka Furitsu Gym
United National Heavyweight title match
Jumbo Tsuruta beat Gypsy Joe (2-1)
(1) Tsuruta beat Joe (10:15 countout)
(2) Joe beat Tsuruta (5:27)
(3) Tsuruta beat Joe (5:15)
Jim Cornette, 21 years old, started managing in Memphis in 1982. He managed Gypsy Joe, The Angel (Frank Morrell), and Bounty Hunter (Jerry Novak). Gypsy Joe & Tojo Yamamoto won the World Tag Team Title in Angelo Poffo's International Championship Wrestling in Kentucky in 1982.
January 20, 1983---Kita-ibaraki Civic Gym, Ibaraki
All Asian Tag Team title match
Akio Sato (Shinja) & Takashi Ishikawa beat Gypsy Joe & Dream Machine (Kendo Nagasaki) (12:11 Ishikawa beat Machine)
April 17, 1983---Nagasaki International Gym
NWA International Junior Heavyweight title match
Atsushi Onita drew Gypsy Joe (11:46 double countout)
July 19, 1983---Osaka Furitsu Gym
All Asian Tag Team title match
Mighty Inoue & Ashura Hara beat Gypsy Joe & Jerry Morrow (18:20 Inoue beat Morrow)
January 22, 1984---Higashi-murayama Sports Center, Tokyo
All Asian Tag Team title match
Mighty Inoue & Ashura Hara beat Gypsy Joe & Goro Tsurumi (14:41 Hara beat Joe)
June 14, 1984---Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
NWA International Junior Heavyweight title match
Mighty Inoue beat Gypsy Joe (13:26)
October 11, 1984---Kansas City, Kansas
Central States Tag Team title match
Gypsy Joe & Mr. Pogo beat Uptown Boys (Marty Jannetty & Tommy Rogers [Lane])
December 9, 1984---Des Moines, Iowa
Central States Tag Team title match
Bulldog Bob Brown & Marty Jannetty beat Gypsy Joe & Mr. Pogo
Central States territory had Gypsy Joe vs. Mr. Pogo as their top feud on the weekly circuit in spring 1985.
March 8, 1991---Dallas, Texas
USWA Junior Heavyweight title match
El Grande Pistolero (Gypsy Joe) beat Nightmare Danny Davis
Gypsy Joe lived in Tokyo and wrestled for W*ING from August 1991 to January 1993. He had a last bloody feud with Mr. Pogo in the cage.
February 16, 1992---Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Cage Death Match
Mr. Pogo beat Gypsy Joe
September 10, 1992---Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Cage Death Match
Mr. Pogo beat Gypsy Joe
Gypsy Joe returned to Victor Quinones' IWA as a referee in 1995, and they had a ceremony for celebrating his great career at Kawasaki Baseball Stadium in Kanagawa on August 20, 1995.
Gypsy Joe, 66 years old, is still wrestling on the indy circuit in Tennessee today. He said:
"I really have a special place for all the great fans who have always supported me and cared about me and all the other greats who paved the way in wrestling."
"I would like to come to Japan again and live in the dojo and help train the young guys and help with the office work or whatever."
Please address all questions and comments about Japanese wrestling to Masanori at
|
The Way It Was | View From The Rising Sun | The Way I See It
SMW Tribute | WCW/WWF Satire | Rob's Photos
Wrestling Links | Sign Guestbook | View Guestbook
E-mail messages are ALWAYS welcome at smokyrobmoore@bigfoot.com
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free Home Page
