Looking for Trouble or Looking for Laughs?
By Frank
Dusek
Paul
Jones had a reputation as one
of the better practical jokers in pro wrestling during his
day. The best rib he pulled on me happened when I was about
12 or 13 and working on the ring crew for Jim Crockett
Promotions.
It
was the mid-60s and many cities, including Florence, S.C.,
were torn apart with racial strife. There had been so much
tension that there was some concern expressed by city officials
and the police as to whether we should even run at all.
But wrestling in the Carolinas under Jim Crockett Sr.
had a reputation as relatively trouble-free, family entertainment,
so the matches went on as scheduled.
 Since no wrestling fan in his or
her right mind wanted to miss the main event, no one took
the chance of being ejected by starting any trouble. The
matches went off without a hitch.
Afterward,
we made our regular stop at a little country store on the
edge of town for a cold soda before hitting the road.
Inside,
I couldn’t help but notice that the lady running the
cash register couldn’t take her eyes off of me or Mr.
Thomas, the fellow I worked with on the ring crew. It
was so obvious that Mr. Thomas and I met at the rear of
the store to confer.
See,
Mr. Thomas is black and I am white. The last thing we wanted
was any trouble. It wasn’t even our town. But as I
said, these were troubled times and we were preparing ourselves
for a possible problem.
We
quickly found what we wanted, paid for our purchases and
got out of the store ... breathing a sigh of relief that
there hadn’t been any trouble.
There,
in the parking lot, laughing their butts off were my dad,
Wally Dusek, and Paul Jones. It seems that PJ was in the
store when he saw us arrive. Using his best Texas "country"
drawl, Paul told the cashier "that she’d better
watch them two fellers a ‘comin thar." It seemed
he told the lady that "his daddy had a store just down
the road a piece and them two fellers were a always stealing
from him!"
No
wonder she couldn’t make change for watching us.
Frank
Dusek is a second-generation wrestler from one of the
most famous wrestling families ever. He had a solid career
as a wrestler and later managed several wrestlers to major
titles. He also spent time as a broadcaster, promoter and
matchmaker. His first memories of the wrestling business
are selling programs for his father when he was 4 years
old.
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