While working in Hawaii Lovelock had also begun working for the Los Angeles NWA territory as "The Great Bolo", a masked villain. Together with Tom Rice they held the International Television Tag Team Championship, which they won from Wilbur Snyder and Sandor Szabo. Bolo and Rice would hold the International Tag Team title one more time in 1955. After working in the Los Angeles area for a couple of years the Great Bolo moved on to Texas, returning to Dory Funk's Western States territory. Bolo would beat Dory Funk himself for the Amarillo version of the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship on February 7, 1957. A week later he defeated Funk for the NWA Southwest Junior Heavyweight Championship as well becoming a doubles champion. His double title reign only last two weeks before Dory Funk won both titles back. Bolo would go on to win the promotion's Southwest Tag Team Championship three times, each with a different partner: Dizzy Davis, Art Nelson and Tokyo Joe. In 1958 Tokyo Joe left the promotion forcing Bolo to team up with Kurt Von Poppenheim to lose the tag team titles to Ricky Romero and Dory Funk.
