World Wrestling Entertainment is a publicly-traded company, but the vast majority (70%) of voting shares are owned by Chairman Vince McMahon, his wife, Chief Executive Officer Linda McMahon, his son, Executive Vice President of Global Media Shane McMahon, and his daughter, Vice President of Creative Writing Stephanie McMahon-Levesque. As of 2005, the headquarters of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. are located in Stamford, Connecticut.
HOW IT BEGAN!
Pro wrestling is not a sport. It's a "work." A "work" is a piece of entertainment disguised as a wrestling match, in which the outcome (and usually some elements within the match) have been predetermined by wrestling promoters.
There was a time when pro wrestling presented itself as "sports" rather than "sports entertainment." Wrestling as a spectator sport dates back to the homoerotic display of naked Spartans rolling around on the ground together in ancient times.
As late as the early 20th Century, wrestling was a respected and even prestigious sport, a favorite among every strata of society, from peasant to President (Abraham Lincoln was an accomplished wrestler; interestingly, so was Donald Rumsfeld). But around this time, a divergence occured.
Professional wrestling's style is sometimes referred to as 'catch-as-catch-can', and this reflects the principal influence upon it: the Lancashire 'catch' wrestling of the north-west region of England. This style was known for its brutality and freedom of movement. Victories were often attained by submission, which meant that a contestant would maintain a dominant hold on an opponent for a very long duration in order to weaken him. It was dangerous to the health of the competitors and could be boring to spectators. The Lancashire style, and other regional influences, were adapted and developed by English settlers in the cities, towns and frontiers of America and Australia.
Tough men, such as miners and loggers, wrestled one another for money wagered by their fellow-workers, or for the status of being a community's champion. The advent of traveling shows in the early nineteenth century raised the stakes considerably. Locals wanted to beat the visiting champions, the monetary prize was greater, and regional and national titles were established.
In addition to the localized competition of wrestling, traveling carnivals and sideshows began to deliver wrestling exhibitions as an attraction. They would move from town to town putting on shows. Usually a "shooter" (Someone well versed in applying painful wrestling holds.) would challenge local boys to matches and quickly humiliate them. Eventually the local wrestling shows would merge with the carnival shows and create the beginnings of the wrestling form we enjoy today.
But the WWE has never really been about wrestling. Most of their past top guys, Antonio Rocca, Bruno Sammartino, Hogan, ect., have been more entertainers than wrestlers. For over a hundred years the scientific aspect has been seen as being more important than the entertainment aspect. And while that may be true for amateur wrestling, the "sport" never would have survived that way.
It's time to look at how "sports entertainment" began, how it evolved into the current WWE, and how entertainment eventually won out over wrestling. I'll concentrate mostly on the New York region that gave birth to the WWE.
The marquie may still say "wrestling," but it's pure entertainment.
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Just The Facts!
Taking On All Comers; A History of the Carnival Athletic Show
by Mark Hewitt
The "athletic show" was the top attraction of many an old-time carnival. "AT shows", as they were called, featured wrestlers and boxers taking on challengers from the crowd. Large circuses also carried "AT shows" as part of their sideshow and as added attractions.
The tradition goes back to the Middle Ages when wandering wrestlers faced opponents in the ancient fairs and bazaars. In America, the "AT show" dates to the post-Civil War era and ran right up until the early 1960's. The athletic shows, often including female grapplers, also appeared on the old vaudeville stages and in burlesque theaters.
By the early 1900's, the "AT show" was a regular part of the county fair circuit. In the spring, a showman would gather a troupe of capable wrestlers and fighters and send them out barnstorming. Barnstorming is an old term used to describe touring entertainers and athletes that performed anywhere and everywhere.
Arriving at the fairgrounds, the "AT show" group pitched its tent along the midway with a stage out front called the "bally" and a regulation ring inside. Large, colorful banners were displayed depicting wrestling scenes and boasting such slogans as "We Challenge the World" and "No One Barred".
The show involved meeting all comers from the audience, offering from five dollars on up to the challenger able to stay the time limit with the carnival man. An "AT show" operator couldn't afford to pay out too many forfeits, so the wrestlers and boxers had to be both highly skilled and as tough as nails.
In its heyday, the athletic show produced a hardy breed of grappler; rough, ready and able to dispose of any challenger who stepped up from the spectators. The challenger or "mark", as he was known in the business, could be anything from a husky farmer to the local bully. George Drake, who worked "AT shows" out West in the 1940's, remembers his challengers as being "cowboys, wiseguys, drunks, college wrestlers and football players".
"AT show" bouts were time-limit handicap matches, with the "comer" attempting to stay for usually five minutes of wrestling or three rounds of boxing. Often, as part of the show, one of the carnival wrestlers, referred to as a "stick", would be planted out among the crowd. The stick would be worked into the program as all the "marks" were met and defeated in the beginning of the week.
Athletic show grapplers faced from two to a dozen or more challengers a day! As the "marks" were weeded out, the stick would stay the limit with a couple of "AT show" men. Then the big end of the week match would be the stick versus the carnival mat star in an exciting finish contest. Other times, a local wrestler or amateur champion would be built up as a worthy contender.
Many of the top pro wrestlers of the past would take to the carnival circuit during the summer months, when the arenas closed. Before the advent of air conditioning, the "AT show" was the only game available to matmen in the summertime.
Toots Mondt, Farmer Burns, Frank Gotch, Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Jack Sherry, Ray Steele, Sputnik Monroe, Red Bastien, Bull Curry, Wild Red Berry and Angelo Poffo are among the many grappling greats of the past who worked "AT shows" during their careers.
The late Mildred Burke, world champion woman wrestler for twenty years, started out wrestling in carnivals in 1935. Any man within twenty pounds of her weight who could pin her in ten minutes would be awarded twenty-five dollars.
Describing the challengers from the crowd he often faced, Monroe said, "That's the hardest kind of a guy to wrestle...the guy that doesn't know how to wrestle, because if you wristlock him or something, he does the exact opposite of what you've trained yourself and learned to do in your career. So there's a specialty in wrestling idiots. You'd always try and give him your head or your hand...You used 'marks' for referees, so they won't count the hometown boy out...You always had to make them submit."
Red Bastien started out at sixteen years of age, taking on all comers in a carnival tent for Bodart Shows. Red was taught grappling while working in a Minnesota lumber camp by an old-time mat man named Henry Kolln. He was then recruited to work the carnival circuit in the late '40s. He toured all over Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
In reference to the "AT show" men, Red said, "Most of them were middleweights, but they would wrestle anyone...These were old-time wrestlers ... They'd been around the mat world for years, so it wasn't likely that they were going to be beat, no matter how big the guy was. They had what they called submission holds, and if he didn't give up, he'd get his leg broken."
Another veteran of carnival wrestling is Al Costello, of the world famous "Fabulous Kangaroos" tag team. Al, a grocer's son in New South Wales, Australia, started his pro mat career in 1938. To gain experience, he began wrestling and boxing all comers in the carnivals.
Al took on as many as twelve challengers a day. He toured carnivals all over Australia with both Jimmy Sharman and with Roy Bell. In 1945, he had his own Variety Boxing and Wrestling Entertainment Troupe. The show featured, besides himself, three boxers and a half-aborigine wrestler known as "The Bronze Bomber". Al remembers carnival wrestling as "a tough life and very little money...but a ton of experience."
Al Costello recalled an incident that happened in Adelaide when he took on a big Dutch seaman in a two-out-of-three falls contest with a ten-minute time limit. Al, an expert grappler, pinned the sailor for the first fall in thirty seconds. He was about to repeat the performance when a shipmate of the Dutchman rushed onto the mat and kicked Al square in the head. The seaman disappeared and Al was left with a fractured jaw.
A few wrestling bear acts still makes the rounds of American carnivals and country fairs. I've heard that there's an "AT show", with wrestlers taking on all comers, operating in Blackpool, England; and that one last boxing troupe still tours the Australian outback, offering twenty dollars to anyone able to stay three rounds with one of its fighters.
The athletic show and its wrestlers, who literally "took on all comers", is a thing of the past. Its legacy lives on, though. Much of the showmanshipo associated with professional wrestling stems from its carnival roots. Old-time carnival wrestling is an important, but largely forgotten chapter, in the sports' history.
The next time you stroll a carnival midway, let your thoughts turn back to an earlier day. Imagine a large, colorful tent with four tough-looking hombres on a stage in front of it, and a fast-talking barker declaring the prowess of his men. Listen, as the "AT show" grapplers taunt and aggravate the spectators, daring them to try and stay just five minutes. Feel the excitement, as the whole country turns out to see their hometown hero try to best the carnival wrestler under the canvas tent. Watch as "Pretty Boy Rocque" comes to grips with his challenger. What's that the "AT show" wrestler says, standing over his defeated opponent? "Nobody stays with the Pretty Boy. Who's next!?"
THE EARLY YEARS!
1831; Abraham Lincoln (YES! THAT Abraham Lincoln!) wrestles, and some say defeats, the first "famous" carnival wrestler, Jack Armstrong, in New Salem, Illinois. (For details of the match go here, http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton1/Lincoln48.html )
Abraham Lincoln, in late 1831, beat the Louisiana State Champion in New Salem, Louisiana.
1877; On February 6th, at the age of 31, William Muldoon takes two straight falls from the French Champion, Christol, in 10 minutes and 17 minutes respectively, to win the World (European version) Greco-Roman Championship, thus earning the right to being recognized as the first professional World Wrestling Champion.
01/19/1880; William Muldoon defeated Thiebaud Bauer in Madison Square Garden in New York for The first American Greco-Roman Title.
12/09/1881; Joe Acton defeats Tom Cannon in London, England to become the first American Catch-As-Catch-Can Champion.
1882, Febuary 8th; John L. Sullivan is recognized as the first American world heavyweight BOXING champion. He gained world stature when he stopped Paddy Ryan in nine rounds in Mississippi City. *Tom Hyer is generally considered the first U.S. champion, although he never received the world recognition that Sullivan did.
1886; Joseph Mondt is born.
1887; In the very first clash in what is now known as the classic Wrestler versus Boxer match, World Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion William Muldoon squares off against World Boxing Champion John L. Sullivan, in Gloucester, Massachusetts USA. The match is stopped when some in the crowd of 2,000 rush the ring after Muldoon bodyslams Sullivan.
