Born Russ Groves, this grappler started as Golden Boy Ron Dupree for the infamous Tony Santos promotion. Santos was one of those fellows who liked to use sound-alike names such as Hobo Brazil, Gorgeous George Grant, Bummy Rogers, Jimmy Valentine, and my own favorite, Bruno SaNmartino. Dupree was given the Golden Boy alias to sound like Golden Boy Arnold Skaoland on the cards. Just because he used such a sappy name, however, was not to say he wasn't any good. On the contrary, he was a hated villain where needed, or at other times, a popular hero. Somewhere along the line he realized though, another routine was better for his career. Thus, he found and teamed with lifelong partner, Chuck Harris, who became "Paul Dupree." The Hell's Angels were born and they ran over everyone in the midwest, going from undercard workers to main eventers throughout the Ohio-Michigan territory, even gaining the tag team championship.

Wishing to escape the rough Detroit winters, the pair came to Arizona in the late 1960s, where a name change was in order. First, using the Hells Angels name got heat with the real Angels (though I heard they had a meeting with the head honchos and were actually made honorary angels, but who knows if this is true). Secondly, the duo decided they would get "lots of heat" from the crowd, by burning an American flag on a promotional tape. It got heat alright, but also got them suspended and got the wrestling promotion kicked off the airwaves.

With a shift to Channel 21 in Phoenix and a name change to The Commancharos, these two became one of the most reviled teams in Arizona history, mowing through many preliminary people on television, minus the flag burnings, then doing long programs with a number of top tag teams. The two faced the likes of Cowboy Bob Ellis & Luis: Martinez, Tito Montez & Bob Lueck, Ron Pritchard & Bob Lueck, Fuji San & Sato San, Tito Montez & Armon Hussein and their most extended feud with Ben Justice (whom they had faced in Michigan some years before) & Pancho Pico. Their lengthy feud is the main topic of the recently reissued book, "Riot At The Garden", which tells of "the riot to end all riots" at the Phoenix arena. In a bout where all four men ended up bleeding, a massive fight resulted between wrestlers and fans, with several injuries as well as arrests. ECW couldn't have topped this on its best day.

Eventually this promotion shut down, around the same time Dupree suffered his first heart attack, forcing him into a manager role. He became Ron Dupree and "Brother Paul" became Chris Colt in the midwest. In Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio and other places they continued to feud with old rival Bob Ellis, again with riotous results, until another office opened in Phoenix. Back they came. The introduction was a pure work of genius. Most fans in Arizona were unaware of the name change, when in comes "Ronald of Hollywood...."

"These people all know who I am," Dupree shouted, cutting off commentator Pat Malone. "I'm the manager of the greatest wrestler you will ever see...and I'm going to bring him in now and I'm sure you will recognize him right away..."

Then in walks Paul Dupree, now called Chris Colt. As one fan put it, "I'll bet you the whole audience collectively crapped their pants. I could hear them all at once, "Oh no, that dirty son of a ....he came back to Arizona."

And indeed they did while Durpee worked as manager for his former "brother" who was now Chris Colt. The feud was resumed with Tito Montrez, Kurt Von Steiger, an unlovable Nazi, became a hero to the fans thanks to a double cross the two arranged, Eddie Lopez was shafted out of victory after victory by them and Freddie Gomez, who has been a referee up to that point, was incorporated into their action as a wrestler. Enter manager Johnny Mann and you had quite a setup.

Then the unthinkable (or perhaps thinkable) happened. The Duprees split up, with Ron becoming a fan favorite and the other remaining bad. The bouts between these two were essential brawls with one trying to out heel the other. They were two decades before ECW made the style a word. The blood flowed freely and Dupree was wrestling again in spite of doctor's orders, doing what he wanted to do. It might have been a bad decision, for one night when he threw up in the ring, it was a sign something was going wrong.

Ron, "Colt", Bobby Mayne (later Bobby Jaggers), Montez and some others headed to the Oregon-Washingtona area, with Dupree too sick to wrestle any longer. He became an announcer, while the rest of the Arizona crew wrestled, only to die in the ring from a heart attack. It would probably have been his choice of a way to leave this world too. There was gossip, again not knowing for sure whether it was true or not, that as his lifeless body was being covered and removed from the ring, the corpse bore the same silly grin he wore when he was cutting outrageous promos back in Arizona. In death, he took a final bow. From Tacoma, Washington, into immortality....

Unlike other promotions in years down the road, who insisted :"the show must go on," when a wrestler died in the ring, this promotion did the opposite. A hasty vote was taken in the locker room and to a man, the wrestler son the card agreed to refund the money for every single ticket and cancel the show, though the gate was quite large.

Oddly enough, the old Phoenix Madison Square Garden where this bloodthirsty pair were such a drawing card, would die and follow Ron Dupree to the grave a few years later. It became a warehouse, called Arizona Jobber Supply, which to some, might seem the ultimate in unintended humor.

Paul Dupree/Chris Colt suffered numerous problems after Ron died, plunging into drugs and alcohol, which made him unreliable as a wrestler. he was hired, then fired by many promoters over the next decade, until the various abuses on his body finally t ookt heir toll. He died in Washington in the early 1990s. Even more oddly, prior to his death, he had become an outspoken born-again Christian, spending his final dying days behaving entirely opposite of his trademarked unpredictable personality. Had he done so sooner, he might well be alive today.

With his passing, it was the end of an era and the termination of a longrunning tale, concerning one of the west's most infamous pairs.