Those intimate to the process know that I am an addict to The WAWLI Papers. Regardless of how enraged, or piqued, I may become, I CANNOT quit publishing them.

Okay. Here we go again. Only this time – I must have your affirmation. If you have received this, and wish to receive the subsequent issues of what is now known as WAWLI REDUX, please hit the reply button and, on the subject line, write YES. Otherwise, you will no longer be aboard the "oldfallguys" mailing list.

In an earlier post, I asked for your opinion as to when WAWLI ended and RAW-Nitro-ECW began. Responses were varied, but not unanimous. The readership thinks WAWLI ended anywhere from 1966 to 1984.

I chewed on the data for a week or so, then began sorting out some possible material for WAWLI REDUX No. 1 . . . lo, and behold, no less a mat personage than Mick Foley aka Cactus Jack aka Mankind aka . . . well, you get the idea . . . had submitted to a Jim Ross interview 3-4 years ago, and therein was my answer.

In the interview, Foley reveals the precise night when he "discovered" his destiny. Me, looking for a tiebreaker in the above polling process, I shrugged and said to myself: "The day Mick Foley misunderstood professional wrestling is a perfect day for WAWLI to die."

From issue number one of the original WAWLIs, I’ve made no bones about the fact that I thought WAWLI (Wrestling As We Liked It) dated from Wednesday, October 20, 1915, and the first Stecher-Lewis match, in Evansville, Ind. And now, courtesy of Jim Ross, the WWF, Foley and all that so often goes against our grain, I am presented with a reasonable "end" date (October 17, 1983) making for some 24,835 days – one day shy of 3,548 weeks – that WAWLI existed on the face of the earth.

Better, though, that you read Foley’s itemization of his genesis, presented on the May 19, 1997 edition of "RAW is WAR." In response to queries from Jim Ross, Foley responded:

"That's all my brother and I wanted to do. We watched them all: Chief Jay Strongbow, Bruno Sammartino, the Valiant Brothers -- that's what we wanted to be. Then I broke his nose by backdropping him into his bedroom wall and mom said 'no more wrestling!' But she didn't say no more dreaming."

With regard to the Monday night, October 17, 1983 card at Madison Square Garden:

" . . . upstate New York, with its endless rolling fields, might be a nice place for a lot of boys, but not when Jimmy Snuka and Don Muraco were in a cage, in October in, Madison Square Garden. THAT'S WHERE I WANTED TO BE! I didn't want to ride horses along a field; I didn't want to fish for trout in a stream. I wanted to be where the blood and guts were, Jimmy! So I put out my thumb, Jimmy, and it took sixteen or seventeen hours, but I made my way to the Garden. It took just about all the money I had in the world, but I got a front row seat . . . and I saw the move that would change my life."

The following is exercepted from "THE HISTORY OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING Volume #3 Madison Square Garden 1880-1999 Research by Fred Hornby":

Mike Graham beat Bob Bradley, 4:53; The Invaders beat Butcher Vachon and Israel Matia; Tony Garea beat Rene Goulet, 12:33; Tiger Chung Lee beat S.D. Jones, 8:41; Tito Santana drew with Iron Mike Sharpe, 20:00; Rocky Johnson beat Sika Anoia, 1:46; Sgt. Slaughter beat Ivan Putski, dq, 8:49; Intercontinental Title Match, Cage Match, Don Muraco beat Jimmy Snuka, 6:48; Andre the Giant beat Afa Anoia, 1:07; WWF title match, The Masked Superstar beat Bob Backlund, cor, 16:13.

Mankind to Jim Ross (cont., May 19, 1987):

Appropriate, then, that WAWLI begins with a classic match which ended (in mild, "screwjob" fashion with Lewis going over the ropes and knocking himself silly on a chair below) after two hours and three minutes of action – and ends with a modern-day, six-minute, 48-second enterprise that changed the life of young Mick Foley.

Now, of course, WAWLI REDUX will periodically drift back in time to the "prehistoric" days of the professional mat, i.e., the 40 or so years before the first Stecher-Lewis clash – especially for materials that lend explanation to how the game developed in North America. And, if Hulk Hogan dies in a Paris bordello, or some such item of note regarding the "modern" game, we’ll bother with that, too. Otherwise, though, we’re 1915 to 1983, like it or leave it.

WAWLI REDUX No. 2 will be along after everyone on the list has had a chance to say yea or nay to receiving the new format, probably on or about October 20 (it is no coincidence that the editor will be sojourning in Europe, on a research trip for other writings, in the meantime).

Our apologies for having discontinued the old format in such abrupt fashion, but it was probably time, anyway, for a change, and some clarification.

MATMANIA: The news regarding the respective battles of Johnny Valentine and Ed (The Sheik) Farhat versus health demons is getting grimmer by the day. Both are continuing lengthy hospital stays . . . Penny Banner continues to spearhead the drive for assistance for onetime mat glamour girl Nell Stewart, also ailing. Penny may be reached at b4uaqzme@aol.com for further info . . . Red Bastien, the energetic Cauliflower Alley Club president, jets to Montreal this weekend for confabs with Yvon Robert Jr. and Billy Two Rivers regarding an eastern CAC reunion in the Quebec city in September 2001. Our thoughts: That’s going to be a wonderful locale and a fascinating time in one of the truly great pro wrestling hotbeds. (Don’t forget the big one, the 2001 Cauliflower Alley Club annual reunion, at Las Vegas’ Riviera Hotel, Feb. 9-11, and make those room reservations NOW.) . . .

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(Honolulu Star-Bulletin, September 15, 2000)

By Rod Ohira

 Hawaii-born professional wrestler and actor Charles "Charlie" Kalani is best known as a villain.

But in real life, an Iolani School football coach, the Rev. Kenneth Bray, saved Kalani from turning into a bad guy.

"Attending Iolani turned his life around," the former Doris Peterson said about her husband of 47 years, who died Aug. 22 of a heart attack in Lake Forest, Calif., at age 70.

"He was a street kid getting into trouble and would have ended up in reform school if Father Bray hadn't helped him out by bringing him to Iolani. He felt Iolani saved him."

Kalani, who began wrestling in 1967 as "Professor Toru Tanaka," also appeared in more than 20 films -- most notably "Perfect Weapon," "Running Man," "Last Action Hero" and "Missing in Action 2" -- and television series such as "Airwolf," "The A-Team" and "The Fall Guy."

Contrary to his real-life personality, Kalani always portrayed a villain.

"He was just a gentle, good, soft-hearted island boy," Doris Kalani said. "And he had to work very hard all his life.

"It was hard not to be bitter when he got into wrestling and show business because he had to change his personality. He always told our kids, 'I'm your father at home and other people will not know the real me.' "

Kalani was a tackle and place-kicker in football. After graduating from Iolani in 1949, he attended Weber Junior College in Ogden, Utah, where he met his wife in 1952.

Sol Naumu of Pearl City attended Compton College and recalls playing against his former Iolani teammate and good friend.

"Charlie was playing linebacker and I remember going through the line and him hitting me hard," Naumu said.

"Then he stole the ball from me and ran for a touchdown.

"Everybody thought I gave him the ball."

Naumu, who last visited with his friend in 1998, described Kalani as "an easygoing guy, always kidding people."

"He was a happy Hawaiian from Waimanalo," he added. "He was very kind and compassionate but if you got him mad, watch out."

Kalani was drafted in 1955 and discharged in 1966 as an Army sergeant.

He began jujitsu studies in 1939 and held the rank of Danzan-Ryu Black Belt.

Survivors, all of whom live in California, include his wife, daughters Cheryle Kalani and Karen Kalani-Beck, son Carl, sisters Jeanette and Charlene, brother Robert, and six grandchildren.

The family plans to honor Kalani's request to have his ashes scattered at sea in Hawaii later this year.

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(New York Times, Monday, April 19, 1954)

By Arthur Daley

It was Phineas T. Barnum, the master showman, who received credit for the expression, "There’s a sucker born every minute." He proved his point by becoming wealthy through painlessly snatching dollars from the out-thrust hands of the gullible.

The birth rate of the naïve, the credulous and the overly trustful hasn’t diminished a bit since Barnum’s day. Otherwise there wouldn’t and couldn’t be such a creature as a wrestling fan. In his blind, fatuous innocence this benighted individual believes every professional rassling match is a to-the-death struggle with the historic proportions of the match between Ulysses and Ajax.

The distress of the grappling fanatic would be totally unimportant and not worth even a passing glance if he’d be content to hide his sublime belief in the always-on-the-level aspects of the mat game. But he’s a shouter and a writer of indignant letters. He pesters sports editors and wants to know why newspapers refuse to print results of the utterly enthralling matches he views on television.

The answer is always awkward and embarrassing. It’s almost as cruel as telling a child that there is no Santa Claus. It does no good to inform the fan that the mat game is as spurious as a three-dollar bill. He won’t believe that, anyway. Besides, there are such things as libel laws, even though the wrestling trust never has dared sue anyone for libel. The Mahouts who handle the grunt-and-groan herds demur slightly at charges that wrestling is not quite as level as a billiard table. But that’s mainly for the record and for the benefit of Barnum’s disciples.

It’s completely untrue to state that the last honest wrestling match was the 1911 affair between Frank Gotch and George Hackenschmidt, two of the greatest. Old-timers still insist that Gotch was the mightiest of them all. He won 154 of 160 matches. Some crackerjack wrestlers followed them, including Joe Stecher, Earl Caddock, Stanislaus Zbyszko, Strangler Lewis, and Jim Londos. After them – the deluge.

The one item that places the wrestling trust in a most untenable position is that the various state athletic commissions refuse to recognize the mat game as legitimate competition. Rassling never can be advertised as a "contest" but only as an "exhibition."

The dictionary defines a contest as "a struggle for victory or superiority; a conflict between competitors, a competition." Well?

Wrestlers are salaried employes of the beef trust that owns them. Winning or losing means nothing per se. It’s a steady job, five or six nights a week, and the companionship is wonderful. The rasslers travel together by car from town to town, eat together, room together and enjoy the delightful camaraderie of their fellows.

Strictly speaking, the grunt-and-groan industry is populated by the most noble group of blubbery meatballs you’d ever want to encounter. The milk of human kindness flows through their veins. Most of them are extremely intelligent, warm hearted, generous and so gentle that they wouldn’t hurt a fly. If they appear satanic at times, so does Boris Karloff on the occasions when his job calls for him to act that way.

Tumblers in the circus are not better schooled than the grunters and groaners. The matmen learn how to fall without getting hurt. They are taught to crash to the canvas so that their feet land first on the rattling boards instead of their heads. They work "loose" so that the pressure of their holds is not the eye-bulger it seems.

It once was said of one master of his trade that "he could seem to rip your arm from the socket and break your back but he had a touch so gentle you couldn’t even feel it." They become artists of pantomime with a gamut of expressive grimaces worthy of Sid Caesar.

