Wes Hutchings obit

Wes Hutchings a.k.a. ‘Hartford Love’ passes away at 84

 He was not on the list.

W

es Hutchings, who was part of the colorful Love Brothers tag team, passed away on Thursday at 84.

The news of his passing was shared by his daughter JoAnn on social media.

Hutchings was born in Spaniard’s Bay, Newfoundland, but grew up in Hamilton, where he moved when he was seven years old. It was in Hamilton that he found his way to the local pro wrestling factory known as Al Spittles’ Gym, which produced many of the top performers from Ontario.

His career got underway in 1966, and he worked under various aliases and his real name while finding shows around the province and being booked in Pittsburgh through Bruno Sammartino’s local outfit, which had local television through KSWA.

It opened the door for Hutchings to be booked in the Northeast cities by the WWWF, where he wrestled in preliminary matches. He wrestled at Madison Square Garden on January 29, 1968, losing to Angelo Savoldi, which was the final show at the “old” version of the legendary arena before moving the location to Penn Station. The headliner saw Bruno Sammartino retain the WWWF championship against Professor Toru Tanaka, but did not sell out.

His career was always linked to Johnny Evans, who would become his most recognized tag partner. The duo began as The Hangmen but gained notoriety as Reginald & Hartford Love, beginning in the NWF promotion run by Pedro Martinez & Johnny Powers.

The duo became a top heel unit in Toronto as regulars at Maple Leaf Gardens and later, for Eddie Einhorn’s IWA group, which attempted a national run.

It was no secret that Hartford (Hutchings) was the workhorse of the group while Evans (Reginald) was the talker. The two were great heels capitalizing on the hippie movement of the era and drew great heat for their unique presentation.

The pair challenged The Fabulous Kangaroos for the NWA tag titles in February 1972, but would never win those versions of the tag titles. However, they held the international version of the tag titles by defeating Billy Red Lyons & Dewey Robertson at Maple Leaf Gardens in September 1974 and held them until the end of the year.

Hutchings toured with New Japan Pro Wrestling in the summer of 1974 in the nascent years of the promotion and worked singles and tag matches during the month-long stay. This included a pair of singles matches with company founder and top star Antonio Inoki as well as contests with Seiji Sakaguchi and Kantaro Hoshino.

They migrated to Eddie Einhorn’s IWA in 1975 while still maintaining dates north of the border in Toronto. It was in the promotion where they were paired with manager Bruce Swayze and wrestled for Einhorn through September 1976.

Hutchings had a stay with WWC in Puerto Rico, highlighted by a three-month reign as its North American Champion after beating Carlos Colon for the belt in April and dropping it to Gorilla Monsoon at the end of July.

The older Reginald was winding down to increasing issues with his back, and the team would dissolve after 1977, with Hartford picking up new partners in various territories and wrestling on his own.

He traveled to the Mid-Atlantic territory in 1977 for about a year before moving to Georgia Championship Wrestling and wrestling on the undercard. In St. Louis & Kansas City, he had a run with the Central States tag titles with Jerry Brown.

Hutchings’ last major run was with George Cannon’s Superstars of Wrestling group, which held summer tours in Newfoundland & Labrador. Hutchings and Ed “Sailor” White were the two local babyfaces in the region and saw Hutchings win the tag belts with Otto von Heller and a run as the Canadian Heavyweight champion in 1980.

Hutchings’ final match occurred in his home province in a match against Adrian Adonis (Keith Franke) in what would turn out to be Adonis’ last match ever. It was on a tour for Dave McKigne,y and the crew was on its way its way to a show the following day at the Lewisporte Arena. Adonis was traveling with McKigney, and brothers Pat & Mike Kelly (Victor and Bill Arko). Pat was the driver and lost control, and the vehicle hit the water and killed Pat and McKigney, with Adonis passing away shortly after, as well.

Hutchings opted never to wrestle again after that fateful tour.

His long-time partner, Johnny Evans, died in January 2018 at the age of 90 after battling dementia.

We extend our condolences to the family and friends of Wes Hutchings a.k.a. Hartford Love.