and "Pierre Carpentier" (Edouard Carpentier), as well as the National Wrestling Alliance. This practice lasted only a few years, however, the promotion become associated with these "soundalike" wrestlers long after Pfefer had left Boston. Rivalry with the WWWF Santos remained the sole promoter in Boston for another two years until the reappearance of Abe Ford in 1965. This time, Ford had considerably more support from Vince McMahon Sr. which included the debut of the WWWF's Heavyweight Wrestling on WIHS (Channel 38). He also took a more aggressive approach against the Santos-Pfefer group including the placement of special newspaper advertisements attacking their "knockoff" versions of WWWF wrestlers. Boston wrestling historian Tom Burke described the often heated relationship between the two promoters: Big Time Wrestling maintained its hold on the territory for the first half of 1965. Ford's "World Championship Wrestling" shows lasted from July until October 1965, due to low attendance. For the second time, Ford was run out of Boston and he temporarily left the wrestling business "to refocus on other interests". During the early-to-mid 1960s, Jackie Fargo and Buddy Fuller had been promoted by the company as its world champions. Fargo left the territory in November 1964 and Fuller stopped appearing in Boston after 1966. The following spring Santos decided to hold a tournament to crown a new champion. The winner was to be presented with the prestigious Ed "Strangler" Lewis championship belt, then valued at $10,000. Frankie Scarpa ended up winning the tournament on April 27, 1967, defeating Gorilla Morgan in the finals. From that point forward, Scarpa was billed as Big Time Wrestling's number-one star. That same month, Ford returned to Boston for his third and ultimately successful attempt to gain a foothold in the city. This time, he had the advantage of McMahon's growing television audience. WWWF programming was carried on four different channels giving Ford extensive television coverage not only in Boston but throughout the New England region. Ford began running regular shows as the Boston Garden with then 29-year-old Bruno Sammartino as the main headliner. Attendance increased dramatically and by the end of the year Ford's events were being attended by an average of 10,000 people per show. For several months, Scarpa and Sammartino battled to win over the region's wrestling fans, particularly the Italian-American audience in Boston. In April 1967, Sammartino told the Boston Globe that Scarpa was a "phony" world champion. The