The new batch of rassling fans, via television, swallows it all – hook, line, sinker and fishing pole. They ridicule as blind cynics those who refuse to join in their delusion. Worse still, they continue to bombard newspapers with the demand that wrestling results be run regularly. The only sports editor to do that was Dan Parker, when he had a pipeline into the wrestling booking office. The catch was that Dan’l figured them in advance of the matches themselves.

So far as is known, there never has been much of a demand for a college wrestling match on television. Amateur wrestling is an admirably healthful sport that requires consummate skill. But it is so completely on the level that it’s dull and deadly without one element of the spectacular to it.

Whenever the professionals want to settle grudges or determine relative superiority, they stage their "shooting matches" in privacy behind the locked doors of a gymnasium. In their unadorned state and without histrionics, these "shooting matches" are too yawn provoking. The public only sees the "working matches."

Accept wrestling as mere entertainment, if you must, but please don’t think that every vaudeville act on television deserves newspaper coverage.

MATMANIA: Mike Mooneyham, the diligent wrestling columnist in the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier, relayed the story – "Bill Soloweyko, better known to five decades of wrestling fans as Klondike Bill, passed away Tuesday (Oct. 3) at his home in Charlotte at the age of 68. Klondike was a major draw in territories throughout the country, as well as overseas, and helped draw some of the biggest crowds ever at Charleston's old County Hall during the '60s. A 1967 match in which Bill seconded George Becker and Johnny Weaver against The Masked Red Demons (Billy and Jimmy Hines) and manager George "Two Ton" Harris drew one of the biggest crowds ever locally at that time, second only to a match a decade earlier between the original Gorgeous George and Angelo Martinelli. The longtime Charlotte native was born Dec. 1, 1932, in Saunders, West Alberta, Canada, having broken into the business in 1959 after being trained by Stu Hart in Calgary. Bill wrestled throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, China and India, but was perhaps best known for his long tenure with Crockett Promotions as a top-tier wrestler and later ring crew chief. Bill was stricken with a rare neuromuscular disease called Bulbar palsy."

Wrestling promoters all over the country are in a panic. Wrestling is showing signs of becoming a "flop." Nothing could be more natural. Old-time wrestling used to keep up interest. A modern "wrestling match" is purely a circus performance, a carefully planned series of stunts, laughable or startling, with the "winner" of each fall scheduled in advance.

It isn’t a contest, except as a bit of entertainment. So, when the entertainment begins to lose novelty there’s nothing left to draw the crowds. And the novelty has to wane. Wrestlers can’t get up new torture holds, new flying falls, new dives out of the ring, airplane spins, new funny complications like getting sore at the referee and rolling him in the resin, for each wrestling show.

Big crowds have been going to wrestling shows for a couple of years or more. They paid at the gate, yelled, laughed and enjoyed themselves as long as there was some novelty to provide excitement. As a novelty it was hot stuff. But nobody pays to see the same show over and over again, with merely a change in the actors.

If there was some element of a contest, even this freak wrestling might last a while longer. But by this time everybody knows it’s all a show – no real contest at all. There isn’t, at this time, a real wrestling champion. How could there be, without real contests?

There are thousands of wrestlers, all working along the same line, all trying to be original. The number of stunts that can be pulled in a wrestling match is rather limited. Of late some of the boys have tried to introduce such humorous novelties as kicking an opponent in the stomach, swinging punches at an opponent, missing and accidentally socking the referee, pretending to bite opponent, etc. It just shows how hard up they are for ideas. And they have to put on new stuff or people won’t pay to see them. It’s a tough spot, lads.

Frank Gotch was first to use a "torture hold" that had nothing to do with wrestling, the object of which always had been to put an opponent on his back. Gotch invented the "toe hold." With it he wrenched an opponent’s ankle until he quit. Gotch always seemed to think there was a fine bit of humor concealed somewhere in this performance. I once saw him wrestling a tall young German in Chicago. The German was no match for Frank as a wrestler, so to put a little pep into the match Frank sat on him, got his toe hold, and very slowly bent his ankle back until it was nearly broken.

The German wrestler, unable even to roll over on his back, screamed. This was before the days of grunt and groan wrestling, and it was a real scream. The crowd piled into the ring and pulled Gotch away. Frank got up and walked around, grinning. The German was carried out. I heard afterward his ankle actually was broken, and six months later he was still partly crippled.

After Gotch, Strangler Lewis developed his "head-lock," a mauling grip supposed to be very painful and to render an opponent so groggy that when Lewis was ready to let go he could easily flop the victim over on his shoulder blades. Papers were full of pictures of Lewis practicing his head-lock on a wodden block, developing a grip that could dent a human skull like a watermelon.

Joe Stecher has his "body scissors," locking his strong legs around an opponent’s middle and putting on the squeeze until he gave up. Another torture hold.

It was big Wayne Munn who revolutionized wrestling. Knowing nothing of wrestling, he picked up Strangler Lewis and threw him over the ropes, giving him such a bump that he was through for the evening. They’ve all been chucking each other out of the ring ever since. It’s a regular stunt. For a long time people went to wrestling shows hoping to see some beefy behemoth dumped into somebody’s lap at the ringside – which was a great laugh getter.

Then Sonnenberg came along with his flying tackle. He butted them out of the ring, or just for variety he missed and went head first through the ropes into somebody’s lap himself. That was so entertaining that he was made champion. Then came airplane spins – just a modernizing of the way Hackenschmidt threw Jenkins over twenty years ago – and new "torture holds," and, tickling, and jiu jitsu nerve pressure, and one "doctor" wrestler is supposed to use hypnotism.

The grapplers grunt and groan, squeal in "agony," take turns with "torture holds," not too roughly applied, make faces, scowl, snarl, butt, kick, grind their teeth and try to make their act like unrestricted murder. College football heroes are rushed into the mat game, and they tackle and cavort around and are nursed along without knowing much of what it’s all about, as long as their football reputations can be capitalized.

But with the element of real contesting left out the circus stunt stuff has its limit. Begins to look as if the limited has nearly been reached. If it has, a lot of large beefy boys will have to go back to work. Well, from the looks of them, that oughtn’t to be any hardship. Most of them could move a piano up six flights of stairs single handed.
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(Washington Post, December 15, 1941)

By Shirley Povich

Beauty has its place, but not on the rassling mat. These are not direct quotes from Goldie Ahearn, who is promoting tonight’s show at Uline’s Arena. The only agency capable of quoting Ahearn directly is the sound track. The King’s English has proved itself the Joe "rimm of all modern tongues by its peristence in the face of Ahearn’s attacks.

"I’m tallink you the poblic wants its rasslers should be ogly," Ahearn seemed to say, "und I am giving them ogly rasslers with two pair pants, yet. I am showing my mother-in-law a picture from the Swedish Angel and tallink her if she gets fresh I will invite him home to dinner, already. Myself, I am a toff guy but I look at the Angel and I haff a bad dream. Soch ogliness I did not see in the zoo, yet. It is vonderful."

For his show tonight, Ahearn seems to have cornered a good share of the rassling industry’s most frightening pusses. George Zaharias, who has been billed as the Greek Hyena, is matched with the Angel. Zaharias could hire out as a nightmare, himself, if he chooses to put on his best fighting face. Just to give you an idea of Zaharias, he’s the husband of Babe Didrikson, and the boss in his household.

That’s the first match of Ahearn’s card – Zaharias vs. The Angel – but it’s only a warm-up for the extra added attraction and the real killer-diller. In a four-man battle royal, Ahearn will toss into the pit a Seminole Indian, an Australian nobleman, an Oklahoma cowboy, and the champion of France. The battle royal, though, is only a warm-up for the eight-reel feature bout which presents bewhiskered Benny Crusher Feldman, a 310-pounder, versus Mustafa Hamid, the Terrible Turk.

The hand of Jack Pfefer is an obvious in this arrangement of tonight’s talent as the bacteria in Ahearn’s accent. Pfefer is the peripatetic promoter who periodically summons his bush-beaters and scours the world for physical freaks. From Moscow, to Istambul, to Burma, to Shanghai, Pfefer has traipsed, routing the more spectacular natives out of their workaday world and into rassling trunks.

When the world caught on fire a couple of years ago and Pfefer began to have passport trouble, he was not content to sit by and see his source of supply exhausted. He leaped lightly into the distaff side of the rassling business and began a search for feminine beauty of the mat. Available now to the Pfefer promotions is a stable of lady rasslers, headed by Champion Betty La Bushey. Two well-muscled Polish beauties, Soszka Burska and Hanka Kavetzka, are in Pfefer’s string. France has given him vivacious Frances Coti, and a jitter-bugging young Hungarian lass named Alga Hulaban was also prevailed on to join Pfefer’s troupe. And any listing of his feminine stars wouldn’t be complete without the addition of Tomboy Gracie Costello, of Hoboken, N.J., a 21-year-old who has won all of her 25 bouts.

Ahearn and Uline’s arena are Pfefer’s Washington outlet for his talent which is in direct competition with the long-established rassling trust known as the Curley-Bowser-Dusek group. That latter unit has been playing at Turner’s Arena for years, and hogging the town’s wrestling interest. Rassling has been doing very well at Turner’s. So well that Joe Turner is able to pay off his boxing losses and still find something in the till.

The Pfefer technique of promotions doesn’t trust the action in the ring as its selling point. The accent is on freaks and laughs, and if Pfefer can get even one picture of one of his freaks into the papers before a show, its success is almost guaranteed. His is a trouping circus.

Ahearn is very frank about it. "Maybe," he says, "I can make a few bucks with this stuff. Myself, I don’t understand this rassling business. Why intelligent people go to see rassling, I don’t known, because it is such a phoney. But for some reason, I see smart people buying rassling tickets. Nicer-looking people than the boxing fans, for some reason. Maybe they got a funny sense of humor, or something. From all kinds of people a woild is menufectured, perhaps."

By Hubert Mizell

"They should keep those characters who wrestle almost entirely as showmen, rather than athletes, out of wonderful places like the Coliseum here in Jacksonville."

How many times have you heard the antiwrestling bugs come up with those words? Many times, probably.

Even fans who claim to love bonafide mat work do plenty of yelling about the "actors" of the ring. This time, however, the words seemed to mean more.

They were uttered yesterday by Lou Thesz, the world’s heavyweight wrestling champion, who successfully defended his crown here last night against Don Curtis before 11,085 fans.

This may seem a bit odd since Thesz, a 47-year-old St. Louis product, makes something like $150,000 a year on the mat. But, he has a special reason.

"Wrestling is a wonderful sport that molds a beautiful body," Thesz said while gobbling up a rich dessert. "Athletes need sugar," he added when the interviewer looked rather surprised at the strawberry tart.

The fact that wrestling has become associated often with showmen more than with athletes, ires the hulking, 6-2, 228-pound Thesz.

"You will usually find that fellows who are long on showmanship are short on wrestling ability," he commented. "Don’t get me wrong. All forms of sports need a bit of showmanship. Take Leo Durocher and Jim Piersall of baseball. They break me up, but they’re loaded with ability, too."

