VIEW FROM THE RISING SUN
by Masanori Horie

Arigato (Thank you very much) for reading my columns and e-mailing to me a lot of warm encouragement. Since September 18, 1998, I have written columns about legendary wrestlers like Dory Funk Jr., Giant Baba, Fritz Von Erich, Abdullah the Butcher, Bruiser Brody, and Dynamite Kid; the current stars, like Cactus Jack, Sabu, Chris Jericho, and Val Venis; and the woman wrestlers like Miss Mongol and Jessica Soto (Jessie will be wrestling as "Black Ice Babe" in the USA soon), and reported about the WWF Funking Dojo, NWA 50th Anniversary, and ECW in Japan / Sabu's Wedding. Please take a look at my past columns, at http://www.oocities.org/Colosseum/Bench/5904/jparchive.htm. I 'll keep introducing a day in the life of gaijin (foreign) wrestlers in Japan, and I would like to link the good old days with current trends, too.


The Wrestlers Formerly Known As The Black Harts

Luna and the Black harts
Luna Vachon (center) with the Black Harts, Distraction (David Heath) and Agony (Barry Houston)

Like the myriad small nameless star-dusts blinking in the dark night sky, there are myriad young boys who really aspire to get their first breaks, attain fame, and make their life in wrestling business. Some of the star-dusts will go up to stardom, and some of them will fall down and apart.

The World Wrestling Federation is said to be interested in signing an independent wrestler named Barry Houston. It was the very first break for him with the WWF to attend the WWF Funking Dojo three times (http://www.oocities.org/Colosseum/Bench/5904/jp012599.htm). Who is Barry Houston? Barry Houston, whose real name is Todd Passmore, is from Miami, Florida. He has been a TV wrestler for both WCW and WWF since '94. I'm very glad to hear his good news. I know he had a hard time to get a break, but he followed his dream ... he was "Agony", one of The Black Harts.


David (Distraction/Gangrel) Heath
David Heath, a/k/a Distraction of the Black Harts, and Gangrel


The Black Harts, a black-egg-like-masked tag team, were born in Florida in 1990. There were two young wrestlers, Tom Nash from Pompano Beach, and David Heath from Miami. They were trained at Larry Malenko's Wrestling School in Tampa, Florida. They were big fans of Japanese wrestling. They collected a lot of tapes from Japan and longed to go to All Japan or New Japan someday. The Black Harts, Apocalypse (Nash) and Distraction (Heath), beat Kensuke Sasaki (of New Japan) & Sumo Hara (Tatsumi Kitahara) to win Stampede Wrestling's International Tag Team title in Calgary, Alberta on September 29, 1989; however, they were the last champions before the promotion closed in December.

Black Harts Apocalypse & Distraction had their first Japan tour with Giant Baba's All Japan with Terry Gordy & Steve Williams, Can-Am Express (Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas), Skywalker Nitron & Blade Butch Masters, Joe & Dean Malenko, Undertakers (Val & Tony Puccio), and Rocky Iaukea from February 23 to March 8, 1991 (12 shows). They returned to All Japan with Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey, Abdullah the Butcher, Giant Kimala (Sugar Bear Harris), Giant Kimala #2 (Ben Peacock), Can-Am Express, Joe & Dean Malenko, and Richard Slinger from August 17 to September 7, 1991 (19 shows). They challenged for the Can-Am Express' All Asian Tag Team title at Nippon Budokan on September 4 (15:48 Furnas b. Distraction). They had a perfect gimmick and could do very good combinations, but they lacked something. Maybe they were too neat to appeal to our minds, because they learned the Japanese tapes perfectly. They were too good to get over.

After the Japan tour, they split for some reason. Tom Nash formed the new Black Harts, Apocalypse (Nash) and Devastation (Dave Johnson), who had one tour for All Japan with Stan Hansen, Terry Gordy & Steve Williams, Danny Spivey, Can-Am Express, Patriot (Del Wilkes) & Eagle (Jackie Fulton), Rob Van Dam (his very first Japan tour), and Dory Funk Jr. from February 19 to March 4, 1993 (10 shows). On a TV taping, Stan Hansen smashed Apocalypse's head with a chair, and Apocalypse was bleeding heavily from his black mask. However, he still tried to substitute with Devastation. It was a very pitiful scene on TV. They made a short-appearance at the WCW TV tapings (actually, nobody knows how Tom Nash is right now. I heard a rumor that he was wrestling in Europe under a different name. Anyway, I'd like to see him again, because he was one of the biggest wrestling fans I've ever seen).

