Wrestling
Wrestling was featured at Maple Leaf Gardens almost from the moment the building opened, and after hockey, the unique combination of athletic prowess and pantomime billed as "an exhibition of skill and science" was the arena's most frequent attraction. All of the greats grappled here, from Jim Londos in the 1930's to Hulk Hogan in the 1980's. But two local wrasslin' icons stood above the rest - one a "baby face" and one a "heel." Whipper Billy Watson, real name William Potts, made his Gardens debut in 1940, shortly after he emigrated from England, and immediately became a crowd favourite. On March 15, 1956, he defeated Lou Thesz by count-out to win the World Heavyweight Championship, and fans and the local sports press celebrated the feat - as though it were absolutely 100% genuine. "Isn't it wonderful! Isn't it great! Whipper Watson, world's heavyweight wrestling champion. Just imagine!" Steve York wrote in the Globe and Mail, under a mammoth headline. Longtime Gardens promoter Frank Tunney, perhaps a little extravagantly, once estimated that Watson entertained five million people during his decades as a local headliner. On one famous night in 1959, Watson beat Gorgeous George, who was forced to shave his glorious golden locks as part of the bargain. And in 1965, the Whipper - who kept wrestling until being struck by a car and losing his left leg in 1971 - dispatched a nefarious newcomer called The Sheik. But that dastardly villain - whose real name was Eddie Farhat, and who hailed not from Syria, as billed, but from Detroit - would return, and in 1969 began the greatest "winning" streak in Toronto sports history. Week after week, he took on all comers at the Gardens - often with slippery manager Abdullah "the Weasel" Farouk in his corner. Employing all sorts of chicanery to which the oblivious referees somehow remained blind, he always managed to come out on top. The fans turned out in droves, hoping to see the bad guy finally get his comeuppance, including a record crowd of more than 18,000 on February 21, 1971, to see him defeat Tiger Jeet Singh. The Sheik's undefeated run finally came to an end after 15 years and 127 matches on August 11, 1974, when he made the mistake of attacking the referee, and lost by disqualification to Andre the Giant. -Stephen Brunt
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Toronto Plaques. Full page here.