On March 14th, Evan "Strangler" Lewis defeats Joe Acton in Chicago, Illinois USA, to win the American Catch-as-Catch-Can Championship.
12/31/1891; William Muldoon retires still holding the American Roman-Greco Champion. It's unsure at this time about the statis of the World Roman-Greco Championship.
1892; Ernest Roeber defeated Apollo to win the vacant American Roman-Greco title.
03/02/1893; Evan "Strangler" Lewis and Ernest Roeber would make wrestling history. The American Greco-Roman Champion and The Catch-As-Catch-Can Champion faced off in a best of five falls unification match in which both the greco-roman and catch-as-catch-can styles were used. Lewis came out on top and unified the two titles into the American Heavyweight Title.
1895; On April 20th, in Chicago, Illinois USA, Martin "Farmer" Burns defeats Evan "Strangler" Lewis, in a best three out of five falls contest to capture the unified "American" Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.
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Superstar Spotlight On...
Martin 'Farmer' Burns
1861 - 1937
Martin "Farmer" Burns was born on February 15, 1861 in a log cabin in Cedar County, Iowa. His father was a farmer who died when Martin was 11. From a very early age Martin displayed an interest in, and had a natural ability for, wrestling which was developed in many impromptu matches with boys in his home town and the surrounding area.
Martin was born during a very troubled time for the country as the year of his birth was also the year that the American Civil War started. Wrestling was a popular activity in the army camps, as it had been and continued to be, in the camps and towns that sprang up during the westward expansion. During the Civil War its popularity increased due to the fact that the wartime President, Abraham Lincoln, was himself a champion wrestler having defeated the Louisiana State Champion in New Salem, Lousiana in 1831.
His nickname of "Farmer" was given to him on his first trip to Chicago in 1889. He had traveled to Chicago on a cattle car and was very impressed by the city. One of the things that impressed him most was a sign offering $25.00 for anyone who could last 15 minutes with 2 well known wrestlers of the time - Jack Carkeek and "Strangler" Lewis.
At first they didn't want to give him a shot because he was unknown,but eventually he made it on stage in his overalls and sock feet with jeers of the crowd insulting him by calling him "Farmer." He stayed with both of the wrestlers for 15 minutes and the crowd's jeers soon turned to applause. The next day he found himself treated as a hero by the local papers.
In his time Farmer Burns wrestled over 6,000 matches in every type of situation from grading camps to circuses and lost only 7. He won the American Heavyweight Title in 1895 when he defeated Evan "Strangler" Lewis and retained the title until 1897 when he was defeated by Tom Jenkins.
He later won and held the light heavy weight title until 1908. Burns weighed only 175 pound but defeated many of the great wrestlers of the day-some of which out weighed him by 50 or 100 pounds. He had a very strong neck that measured 20 inches and allowed him to perform one of his favorite stunts of doing a six foot hangmans drop which he performed many times.
One of his greatest accomplishments was taking another Iowa farm boy, Frank Gotch and developing him into a world champion wrestler that many believe to be the greatest wrestler of all time. He trained many champions.
His correspondence course is very well done and combines calisthenics, light dumbells and resistance exercises in a very effective way. It is as useful today as when it was written.
He was not only a great athlete,but a creative and smart businessman whose promotional brochure and correspondence course provided the prototype for the many physical culture and bodybuilding courses that followed in the US in the 1920s,30s, and 40s. He was still wrestling well into his sixties and reportedly remained active and in good health until his death at the age of 77. (Gordon Anderson)
1896; George Hackenschmidt, 18, makes his wrestling debut.
April 2, 1899 ; Frank Gotch, trained by Martin Burns, makes his wrestling debut by defeating Marshall Green.
1901; San Francisco hosts wrestling's first tag team matches.
George Hackenschmidt wins several World Championship tournaments in Nov 1901 and is unofficially named World Heavyweight Champion. In Spetember of 1902 he wins the European Roman-Greco Title.
1902; Joseph "Toots" Mondt makes his wrestling debut at the age of 16. He wrestles in carnival shows for a few years until receiving his big break when discovered by wrestling pioneer great Martin "Farmer" Burns during one of his scouting trips. Wrestling was about to take a huge turn, which would change the face of the industry.
1904; George Hackenschmidt is first recognized officially as World Heavyweight Champion in Europe.
1905; George Hackenschmidt defeats the American heavyweight title holder Tom Jenkins in a non-title bout to become recognized in North America as the World Heavyweight Champion.
1908; On April 3rd, at Dexter Park Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois USA, American Heavyweight Champion Frank Gotch beats George Hackenschmidt to win the undisputed World Heavyweight title that some say was three years in the making. The victory, however, has its share of controversy as Hackenschmidt accuses Gotch of oiling his body in an effort to avoid being grabbed, and after two hours and three minutes, quits the match, forcing the referee to award the title to Gotch.
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Just The Facts!
THE FIRST WORLD TITLE CHANGE! Hackenschmidt vs Gotch
On April 3rd of 1908, the United States saw its biggest wrestling match ever as American Heavyweight Champion Frank Gotch faced World Heavyweight Champion "The Russian Lion" George Hackenschmidt in Dexter Park Pavillion in Chicago, IL before 10,000 fans. Hackenschmidt had won the title of World Champion after winning many tournaments throughout Europe and then defeating former American Champion Tom Jenkins. Gotch had established himself as the top American wrestler over a period of several years by fighting all comers and winning The American Title.
The Russian Lion had assumed Gotch to be an easy opponent and a big payday. Hack had beaten his previous opponents in ten minutes or less. He was a muscular freak for the times and was accustomed to using his size and strength advantage to demolish his opposition. When they met in the middle of the ring, Gotch threw Hack’s game plan out the window by being evasive.
At several points in the match Hack complained to the official that Gotch wouldn’t stop moving and wrestle. The referee told the champion that Gotch wasn’t breaking any rules by being evasive. So, Gotch drug the match out and made the big man carry his hulking body around the ring for much longer than he’d intended. Gotch used a toe hold submission as his finishing move, and he’d broken several legs in his effort to gain submission victories.
Hack was well aware of this move and, at the end of the first fall, the champion was about to be caught in the feared toe hold. Rather than face the pain, the champion surrendered the fall before he could be injured after two hours and three minutes of battle. Many reports say Gotch was surprised at the champion’s actions, but a fall was a fall. After a ten minute rest period, the champion refused to continue the match and forfeited his World Heavyweight Title to a young wrestler from Humbolt, Iowa.
Frank Gotch, one of the best wrestlers of the last century, wrestled the best wrestler in the world on that day and after more than two hours he was the best wrestler in the world. Hackenschmidt’s camp claimed foul play in the loss to Gotch. They claimed that Gotch won with unfair tactics such as oiling his body and rough ring tactics like gouging and punching. Lastly, the claimed that the young Iowan used verbal taunts in his win.
There was never any proof of oiling, but both men fought the match rough and Gotch was a cocky talked in the ring. Apparently he taunted the champion by telling him he was going him without the championship and questioning his ability to wrestle. Sandow’s Historic Photographs of Bodybuilders site quotes Gotch as saying, "Show us those great moves you told the press boys about!" and his comment demoralized the champion and made him lose focus. The same site reports that the champ was tormented by Gotch’s "ever-present smile."
It sounds like The Russian Lion lost to a superior athlete and then found every manner of explanation except that he had underestimated the American Champion. At the end of the day, Frank Gotch was World Heavyweight Champion and would remain so until 1913 when he retired as the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion.
The significance of Gotch’s win over Hackenschmidt is that Gotch’s World Title is the one wrestling promotion such us WWE, WCW, and NWA have tried to tie their World Titles to over the years. Gotch’s win brought the World Title to America and it’s been here ever since in some form.
Now, we're coming to the direct events that changed wrestling into what we know today as Sports Entertainment.
In 1915, Roderick James "Jess" McMahon, grandfather of current WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, co-promoted a boxing match between Jess Willard and Jack Johnson. In the fight, on April 5, 1915, Johnson lost his title to Willard in Havana.
May 3, 1915, Stu Hart is born; in his early years, he played for the Edmonton Eskimos. In the 1940's, he wrestled in the Northeast area for Toots Mondt, a very successful promoter. His claim to fame was that he was a legitimate athlete, having had a good career in the amateurs before turning pro.
ED "STRANGLER" LEWIS
July 5, 1916 - Joe Stecher and Ed Strangler Lewis wrestle to a legendary five-hour draw in Omaha, NE. Lewis is soundly hooted by the crowd for wrestling defensively and making no attempts to go on the offense against the champion. Some fans at points showered the ring with their seat cushions to show their displeasure with Lewis.
This angered promoters who decided that from then on championship matches would never be fought this way again. Their outcome would be predetermined. That one match changes wrestling from sport to entertainment.
Up until 1919, wrestling matches were slow-moving exhibitions mainly confined to the mat and lasting on an average 60 minutes. Crowds no longer found this to be suitable entertainment and accordingly, they began to dwindle. The time was right for a new approach. This approach came from the mind of none other than Toots Mondt.
1917; Frank Gotch dies of uremic poisoning, age 39. Two thousand people attended his funeral, which was held at the Congregational Church in Humboldt, Dec. 19, 1917, at 2:30 p.m. Governor Harding delivered the eulogy.
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Superstar Spotlight On...
ED "STRANGLER" LEWIS
The Wrestler, Volume 1, Number 2, February, 1967
"Ed Lewis" wasn't his real name. He was born Robert Friedricks. How he became Ed Lewis is probably the only commonplace episode of his life. Like so many other youngsters of his time who yearned for an athletic career -- particularly in wrestling or prizefighting -- 14-year-old Robert Friedricks ran into parental opposition. His father and mother, he felt, would disown him if they knew that his objective in life was to snap other men's necks.
One day in 1897, the postman delivered a book Bob had sent for. It was called "How to Wrestle." Its author: world famous wrestler Evan "Strangler" Lewis.
Recalling that incident in later years, Bob Friedricks said: "Had it not been for that book, I doubt very much that I would have become a wrestler. I was fascinated by the pictures of my heroes...Frank Gotch, Tom Jenkins, Farmer Burns -- even the Terrible Turk. They were all demonstrating their favorite holds in those pictures, with Evan Lewis giving his inside opinions of each man's ability."