As for the matmen who depend on what he calls "local television hate campaigns," Thesz said "they belong under a tent with the other clowns."

Thesz said that financial success of wrestling in Florida is "due to constructive promoting. The promoters who dwell on showmen, and not athletes, stink as far as I’m concerned. None of them are where these fellows in Florida are, moneywise. There are some fine athletes among the wrestlers who appear here regularly. They aren’t all that good, of course."

It was Lou’s second trip to Jacksonville and, needless to say, the city’s growth impressed the man who now resides in Phoenix, Ariz.

"It’s amazing," Thesz said while looking at the local skyline. "All these great buildings have replaced the old ones. But the greatest improvement of all lies in the Coliseum over that other place."

The "other place" referred to by the mat king is the old Arena at Main and Beaver Streets, now an indoor parking garage. "That’s a good thing for that spot," he added with a grin on his bronzed face.

Thesz recalled his first visit, sometime shortly after World War II, with a laugh:

"When I saw those ropes in the Arena taped with back tape, I knew this was ‘it.’ You’ve seen these movies portraying a small, dim-lighted fight club? That was even worse. I’ll tell you the truth – they had men with .22 rifles between matches who went around to the holes in the floor to look for rats who came up for a bite off the hot dogs and buns."

The next question was going to be "What is the worst place you ever wrestled before as far as conditions?" That one was scratched for obvious reasons. No use making him repeat himself.

Ed (Strangler) Lewis, a one-time mat great who is now totally blind and lives in Tulsa, Okla., was on that trip with Thesz. "Mr. Lewis coached me in public relations for awhile," Lou said. "But as far as a manager, I’ve never had one. I like to handle my own money."

Thesz is an ultrasuccessful businessman outside the ring. His holdings include a resort in Phoenix and several apartment buildings in La Jolla, Calif. "I make as much money off real estate as wrestling," he said. "I usually get about a dollar a mile when on tour. I make about 150,000 miles and dollars a year."

Thesz learned wrestling from his father, who performed on the mat in his native Hungary. Lou’s physical condition is amazing from his 50-inch chest to his 32-inch waist. "I don’t follow other sports too much," he freely admits. "My family and I stick to the sports we can compete in."

Thesz and wife of 18 years, Fredda, have one son, Jeffrey, 11.

"He wants to be a wrestler," Thesz says with typical fatherly pride.

MATMANIA: Ever since returning from Europe, I’ve been kicking myself for not trying harder to sort out the confusing publicity surrounding the Bushwhackers-Yokozuna-Greg Valentine "All-Star Wrestling" tour that coincided with my stay in the United Kingdom. Because there were two distinctly different schedules floating around, I was reluctant to make a trip down the South Coast to Torquay to see the tour stop on October 12^th – despite the fact my wife is absolutely the No. 1 Bushwhackers fan in the world (I’ve always liked ‘em, too). Now, the word arrives from Liverpool this week that Rodney Anoia, aka Yokozuna – onetime WWF champ – is dead, age 34 (or 38, as suggested by the folks at SLAM!). The British tabs, of course, had a field day with the "42-stone" (588 pounds) victim, the Evening Standard noting that six men were required to lug the body out of a Liverpool hotel and The Sun wondering whether the sight of a spider in his room (an old WWF storyline) had prompted Anoia’s fatal heart attack. Chris Schramm has a good review of the man’s career at: http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBiosXYZ/yokozuna_bio-can.html . . . Linda McMahon told Bloomberg News (Oct. 25) that WWFE had been talking to WCW about a takeover deal, a huge rumor that has run rampant on the Internet for nearly a month. The main snag may be Viacom, WWFE’s new television partner, which is thought not to have been keen on an alliance that would have embraced TNN competitors WTBS and TNT, the WCW’s principal TV partners. Of course, this may lead to the original WCW suitor, Mandalay Sports Entertainment, coming back into the takeover picture . . . Greg Oliver, SLAM! Wrestling’s diligent editor, capped a nice piece devoted to the death of "Klondike Bill" Soloweyko with the following information: The family requests memorials be made to Hospice at Charlotte, 1420 E. 7th St., Charlotte, NC 28204 or to A.L.S., 2021 Ventura Blvd., Suite 321, Woodland Hills, Calif. 91364. The entire article may be viewed at: http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBiosK/klondike_obit-can.html and, from there, you may scan the entirety of this best of all professional wrestling web sites . . . Joe Svinth, the tireless researcher, writer and historian from Edmonds, Wash., is hot on the trail of what would be an eye-opening story if it pans out. He asks: "What do you know about a match between Frank Gotch and Taro Miyake in New York in 1911? Gotch's challenge was reportedly $500 to anyone who lasted an hour, and Miyake reportedly lasted without much trouble. If this was not a fix, then this means that Gotch has to be the most overrated wrestler in history. It would also explain why Gotch ducked Maeda in Cuba, as Maeda was at least one level better in judo than Miyake, and had a lot more experience with catch. There is, after all, no money to be had wrestling foreign menaces who are not on the payroll." Anyone with details supporting, or denying, the story may contact Mr. Svinth at jsvinth@juno.com (and don’t forget to copy oldfallguy@aol.com) . . . Nell Stewart, battling cancer of the throat in Birmingham, Ala., received a visit from mat contemporary Ida Mae (Martinez) Selenkow, who followed that up with a visit to the late Tony Parisi’s family in Niagara Falls. Ida – once billed as the "Mexican women’s champion" back in the 1950s hey-day of women’s wrestling -- is a nurse and takes seriously the role of administering to those in need. Hats off to this kind, caring and fun-loving lady . . . Shades of Jimmy Snuka? This, via Associated Press, from Brisbane, Australia: "Juventud Guerrera, real name Eduardo Anibal Gonzalez-Herandez, a World Championship Wrestling competitor from San Diego, pled guilty to assaulting police, causing bodily harm, disorderly behavior, willful exposure and possessing a dangerous drug. The court was told he was naked, yelling and violently swinging his arms and legs at three police officers sent to detain him Saturday morning. He pushed and struck all of them, breaking the rib of the female officer after punching her in the chest. The 25-year-old wrestler was placed in a padded jail cell, where two green ecstasy tablets were found in his sock, police said. His lawyer, Peter Shields, said his client had been celebrating with other wrestlers the night before and had accepted the drugs." . . . Bret Hart, one of the better ring workers of recent years, is apparently through with the game after being let go by WCW. He published his own swan song in the Calgary Sun and, thanks to our friends at SLAM! Wrestling, you can read it at: http://canoe.ca/SlamWrestling/hitman_home.html . . .

CHICAGO – The National Boxing Association does not recognize any champion in the field of wrestling, General John V. Clinnin, president of the organization, said today.

General Clinnin’s statement was made following information that Jim Londos had been circulating a photostatic copy or a reproduction of a letter written by Stanley Isaacs while acting as head of the N.B.A. in 1930 purporting to indorse Londos as the National Boxing Association heavyweight titleholder.

"The National Boxing Association, in annual convention at Omaha in October, 1930, eliminated wrestling from its scope of control," Clinnin said.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Lou Daro, Los Angeles wrestling promoters, today offered Max Baer $25,000 cash with privilege of taking a percentage if he would enter wrestling under his supervision. Baer said he would become a wrestler if there was any money in it, but both he and Daro admitted that the final decision was up to Baer’s manager, Ancil Hoffman.

"If I thought I could make money at it," Baer said, "I would enter wrestling very seriously. I’ve refereed wrestling matches and if I couldn’t do better than some of those now in the good money I would go back where Joe Louis sent me – to the ranch, eating turkeys."

Maxie, the ex-champion of heavyweight fighters, then wisecracked: "I would at least feel at home on the mat."

Although the flat assertion was made tonight in Los Angeles that Baer had definitely accepted Daro’s offer, it was learned here that Hoffman has as yet failed to give his consent. Unless that approval is forthcoming, Baer cannot enter the mat game because he is tied up with Hoffman on a contract. Hoffman indicated that no decision would be forthcoming immediately on the proposition. "We have too many irons in the fire to jump at a thing like this without careful study," he explained.

Daro planned to send an experienced, prominent wrestler, probably Nick Lutze, here to train Maxie if the former champion decided to enter the grappling business.

"I believe that with proper training," Daro said, "Baer would become one of the greatest drawing cards in the game and might very easily win the world’s championship."
------------------------------------------------

SACRAMENTO – There will be no professional wrestling by Max Baer, ex-heavyweight boxing champion, if Mrs. Baer has anything to say in the matter.

The former Mary Ellen Sullivan was a ringside spectator at a match between Emil Dusek and Joe "Elbows" Malcewicz which Max refereed tonight, watching a first-class demonstration of the modern grunt and groan art.

Mary eyed a cauliflower ear blooming on Malcewicz’s head, and remarked:

"None of those for Max. There’ll be no wrestling for Maxie if I can help it."

She added that she did not oppose his refereeing.
----------------------------------------------

NEW YORK – Wladek Zbyszko, five times world heavyweight wrestling champion, was killed during street fighting in Barcelona, Spain, Aug. 6, according to unconfirmed reports reaching here today via South America.

Word of the wrestler’s reported death was sent to Ismail C. Pace, director of the Luna Park Stadium in Buenos Aires, from his home office. Pace immediately communicated the word to Jack Curley, local promoter, under whose auspices Zbyszko rose to fame in the sporting world.

Planning a comeback attempt, the wrestler, native of Poland, had been in Barcelona for some time. He was said to have been in touch regularly with Polish consular officials here until a few days ago, when his communications ceased abruptly.

MATMANIA: First of all, note that the new mailing list is in effect and that the new e-mail address for WAWLI REDUX is oldfallguy@aol.com   – please forward all submissions, suggestions and complaints . . . secondly, reader Joseph Willis shares some of his memories of WWWF-WWF television "early days" in the Hamburg, Pa., Fieldhouse: "When the WWWF was formed in 1963 they held the TV tapings in Washington, D.C. In the late ‘60s or early ‘70s they were moved to the old Philadelphia Arena where Championship Wrestling was taped till around ‘75 or so, then moved to the Ag Hall in Allentown, Pa. They taped All-Star Wrestling at Hamburg and every now and then they would switch shows. I lived about an hour and twenty minutes away from Hamburg. What was great, if you sat in the bleachers it was two dollars at first. Then it went to eight dollars. The ringsides were three dollars at the beginning, but as high as $12 by the time they discontinued the shows. The building itself was (and is) a basketball gym (rather large). The set-up at the front (entrance): to the left you had a roped-off area where the heels sat. The locker room for them was behind. Also there was a garage door. To the right between a single set of bleachers and the large section was the good guys’ locker room. Funny thing, outside the good guys’ locker room, the door to the outside was across from a cemetery. Each side of the arena had a long bleacher capacity, or about 3,000 total. Ringside had three sides of chairs . . . the other side (the side you never saw on TV) had the still camera and the commentator booth.Total seating was roughly 4,000 . . . The cards themselves were held every three weeks on Wednesday nights. They would tape three shows, plus they had two or three dark matches. . .