David Heath got a new gimmick as "Vampire Warrior," and got married to Luna Vachon. Vampire Warrior beat Jeff Jarrett to win the USWA Heavyweight title in Memphis, Tennessee on July 18, 1993. Luna beat Miss Texas (Jacqueline) to win the USWA Women's title in Memphis on August 2, 1993. David was booked to IWA Japan Pro-Wrestling with Leather Face (Ricky Patterson), Jason the Terrible, Freddy Krueger (Doug Gilbert), Lucifer (Steve Collins), Miguel Perez Jr., Felino, Gran Apache, and Head Hunter A from August 24 to September 9, 1994.

During the recent WWF "Royal Rumble" PPV (January 24, 1999), I was really impressed with Luna Vachon. She was taking great bumps, as usual, and carrying Sable very well. Luna's father, Paul "Butcher" Vachon, was a pro wrestler in the 1960s - '80s and a promoter of Grand Prix Wrestling in the Montreal area in the '70s. I remember him for his appearances on the WWF's "Tuesday Night Titans" (TNT) talk show, where he sang and got married in a ring in '84. Her uncle, Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon, was a middleweight amateur wrestler representing Canada at the London Olympics in '48. He became one of the toughest pro-wrestlers and the AWA World Heavyweight champion in the '60s. Her aunt, Vivian Vachon, was considered to be the best woman wrestler in the early '70s. Vivian was the star of the early '70s film, "Wrestling Queen," which shows us the good old territory days ... the Montreal area, LeRoy McGuirk's Oklahoma area, and Dory Funk Sr.'s Amarillo area. Vivian retired after marrying an AWA wrestler, Buddy Wolfe, in the mid-'70s. Luna started wrestling in Montreal in the '70s, when she was 15 years old. She has the wrestling ability her father, uncle, and aunt instilled in her. She said, "Vivian was always my hero. She was far ahead of her time as a wrestler." Luna had her first Japan tour with the old Japan Woman Pro-Wrestling, which split into two groups, JWP and LLPW, in '92, in October 1986. Vivian made a brief comeback for the same office in November 1986. Vivian was killed by a drunk driver in August 1991.

David and Luna wrestled for both the WWF and WCW, Puerto Rico, ECW, and AWF. Luna had feuds with Sherri Martel (WWF), Madusa (WCW), and Stevie Richards (ECW). She teamed with Tommy Dreamer against Raven & Stevie Richards at "Hard Core Heaven" at ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 1, 1995. David Heath formed another new Black Harts team, Distraction (Heath) & Agony (Barry Houston), managed by Luna Vachon, in 1996.

Luna, the Black Harts, and Masanori
(L-R) David Heath, Barry Houston, Luna, and Masanori

Black Harts Distraction (Heath) & Apocalypse (actually, Agony [Barry Houston]), managed by Luna Vachon, as a regular gaijin (foreign) tag team, had four tours with IWA Japan Pro. from June 4 to June 10, 1996 (six shows), from August 5 to August 11, 1996 (six shows), from May 17 to May 31, 1997 (seven shows), and from August 8 to August 13, 1997. I don't forget that Cactus Jack really praised Barry Houston's potential at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on June 4, 1996. They wrestled very hard for the IWA, but they felt big stresses about the small independent office's limitations (payment, treatment, tour schedule, and popularity). They really longed to work the bigger offices, but it was very difficult to get a job there. Actually, David & Luna knew Johnny Ace, who is a booking agent for All Japan, and Barry knew The Patriot (Del Wilkes) and Manabu Nakanishi (Kurosawa in WCW) very well.

David Heath, without a mask or face-paint, was booked with All Japan again from May 23 to June 12, 1998. They were going to push him and Bobby Duncum Jr. as a regular tag team. However, David had already attended the WWF Funking Dojo with Dan Severn, Paulo Silva, John Tenta, Solofa Fatu (Sultan), Darren Drozdov (Droz of L.O.D 2000), and Andrew Martin (Test) from May 10 to May 17, 1998. Of course, he chose the WWF rather than All Japan. The WWF gave him the name of "Gangrel" and set up the Gangrel vs. Edge feud with Christian, and then "The Brood" unit of Gangrel, and Edge and Christian, who are vampires under Gangrel's control.

Luna likes to autograph for fans with "May your bumps always be solid & your dream always come true!" I imagine how happy Luna feels that she can travel and work with her husband as WWF wrestlers. And, I hope Barry Houston will go on to stardom in the near future, because he loves wrestling, and he never did give up.

Masanori and Luna
Masanori and Luna


You may contact Masanori at masa_h@mail.goo.ne.jp

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