Not only did the book fire the strapping youth's ambition, it also gave him the name which he was to make immortal. To keep the secret from his parents, at least until he might become famous, he lifted Evan "Strangler" Lewis' name, changing only the first part. But the Strangler part could not be lifted; it had to be earned -- with sweat and pain.
Lewis lived a long life -- 76 years. And he was proud and happy to the very end, even though blind. He once told me: "I'll always consider myself the luckiest man in the world because I have more friends than anybody else."
Unlike most wrestlers, Lewis kept a careful account of his ring record. After each bout he wrote down the date, opponent, place and result in a black, leather-bound book. Shortly after his last bout, in Honolulu in 1948, he counted up all the entries. They totaled 6,742 matches. And of the lot, he had lost only 35.
There was always a carnival in range which offered a prize to anybody who could last a few rounds with the house fist-fighter, or five minutes with the house wrestler. There never was a shortage of takers. There were also hastily arranged elimination tournaments between cowboys or lumberjacks, either fist-fighting, wrestling or a murderous combination of both.
Ed Lewis liked to sneak into those tournaments: "I got to be able to act like a cowboy or a lumberjack good enough to fool them," he recalled.
It was in this primitive atmosphere that Ed Lewis learned his trade and perfected his headlock. Once he entwined his great arm around his opponent's skull, it was just a matter of how long Lewis wanted to keep on playing games.
There is little doubt that some victims were permanently injured by the enormous pressure of his hold. This came to light after Ed had become famous. A former lumberjack whose head had been yanked out of joint accused Lewis of having broken his neck in a carnival wrestling bout a few years before. The man demanded $100,000 in damages. Ed denied the charge and the claim was thrown out.
The thing that always puzzled people about the Lewis headlock was that Ed applied the hold ONLY with his left arm, despite the fact that he was righthanded.
But there was a logical explanation. Ed liked to look at himself as he practiced the various holds shown in Evan Lewis' book. Consequently, he studied himself in a mirror. In order to duplicate the illustration in the book, and have it appear "correct" in the mirror, Ed executed his moves in reverse. Soon, using his left arm for the headlock became instinctive.
"Whenever I went into the ring," Lewis once said, "my whole strategy was aimed at getting a tight headlock on my opponent. It was what the people paid to see and I knew that the only way I could be successful was to satisfy the people." He was right. All they wanted to see was the Strangler apply a headlock and squeeze until his victim's body went limp.
Lewis first won the world championship in 1920 when, in a mammoth New York City armory, he defeated the great scissors king, Joe Stecher.
Up until 1932, when he was beaten by Gus Sonnenberg, Lewis defeated every important wrestler in the world, winning and losing the title no fewer than five times. During this period, his weight ranged from 200 to over 300 pounds. He didn't retire after losing to Sonnenberg, despite the fact that he was long past his prime and suffering from the dread eye disease, trachoma.
As we said before, Ed had an inborn flair for showmanship. He took great pride in promoting himself. Look what happened on the night of March 6, 1916, in Madison Square Garden:
Lewis had agreed to throw four wrestlers in less than an hour or forfeit $500 to each of them. But the management raised the number to seven (because they figured it would attract more customers). The Strangler disposed of the lot in 22 minutes.
The first to fall was Hans Fuerst, who lasted 2 minutes and four seconds. Albert Miller came next. Albert was on his back three seconds after the bell rang. Five others--Vogel, Nelson, Schilling, Farmer and Bailey--followed, and Strangler cut them down as fast as they came into the ring. Bailey made the best showing of the lot. It took Lewis all of 5 minutes and three seconds to stretch him out with a body scissors.
In April, 1920, Lewis challenged heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey through the sports editor of a Louisville, Ky., newspaper. He backed up his challenge with a certified check for $5,000 which he agreed to forfeit if he (Lewis) withdrew. The mixed match, which would have filled the largest stadium in the country, never came off because Dempsey's manager, Jack Kearns, didn't like the idea. But it made headlines, which was Lewis' main purpose, although he always insisted that the one thing he regretted most was not getting the chance to "hug Jack Dempsey."
In later years, as his sight grew weaker, Lewis lent the magic of his name to promote young wrestlers. Lou Thesz was one, Bronko Nagurski another. For this he was paid small sums, enough to keep him going. And some old time promoters -- who never forgot that had it not been for supermen like Ed Lewis they might never have reaped the payday by inviting him to act as golden harvest -- gave the old man "guest" referee stints.
But he was blind, and had to be helped in and out of the ring. The real referee was Ed's "assistant." Lewis was led to a side of the ring, and his hand placed on the top rope. He never moved from that position all during the match, although once in a while, when he instinctively knew what was happening, he would growl in his deep voice: "All right, now. Break it up!"
In a way it was a pathetic sight. But it had value, too, like the night in Amarillo, Texas, in 1959. As Lewis was helped into the ring, a man seated in the third row leaned over to his son and said, "Look at that old man. Pay no mind to the wrestlers. Just look at that old man. I want you to be able to tell your children that you once saw Ed 'Strangler' Lewis."
JOSEPH "TOOTS" MONDT
1919; Toots Mondt joins the camp of Ed "the Strangler" Lewis with the recommendation of Farmer Burns. Toots served in many capacities as a sparring partner, trainer, sometimes as an opponent and as a valuable police officer. Few wrestlers were as tough as Toots Mondt and he made sure that every Lewis opponent knew the ‘rules’ of the nights match.
As a sparring partner and trainer, he helped Lewis develop new holds and counters. As a pro wrestler, Toots was there when Lewis had trouble finding an opponent, for Toots lost to no one but the Strangler, giving the match a little juice at the gate.
Toots conceived a groundbreaking solution, which would shape and determine the face of pro wrestling, as we knew it. Toots first solution was to change the style of the entire wrestling concept. He combined features of a boxing ring, Greco-Roman, freestyle wrestling & the old-time lumber-camp style of fighting. Toots had called it ’Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling’.
Mondt's second plan was to promote this new style of wrestling on a much higher scale. Toots convinced Ed Lewis and his manager Billy Sandow of forming their own promotion, as opposed to having different promoters controlling them.
To the credit of Mondt’s partners, they didn’t need a lot of wattage in order to see the light. They immediately set about convincing other wrestlers about the advantages of the new style of wrestling and signed hundreds of them to contracts. Under Sandow, Lewis and Mondt, the boys would be well paid and paid timely, no longer subject to the whims of a promoter. Within only six months Sandow was the new czar of wrestling. By signing every wrestler he saw, Sandow decimated the talent pools of the other promoters. Meanwhile, the new style of Slam-Bang Wrestling was completely over with the fans, drawing huge gates and providing sweet payoffs for the hundreds of new employees on Sandow’s payroll.
1920; December 13th, Ed "Strangler" Lewis defeats Joe Stecher in one hour forty one minutes and 56 seconds in New York City to become the World Champion.
The 1920s marked the end of any element of authentic competition in pro-wrestling, and the mass production and availability of the radio was the principal reason. Occasionally there have been 'shoot' matches. 'Shoot' is a term used within the business for a situation in which a wrestler, once in the ring, decides not to follow the 'script'.
The team of Mondt, Lewis and Sandow used their connections to convince many other wrestlers to sign up. This new innovating approach of wrestling and immediately signed literally hundreds of them to contracts. Wrestlers were paid well and on time and the new style of Slam-Bang Wrestling was completely over with the fans. Toots also invented time limits as wrestling matches would aften go 3 or 4 hours!
Within six months, the "Gold Dust Trio," as Mondt, Lewis and Sandow would be called, controlled the course of professional wrestling in North America. (Now you know where Dustin Runnels got the name...Goldust. More on that later.) Their product was moved out of venues such as burlesque theatres and back alley halls to the major sports venue in each city. All new talent was tested in Billy Sandow's private ring while routines and finishes were carefully determined by Toots.
The art of ‘working’ was born and the Gold Dust Trio had made their mark in the history of wrestling. In the new jargon of wrestling, a "program" was a series of bouts whose ultimate result was to build up a suitable opponent for the champ to meet when he came to town. The wrestler to be built up would be receiving a "push." He would work the program with another well-heralded matman, well-regarded with the fans, so when the man to be pushed went over, the fans accepted it. If the man to be pushed wasn’t going over with the fans, wasn’t getting that all-important "heat" (fan excitement), then he would work the job to his opponent. The fans always came first.
While a good thing can’t be expected to last forever, the way in which the Gold Dust trio’s empire dissolved was positively ludicrous. A power struggle developed between Toots and Sandow’s brother Max that quickly led into a "him or me" demand by Mondt. To Mondt’s surprise, Sandow chose his brother and Toots was out in the cold - but not for long. He soon hooked up with Philadelphia impresario Ray Fabiani. Fabiani, one of the promoters who had to accept whatever he was given during the glory days of the Gold Dust Trio, snapped at the chance to be Mondt’s partner.
Mondt for his part chose Fabiani because of his political connections in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.The new combination wasted little time and found their new title holder - Dick Shikat, a former circus strongman from Germany. Shikat was the first National Wrestling ASSOCIATION World Champion. He won the title on 08/23/29 after defeating Jim Londos in Philadelphia, PA.
Once Dick Shikat's title reign had run it’s coarse, Toots Mondt & Ray Fabiani made Jim Londos their new champion. The pair of Toots & Fabiani struck success as Jim Londos went on to become one of the most well known wrestlers in history.
With the immensely popular Londos as champ, Mondt and Fabiani consolidated their hold on the Northeast. From their base in Philadelphia, they moved north to New York City and Hartford, and south to Baltimore and Washington, D.C. This is as far as Toots wished to expand; he had seen the pitfalls of a national operation from being involved with Lewis and Sandow. New York City was the toughest market to crack, controlled for many years by the formidable Jack Curley, who could often call on help from Bowser in Boston. Bowser, who did not like the fact the Mondt and Fabiani were invading his New England territory, gave Curley as much help as he could in repelling the invaders from Philadelphia.