"The average was 20 matches a night, mostly squashes, then the dark feature match was always a top event, either a WWWF title match, an Intercontinental title match, or a tag-team title match. Or, sometimes, a top grudge bout . . . Vince (McMahon) Sr. was the boss. He usually was in the office. Gorilla Monsoon was the booker. He would be seen going from locker room to locker room setting up the bouts. Vince Jr. was the commentator and interviewer. They did all the interviews (cut-ins) for their various house shows before the fans were let in. They, however, did do a live interview in the middle of every show. I remember Antonino Rocca, Pat Patterson and Bruno Sammartino doing color with Vinnie Jr. . . Through the years I saw ‘em come and go: Jay Strongbow, Baron Scicluna, Billy, Jerry and Luke Graham, Garea, Zbyszko, S.D. Jones, Backlund, Koloff, Mosca, Albano, Grand Wizard, Fred Blassie, Waldo Von Erich – I could go on for about four hours naming them . . .

"They also had the Rogers Corner Interview segment with none other than Nature Boy Buddy Rogers . . . One of my favorite stories I tell is about the riot that happened. The match in question was for the WWWF tag title. The Blackjacks, Mulligan and Lanza, against Victor Rivera and Dom DeNucci. The match went back and forth for 10 minutes or so when they all began to fight on the outside. Rivera looked really pissed. He took a chair and started beating on the Blackjacks, all four were fighting up the aisle to the heel area when a fan got out of his seat and punched Mulligan in the back. He turned around and punched the fan right in the kisser. At that moment all hell broke loose. I, along with an old guy sitting next to me, got nailed by a guy jumping from the top of the bleachers. I was OK and so was the other fan but, wow, people were throwing chairs and and other stuff. I remember seeing Vince Jr. standing in the ring pleading with everyone to settle down. All the while he had chairs coming at him and, well, he didn’t stay there too long. The state and local police came in and tear gassed the place . . . Towards the end at Hamburg they were lucky if they could draw 500 fans. It got bad. People got tired of the squash matches. It seemed like you could only see Steve King getting hammered by anyone he got into the ring with. The product did not only get stale, it damn near rotted away. Then, I guess, they did the shows for a while up in Canada before taking them onto the road."

Subj: Milwaukee Tidbits

Date: 9/11/00 5:45:58 PM Pacific Daylight Time

From: CrusherBolo@webtv.net (Crusher Bolo)

J Michael,

I found these in the notes I made while researching Milwaukee results more than twenty years ago. They are all from the Milwaukee Journal:

Monday, Sept. 10, 1951 "Sports in Short"

Heavyweight champion Lou Thesz of St. Louis and junior heavyweight title holder Vern Gagne of Minneapolis were commended Sunday by the National Wrestling Alliance for defending their titles against all comers. The alliance et at Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 1951 "Sports in Short"

Jim McMillen, former Chicago Bear football player and heavyweight wrestler, will referee the Mighty Atlas-Vern Gagne match at the Auditorium Saturday night.

Saturday, Sept. 29, 1951

Wrestler Mildred Burke, 36, of Columbus, Ohio, suffered a fractured vertebre when her car blew a tire and collided with another near Barstow, California, Friday. Her stepson, Billy Wolf Jr., 29, suffered a skull fracture.

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 1951

Rocky Marciano, who knocked out Joe Louis last week, signed Monday for a series of personal appearances and officiating jobs on the Toots Mondt wrestling circuit.

Friday, January 11, 1952

A schedule for Milwaukee wrestler Frederich von Schacht (formerly Frank Altinger; Schacht is his legal name now) appeared in today’s paper:

Jan 3 - Milwaukee

Jan 4 - St. Paul

Jan 5 - Chicago

Jan 6 - open

Jan 7 - St. Louis

Jan 8 - Minneapolis

Jan 9 - Kankakee, IL

Jan 10 - Milwaukee

Jan 11 - St. Louis

Jan 12 - Milwaukee

Saturday, January 26, 1952

THESZ AND GAGNE FAIL TO DECIDE CHAMPIONSHIP

Chicago, Ill (AP) - Lou Thesz, 233, St. Louis, and Verne Gagne, 218, former University of Minnesota gridder, wrestled to a draw Friday night in their "championship" match before a sellout crowd of 10.974 in the International Amphitheatre. The gate was $25,136.

The title at stake was that of the National Wrestling Alliance, held by Thesz since 1948.

Thesz took the first fall in the 60 minute time limit match in 32:10. Gagne took the second fall in 17:30. They struggled the final 10:20 minutes without a fall.

Saturday, March 22, 1952

Leon Kirilenko, the Mad Russian wrestler, was sued for divorce Friday by Mrs. Ann Baumgartner Kirilenko, who accused him of striking her and failing to support her. They were married March 27, 1951.

Tuesday, March 25, 1952

Verne Gagne Tuesday requested a no time limit on his championship match with Lou Thesz at the Auditorium a week from Saturday night. In their four previous meetings, a one hour time limit has prevailed. Gagne said he felt additional time would be a factor in his favor.

Tuesday, May 13, 1952

Tarzan Kowalski, who will meet Mighty Atlas at the Auditorium on Sunday, May 18, won the Canadian Heavyweight championship last week in Montreal. He defeated Bobby Managoff, who held the "title" more than 2 years.

Saturday, June 28, 1952

THESZ TOSSES O’CONNOR IN WRIGLEY FIELD BOUT

Chicago, Ill (AP) - Lou Thesz, world heavyweight wrestling champion, pinned Pat O’Connor, 26 year old Wellington, New Zealand, contender, two out of three falls before 12,823 fans at Wrigley Field here Friday night.

Saturday, August 23, 1952

GAGNE WINS A FALL AND BEATS O’CONNOR

Chicago, Ill (AP) - Vern Gagne scored the only fall with a flying head scissors and defeated Pat O’onnor in their featured wrestling match at the International Amphitheatre Friday night. A crowd of 8,125 paid $21,326. Gagne weighed 218 and O’Connor 225. Gagne scored his fall after fifty-one minutes, five seconds. The 60 minute time limit ran out before either wrestler could score another fall.

Wednesday, August 27, 1952

LEON KIRILENKO CASE GOES TO GRAND JURY

Chicago, Ill (UP) - Leon Kirilenko, 34, was bound over to the grand jury on $2,500 bond Tuesday by Judge Jay A. Schiller on a charge of a crime against a child.

Kirilenko,a professional wrestler with shoulder length blond hair, was arrested August 19 when police found a 10 year old girl with him in his Leland hotel room.

Kirilenko said at the time he was only showing his publicity clippings to the girl, whose mother had reported her kidnapped after she walked away with the wrestler. He pleaded innocent to the charge.

Tuesday, September 30, 1952

WILL SHE BEAT HIM IN MARRIED LIFE?

Tokyo, Japan - (AP) - Ojiro Yamamoto, 396 ¾ pound wrestler, announced Monday that he planned to marry 22 year old Tomiko Ishida, who weighs 82 pounds.

Thursday, October 30, 1952

WRESTLER KIRILENKO GETS SENTENCE; CHILD IN ROOM

Chicago, Ill - Leon Kirilenko, 34, who wrestles professionally as the Mad Russian, was sentenced for one to two years Wednesday in criminal court for a crime against a child. He was arrested in August after police found a 9 year old girl in his hotel room. Kirilenko denied that he molested the girl. His attorney filed notice of appeal and the wrestler was released on bond.

Thursday, November 6, 1952

Gypsy Joe won the national wrestling alliance heavyweight title [Note: they meant light-heavyweight title] Wednesday night at Des Moines, Iowa, by defeating Johnny Balbo in three falls.

Friday, November 21, 1952

A list of big gates drawn by Lou Thesz appeared in today’s paper:

Jan 25 - Chicago vs. Gagne___$25,712

Mar 1 - Milwaukee vs. Kowalski_$26,718

Apr 11 - St. Louis vs. Gagne___$22,617

Jun 20 - Chicago vs. O’Connor_$35,717

July 15 - LA vs. Leone___$103,517

Nov 12 - LA vs. Rocca____$51,670

Nov 18 - New York vs. Stanlee___$57,396

Thesz gets 15% of all gates and reportedly made $200,000 in 1951.

Monday, November 24, 1952

THESZ TO MEET ROCCA

New York, NY - (AP) - Madison Square Garden Sunday announced the matching of Lou Thesz of St. Louis and Antonino Rocca of Argentina for the next wrestling show at the Garden January 5.

Tuesday, December 2, 1952

OLD-FASHIONED WRESTLING PLAN OF NEW CLUB HERE

"Good, clean, old-fashioned wrestling" will be offered by the new South Side Athletic Club, President Bruno Cetnarski said Tuesday in announcing the first show on December 11 at the South Side Armory. Henry Tolle had made these matches: Gene Stanlee vs. Jack Guy, Axel Cadier vs. Alo Leilani, and Al Composki vs. Tiger Jagindar.

Saturday, December 13, 1952

Lou Thesz, world heavyweight wrestling champion, and Verne Gagne wrestled to a 60 minute draw in Chicago Friday night. The bout drew 7,607 fans and a gate of $23,164.
________________________

(Huntsville, Ala., Times, September 8, 2000)

By Mike Marshall

MADISON — Propped up by two artificial hips, the old man in a red, white and blue tie heads toward his 1992 maroon Chevrolet Caprice Classic with a South Carolina license plate and 140,000 miles on the odometer.

He walks out of Madison Baptist Church and stops about 20 feet from the front door. He reaches for his right leg and grabs the pants of his blue suit.

''Feel this,'' he says, wanting to show how well he's functioning almost 10 years after full hip-replacement surgery.

He also likes to show off his biceps, still thick and firm.

''Oh, man,'' he says, ''I used to pump a little iron when I was young.''

When he was young, he was ''Gorgeous George,'' the first great professional wrestler in the era before prime-time television and pay-per-view -- before wrestlers rivaled rock bands as pop-culture icons, before an ex-wrestler known as ''The Body'' was elected governor of Minnesota.

Now, ''Gorgeous George'' is a roving Baptist preacher named George Grant. (''No middle name,'' he says.) Meeting him for the first time is like running into an electric fence.

Who is George Grant? Imagine a 76-year-old Rush Limbaugh talking about getting saved and wanting to execute drug dealers on national television.

''I believe in making good things available to God's people at a good price,'' he says.

Then he's off, walking again, bound for the trunk of his Caprice Classic. The black-and-white wrestling pictures are in the trunk.

Hard to believe, with a ''Jesus Saves'' window sticker on his car, that this man once rolled his bleached-blond hair in curlers and entered the ring through a perfume shower. (''The cheapest perfume I could find,'' he says.)

He wore a green robe, tailored by a man in Canada, the initials ''GG'' glittering like icicles. On his neck was a green choker with sequins.

