Old School Wish List

[captaincold]

I thought it would be neat to do something different and start a list of old school wrestlers (that people may not be too familiar with ) that we'd like to see in LOW.

Dusek Riot Squad

While many others have made the claim, The Dusek Riot Squad is the true "first family of wrestling." From the 1930s to the 1960s, the Dusek family's reach ranged from fighting heavyweight championship matches to popularizing tag team wrestling to booking and promoting.

The family, which consisted of seven boys and one girl, were born to a fisherman/butcher who hailed from Omaha, Nebraska. Four brothers who decided to enter the mat wars were: Rudy, born in 1901; Emil, born in 1905; Ernie, born in 1909; and Joe, born in 1910. The family's real last name was Hason (pronounced Haa-son). "Even though they're full-blooded Bohemian, it didn't sound like a Bohemian name," explained Jo-Ann Dusek, Joe's daughter. "So, the way I hear it, the name Dusek, there was a lady that was the godmother to Rudy, and her last name was Dusek. So they took her name for wrestling." Those same Bohemians would pronounce the new name Du-shek.

Raised on the riverbank of the Missouri river, Rudy had set up a ring on their land.He trained with the legendary Farmer Burns when he started out and also wrestled at the local YMCA, where he won a state amateur title in 1918. He turned pro in 1922, and hit the road traveling to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he became Rudy Dusek, and moved up the cards fast. By 1926, he was battling top names such as Joe Stecher, and by 1930, he was competing for the world's title.

Emil and Ernie would follow their brother into wrestling by the late 1920s, and the youngest brother, Joe, came after them. Before tag team wrestling became popular, they would often wrestle in singles on one card, cheering each other on.

Their style was rough and rougher. "They were big, rugged guys. They weren't smooth workers, there weren't a lot of smooth workers back then compared to the way these guys are so articulate today," said Nick Bockwinkel, whose father Warren battled them often.

"The Dusek brothers, Rudy and Ernie, left their bruises on me. They had done all the damage to my ears it was possible to do, so they concentrated on pounding me into a docile hunk," said Paul Boesch in his autobiography.

When tag teaming took off in the early 1940s, it was natural for the Duseks to work together for a common goal of chaos. They were dubbed the "Nebraska Riot Squad" and "The Dirty Duseks". The great slogan, "Never a dull match with a Dusek", was coined.

"Emil and Ernie traveled more as a team, but when they were in Omaha or the Midwest, Joe and Ernie wrestled a lot together for tag teams. But Emil and Ernie went all over the country more. They went to California, Florida, Texas, Canada," said Jo-Ann. These Duseks would hold the NWA World tag belts in the Central States area three times from 1958-60, the NWA World tag title in San Francisco in 1957, as well as the tag championships in Nebraska (1952), Toronto (1954) and the NWA Southern tag belts in 1957.

By the early 1930's, Rudy was involved with the New York City territory, and over the years, his behind-the-scenes power grew and he schooled his brothers in the finer points of promoting. Rudy returned to Nebraska shortly before his death from a heart attack in October 1971.

Ernie and Emil wrestled as late as 1960, and would referee or fill in where necessary on Nebraska are cards that their brother Joe promoted. Emil became a commercial fisherman in Omaha, and died in July 1986 in the hospital. Ernie died in 1994 from congestive heart disease.

Joe Dusek would become the well-respected promoter in Omaha in 1957. Unlike his brothers, he was a homebody, and loved Omaha. His travels were limited to the Midwest states of Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas. On October 31, 1992, Joe died from congestive heart disease.

The PWHF is proud to induct the team of Ernie and Emil Dusek as members of the Class of 2008.

[captaincold]

Chief Don Eagle

Don Eagle began his boxing career in 1945, after a brief time working in the steel and construction industry. He had been trained solely by his father, Chief Joseph War Eagle (John Bell, who died from natural causes on August 27, 1979 aged 80), a former ring veteran and former Junior Heavyweight Champion himself, although Joe War Eagle never gained the attention his son later achieved.

In his first year, Eagle competed in 22 contests and won 17. He beat the established Red Dawson by pinfall in just under 16 minutes.

Being something of a rarity in Canada, Eagle quickly gained attention as a superb technical and innovative wrestler, renowned for escaping from and reversing many holds placed on him. Traveling from area to area, Eagle was known for his flamboyant long Cadillac which housed a 20-foot canoe on top. His passion for outdoor sports, fishing and hunting was well-known among his fellow wrestlers.

Eagle competed with and knew some of the greatest and most proficient wrestlers of his day, regularly tangling with the likes of Buddy Rogers and Lou Thesz. In early 1950, Eagle became the first person to throw World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Primo Carnera off his feet. He fought Antonino Rocca to a titanic 60-minute draw on May 19, 1951 at the Chicago Stadium.

Eagle's biggest match was arguably on May 23, 1950 when he wrestled and defeated Frank Sexton at the tender age of 23 in a best-of-three falls. Sexton was just over a year into a near-four-year reign of the Boston version of the AWA World Championship.

Three days later, Eagle appeared on television without the championship belt to face Gorgeous George in another best-of-three falls match in the Chicago area. Eagle put in an extremely impressive performance, dominating George and quickly making him submit to the vaunted death lock, making a swift end to fall one.