Mondt had a notion that the wrestling promotion could become a touring operation, something like a vaudeville company. Sandow perfected the ever-popular interracial matchup. He paired Germans and Frenchmen, Greeks and Russians, Chinamen and Americans, Japs and Chinamen, Englishman and Irish, Indians and Cowboys, westerners and easterners, and one town favorite against another.
"He had a very brilliant mind as far as matchmaking was concerned," former NWA president Sam Muchnick said of Mondt. Inspired, according to Griffin, by James Figg, an English bareknuckled fighter of the eighteenth century who often defeated wrestlers "by the simple process of first knocking them out and then pinning their shoulders," Mondt decided to add fisticuffs: "We'll take the best features of boxing and the holds from Greco- Roman, combine these with the old time lumber camp style of fighting, and call it 'Slam Bang Western-Style Wrestling.'"
Another of Mondt's important contributions to professional wrestling was his perfection of the "finish" -- the scripted conclusion of matches. Many of the finishes Mondt invented are still used today.
1925: Jess McMahon joins Tex Rickard in promoting boxing events from the old Madison Square Garden Arena, in New York, starting with the December 11, 1925, light-heavyweight championship match between Jack Delaney and Paul Berlenbach. Jess McMahon's enterprise focused on boxing and live concert/music promotion.
Mid 1920s; The term "rasslin’" was first used by sportswriters to describe the antics in the ring and to mock its enthusiasts, who were usually of the lower socio-economic rung of the ladder and who pronounced the word "wrestling" in just that way.
The radio era of wrestling began on 21st March 1925 when it was first broadcast by ABC radio in Melbourne, with Norm McCance as commentator. A 'Tell-U-Vision' illustrated guide was even published so that listeners at home could make sense of the holds and manuvers being described. To make it easier to understand what was going on in the ring, and to add excitement instead of long boring holds that lasted forever, promoters began to coriograph entire matches.
1932 was a bad year for Toots.
Quote:
Just The Facts!
THE 1932 ACCIDENT!
In the summer of 1932, Mondt and his brother, Ralph Mondt, along with a woman described as a local dancer, were driving on Highway 24 just east of Collingwood, a resort town about 70 miles north of Toronto off Georgian Bay.
Toots, who was in his late 30s at the time, was behind the wheel of a 16-cylinder Cadillac sports car. Just after midnight on August 21, after coming around a curve, he collided with a car driven by J. Edward Burnie of Toronto. Burnie's passenger, 21-year-old Theresa Luccioni, was killed instantly. A coroner's inquest found that Mondt had been driving too quickly and on September 2, he was committed for trial on a charge of manslaughter.
At the trial in November, held in Barrie, Collingwood constable Lorne Davidson testified that, while in the hospital, Mondt had offered him money from his pants pocket. In response, Mondt said he thought the constable wanted to buy some "cigarettes or sandwiches or something" and offered some money he had in a drawer.
Mondt testified that he was only driving at 35-40 miles an hour and that it was Burnie who swerved over the line and into his car.
The jury wasn't impressed. While the charge of manslaughter was dismissed, Mondt was found guilty of criminal negligence following a four-hour deliberation. Mr. Justice Patrick Kerwin sentenced Mondt to one year in the Ontario reformatory in Guelph. According to the Star, Kerwin had suggested an acquittal in his charge to the jury.
The Star boasted that this showed the difference between Canadian and American justice. Gus Sonnenberg had just been tried for manslaughter in the U.S. after killing a police officer in an auto accident, but he got off without serving any significant jail time. The Star's boast would turn out to be premature.
McCarthy immediately filed an appeal. Mondt spent a night in jail in Barrie but was then released on $20,000 bail (almost $300,000 in today's dollars.),
Mondt was not allowed to leave Ontario and he spent about three months in the area, during which time he was spotted at at least one of the shows at the Gardens.
The appeal was heard late in January and early in February, the court ruled in Mondt's favour. The conviction was overturned (Chief Justice Francis R. Latchford dissented from the decision of the majority) and he was free to leave.
That wasn't the end of Mondt's problems, however, as the mother of the woman killed in the accident filed a $10,000 (about $150,000 today) suit against him that was heard in December. A second action, heard at the same time, was brought by Ralph Mondt against his brother and Burnie, claiming $5,000 in damages for loss of earnings and suffering.
Supporting Mondt's version of events at the civil trial was his dancer passenger, who by an amazing coincidence had since moved from Collingwood to New York. Burnie testified that Mondt was driving across the centre line.
Judgment was reserved on December 15, and while I hate to leave a good story hanging, I haven't yet been able to find a report of the outcome.
In FALL GUYS, Griffin writes that Mondt spent about $300,000 defending himself in the criminal and civil proceedings. If true, that would be over $4 million in today's dollars.
In February of the same year, Toots found out that Londos and his manager Ed White was attempting to fill documents with the New York State Athletic Commission that cut him out of Londos' management. Londos, the greatest draw in wrestling history, no longer wanted to pay Toots's cut. After an unsuccessful attempt by Mondt to get Londos to drop the title back to Dick Shikat (who Mondt managed), Toots tricked Londos into signing a contract to defend his title vs. the winner of a Shikat vs. Sammy Stein match. Having understood that winner was going to be Stein, Londos, fearing a double-cross, was chased out of NYC when Mondt switched the winner to Shikat.
Londos, the dominant (in terms of popularity and influence) wrestler of the Thirties, could not defend his title in about 21 states due to outstanding warrants for his arrest on fraud charges. Londos was the greatest draw of his era, roughly 1929 to 1940, and can be credited with bringing in women fans.
Realizing he had lost the king of American wrestling, Toots turned to the old king and good friend Ed "Strangler" Lewis. Signing Lewis away from the Paul Bowser group, Curley and Mondt brought him to New York in June 1932 and promoted a spectacular shoot match between the Strangler and Dick Shikat to be held at the Madison Square Garden Bowl on Long Island. The match drew 25,000 and a gate of $65,000 as Lewis defeated Shikat (6-9-32). When he refused to meet Lewis, Londos was stripped of his world title recognition in New York.
Londos was still recognized in such major cities as Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Toronto and St. Louis and missed New York city much less than the metropolis missed him. Old, fat and out-of-shape, Lewis turned into a box office bomb. Once New York fans got a chance to see the old champion, they rejected him and his ancient style of wrestling. On October 10, 1932 Ed Lewis defeated Jack Sherry for New York World Title recognition in front of only 5,000 fans in Madison Square Garden. Mondt's greed had done them in and Jack Curley's wrestling empire would never be the same in his lifetime.
September 20, 1934; A match between Jim Londos and "Stranger" Lewis at Wrigley Field is refereed by former Boxing champion Jack Dempsey.
The first serious investigation into wrestling's authenticity was launched in January of 1934 by the New York State Athletic Commission. Accusations of 'title juggling' and 'secret agreements' resulted in a week of testimony from the top wrestlers of the day, including Londos, Ed White, and Dick Shikat. The commission outlawed syndicate agreements between promoters and also decided to ban the drop kick from competition. Nobody paid much attention to either edict"
1935: Jess McMahon promotes his first wrestling card. His son, Vincent J. McMahon,(July 6, 1914 - May 24, 1984) began to take an increasing role in the running of the business, especially on the wrestling side. However, the McMahon family was not able to promote wrestling matches at Madison Square Garden due to Rickard's dislike of the sport.
Jim Crockett Sr. forms Jim Crockett Promotions The same year. (Crocket Promotions would later be sold to Ted Turner and become WCW.)
Mid 1930s; Here begins the false story of a drunken press agent who mistakenly sent out the evening's results to the papers before the matches began - wrestling's version of the urban myth - and thereby ruined wrestling for everyone. In actuality, sportswriters took sadistic delight in getting the results beforehand and publishing them in the early evening edition. This form of enjoyment began with Dan Parker of the New York Mirror. Parker got the information from Jack Pfeffer, who at one time or another during the Thirties, was on the outs with every major promoter in the city and hence looking for revenge.
1937: As Jack Curley was on his deathbed, Toots realized that New York wrestling would fall apart. So Toots & Fabiani immediately formed a vigorous alliance with fellow booking heavyweight Rudy Dusek. This formation to take over New York was kept a secret. At Curleys funeral, one of his sons approached Toots about taking over New York, and wasn’t aware that Toots had a plan.
Toots also gained help from other bookers such as Jack Pfeffer, the Johnston Brothers and Jess McMahon.
1937; Toots was one of the main figures in the book FALL GUYS by Marcus Griffin where he was portrayed as a dangerous shooter and a genius promoter and schemer. Lou Thesz, who got to re-write history in more ways than one, later called Mondt "a thief and a liar" but conceded that he was "a powerful and skilled wrestler" -- compliments Thesz didn't toss out readily.
Jess McMahon worked for boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who despised wrestling, and preventing bookings in Madison Square Garden from 1939 thru 1948.
April 2, 1945: Babe Ruth, legendary baseball player and manager, announced he will become a referee on two cards in Portland, Maine and in Boston, Massachuttes.
Vincent Kennedy McMahon is born on August 24, 1945, in Pinehurst, North Carolina. McMahon was actually raised as Vinnie Lupton. His mother, Vicki, remarried after her first marriage to famed wrestling promoter Vincent J. McMahon failed during World War II. McMahon also has a slightly older brother, called Rodney.
May 19, 1946: Andre The Giant is born in Grenoble, France.
1947 - A New York match between Buddy Rogers and Billy Darnell is such a wild brawl, a ringside fan dies of a heart attack. Both wrestlers are disqualified from New York competition for two years . Fred Blassie suffers a head injury that places him on the verge of retirement when he is bounced out of the ring by Rudy Dusek.
1948: Toots found former wrestler turned millionaire Bernarr McFadden, who gave Toots the financial backings. Bernarr McFadden helped Toots promote in NYC and gain access into Madison Square Garden!
Quote:
Just The Facts!
A Brief History of the Garden
by Scott Teal
Long before the Garden that is in use today, there were three other Madison Square Gardens at two different sites. In 1869, P.T. Barnum showcased his acts in New York in an area three blocks north of the Manhattan intersection where Twenty-third Street crossed Broadway and Fifth Avenue. The area was called Madison Square, named after James Madison, the fourth president of the United States.
In 1874, Barnum leased an abandoned railroad shed on the northeast corner of the square, where the New York & Harlem Railroad used to stable their horses. He spent $35,000 to rebuild the depot, surrounded it with a 28-foot wall of brick, and created an open yard that measured 425 feet by 200 feet.