In ''Gorgeous George's'' heyday, the 1950s and early '60s, Elvis watched him wrestle through peep holes in a curtain at the Memphis City Auditorium. Later, after Elvis died and ''Gorgeous George'' became a preacher, Grant gave a sermon entitled ''Seven Reasons Why Elvis Presley Didn't Go to Hell.''

''Elvis didn't go to hell because he was a rock 'n' roll singer or because he made a lot of money,'' Grant says. ''The only reason anybody goes to hell is because they refuse to accept Jesus Christ. From all indications, Elvis was not a saved man.''

As a way of connecting with teen-agers, Grant usually gives the Elvis sermon on church youth nights.

''I don't tell anybody Elvis went to hell,'' he says. ''I'm not foolish enough to condemn somebody like that.''

George Grant found religion in 1965, when he was wrestling at a place called the Hippodrome in Nashville. He and his wife attended a service at Grace Baptist Church, along with the family of Don Greene, another wrestler.

From then on, Grant began attending church regularly. He studied the Bible. He was convinced God wanted him to be a preacher.

In 1971, the year he quit wrestling, he became a full-time preacher. He became a fire-and-brimstone orator who acknowledges only the King James Bible, who has preached from Maine to California, who considers himself ''a ham.''

''The first thing every man, if he's a true man, should belong to is a fundamentalist Baptist church,'' he says. ''The second thing he should belong to is his wife. The third thing is the NRA.''

Then comes the punch line, followed by two of Grant's favorite questions.

''Bill Clinton is not my president,'' he says. ''Charlton Heston is my president. How do you like that? You like that?''

Then, after a member of Madison Baptist Church teases Grant about preaching when Lincoln was president, he deadpans: ''Hey, speaking of Lincoln, isn't it time for another assassination?''

Apparently, this is what happens to professional wrestlers who have been retired for almost 30 years: They're still in a TV studio, looking for an announcer with a long-neck microphone, ready to issue another loser-leaves-town challenge.

In the case of ''Gorgeous George,'' he has gone from battling trash-talking Tojo Yamamoto (rest his soul) and Len Rossi (former sleeper-hold artist) to seeking a Texas Death Match with gun-control advocates and wife abusers.

''Oh, man, he was loud and emotional when he was here,'' Larry Nicholson, the associate pastor of Madison Baptist Church, says of Grant. ''He really got into it. And he knows the Bible, for sure.''

He's so emotional, in fact, that he never noticed two women who walked out of church in the middle of his testimonial.

''They kept saying, 'When's he gonna preach?' '' Nicholson says. ''He didn't miss a click when they left.''

In the trunk of Grant's car are cassette tapes, FedEx packages and a sheet with the words ''Italian proverb'' in lowercase letters and ''BREAKA YOUR FACE'' in caps.

The cassette tapes are recordings of Grant reading the New Testament.

''25 bucks, 12 tapes,'' he says.

Finally, he pulls out the black-and-white pictures. Some are 8-by-10s, others 3-by-5.

Usually, he charges $5 for the pictures, taken in 1954 in a photo studio in Charleston, W. Va. But here, two days before he's scheduled for Sunday sermons at Madison Baptist Church on Hughes Road, the pictures are free.

Two men are in the pictures. One of them looks like Claude Rains in ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' or ''Casablanca.'' The other is ''Gorgeous George.''

The man who looks like Claude Rains is named Tom Clark. He has a cane in the crook of his arm and he's tinkering with the wrestler's curlers.

Clark, nicknamed ''Pretty Boy Clark,'' was a valet for ''Gorgeous George.'' In his 26-year wrestling career, ''Gorgeous George'' went through 10 valets, including a midget named ''Diamond Jim.''

His valet carried a comb and a brush on a silver tray, then rolled a red carpet and sprayed perfume as ''Gorgeous George'' strolled into the ring.

''Hey, show biz,'' Grant says. ''That's what draws the money.''

Big money for wrestlers in the days of ''Gorgeous George'' --1945 to '71 -- meant steak and shrimp cocktail for dinner.''Gorgeous George'' spent plenty of money on his friends. But wrestling didn't make him rich.

Now he lives on a 10-acre estate in York, S.C., about 30 miles from Charlotte. He says everybody in York, population about 10,000, can tell you where he lives.

Says Grant: ''I'm not saying this in a bragging way, but the preacher of my home church has said: 'All you people who live a dull, humdrum, routine life, start hanging around Brother George.' Really, he said that from the pulpit.''

Really, Muhammad Ali once credited ''Gorgeous George'' for teaching him the value of showmanship. Ali said it on ''The Gary Moore Show,'' according to Grant.

''What about an autograph?'' Grant asks after passing out a free 3-by-5 picture.

Using a blue felt-tip pen, he signs the picture: ''Best Regards, George Grant, Gorgeous George.''

After years of charging $5 for autographed pictures, he has learned you can't sign a glossy picture with a ballpoint pen.

''Gorgeous George'' is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 250 pounds - about 30 pounds more than when he was wrestling for the now-defunct American Wrestling Alliance.

He spends most of his free time attending wrestling reunions, renewing acquaintances with ''Two Ton'' Davis, among others. He says he does not have time for modern-day professional wrestling, though he can rattle off the names of two of today's best-known wrestlers -- Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.

''I don't watch the wrestlers today,'' he says, like a schoolboy who insists he no longer has a crush on an old girlfriend.

Instead, he watches game shows and quiz shows. ''Jeopardy,'' ''The Price Is Right'' and ''Wheel of Fortune'' are his favorites.

''I like those quiz shows because I think I'm a smart aleck,'' he says.

Another thing Grant likes to do when he's home: shoot guns.

''I'm an avid target shooter,'' he says. ''Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my guns.''

Then, as if he's doing a stand-up routine, he waits for the reaction.

''How do you like that?'' he asks. ''You like that?''

As soon as Harry Truman, a Democrat, gave Gen. Douglas MacArthur the heave-ho in Korea - April 1951, to be precise - George Grant became a Republican. He has been fit for the John Birch Society ever since.

He compares himself to Daniel, who, in the Bible, was given a position of power after interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Among Grant's interpretations:

On capital punishment: ''I believe in capital punishment. George W. Bush, as governor of Texas, was getting a few of 'em.''

On the penalty for child abuse: ''Public beatings.''

On homosexuality: ''See what the Bible says? If a man also lies with mankind as he lies with a woman, both have committed an abomination. That means something God hates. They shall be put to death - their blood should be put upon him. . . . Now that doesn't mean we should go out and start killing homosexuals.''

On President Clinton: ''All these draft dodgers should be executed for treason.''

Then he says in a playful tone: ''I'm easy to get along with, in case you hadn't noticed.''

Springing out of a chair and bending his knees, George Grant flexes his two artificial hips and sits down.

Then he raises his legs.

Then he wants you to know what it means for a 76-year-old with two artificial hips to be able to bob up and down like a sports fan doing the wave.

''God is not through with me yet,'' he says.

When God is done with him, Grant wants to be cremated. A blue card in his wallet verifies he has given his body to the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.

''Are you ready?'' Grant asks. ''As far as I'm concerned, the southwest quadrant of the International Dateline is the most beautiful place on earth. My son is in charge of making sure my ashes are thrown there.

MATMANIA: A "special" issue this time around, concerning "what’s cooking" in Davie, Florida, another example of "life after wrestling" . . .

(Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Oct. 14, 2000)

By John W. Allman

DAVIE -- It began with a rumor, the new town employee making out with a woman during work hours at a community center.

Then it snowballed.

Finally, the town began an internal investigation of Rocky Johnson, a friend and business partner of Mayor Harry Venis, hired in June to work part time as an activities leader and to supervise the weight room at Pine Island Community Center.

Allegation upon allegation surfaced, each one more disturbing than the last: sexual activity in a back room, unwanted groping of a female employee, illicit discussions of sexual anatomy in front of children, even an invitation to a 12-year-old girl to play strip poker.

The investigation was conducted by Sharon Kent, the town's parks and recreation director. It involved accounts from 13 current and former town employees who worked for three months at a youth camp with Johnson, father of Dwayne Johnson, better known as "The Rock," a popular professional wrestler.

Kent delivered her report in memo form to acting Town Administrator Tom Willi, who said he then ordered her to delete references to Venis he deemed irrelevant.

That included statements claiming Johnson used Venis' name to intimidate other employees, statements asserting Johnson made frequent daily phone calls to the mayor and a statement alleging an incident in which Johnson told another town employee that he and Venis had spent time socializing with two women while Johnson was nude.

"It was garbage, unprofessional as it gets," Willi said, defending his order that the memo be changed.

Kent turned in a second memo, which was also ordered changed because it still contained references to Venis.

In late September, following the third draft, Kent sent Willi an electronic message questioning how he could allow Johnson to continue working around children after witnesses were questioned and substantiated the allegations.

At the same time, Willi said he called Venis and Johnson into a private meeting to warn Johnson, 56, a former professional wrestling champion, that he might lose his $9-an-hour job.

A day later, Johnson was suspended with pay and all town records pertaining to Johnson and the investigation of his activities were turned over to police, Willi said.

Three weeks later, Willi placed Kent on administrative leave and fired Mark Dornacker, a sports coordinator for 14 years, who was one of the witnesses questioned in the investigation.

Dornacker had alerted his supervisors in early September that Johnson was soliciting personal business on town time and not working his scheduled hours.

But Willi said he had questions about Dornacker concerning an unrelated investigation into how sports officials were paid by the town. The system involved Dornacker receiving checks from the town, cashing them and then giving cash to sports officials who refereed the town's youth athletic events. The money was distributed without any taxes taken out and with no tax forms filed.

Willi said he only recently learned of the controversial payment system. But Town Council member Richard Weiner said he alerted Willi to the issue about two months ago.

Willi blamed Kent for not catching the problem. He also criticized her handling of the Johnson investigation, which he asked her to oversee in early September.
Kent's report to Willi said "the most notable findings that we were able to conclude" against Johnson were:

He grabbed a female camp employee twice on the buttocks. The same employee told Kent that Johnson also made comments such as, "Why don't you take off your shirt to see what you look like in a bathing suit."

He spent time with a woman not employed by the town in a room at the community center napping, kissing and getting massages.

He twice complained about being interrupted while spending time alone with a woman. In one incident, a 16-year-old female employee walked in on Johnson receiving a massage from a woman straddling his back. On a separate occasion, Johnson allegedly complained to another employee that he was interrupted by a male employee while he was receiving oral sex.

He asked a 12-year-old girl to play strip poker.

He wore a tank top in front of children bearing the word "PUTA," a Spanish word for prostitute. A parent complained about the shirt.

He made a comment in front of a group of children about the size of his penis.

He promised children that his son, "The Rock," would visit the community center. "The Rock" did not appear during the summer.

He left children supervised by only a counselor in training while they wrestled and boxed, and several children suffered injuries.

