SupronStars

SupronStars was the first, semi-professional, wrestling federation in Poland, active in the early 1990s.

History

After learning about professional wrestling from TV during his visit to the United States, Andrzej Supron - a Polish Greco-Roman Olympic wrestler - decided to contact Killer Kowalski (a Canadian pro-wrestler of Polish descent) or Ivan Putski (a Polish-American pro wrestler born in occupied Poland) to learn more about the business. (Note: Supron gave contradicting accounts on different occasions.) Supron decided to bring pro wrestling to Poland, where it was an unknown form of entertainment at the time.

According to Phil Lions' article, Supron recruited around 20 bodybuilders, sportsmen and actors (such as Władysław Komar and Edyta Górniak) to train them on his own, based on what he'd gleaned from some wrestling video tapes purchased in the US, before starting a touring federation. The earliest known event by SupronStars was held in October 1989 in Włocławek, however a prior interview suggests shows were held around Poland as far back as July that same year.

Aside from holding shows in Poland, the group also toured ex-Soviet republics, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and more. According to the few available sources, these shows were met with good amount of success, especially abroad. Between March and September 1990 they reportedly had shows in over 20 cities all across the former Soviet Union, with multiple shows in some of them over the course of a few consecutive days, and sometimes even two shows a day in the same venue. Rough estimates put the tour at over 50 shows total.

While not much concrete information about the shows themselves is available, the events seem to have followed the typical American sports entertainment formula. The workers were divided into the usual categories of heels and babyfaces, villainous managers and female valets, with the in-ring action including the expected choking, cheating behind the referee's back, interference in matches, some top-rope moves and even occasional bleeding. The matches were held in a boxing ring, as no proper wrestling squared circle was available.

While wrestling was the main focus of the events, SupronStars also drew the audience by having a heavily advertised erotic show on the card. Several scantily clad women would perform a dance number for the audience, in addition to escorting the wrestlers to and from the ring. In addition a woman - reportedly named Barbara - would perform a strip show. At times there were also other acts, such as singers, clowns, jugglers, acrobats, and even womens' boxing. Notably, the shows also included what could likely be the first women's matches booked by a Polish wrestling group: two former judo competitors, named Anka and Katarzyna, were the main female wrestlers on the tour.

Phil Lions gives an incomplete list of arenas in post-Soviet countries where SupronStars held their shows:

In October 1991 Supron considered a second tour of the ex-Soviet republics, but it never came to fruition and the group disbanded in 1992, having done a few more shows in Poland. Andrzej Supron went on to invite foreign, more professional talent to host the World Wrestling Superstars event in 1993.

References