On April 27, 1874, Barnum unveiled his Great Roman Hippodrome, which was originally called Barnum’s Monster Classical and Geological Hippodrome.
Barnum took his show on the road a few months later and returned in the dead of winter. He promptly left and took his show of freaks and animals to Florida. The lease was auctioned off to bandmaster Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, who renamed the outdoor arena Gilmore’s Garden.
When Gilmore’s lease ended in 1878, the lease was awarded to W.M. Tileston, who used it to showcase an archery range, lawn tennis, a riding school, and an ice carnival. On Memorial Day in 1879, Tileston renamed the stage Madison Square Garden.
Madison Square Garden: January 19, 1880
Attendance: 4,000
William Muldoon beat Thieband Bauer
Madison Square Garden I was demolished in July, 1889, and within twelve months, a new hippodrome was built on the same site. Garden II opened on June 16, 1890 and stood through 1925, when New York Life decided to tear down the Garden and erect its headquarters there.
The final event in Garden II was a prizefight between Sid Terris, a lightweight, and Johnny Dundee, a favorite of the East Side, who had lost to Joe Welling in the first legal fight in the Garden five years before.
249 days later, Madison Square Garden III was built by Tex Rickard on uptown Eighth Avenue, the site of former trolley car barns. It was opened on November 28, 1925 with an opening event of six-day bicycle races.
On October 28, 1963, construction workers began to pull Penn Station apart and construction of Madison Square Garden IV began on May 1, 1964. The new arena was located between 31st and 33rd Street on Seventh Avenue at a cost of $116 million.
Madison Square Garden: May 17, 1963
Attendance: 19,648, $58,966.10
(WWF Title Match*) Bruno Sammartino beat Buddy Rogers (0:4 ... Bobo Brazil and Dory Dixon drew with Skull Murphy and Brute Bernard (no falls, 18:00, curfew) ... The Fabulous Kangaroos beat Argentina Apollo and Pete Sanchez (one fall, no pin in the second fall, 30:00, Sanchez subbed for Ed Carpentier) ... The Great Mortier beat Great Scott (8:29) ... Johnny Barend beat Tim Woods (11:14) ... Magnificent Maurice beat Karl Steif (9:53) ... Pedro Morales beat Willie Bath (9:5 ... Pat Barrett beat Gordo Chihuahua (10:11) Note: Bruno Sammartino beat Buddy Rogers in Madison Square Garden on May 17, 1963 to win the WWWF World Wide Wrestling Federation Title.
When the new high-rise, state of the art Garden was being inaugurated up the block with a salute to the USO, starring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, Madison Square Garden III closed its doors with a Rangers Red Wings hockey game that ended in 3-3 tie, a 115-97 win for basketball’s Knicks over the 76ers, and the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. It was the only time in history that events were held in both the old and the new Garden at the same time.
The Garden itself rests on an 820,000 square foot plot of land. The facility includes the 20,000 seat main Arena, The Theater (formerly the Felt Forum and The Paramount, which holds 5,600), the 40,000 square foot Expo Center, two restaurants, and 89 club suites.
Madison Square Garden: March 31, 1985
WRESTLEMANIA #1, 23,000+
Hulk Hogan and Mr. T beat Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff ... (TTTM*) Iron Sheik and Nicoli Volkoff beat Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo ... Andre the Giant beat John Studd ... Junkyard Dog beat Greg Valentine (dq) ... Tito Santana beat The Executioner (aka Buddy Rose) ... King Kong Bundy beat S.D. Jones (:09) ... Brutus Beefcake vs David Sammartino (ddq) ... Ricky Steamboat beat Matt Borne ... (LWTM*) Wendi Richter beat Leilani Kai
Madison Square Garden: December 29, 1991
Attendance: 11,000
Hulk Hogan beat Ric Flair (dq) ... (Handicap Match) Sgt. Slaughter beat Col. Mustafa and General Adnan ... Hercules beat Greg Valentine ... The Nasty Boys beat Bushwackers ... Bret Hart drew with Ted DiBiase ... British Bulldog (Davey Boy Smith) beat Berserker ... Skinner beat Jim Powers ... Virgil beat Repo Man (aka Barry Darsow, dq) ... Chris Walker beat Brooklyn Brawler
Madison Square Garden: March 20, 1994
Wrestlemania X, sellout 18,600, includes 4,200 in Felt Forum, $960,000
(WWF Title Match*) Bret Hart beat Yokozuna (10:2 ... (Ladder Match) Razor Ramon beat Shawn Michaels (18:44) ... Earthquake beat Adam Bomb (0:35) ... Yokozuna beat Lex Luger (dq, 14:40) ... Men on a Mission beat Quebecers (cor, 7:41) ... (Falls Count Anywhere) Randy Savage beat Crush (9:49) ... Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon beat Doink the Clown and Dink (6:09) ... Owen Hart beat Bret Hart (20:21) ... (Girls) Alundra Blayze (Madusa) beat Leilani Kai (3:20) ... Smoking Gunns, 1-2-3 Kid, Tananka and Sparky Plugg (aka Bob Holly) vs Headshrinkers, IRS, Rick Martel and Jeff Jarrett (canceled, no time left)
Trivia note: Four events can be traced all the way back to Madison Square Garden I the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (which began in 1877), the National Horse Show (which arrived at the Garden in 1883), P.T. Barnum’s traveling circus, and boxing.
Of course, the Knicks and the Rangers, two charter members of their respective leagues, remain cornerstones of the Garden, and are clearly and firmly established in the community and in the marketplace. Two brand new Garden teams were introduced to Manhattan in 1997, The New York Liberty of the WNBA, and the New York CityHawks of the Arena Football League.
Another Garden venture, Madison "Scare" Garden, is an interactive Halloween theme park in the Garden’s Expo Center. More than 50,000 people attended the inaugural season. In addition, the "Garden Walk of Fame," located in the Mall at the Garden, has over fifty inductees.
Having earned the nickname of "The World’s Most Famous Arena," Madison Square Garden sees nearly five million fans pass through the turnstiles each year.
Notable firsts
February 12, 1879 - The first artificial ice rink in North America opens at the Garden.
1902 - The first indoor professional American football game is played.
1934 - The first college basketball game at the Garden is played, between the University of Notre Dame and New York University.
February 28, 1940 - Basketball is televised for the first time (Fordham University vs. the University of Pittsburgh).
March 19, 1954 - Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory in round seven at the Garden in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in color.
March 31, 1985 - The WWF, now known as the WWE, presents the first WrestleMania Pay Per View event, marketed as the Greatest spectacle in professional wrestling, revolutionizing the Sports Entertainment industry.
June 14, 1994 - After 54 years the New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup at Madison Square Garden.
June 29, 1997 - The New York Liberty professional women's basketball team plays their first home game - the first professional women's basketball game to be played at the Garden in many years.
Wrestling enjoyed a boom after World War II and Toots rode the cash wave along with everyone else. The popularity of Gorgeous George, combined with a new regime at Madison Square Garden, led to the return of wrestling in the arena in 1948. The main event that night saw Gorgeous George use his flying side headlock to defeat Ernie Dusek. But the attendance was not what the promoters expected. Toots quickly saw that salad days were upon him once again, but if the green was to continue to be a part of that salad, he would need a box office draw in the style of Londos.
Toots needed a fresh face, yet an ethnic one for the East Coast fans. He found just that in 1948 when he pried Antonino Rocca away from his manager Kola Kwaraini. Rocca proved to be a gold mine for Mondt, bringing the customers back time and again. Taking note that more and more Latinos were in attendance, Mondt brought in new faces such as Miguel Perez to keep them happy. But in all the expansion he forgot to keep Rocca happy and that would come back to haunt him.
Toots Mondt wasn’t able to manage to keep Rocca happy and Vince J. McMahon was brought into the scene by Ray Fabiani. Toots & Vince J. would eventually put their differences aside to form Capital Sports, a territorial member of the NWA. Within a year of their partnership, Toots & Vince McMahon Sr. controlled 70% of the NWA champions booking.
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Superstar Spotlight On...
Vincent J. McMahon: The Tradition Lives On
By: Lou Sahadi
Vincent James McMahon
Born: 6-Jul-1914
Birthplace: New York City
Died: 24-May-1984
Cause of death: Cancer
Father: Jess McMahon
Wife: Vicky Askew
This article was originally printed in Wrestling World magazine, date unknown, circa late 1960's
It was still early and the place was empty. The main lights hadn't been turned on in the arena and the only signs of life were a number of wrestlers who began arriving one at a time. A couple of them stopped and looked around the new arena before heading for their respective dressing rooms.
Vince McMahon Sr. stood in the runway leading directly to the middle of the vast floor. His eyes were fixed at the ring and then he slowly gazed around the environs of the new Madison Square Garden. Neatly dressed as always, McMahon appeared a bit concerned. He is a master craftsman as a promoter yet he couldn't help but wonder how many people would be lured into the $36-million emporium. No one could predict. This was the first wrestling show ever held in the new 33rd St. structure that rises majestically over Penn Station.
McMahon was pondering a number of questions out loud. How good are the acoustics? Is the lighting sufficient? Can the spectators in the far-off seats see well enough? How will the fans react to a new arena? The latter question offered concern. A few years back a rival promoter tried to run a number of wrestling events in the New York Coliseum, a modern edifice just a stone's throw from the old Madison Square Garden.The promoter took a heavy financial loss and oldtimers guessed that the reason the wrestling fans did not accept the Coliseum was that it was a new building.
It's a strange paradox, but that is the nature of the wrestling fan. He associates himself with the old through habit and rebels against a vast physical change. He's used to going to the arena at a certain night in the month and sitting in his same seat show after show.It's almost as if he projects himself into the program. He'll cheer world champion Bruno Sammartino and he'll boo anyone he opposes. He wants to stand up and be counted.
McMahon himself is a throwback to the past. He was exposed to the serious business of promoting ever since he could remember. Now in his early 50s, McMahon still retains that boyhood charm that most Irish kids growing up in New York possessed in the 1920s. He runs a first-class operation that has earned him the respect of wrestler and fan alike. His association with Madison Square Garden runs deep. His father, Jess, promoted the first ring attraction in the old place on December 11, 1925, a lightheavyweight championship fight between Jack Delaney and Paul Berlenbach.