While saying those allegations needed to be formally investigated by police, Willi said Kent, a 23-year town employee, went too far in trying to include the mayor in her findings.

"The investigation had to do with the alleged improper conduct on town property," Willi said. "I think the steps I took to focus the investigation directly where it needed to be, and keep all the information in that memo relevant, was within my purview."

Johnson's attorney, Daniel Aaronson, called the allegations a smokescreen to keep town officials from focusing on the manner in which sports officials have been paid.

"There is some crossover with the people who are accusing Rocky of some things and those people being accused of mismanagement of the parks," he said.

Aaronson, who has advised Johnson not to comment, said that Johnson's job was "sabotaged" and that his client "categorically denies" the allegations.

Johnson was to be considered for a full-time position on Oct. 1, but Willi said it is unlikely he will be hired in the future regardless of the outcome of the police investigation.

Town Council member Geri Clark said any information about Venis that did not pertain to Johnson's conduct during town time did not belong in Kent's memorandum.

"That was improper of Ms. Kent, very improper," said Clark, who added she had not been shown any of Kent's memos.

Neither had Weiner.

"I have a lot of questions," Weiner said. "I don't know where I'm going to come down on it, or when I'm going to come down on it, but I would like the benefit of a police investigation to know which parts are credible and which allegations may be questionable."

Venis said he saw a copy of the third revision of Kent's memo, dated Sept. 20. He said he was unaware of any previous versions.

The information deleted between the first and third versions came from an interview with Ed Hanson Jr., 29, who has worked part time with the town's sports programs since 1994. Hanson told Kent he heard Johnson use inappropriate language toward a female employee and that he saw town property being kept at Johnson's home.

Hanson said Johnson also told him about a night on which Venis and Johnson were "partying" with two women.

"He mentioned that the mayor was embarrassed because (Johnson) was walking around in the nude," Hanson said.

Venis denied the story. "It never happened," he said.

In 1997, Venis apologized to town residents and employees after it was revealed he had paid for sex acts on several occasions at a Dania Beach massage parlor.

Venis and Willi assert Hanson is disgruntled because he had sought Venis' help in an unsuccessful attempt to secure a full-time town job.

"He wanted a full-time position very badly," Venis said.

Hanson said when he expressed an interest in a job in the town's building department, Johnson called Venis on his behalf. Hanson said he wasn't angry when the job didn't materialize. And he said he told the truth to Kent.

Although Venis insisted, "I don't get people jobs," he did in fact play a role in Johnson's employment with the town.

The mayor drove Johnson to the Parks and Recreation Department in April for his interview. Venis also admitted he sat in on the interview with Johnson.

Venis and Johnson plan to open Harry and Rocky's Sports Academy Inc., an educational wrestling school, in Davie. Venis said this week he is undecided whether to maintain his partnership with Johnson. "I'll make that decision once I read the full (police) report," Venis said.

Willi, 36, a former building official, was handed the job of acting town administrator after the Town Council voted June 21 to fire former administrator Robert Middaugh. Venis suggested Willi as a possible replacement, and the council voted 4-1 to offer Willi the job.

The State Attorney's Office is investigating a complaint filed in July alleging improprieties on the part of the Town Council in its firing of Middaugh.

Willi, who has an associate's degree in business administration and management, has no experience as a town administrator. Since assuming the office, he has fired two veteran employees and demoted a third. A fourth resigned in August after learning he was to be demoted by Willi. The employees lost since June had more than 60 years of combined experience in Davie.

On Thursday, Willi said some municipal employees get "promoted to a point where they're no longer effective."

"This has been the case with a few longstanding positions with the town," Willi said.
He said Davie needs "team players," and "teamwork."

As for the recent spate of firings at Town Hall, Willi suggested the town's personnel changes might not be finished. "You know who's afraid of me, and should be afraid of me, the people who are dead weight and haven't been doing their job," he said.

Willi said Johnson's experience as a fitness instructor and professional athlete made him "an asset to the town." Johnson was well-liked by children and parents, he said.
However, Willi said Johnson might not have been a perfect fit as an employee.

"He was an older guy," Willi said. "He's one of the 'good old boy' guys, one of the people who still think it's OK to talk to women in a certain way."
__________________________

By John W. Allman

DAVIE -- One by one the questions came, followed by accusations and then observations of disbelief.

Each parent, coach and resident gave the same bottom line -- there is a problem in Davie, but the wrong people are being held to blame.

For more than two hours Wednesday night, the public spoke out about the recent disciplinary action taken against two parks and recreation employees by acting Town Administrator Tom Willi.

The crowd was angry that sports coordinator Mark Dornacker was fired and temporary parks employee Rocky Johnson was not.

The meeting, requested by a resident and set up by Vice Mayor Richard Weiner, was the first opportunity for citizen comment. About 60 people attended.

The bulk of criticism was levied at Willi and Mayor Harry Venis, who is a friend and business partner of Johnson. Neither Willi nor Venis was at the meeting.

Both men were accused Wednesday night by residents of allowing Johnson to remain employed after allegations surfaced that he might be acting inappropriately at the Pine Island Community Center. An internal investigation cited allegations from 13 people against Johnson, 56, ranging from his having sexual relations at the community center on town time to his twice groping a female parks employee.

One of the most disturbing allegations involved a statement that Johnson asked a 12-year-old girl to play strip poker.

Johnson was not suspended with pay by Willi until Sept. 21, almost a month after rumors of improper conduct were first mentioned. His contract with the town has since expired, and he is no longer employed by the town.

Dornacker, one of the 13 people interviewed, was fired Oct. 12 by Willi. "I think Mr. Willi has to be held accountable, and I want to know why he hasn't been fired," resident Lisa Edmondson said. "Mr. Willi doesn't have the education or the experience to make those decisions on his own."

Davie police are investigating the allegations against Johnson. Their report, when finished, will be turned over to the State Attorney's Office. Johnson, through his attorney, has denied the allegations.

Dornacker has a hearing scheduled for Nov. 6 to dispute his dismissal. Dornacker, who coordinated five sports programs involving more than 2,000 athletes, was fired, in part, because he allegedly made a racist statement in August about Johnson and Venis. Willi has said the town has a "zero-tolerance policy" regarding racist remarks or actions.

Johnson, who is opening a professional wrestling school with Venis, was hired by the town in June. Venis has admitted driving Johnson to his job interview and sitting in on the interview.

Doug Notman, whose children took part in activities at Pine Island while Johnson was employed, took issue with the mayor's influence. He said Venis' personal business relationship "has placed the children of Davie at risk."

Notman requested Wednesday's meeting, and he is giving the Town Council until its Nov. 1 meeting to address more than 20 written questions about the handling of Johnson and Dornacker.

"Our presumption is when we send our kids to town of Davie parks and summer programs, they will come back innocent," Notman said.

Notman fired questions at Weiner and several town employees present at the meeting. Many of the questions went unanswered because of the police investigation.

Weiner said he would have responded differently to the allegations than Willi did. Weiner said he would have suspended Johnson immediately, conducted an investigation and apologized later if the allegations proved untrue.

(Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Oct. 30, 2000)

By John W. Allman

DAVIE -- Suspended from his job and under police investigation, Rocky Johnson never turned in his town-issued cellular phone.

Instead, he kept dialing on Davie's dime.

Since being suspended on Sept. 21 and released for good Oct. 1, Johnson has used his phone more than 600 times.

His most recent phone bill, charged to the town, will cost taxpayers $723. It includes calls made from Sept. 13 to Oct. 12.

Johnson, who spent less than four months as a part-time parks and recreation activities leader, still has the phone despite being the focus of a criminal investigation for misconduct.

His attorney, Daniel Aaronson, said Monday that Johnson, 56, will turn the phone over to the town if asked. "This is not going to be an issue," he said.

Johnson, a friend and business partner of Mayor Harry Venis, was suspended following an internal investigation into allegations he had sexual relations while working at the Pine Island Community Center; twice groped a female employee; and invited a 12-year-old girl to play strip poker.

Davie police have taken over the investigation of those and other allegations and will turn over their findings to the State Attorney's Office. Johnson, father of professional wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, has denied any wrongdoing.

Venis said Monday he thought Johnson should have turned in his phone once he was suspended and "Mr. Johnson should reimburse the town, or pay the bill directly, for any calls he made that were unauthorized."

The mayor said he believed all temporary employees with the town's Parks and Recreation Department received cellular phones.

Since being hired in June, Johnson has used his phone more than 1,000 times, talked for more than 46 hours and accumulated $888.63 in total bills.

Of those calls, 36 were to Venis -- 16 to his home and 20 to the mayor's cellular phone. The records do not reflect the phone number of any incoming calls Johnson received.

Venis said he assumed Johnson, a former professional wrestling champion, was making calls from a personal phone. And he said he believed his calls with Johnson were work-related.

The mayor, who is opening a professional wrestling school in Davie with Johnson, has been criticized for influencing the town's decision to hire Johnson, a charge he denies.

Venis drove Johnson to his job interview, sat in on the interview and was listed by Johnson as a reference.

The town has tried to downplay allegations that Johnson spoke frequently with Venis.
Acting Town Administrator Tom Willi ordered a town memorandum on its internal investigation changed because it included repeated mention of Johnson's calls to Venis. Willi called such information "irrelevant."

Willi was out of the office on Monday and was unavailable for comment.

A review of phone records showed only five of the phone numbers dialed by Johnson included the 797 prefix used by all town offices.

More than 20 long-distance calls were made to Tampa phone numbers. Johnson lived and worked in Tampa prior to moving to Davie, according to his job application. Two Miami phone numbers received numerous calls. Johnson called one of the numbers more than 60 times between June 20 and Oct. 12.

Venis said he knew Johnson had "several cell phones."

"I don't keep track of which one is the town phone and which one is the personal phone," Venis said. "I'm not in charge of telephones."
______________________________

(Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Nov. 1, 2000)

By Nick Sortal

DAVIE -- After protests by outraged parents, acting Town Administrator Tom Willi reversed himself on Wednesday, reinstating Mark Dornacker, the sports coordinator he fired on Oct. 12.

Dornacker was dismissed for allegedly making a racist remark as well as problems with job performance and carelessness with town property.

It was Willi's fourth termination since being handed the job June 21. He has also fired the town clerk, the assistant town administrator and a deputy fire chief, as well as demoted the fire chief.

But with Dornacker's dismissal, Willi touched a nerve. Parents and youth sports coaches rallied behind the 14-year employee, who directed the town's youth sports programs, which serve more than 2,000 players a year.

Willi said Tuesday that after taking some time off, he had a chance to reflect on his decision. He also said he learned new information that helped him change his mind. "I'm not going to fail to admit I made a mistake or rushed to judgment," he said on Tuesday, before his decision was made public.

Dornacker was unavailable for comment Wednesday. He was fired, in part, because of a remark he denied making. That remark was: "This town has two mayors: one is white and one is black."

The "black mayor" referred to Rocky Johnson, a friend and business partner of Mayor Harry Venis.