Young McMahon played in the Garden as a kid of 11. He'd explore the catacomb level underneath the arena and end up sitting at the knees of fabled celebrities. This was the Golden Age of sports,and McMahon was exposed to it all as an Irish moppet, wide-eyed by it all in the excitement of smoke-filled arenas. "My big charge came from seeing Ching Johnson of the Rangers come up the ice with the puck," reflected McMahon. "He was electric, shedding body checks like Bronko Nagurski shaking off tacklers."
"I remember the Garden being so jammed by fans waiting to see Reggie McNamara in the six-day bicycle races that my father and the Striblings had to sit on the steps in an aisle to make a bout. My father sat behind me with Pa Stribling, who managed Young Stribling, sitting next to me. Not many people know that Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney were booked to fight in New York,which turned it down because Harry Wills said that Dempsey was ducking him. That's why the fight went to Philadelphia instead. Dempsey was not ducking Wills. Jack Sharkey had no trouble with Wills before winning on a foul."
These were some of the memories that McMahon can easily recall when talking about promotions and Madison Square Garden. He's had pleasant memories and sad ones,like the time last January when McMahon staged the last ring show in the old Garden, which featured Sammartino against Taru Tanaka. "I was just about the last person in the place," he remarked. "All the front doors were locked and I had to leave by way of the employee's entrance. I just sat around thinking back. It felt eerie, thinking about the things that I saw there in the 42 years since my dad opened it."
Jess McMahon wasn't one of the Damon Runyon type characters that made up the fight game then. First of all, he was a graduate of Manhattan College, and how many guys along Jacobs Beach could make that distinction? Then Jess ran a neat and proper office.His working hours were strictly from 9 to 5 and who ever heard of that among the cigar smoking, card playing characters who usually conducted their business in the back rooms of the many saloons along the way? McMahon himself didn't smoke and purposely kept proper hours in order to maintain a close family life in Far Rockaway.
In a tribute to his memory, the Garden moguls gave Vince the distinction of putting on the first ring show in the new Garden. McMahon came right back with Sammartino in the main event against Bull Ramos, a 325-pound Apache Indian. It was Sammartino's 55th main event appearance in five years in the Garden, and no athlete in any sport could come close to approaching such a milestone.
"He is the strongest man in the world," exclaimed McMahon."He can do a pushup with two wrestlers on his back. Most people don't seem to know it but Bruno outdid Paul Anderson, the weightlifting champion, by 90 pounds in a tournament. Bruno began lifting weighs in a Pittsburgh YMCA to build himself up after virtually starving during World War II when the Germans occupied his little town in northern Italy."
Although his office is located in Washington, D.C., McMahon's operations extend far beyond the eastern seaboard. He recently concluded a contract with Japanese promoters for a two-week tour by Sammartino. He also set up a longer tour of Australia for Gorilla Monsoon.McMahon has also arranged for Sammartino to appear in Canada, South America and Australia.He is constantly on the telephone at his office in the Franklin Park Hotel or from his home in a fashionable section of Washington. Even when traveling, McMahon makes liberal use of the telephone. He does over 90 percent of his business that way.
A number of years ago he promoted an outdoor show in Chicago's Comiskey Park. It was a fantastic succss. A crowd of 39,995 turned out for the program which still stands today as the largest crowd ever to attend a wrestling match. McMahon maintains a humble ego in his performers. One night they could be headlining a television show, or appear on top in Madison Square Garden, before sending them off to such far off corners as Lewiston, Maine, to fulfill a contract with a local promoter.
Travel and television are some of the complexities that face McMahon that his father never confronted. He has to serve as a behind the scenes producer of the television shows, matching the right performers who will provide the finest matches. Then, he has to arrange for a weekly schedule for a large number of wrestlers who appear in one city one night and a different one the next.
The schedule does have its headaches. Like the time a few years ago when Sammartino was scheduled for a matinee match in Pittsburgh and an evening appearance in Newark, N.J.In order to insure Sammartino's arriving on time at the Newark Armory, McMahon arranged for a police escort from Newark Airport through the busy streets of Newark. Sammartino made the committment with about three minutes to spare.
Usually, promoters do not foster a close relationship with wrestlers. They establish a good rapport but maintain a business relationship. However, it is quite obvious that McMahon is fond of Sammartino. "He's the greatest champion in the game today," beamed McMahon."He's had the belt over five years which should tell you just how great a champion he is. I'd venture to say he has received more fan mail than any wrestler in history and I mean ever since the sport became popular. He's known all over the world and promoters constantly are in touch with me seeking Bruno's services. I have turned down more requests than I have agreed to. It just can't be helped. It isn't humanly possible to fulfill all the requests he has received."
Along with his vast wrestling network, McMahon somehow finds the time to dabble in other promotional ventures. He currently possesses the promotional rights to one of boxing's hottest properties, lightheavyweight champion Bob Foster. He did so by a daring maneuver by guaranteeing then lightheavyweight champion Dick Tiger $100,000 if he would meet Foster in New York's Madison Square Garden. The match was made last May and Foster easily knocked out Tiger to capture the title.
"I may move Foster up into the heavyweight ranks," disclosed McMahon. "Why, there's nobody around in the lightheavyweight division who can come close to beating him. The way I see it, he can beat most of the heavyweights around right now."
Although he may get involved in any number of promotions, wrestling is closest to McMahon's heart. By his own admission, he'd rather promote wrestling than any other event. Actually,it's more demanding and more challenging. That's what McMahon thrives on.It makes him go. It turns him on like an eight-day clock. Right now he's faced with his biggest challenge, selling out the new Garden in the same manner that he did the old one. If any one can do it it's McMahon.
It'll take some masterful strokes, though. There wasn't going to be a sellout this particular night. A crowd, yes, but not one that will completely satisfy McMahon in the manner in which he has sold out Boston and Philadelphia. That's about all that's left for McMahon to do. The smart money says he will accomplish it.
July 30, 1948 - Pro wrestling debutes on the Dumont Network.
During the "Golden Age" of pro wrestling, immediately following World War II, there were many famous wrestling heroes and villains that were known all across the country. Not just by wrestling fans, but also by the general public -- due mainly to the fact that wrestling was an enormous part of the early development of television. In fact, at a time when a broadcast day for the networks lasted less than 12 hours, there was still hour after hour of professional wrestling featured on the new entertainment medium. Wrestling was experiencing a huge boom in popularity, and certain names stuck out in the minds of wrestling fans and the public at large.
Professional wrestling was a regular and popular form of entertainment on early, live network television, particularly on ABC and DuMont. The two longest-running wrestling shows originated from Chicago -- Jack Brickhouse doing the play-by-play from Marigold Garden every Saturday night on DuMont for almost six years, and Wayne Griffin announcing from Rainbow Arena for ABC for roughly the same length of time. DuMont's other long-running wrestling show originated from various arenas around the New York City area (Jerome Arena, Jamaica Arena, Sunnyside Gardens, and Columbia Park Arena) with Dennis James at the mike.
No one knew much about television in those days," said Verne Gagne. "I remember the first match I had in the East was in Troy, New York in the early 'fifties. We drove in from Buffalo that night, and we couldn't get near the arena, it was so crowded. We didn't know what else was playing in town; we didn't realize that all those people were there for us. When I got out of the cab, I was just mobbed -- it was like Elvis Presley would be a few years later."
Quote:
Just The Facts!
FOX 5 New York/Washington History
Watching FOX 5, you may not realize how much of a pioneer the station has been. WTTG was one of the first television stations in the world. FOX 5 began operating on May 19, 1945, as the first station in Washington DC and the second station of the now-defunct DuMont Television Network.The station was known as W3XWT: "W" meant North America, "3" was the region of the country, "X" meant experimental and "WT" were the station's call letters. DuMont Labs, manufacturer of TV sets and transmission equipment, owned the station. Founder Allen DuMont saw the television station as a prime way to sell more DuMont brand TV sets.
In 1938, the DuMont Company started an experimental TV station in Passaic, New Jersey. Not long after that in 1939, we began operating another experimental station, W2XWV in New York City. On July 1, 1941, the FCC announced that it would allow commercial broadcasting to begin, so we could get income from sponsors to pay for programming. From July 1st to December 7th, when Pearl Harbor hit, TV didn't have a chance to expand very much.
Most TV sets were located in bars, where patrons would watch wrestling and ad libbed variety shows. Stations gave time away to advertising agencies, which experimented with different types of programs. The total cost of operating DuMont's New York station from October 1942 to October 1943 was just over $62,000. http://w0298331.temp.w1.com/inside/about.shtml
1948; Stu Hart started Big Time Wrestling and eventually changed the name to Stampede Wrestling, which covered a huge territory in Canada.
July 1948; The National Wrestling Alliance is founded in Waterloo, Iowa by six promoters in order to avoid stringent U.S. anti-trust laws: Sam Muchnick (St. Louis), Pinky George (Des Moines), Al Haft (Columbus, OH), Harry Light (Detroit), Tony Stecher (Minneapolis), and Orville Brown (Kansas City). Pinky George is named the first N.W.A. president.
1949; Gorgeous George appeared in a movie called "Alias the Champ".
Lillian Ellison (later known as Fabulous Moolah) defeated Cecilia Blevins in Kansas City, Missouri in her first match. As "Slave girl Moolah" she would become valet to Buddy Rogers.
January 1, 1950: Buddy Rogers defeated Johnny Valentine in the Finals of a United States Title Tournament.
May 26, 1950: Gorgeous George reached his peak when he won the American Wrestling Association World Title by defeating Don Eagle. George later lost the World Title to another wrestling legend, Lou Thesz. Gorgeous George wrestled for another ten years before being defeated in one of his last matches by a young Bruno Sammartino.
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Superstar Spotlight On...
GORGEOUS GEORGE; WRESTLING'S FIRST "SPORTS ENTERTAINER!"
Real Name: George Wagner
Stats: 5' 9" 210 lbs.
Born: 1915
Gorgeous George is truly the original showman of professional wrestling, and his flamboyant theatrics have unquestionably forever changed the "sport" of professional wrestling. During his heyday (which began in the late 1940's and lasted through to the early 1960's, a more famous or controversial entertainment figure could not be found.
It has been said that during his prime, George was even more well known than the President. He influenced generations of future wrestlers -- from Buddy Rogers to Adrian Street, "Superstar" Billy Graham to Ric Flair, "Adorable" Adrian Adonis to Goldust...even Mohammed Ali, Little Richard, Liberace, and numerous other figures in both sports and entertainment. One is hard pressed to think of a more influential public figure, let alone a professional wrestler. Promoters billed him variously as the "Toast of the Coast," the "Sensation of the Nation" and the "Human Orchid."
While others debated whether professional wrestling was a sport or a spectacle, Gorgeous George never had any doubts. With his manicured, brightly polished nails and trademark mane of bleached and styled hair, he single- handedly paved the way for coming generations of gender-bending entertainers, as he shocked the sensibilities of a macho era by entering the ring in outrageous, orchid-colored costumes.
Often, he tossed members of the audience "Georgie pins," gold-colored bobby pins just like the ones he used to hold his own curls in place. When he gave friends and special admirers 14-karat versions of his signature trinket "Georgie pins," he made them take an oath: "I solemnly swear and promise to never confuse this gold Georgie pin with a common, ordinary bobby pin, so help me Gorgeous George."
He also was fond of dispensing savvy pearls of wrestling wisdom, such as: "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat."
It was a sentiment tailor-made for an athletic entertainment that always had been a happy hunting ground for rogues, con men and fast-buck artists who liked to play both sides of the line between license and grand larceny. A decade before Gorgeous George's arrival on the scene, credulous fans encouraged by splashy stories and pictures displayed in local papers -- whose journalists were often on the promoters' payrolls -- bet wildly and illicitly on matches that, more often than not, were fixed by the mob.
Scandal followed and professional wrestling nearly faded from the national scene. Then along came celebrity-hungry television -- and Gorgeous George.
Nebraska-born George Raymond Wagner, the son of a house painter, began wrestling at age 13 and was twice amateur champion of Texas before turning pro. Early in his career, he learned to attract attention by wearing spats, a Homburg hat and carrying a cane. When dapper didn't quite do it, the ambitious young rising star decided to try bold and flashy.
He hired Hollywood's famed hairstylists, Frank and Joseph, who curled and bleached his hair. Soon, he also began wearing lacy, frilly gowns and sequined, lavender robes that highlighted his blond locks coiffured in beautiful waves.
The crowd's response frequently was unruly -- fights sometimes broke out in the grandstands -- but attendance grew, and Gorgeous George was what they paid to see. As a red carpet rolled out and his theme song, "Pomp and Circumstances," played, his personal valet used a sterling silver spray gun to fill the ring with "Chanel No. 10," lest the scent of exertion from the previous match offend his boss' olfactory senses.
There was, of course, no such thing as a perfume called Chanel No. 10. But that didn't really bother fans who didn't care that the match that followed was fixed.
For his part, George became immune to whistles and wisecracks, but couldn't stand someone pulling or touching his curls. Although he had millions of fans -- 35% of whom reportedly were women, according to sponsors -- he infuriated men. During one bout, a male spectator extinguished his cigar on the back of George's calf and his expensive robes sometimes were stolen and torn to shreds by the crowd.
To distinguish himself from such contemporaries as Wild Red Berry, Baron Leone and Lou Thesz, George drove an orchid-colored Cadillac and had his name and "act" copyrighted.
"I really don't think I'm gorgeous," he always said. "But what's my opinion against millions?"
Professional wrestling became a national phenomenon when it first aired on television in 1948, appearing as part of the Tuesday night lineup that included "The Milton Berle Show" and "Kukla, Fran & Ollie." Its biggest stars, Gorgeous George and the Mighty Atlas, soon were household names. The next year, George topped the card at the Olympic Auditorium, selling out the house 27 times. On each occasion he wore a different one of his 100 purple robes, each of which cost as much as $2,000.
"I got the biggest ovation of my life there," he once recalled. "They couldn't announce the match. The announcer burst out laughing, but I didn't mind. I was a sensation."
In 1951, students at Woodbury College interviewed 5,000 owners of television sets about their viewing preferences. The study found that Angelenos most enjoyed watching 200- to 400-pound berserkers sit on the heads of their rivals and tie each other's limbs into square knots. Wrestling, with its bearhugs, power slams, eye-goung and crotch-kicking, was by far the most popular TV event, with cigarette-puffing little old ladies responding 5 to 1 in its favor.
George wrestled five to six nights a week, and during the day ruffled a few feathers at his 195-acre ranch in Beaumont, where he raised 35,000 "Gorgeous George" turkeys. Gobbling up profits, George handled his own marketing and had the birds delivered in limos with orchids emblazed on the doors.
George loved to taunt as much as he was taunted. Sometimes he had live turkeys delivered to an opponent's house.
But in George's case, trouble seemed to follow fame. His beloved ranch was tied up in litigation for years after a messy divorce. Eventually, part of it was sold to actor Danny Thomas.
Over the years, wrestling's appeal faded just as George did. Shortly before he retired in 1962, George opened a bar on Sepulveda Boulevard called Gorgeous George's Ringside Bar. A year later, he suffered a heart attack and died on Christmas Day 1963. He was 48 years old and broke.
Nevertheless, the Los Angeles City Council adjourned with a resolution in his memory. At his funeral, both of his ex-wives -- seated on opposite sides of the church -- cried uncontrollably. His last girlfriend, a stripper, sobbed and collapsed next to the orchid-colored casket covered with fresh orchids.
Today, professional wrestling fans nostalgic for a glimpse of the heroic era can find a large collection of Gorgeous George memorabilia at Slammers Wrestling Gym in the San Fernando Valley when its museum reopens.
1952; Rocca, miffed at the lack of attention and always on the lookout for a better financial deal, sided with Vince McMahon in a palace coup of sorts and overthrew Mondt as the lead man in the promotion.
Mondt, through some sort of "misunderstanding," sold half the promotion to Pedro Martinez, ostensibly to settle gambling debts. When Martinez came to New York to collect, Mondt denied the whole thing. At which time Pedro decked Toots in full view of wrestlers and press in the dressing room. Martinez was eventually satisfied financially, but would hold a grudge against Toots and McMahon the rest of his life.
In January 1953, Vincent J. and Toots Mondt took control of the Northeastern United States wrestling circuit as part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA is a broad group of wrestling companies that recognized an undisputed champion, who went from wrestling company to wrestling company in the alliance and defended the belt around the world.
The company was called Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), or NWA Capital Wrestling. While originally running shows from the 2,000-seat Turner's Arena, the CWC would eventually control the territories of New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It was able to do this after signing an agreement with WTTG Channel 5, in 1956, to air live CWC wrestling shows.
These shows were then syndicated. Capitol dominated professional wrestling in the Northeastern United States during the mid-20th century, when it was divided into strictly regional enterprises
The DuMont network broke up in the late fifties, but McMahon held onto several T.V. outlets.
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Superstar Spotlight On...
ANTONIO ROCCA; THE FIRST MCMAHON SUPERSTAR!
Real name: Antonino Biasetton
April 23, 1928-March 15, 1977
Hometown: Argentina
A.K.A.: Argentina Rocca
Made pro debut: 1942
Made (W)WWF/E debut: later in the 40s
Inducted into WWE Hall of Fame: 1995
Antonino "Argentina" Rocca is perhaps one of the most influential performers the "sport" of professional wrestling has ever known, and a legitimate trailblazer in the genre of the "high flying" wrestler. In addition to his revolutionary wrestling technique, Rocca was also one of the biggest box office draws the business has ever known. At the height of his fame, Rocca was one of the most recognizable sports figures in any sport, not just pro wrestling.
Before it was ever known as WWE, the World Wrestling Federation, or even the World Wide Wrestling Federation, Antonino Rocca was the top Superstar in the company. Back then, it was simply the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, and Rocca was the star of the show, drawing packed houses throughout the Northeast for Vincent J. McMahon. He was unique because he was one of the first to bring what would be called the "lucha libre" style to the United States. It was rare to see a wrestler go to the top rope, or for that matter, leave their feet until Rocca came to the US.
Rocca took up wrestling after an attempt at a soccer career didn't work out due to an injury. He was wrestling in Texas when Joe "Toots" Mondt decided to bring Rocca to the east coast, more specifically, the Big Apple. He was a HUGE draw in New York, not just for his acrobatic style, but for his ethnicity. His ethnic background was Italian and, of course, being from Argentina, Latino, so he drew in those particular fans that lived in New York.
That same fan base started a riot at MSG in 1957 after a match between Rocca and Dick the Bruiser, where Rocca was busted open. Championships were few in his career, large in part because he was so over with the fans, promoters felt that he didn't need one to get over. He would, however, lay claim to the International title for more than a decade.
Mondt shared Rocca with other promoters in the region in the late forties and early fifties, including a newcomer from Washington, DC, Vincent J. McMahon. Eventually, McMahon managed to convince Rocca to join his troupe full-time. This, along with his use of television, allowed McMahon to gain enough leverage to become the major player in the territory.
Rocca was not only an exciting, fresh performer to fans of his era, he also showed that a wrestler could be very funny, and still make the fans take him seriously. For instance, Rocca loved to slap wrestlers in the face, only instead of using his hands, he would give them a humiliating flurry of smacks on the jaw, using his feet. Not only was the spot entertaining, it also showcased the tremendous balance and coordination he acquired as a soccer player.
Although Rocca never held a World Championship, it really didn’t matter. In arenas like MSG, he was such a big deal that his matches were always main events, even if the NWA World Champion was also competing on the card. The Argentinian acrobat was the man the people came to see. During this period, only Gorgeous George was a bigger star, and on the East Coast Rocca was the uncontested king.
In the late 1950s, Rocca formed a partnership with Puerto Rican Superstar Miguel Perez, and the duo became the first holders of the United States Tag Team Championship, the title that would eventually evolve into today’s World Tag Team title. He and Perez lost the titles to the Faboulas Kangaroos Mark Lewin & Don Curtis in early 1958.