Dornacker supervised Johnson, a part-time activities leader, from Sept. 1 until Johnson was suspended Sept. 21 for alleged sexual misconduct.

Johnson is helping Venis with his professional wrestling career. The two are opening up a professional wrestling school in Davie.

Dornacker was one of several employees who questioned Johnson's relationship with Venis. His dismissal came less than two months after he was given additional responsibilities as the pool facilities manager of Pine Island Community Center. The town has since posted a pool facilities manager position, and Dornacker will return only as sports coordinator.

As part of that job, Dornacker handled the payment of sports referees and umpires for youth league games. Under the system in place, Finance Director Chris Wallace made out checks to Dornacker, who then paid the officials in cash.

No payment records were kept.

While Willi publicly criticized the system, it was not listed in Dornacker's firing notice. He was cited for four infractions: violating the town's personnel rules; using offensive conduct or language; showing "incompetency or inefficiency" in his job performance; and, displaying "carelessness or negligence" in using town property.

No specifics were given to support any of the reasons cited and Dornacker's personnel file did not support any of the claims.

At an Oct. 25 town meeting, led by Vice Mayor Richard Weiner, about 60 coaches, athletes and players spoke out on behalf of Dornacker, who had a hearing set for Monday to dispute his dismissal.

Barbara Proctor, who has two boys playing soccer and baseball in Davie, said she was "delighted" Dornacker was reinstated, but upset he was fired in the first place. "It's a shame that politics got in the way and that it took all of this for him to get his job back," she said. "It makes me question whether anyone really cares about what happens to the kids."

(Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Nov. 2, 2000)

By John W. Allman

DAVIE -- They called for his job, but Mayor Harry Venis did not speak. They called for an apology, but Venis said nothing. They called the three-term mayor an embarrassment and still Venis sat quiet.

Wednesday night's Town Council meeting was a contrast in sides: one side demanding answers of Venis as to his role in the town's hiring of Rocky Johnson, a friend and business partner.The other side defended Venis.

Johnson 56, a part-time activities leader at Pine Island Community Center, was suspended with pay Sept. 21 after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced.

Among the allegations being investigated by Davie police are statements that Johnson had sexual relations at the community center; that he groped a female employee; and that he asked a 12-year-old girl to play strip poker.

Johnson, whose son is "The Rock," a popular professional wrestler, has denied the allegations. His employment with the town ended Sept. 30 when his contract expired.

Venis, who is opening a professional wrestling school in Davie with Johnson, has said little since the allegations surfaced.

He has said he called for a police investigation, yet he also has moved forward with plans to open the wrestling school.

The issue, one resident said Wednesday night, is now being called "Rockygate" by people in the town.

"Rockygate has been an embarrassment," resident Gerry McClinton said, addressing Venis. "If I were you, I would be stepping down."

Doug Notman, a parent whose children were at Pine Island while Johnson worked there, asked Venis why the mayor has not apologized for not talking action more swiftly once he learned of the allegations.

Venis has said he first heard rumors of possible misconduct on Labor Day. Johnson was not suspended until about three weeks later.

Notman brought up Venis' last apology in 1997, when Venis addressed the town after it was revealed the mayor had paid for sex acts at a Dania Beach massage parlor a year earlier.

"Why haven't you apologized to the camp children at Pine Island Community Center and the parents?" Notman asked.

Venis did not respond to the question. He did tell Notman that the town will provide answers to 29 questions Notman submitted Monday regarding Johnson and other town issues.

Several people offered Venis support during the meeting and questioned why the mayor has been singled out in the Johnson investigation.

Venis drove Johnson to his job interview, sat in on the interview and was listed by Johnson as a reference. Johnson received numerous perks during his less than four months as a temporary employee, including use of a town-issued cellular phone, use of a town vehicle and advance warning of disciplinary action before he was suspended.

Acting Town Administrator Tom Willi has said he gave Johnson advance notice of his suspension because Johnson is a friend of Venis.
___________________________________________________

(San Diego Union, Wednesday, May 3, 1933)

By Headlock

Signing of Ed (Strangler) Lewis and Oki Shikina, Japanese heavyweight wrestler, for the next wrestling show at the Coliseum Athletic Club, has stirred up unusual interest, promoters Linn Platner and Tommy Landis report. Requests for reservations already have been received.

Lewis, for years the generally recognized champion of the world, is engaged in a "comeback" campaign, with a finish contest with Jim Browning for the title as his goal.

It is the claim of Lewis that when he first met Browning, and also on the occasion of their second clash, he was handicapped greatly by eye trouble. He also points out that neither of the bouts he lost to the Iowan was a finish affair, but that both were one-fall bouts which gave him no real test.

In view of the fact that the Lewis-Shikina bout is to be a finish battle, two falls out of three, the former champion will have ample opportunity to prove to San Diego’s fan flock that he has the stuff he claims he still possesses.

Regarding next week’s show, Platner says that it will be an "all star" occasion in the strictest sense, as every one of the eight athletes will be a man of reputation. There are to be four bouts in all.

In the semi-windup the popular Nick Lutze will oppose Rudy Skarda.
_______________________________

(San Diego Union, Wednesday, May 10, 1933)

By Ted Steinmann

Ed (Strangler) Lewis, veteran of many years on the mat, needed only a little more than 33 minutes last night to win two out of three falls and the match from Oki Shikina, Japanese, at the Coliseum Athletic Club. Lewis won the first and third falls with Shikina surprising to take the second with one of his special joint pressure holds which aided him recently in scoring a string of four victories here.

The veteran, who came into the ring weighing 245 pounds, won the first fall in 17:38, pinning Shikina, who weighed 210, after throwing him heavily to the mat with a series of headlocks. Shikina took the second with what Curley Morgan insisted was a "Japanese arm strangle." The hold did things to the Strangler’s elbow and made him go down. Shikina had his legs around Lewis’ forearm and put pressure on the elbow while using his weight to force the off shoulder to the mat.

Lewis turned the tables on Shikina to gain the deciding fall in 3:13. The Japanese had Lewis on the mat with a jackknife and bar arm hold. After several attempts to get free, Lewis regained his feet and held Shikina’s shoulders to the mat while referee Don McDonald tolled the fatal three seconds.

Shikina bothered Lewis considerably with arm holds throughout the match and also seemed to break away with cute little touches to vital spots here and there. But when Lewis finally got to work he won handily.

It remained for Nick Lutze and Rudy Skarda to put up the match of the night. They went a half-hour to a draw in the semi-final and when they left the ring the crowd, one of the largest to greet a mat show in some time, cheered both contestants.

A clean, fast exhibition, the two young heavyweights gave the fans what they wanted. They were at once rematched for a finish engagement next Tuesday night, inaugurating a string of weekly shows at the Coliseum in place of every other week.

Both Skarda and Lutze used reverse arm locks freely in the early part of the match. Skarda also had Lutze on the mat for a long period with a headlock but the Venice heavyweight broke away with a leg split. A toe hold which put Lutze’s foot in his lap looked for a time good enough to win for Skarda, but Nick finally broke free. Skarda weighed 210 and Lutze 200.

Dr. P.A. Mullikan, California light heavyweight champion, won from Tony Marconi, Los Angeles heavyweight, in 15:01 in the second event when the Italian heavy failed to regain the ring in 20 seconds after a drop into the first row seats.

This match was typical of the Mullikan productions with roughness predominating. Marconi had Mullikan crawling for the ropes a good part of the time. Both fell from the ring on the south side. The doctor got back and Marconi was counted out.

Dave Snodgrass surprised to win from Steve Strelich in 13:26 in the opener. Here, too, Snodgrass got back into the ring after a fall while Strelich was too late. Marconi and Mullikan used the same laps for a fall as did Snodgrass and Strelich. Snodgrass weighed 187 and Strelich 179.
________________________________

By Charles Bartlett

A beatific smile rested upon the features of Uncle Joe Foley last night as he dozed in his chair before the great fireplace of the old Stadium manse. What happy thoughts were playing tag in the Foley dreams probably will never be known. They might have been grand pictures of dozens of riot squads warding off the onslaught of feverish thousands eager to gain entrance to an already packed Stadium. Or it might have been the comforting assurance that all of his favorite nephews were grouped together at his feet.

It was a pretty picture, indeed, which the flickering flames found in the shadows before the hearth. The kiddies all were there in the innocence of little whit enighties, ready to be tucked into their trundle beds. They had sipped their hot milk, and now needed only a last story from Uncle Joe to complete a perfect day.

Uncle Joe was not aware of their desires until a neighbor’s lad, Joey Farrell, came to spend the night with his little chums, playfully pressed a glowing fagot against Uncle Joe’s No. 1 bunion. The old gentleman finally blinked his eyes, and began to stretch, but found that two of the nevvies, blue-eyed Nate Lewis and mischievous Andy Frain, had cunningly knotted his shoelaces together.

"And now what is it, you rascals?" he said, boxing the ruddy ears of Nate, Joey, and Andy.

"We want a story! We want a story!" the tykes shrieked, pummeling their favorite relative with gusto.

"Yes, and don’t give us that old one about the traveling farmer," piped chubby Marty Dougherty, as he boarded Uncle Joe’s neck. "And none of those Mae West gags, either."

"Well, you brats, once upon a time – " began Uncle Joe.

"Boo-o-o-o! Boo-o-o-o!" came the chorus, led by the childish treble of Carl Schultz and Harvey Johnson. "Tie that one outside. You’ll be giving us Goldilocks and the three bears next."

"All right, whelps," Uncle Joe continued. "This is a story about a little Greek kid named Christopher Theophilos and I want no cracks about that handle, see? He worked hard, was good to his pa and ma, and went to bed early every night instead of pestering his uncles for stories. Time went on and Christopher grew up to be a great, big strong man and a hell of a wrestler to boot.

"Chris was doing all right for himself until one day out in San Francisco a promoter came down with a broken wrist trying to squeeze Chris’ name onto a contract. For no reason at all, as far as anybody knows, he changed the young man’s name to Jim Londos. And now who can tell me who Jim Londos is?"

"I can, uncle, I can," screamed Joey Farrell. "Don’t you remember the time last spring when a guy named Joe Savoldi tossed him right on his shorts? And there was a lot of whistle blowing afterwards, and – "

"Drat you, Joey, will you ever learn that little boys should be seen and not heard?" Uncle Joe scolded. "Just for that I won’t tell you about a big surprise I’m going to have here Wednesday night. Anyway, Jim kept on winning and winning until finally there was nothing more to do but call him the heavyweight champion of the whole world ---"

"How about that time in New York?" put in little Marty.

"Who is talking about New York, you ingrate?" said Uncle Joe. "They don’t know anything about wrestling, anyway, and have they a fine big house like this to play in?"

"He’s got you there, Marty," smirked Andy.