By the time the World Wide Wrestling Federation was created as an independent entity outside the NWA in 1963, Rocca had already given way to Bruno Sammartino as the company’s top Superstar. In the 1970s, he returned to the World Wide Wrestling Federation as an announcer, calling the action with a very young Vincent K. McMahon. He did this right up until his untimely death in 1977.
Antonino Rocca is sometimes left off lists of the greatest Superstars in WWE history, simply because he was around before the letters were. But Rocca was the first major Superstar promoted by the McMahon family, and no such list would be complete without him.
WWF/E Titles Held:
International champion (Won in 1948, held till around the 1960s)
United States Tag Team co-champion (Awarded with Miguel Perez Sr as the first ever champions in 1956, lost to the Faboulas Kangaroos Mark Lewin & Don Curtis in early 195
August 11, 1953; Terrence Gene Bollea (Hulk Hogan) is born in Augusta, Georgia.
1956: November 26: The first Madison Square Garden show promoted by Vince McMahon Sr. drew 10,400 to see Antonio Rocca and Dick the Bruiser.
The longest title reign in history begins when the Fabulous Moolah, (Slave Girl Moolah) wins the NWA Women's Championship on September 18, 1956. Her reign lasts until July 23, 1984 (27 years, 10 months, 5 days). In the 1970s when the WWF left the NWA for a second time (More on that later.) They bought out Moolah's contract and she became the first official WWF woman's champion.
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Superstar Spotlight On...
THE FABOULAS MOOLAH![/b]
Real name: Lillian Ellison
Born: July 22, 1923
Hometown: Columbia, South Carolina
Made pro debut: October 4, 1949
Made (W)WWF/E debut: Same
Inducted into WWE Hall of Fame: 1995
Mildred Burke with Lou Thesz
Mildred Burke (Moolah's teacher and the first "famous" woman wrestler.)would have been great in any period, and was truly superb in her own day, which was a sort of "golden age" of women’s wrestling, especially compared with today. Burke’s championship reign is seemingly attributed to the fact she married promoter Billy Wolfe, and she is said to have retired undefeated.
The real facts are far more real than that. To say Wolfe had a wandering eye was an understatement: he used his wrestling school as a harem. He also left Burke stone broke at the time of their divorce, palming her off to the management of his son as the marriage deteriorated.
Burke was also jobbed out of her title in a scenario not unlike that of Bret Hart and Vince McMahon, although the Georgia Athletic Commission ruled it a draw. It didn’t matter anyway, because Pfeffer was about to put over his old valet, Slave Girl Moolah, as the champion in a tournament in Baltimore in 1956.
Pfeffer changed her name to The Fabulous Moolah and thus she became Junior Heavyweight Women’s Champion of the world, although the "Junior" was quickly dropped when Moolah and then husband Buddy Lee grabbed control of her career from Pfeffer.
For 30 years, the Fabulous Moolah WAS women's wrestling in the United States. There have been some good ones in the day, but she had surpassed them all.
She was trained by then-Women's champion Mildred Burke back in the 40s. She didn't start out as a wrestler when she became a pro full time. Instead, she served as a valet to Buddy Rogers. She was known as Slave Girl Moolah at that time.
Once she got to wrestle, she dropped the Slave Girl monicker and in 1956, defeated Judy Grable in a tournament for the vacant Women's championship. (Note: Up until 1983, the belt was known as the NWA Women's World Championship. She owned the rights to that belt, as well, until that year, when the WWF bought the rights of it.)
Save a few short "lame duck" title losses, Moolah would hold the belt for 28 years. No one has held any championship that long before or since. And with today's wrestling belts changing hands on average 4 times a year, it probably won't happen again.
A little aside before I continue: She actually owned the rights to the belt up until 1983, when Vince McMahon made her an offer she couldn't refuse.
Digressing, the one that finally did the unthinkable: Wendi Richter. In a broadcast on MTV called "The Brawl To End It All," Richter defeated Moolah for the belt in MSG. Why MTV? The Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection, of course, silly. This was, to my knowledge, Cyndi Lauper's first match as Richter's manager.
Moolah took up managing for a brief time, leading Leilani Kai to the title to set up Richter's return match for the first WrestleMania.
She would disappear for a time after Kai lost to Richter then... so we would think. She dressed up as the Spider Lady and won the belt back in controversial fashion. Of course, she would unmask after the match.
She would hold on to the belt, save a few days, up until the summer of '87, when Sensational Sherri ended her last full-time run.
Since then, Moolah would appear in the occasional match. Yeah, it's nice to win the Women's title in one of those occasional matches.
As a reward for her years of sevice, for her 80th birthday, Vince McMahon let her wrestle in a match to establish a milestone: 6 decades in the ring. She defeated Victoria in her hometown of Columbia, South Carolina in that match in September, 2003.
Hottie Maye Young, before she started giving birth to hands.
WWF/E Titles Held:
7-time Women's champion (Note; The WWE does not recognize any title changes between 1956 and 1984.)
Defeated Judy Grable in a tournament final, 9/18/56.
Lost to Betty Boucher, 9/1/.66, regained from her at some point later that month.
Lost to Yukiko Tomoe, 3/1/.68, regained from her, 4/2/68.
Lost to Evelyn Stevens, 10/8/78, regained from her, 10/10/78.
Lost to Wendi Richter, 7/23/84, regained from her, wrestling as The Spider Lady, 11/25/85.
Lost to Velvet McIntyre, 7/3/86, regained from her, 7/9/86.
Lost to Sensational Sherri, 7/24/87.
Won from Ivory, 10/17/99, lost to her, 10/25/99.
1957: The "Original" Fabulous Kangaroos consisting of Al Costello & Roy Heffernan debuted in New York, managed by Red Berry. They were carrying a huge banner on poles to the ring with "The Fabulous Kangaroos" on it. As they started to enter the arena there was a low ceiling & the banner struck it & Red started to tumble so Al tried to catch him. Al Costello went over too so naturally Roy tried to catch them both & all three ended up in a heap on the floor! (Roy Heffernan eventually quit the team and Al Costello recruited Don Kent as his partner. Al later acted as manager for another version of the Kangaroos consisting of Don Kent & Roy Heffernan.)
July 2nd, 1957; Bret Hart is born.
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A WRESTLING STORY!
On one November evening in 1957, a wrestling match in Madison Square Garden erupted into a riot after a violent finish to a tag-team match between Rocca and Edouard Carpentier against Dick "The Bruiser" Affils and "Doctor" Jerry Graham. The incident made a vivid impression on sportswriter Gordon S. White, Jr., who now writes about golf and college basketball for the New York Times, and was covering the event that night:
Rocca got hurt, I believe, to the point where it wasn't part of the act. Blood began to flow, and they immediately began to hit a little harder than they were supposed to, or something. And Rocca got, obviously, a little pissed off . . . And he grabbed Graham, -- and this just couldn't be in an act. (Things were beginning to be thrown by then, I believe.)
Rocca just put his right arm around Graham's head, and from the middle of the ring, ran him right into a ringpost. Head-first, the top of his head. And the blood was now pouring down Graham's face. The people started coming down the aisle towards the ring, and that's when you're in trouble. And it got totally out of hand.
I've covered riots in other sporting events other than that. That was the worst riot situation I was ever in, because -- had we not gotten the hell out of there, we could have been very seriously hurt. Those big wooden chairs were flying towards the ring.
Verne Gagne, who was also in the audience that evening, remembered that "it was like watching the lemmings go over." A few days later, State Athletic Commissioner Julius Helfand levied fines totaling $2,600 on the four wrestlers. (Oddly, current Deputy Commissioner Marvin Kohn was with the Athletic Commission then, but does not remember the incident at all, although it made the back cover of the next day's New York Daily News, as well as Life Magazine).
Roy Shire recalled wrestling in Yonkers back in the mid-1950s as part of a tag-team: "We were wrestling Perez and Rocca, and Jerry Graham starts the match. (Jerry Graham was another one of those guys who didn't know anything much about wrestling, he was just a big show guy, big mouth.) So he goes out there, and he tries to get Perez to 'sell' -- which means register to the people that you're hurt. But no matter what Graham does to Perez, he won't show them that he's hurt.
"So he comes over and tags me and he says, 'Ah, shit, I'm gettin' the hell out of here, you go in and wrestle.' I say, 'What's the matter?'
"He says, 'Ah, that son of a bitch, no matter what I do, the guy won't sell. I punch him, he won't register.'
"I said, 'Oh, give me that son of a bitch.'
"So I went in there, and he tried it on me. I leg-dived him, I bar-armed that bastard," said Shire, a one-time high school state champion, then later, while he served in the Coast Guard an all-Service champion. "And so I rode him all over a piece of paper, and then I said, 'All right, you little son of a bitch, you better sell, or I'm going to kick your brains out' -- he didn't know how to wrestle, they brought him in because he was a Puerto Rican. And they beat us, just like they did every night.
1959: Bruno Sammartino made his professional wrestling debut.
NEXT; The 1960s brings a World Wide Wrestling Federation!
***All credit for info and pics will be posted at the end of this three part History of World Wrestling Entertainment! Along with some AMAZING videos!**
Last edited by XSaraXPoeX; 06-28-2005 at 09:12 PM.
Re: Sara's Entertainment Xtreme! WWE Hitory part 0ne
Thankx guys! Now you see why it took so long. Parts 2 and 3 are nearly finished so they should be up in a week.
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Originally Posted by DeleriumTremens
If this doesn't include a page on Ric Flairs 60 min Royal Rumble victory I will be very depressed, when it gets to the 90's.
It MOST definately will! And in case anyone wants to see that match, it's right here for free download with a ton of other Flair videos, http://www.ricflair.tv/ in the video section. (The site seems to be down right now but it's there.)
... Bobo Brazil and Dory Dixon drew with Skull Murphy and Brute Bernard (no falls, 18:00, curfew) ... The Fabulous Kangaroos beat Argentina Apollo and Pete Sanchez (one fall, no pin in the second fall, 30:00, Sanchez subbed for Ed Carpentier) ... The Great Mortier beat Great Scott (8:29) ... Johnny Barend beat Tim Woods (11:14) ... Magnificent Maurice beat Karl Steif (9:53) ... Pedro Morales beat Willie Bath (9:5
Now you see why it took so long. Parts 2 and 3 are nearly finished so they should be up in a week. 
Linear Mode