"And now if you will button up your little traps I will tell you how Jim nearly got into trouble. He was winning every match going away and, gosh, how the money rolled in! He was reading books without pictures in them and getting culture all over himself. Then came the college wrestlers, a dastardly lot who practiced the black art of the flying tackle. There were Wayne Munn, Gus Sonnenberg, Jim McMillen, and Ed Don George. Jim knew it wasn’t cricket, but he practiced jumping over the flying tackle day and night until those collegiate smart alecs used to find themselves out in pew 14, section Q, when they tried any of their football monkeyshines on him. There, on the mantel, is a picture of Jim going through his jumping act."

"Hey, uncle, how about that surprise Wednesday night?" the kiddies demanded.

"Well, if you will promise to say nighty-night now, like good boys, I’ll tell you. There has been so much gossip around about that Londos-Savoldi business here last spring that I am going to put a stop to some of these back-fence biddies around here. I am going to have Mr. Londos and Mr. Savoldi and I hope about 15,000 of the neighbors over here to settle the whole thing once and for all. And I want you imps to remember your manners, too. Now, what do you think of that?"

"We think it is just too bad, uncle," shouted Nate as he and his cousins skipped off to bed, "because Wednesday is the night for the weekly meeting of the Five Card Stud club. You wouldn’t want us to miss that, would you?"
___________________________________

CHICAGO – The National Boxing Association does not recognize any champion in the field of wrestling, General John V. Clinnin, president of the organization, said today.

General Clinnin’s statement was made following information that Jim Londos had been circulating a photostatic copy or a reproduction of a letter written by Stanley Isaacs while acting as head of the N.B.A. in 1930 purporting to indorse Londos as the National Boxing Association heavyweight titleholder.

"The National Boxing Association, in annual convention at Omaha in October, 1930, eliminated wrestling from its scope of control," Clinnin said.
__________________________________

(San Francisco Examiner, January 31, 1961)

By Prescott Sullivan

The State Athletic Commission has rolled out the red carpet of welcome for a new rassling mob.

With the commission’s blessing, the new outfit has settled down in Oakland’s KTVU where last Friday night it put on its first televised studio show.

Four or five other televised studio "come on" productions will follow.

Then, when the territory is thought to be properly receptive, the group will move into the Civic Auditorium or Cow Palace for a non-televised, all-paid "master show."

Villainy keynoted the first of the build-up presentations. It appeared that the management was giving away prizes for dirty tricks.

One of the winners was a particularly despicable character. A professional stinker of all-pro stature, one might say. His job was to make televiewers loathe him. This he did in grand style.

To make sure there was no slip-up, he stated his position in a ringside interview after the match. "I hate the Bay area – the weather, the people, everything about it," he declared.

Then he stood back and leered into the TV camera. A real artist, this man.

Roy Shire, an ex-grunt and groaner from the Midwest (Detroit-Cleveland), heads up the new group. Closely associated with him is John Horn, formerly of Long Beach.

Regularly established promoters – such as Joe "Waffle Ear" Malcewicz in San Francisco and Ad Santel in Oakland – resent the intrusion.

They figure the newcomers will glut the market with rassling and ruin the game in this neck of the woods. As old and respected residents, they had hoped the State Athletic Commission would protect them from "invasion."

It would seem that Santel, for one, has a beef coming. For years, Friday night has been his "night" to show in the Oakland Auditorium.

Now, at first asking, the Commission is allowing the new guys to put on "live" TV shows in Oakland in direct competition with Santel’s Friday night time schedule.

In our book Santel has a right to complain of shabby treatment.

Tax-wise, the new guys are getting in for peanuts.

On regular rassling shows, for which there is a paid admission, the State exacts 5 per cent of the gross.

This tax, of course, cannot be applied to TV studio shows for which there is no paid "gate." Thus, the newcomers are in for free, except for a licensing fee of $25 a show.

This charge, half of which goes to pay the salary of a commission appointed inspector, also is demanded of the regular promoters, in addition to the 5 per cent tax bite.

Over the years, rassling has contributed more to the State in taxes than has boxing. The percentage is down at present, but the rassling tax still amounts to about half of Commission-collected revenue.

Obviously, a Commission policy of permitting non-taxable TV rassling shows to endanger established tax-paying rassling clubs does not figure to increase the State’s income.

Are the big-hearted Commissioners prepared to make up what their generosity may cost the commonwealth.
_______________________________

(San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, February 15, 1961)

By Roger Williams

There’s a wrestling war brewing in San Francisco and Oakland that could prove to be a dilly. It’s touched off by the invasion of an outside promoter who is now giving the public live matches for free on television.

No one objects to getting something for nothing. But when it runs into direct competition with an established and going concern that has been in business for 32 years, it hardly seems cricket.

This is the complaint lodged by Ad Santel, well-known East Bay promoter who stages his weekly shows on Friday night at Oakland Auditorium.

Now, on the same night, a newcomer named Roy Shire is airing live shows on Channel 2 from a KTVU studio. Shire received permission to do so from the California State Athletic Commission. Santel cannot understand the commission’s action.

Accompanied by his son, Ad Jr., and Joe Malcewicz of San Francisco, Santel protested Shire’ application for a permit at a hearing conducted by the commission in Sacramento. But Santel failed to score a winning fall.

The commissioners acted on the basis of a ruling by the state attorney general, who declared: "You cannot deny a license on the basis of competition." The Santels do not object to competition, but young Santel says:

"We do not consider it fair competition when Shire gives his show away for free on the same night that we’re trying to induce fans to pay their way into the Auditorium to see our matches."

At the time Shire received his permit to air TV shows, he also was granted permission to stage an occasional live wrestling card at the Cow Palace or Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.

Joe Malcewicz, better known as Old Waffle Ears, isn’t enthused about this but Joe has been in business long enough not to object to fair competition. He figures he has built up sufficient following with his wrestlers not to worry about hit and run performers.

Shire’ modus operandi follows a pattern he has used effectively in other parts of the country, according to Malcewicz. After four or five TV shows, he stages a live one bidding for public patronage via the box office.

"If these fail to go over, he soon pulls up stakes and starts shopping for another territory to move into," says Joe. "Apparently somebody told him to try San Francisco. Frankly, I don’t think he’ll have much luck here."

Shire will try to make it big in San Francisco by bringing in one of Malcewicz’s star performers, Antonino Rocca, to the Cow Palace on Saturday night, March 4. The barefoot boy’s opposition will be little known Don Jonathan.

And so the wrestling war is unfolding. There’s a chance now that Old Waffle Ears will counter with a match starring Leo (The Lion) Nomellini and Primo Carnera, former world’s heavyweight boxing champion turned wrestler.

If you were given a choice between these two matches which would you prefer?

MATMANIA: Dave Scherer, of Wrestling Lariat fame and writing at the www.1wrestling.com site, is busily updating news of Tod Gordon's Pro Wrestling Fantasy Camp, where fans can come to Philadelphia’s ECW Arena for four days and wrestle, manage or referee matches against legends from the past, and stars of the present. Starters for the May 2001 event now include, says Scherer, Terry Funk, Sabu, Missy Hyatt, the Road Warriors, Curt Hennig, The Sandman, Too Cold Scorpio and Tommy Rich. Scherer adds, "The participants will be trained to wrestle by Rocco Rock of the Public Enemy and Pit Bull Gary Wolfe, as well as some of the wrestlers at the camp during the first two days and then will hit the ring in action with and/or against the above mentioned stars. Singles and tag matches will be available. Most importantly, the camp will be held in a safe manner for the participants with Gordon and the wrestlers stressing the safety of the campers . . . The camp will take the first 150 entrants who send in their $500 dollar deposit. First come will be first served. For more information on how you can be a part of the camp, go to www.prowrestlingfantasycamp.com."
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(Wichita Eagle, Thursday, March 19, 1925)

Wrestling fans who happened to drift around to the Y.M.C.A. gym last night about 8 p.m. saw a ten dollar show for nothing. Two professional wrestlers, Dick Daviscourt and Jim Browning, got into an argument which ended up into a rough and tumble wrestling match without a referee and then into a fight, with no gloves.

It all started when Jim Browning went into the gym where Daviscourt was scheduled to work out with a local amateur grappler. "Why don’t you work out with me?" said Browning, walking up to Daviscourt.

"Why, you’re a professional," Daviscourt said. "I’m working out here tonight with a local boy."

"Well, you’re a professional, too," Browning came back. "What’s the matter, are you afraid to wrestle me?"

This seemed to add some red flags to Daviscourt’s rising wrath. "What do you mean going around the country telling everyone I’m afraid of you?" snapped back Daviscourt. "Why, you’re nothing but a preliminary wrestler."

That started the fireworks. In a minute, Daviscourt and Browning were on the mat, without a referee and everything went. The fans at the "Y" gym crowded around to see the fireworks, eager to see a real wrestling match with nothing barred.

According to spectators it was one well worth seeing. First one and then the other got a punishing hold. Browning held a head scissors on Daviscourt which had Daviscourt panting for breath. Daviscourt jabbed Browning. Once Daviscourt held a mean headlock on Browning. Time and again a man was on the mat with shoulders touching, but it was give-up stuff and neither would quit.

Accounts vary as to how the fistic part started. At any rate the two professionals had wrestled for 30 minutes with no falls when Daviscourt started beating Browning’s head on the floor. Daviscourt claimed Browning had kicked him.

Browning got up and made a swipe at Daviscourt. Daviscourt came back and they had a lively mill. Just then some cooler heads intervened, including Lloyd Dyer and other gym officials, and got the men separated. "Come one, we’ll finish it with gloves," was Browning’s parting shot. But Daviscourt didn’t answer.

Most of the spectators admitted that Browning had had the best of the argument up to the time the match was terminated in a fistfight. They also said that Daviscourt had started the fighting business.

Daviscourt is scheduled to wrestle Ad Santel here Friday night. Browning is to be on the preliminary. According to Browning’s side of the story, he has been trying to land a match with Daviscourt here or elsewhere for three years, but Daviscourt has always refused to talk business. Friends of Browning stated yesterday that Browning had threatened to "get" Daviscourt on the mat and show him up.

Daviscourt claimed last night that Browning had started all the trouble. "I went to the Y.M.C.A. to work out. Browning started to get insulting and I guess I lost my temper," said Daviscourt.

"If he thinks he can beat me in a match I’m willing to take him on some time. However it’s pretty poor stuff when a man has to bring his friends and try to pull that stuff on you in a gym, especially when I was all tired out after a workout."

Browning couldn’t be reached last night to give his end of the match but two of his friends stated that Browning was more satisfied than ever that he could beat Daviscourt, either wrestling or boxing.
_______________________________________

(Wichita Eagle, March 21, 1925)

Ad Santel repeated his victory over Dick Daviscourt at the Forum last night, winning two falls out of three in about the fastest and hardest fought match seen here for several moons. Santel’s victory came after Daviscourt had won the first fall in 41 minutes with a toe hold. Santel then came back and won a sensational victory with a merry-go-round and crotch hold in 58 minutes and took the final and deciding fall in 23 minutes with a split.

By winning Santel fooled a lot of the wise ones