For the second, Don continued to dominate and launched himself outside the ring with a flying shoulder block. He was then counted out by an arguably fast-counting Earl Mullihan, the appointed referee, to level proceedings at one fall each.

In the final fall, George managed to catch Eagle with a backyard cradle. Mullihan, who could clearly see that Eagle had a single shoulder off the mat, proceeded to administer another fast count and declared the match over. The crowd was furious and began to riot, throwing objects into the ring. Eagle punched Mullihan with considerable force while Mullihan hastened to leave the ring and the arena. As Mullihan ran up the aisle, Eagle hit him forcefully again between the shoulderblades. Gorgeous George was clearly unprepared for the animosity of the crowd and waited for police assistance to escort him from the ring.

Eagle was suspended by the Illinois State Athletic Commission for putting his hands on a referee, but managed to regain the title on August 31, 1950. The title was declared vacant in November 1950 due to Eagle's inactivity because of injury and was replaced by the AWA Eastern Heavyweight Title

Despite the controversy and subsequent suspension, Eagle's match against Gorgeous George gave him guaranteed main-event status for several years at promotions across the country.

During a 1953 match with the notorious Hans Schmidt, Eagle was thrown over the top rope and into the ringside chairs, damaging several spinal discs and breaking two ribs. This left him in a full-body cast and doctors told him that he would never wrestle again. But Eagle's belief, faith and love of wrestling pulled him through this time; as he recuperated, he created new moves in his mind which he believed would make him even more technically competent than before. He took a year off in total, during which time he began training a teenage Billy Two Rivers. Eagle gave Two Rivers a further year's training after he himself had returned to wrestling, occasionally tagging with the young wrestler. Billy Two Rivers made his full debut in 1953.

Due to continuing back problems, Eagle became semi-retired and wrestled infrequently in various regions over the next three years, still maintaining a big following wherever he travelled. In the end, Eagle decided that he could take no more and decided to retire permanently in 1963. He was 38 years old.

Don Eagle began to fade from the public eye and lost touch with a great many friends and colleagues. Wrestling Revue reported Don Eagle's death on March 17, 1966, stating that it appeared the Native American had died from a self-inflicted gun wound. [1]Contemporary newspaper reports indicated that he had been despondent over some construction project setbacks: namely, a Logan County (Ohio) Indian village, an expansion program in the Zane Shawnee Caverns, and a $12 million Indian Center near Montreal. Billy Two Rivers was the last professional wrestler to visit him shortly before his death, noting that he was still suffering from his previous back injuries and that he struggled with retirement. However, those closest to him doubted that he took his own life to this day.

Don Eagle will be known as one of the most popular Native American wrestlers of all time. His influence, training and guidance of many of the leading lights of the day, including Chief Jay Strongbow, Edward "Moose" Cholak, Billy Two Rivers and many more, will be remembered and appreciated for many years to come. Even today, people refer to his trademark Mohawk hairstyle as a "Don Eagle" haircut.

[Vegas]

I think those are two really good picks.

I have the booK "The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams" which ranks the Dusek Riot Squad as the 4th greatest tag team of all time behind only the Fabulous Kangaroos, the Road Warriors, and the British Bulldogs.

Chief Don Eagle would be another good card to get. I'd probably feud him with Gorgeous George and wouldn't he also be the first Native American so far in LOW?

[captaincold]

Dec 7, 2008 12:40:34 GMT -5 Vegas said:

I think those are two really good picks.

I have the booK "The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams" which ranks the Dusek Riot Squad as the 4th greatest tag team of all time behind only the Fabulous Kangaroos, the Road Warriors, and the British Bulldogs.

Chief Don Eagle would be another good card to get. I'd probably feud him with Gorgeous George and wouldn't he also be the first Native American so far in LOW?

The Pro Wrestling Hall Of Fame books are really good so far I have Tag Teams and Heels. There's at leat one more called the Canadians. Here's another old school wrestler that looked pretty good

The Great Gama

Kashmiri Muslim wrestler Ghulam Muhammad, whose Punjabi/Indian nickname was "Gama" was born to the renowned Kashmiri wrestler Muhammad Aziz in India. They were of Kashmiri wrestling stock. At the age of five, his father died and Gama was taken care of by his maternal uncle Eida. Maharaja Bhawani Singh, the ruler of Datia (a princely state of the British Raj in Madhya Pradesh) patronized the young wrestler and his brother Imam Bukhsh. Gama was first noticed at the age of ten when he entered a strongman competition, which included many gruelling exercises including Indian squats, which were held in Jodhpur . The contest was attended by more than four hundred wrestlers and young Gama was among the last remaining fifteen wrestlers. At that point the Maharaja of Jodhpur announced Gama as the victor due to his remarkable show of enormous stamina and dedication among the many older wrestlers.

Fame came to Gama at the age of 19 when he challenged the then Wrestling Champion of India, Raheem Baksh Sultani Wala. At 6'9" tall with an impressive record, Raheem was thought to easily defeat the 5' 7" Gama, but the bout continued for hours and eventually ended in a draw. The contest with Raheem was the turning point in Gama's career. After that, he was looked upon as the next contender for the title Champion of India. In the first bout Gama remained defensive, but in a second match, Gama was more offensive. Gama was bleeding from his nose and ears but he managed to destroy the lungs and heart of Raheem Baksh.

By 1910, Gama had defeated all the prominent Indian wrestlers who faced him except the Champion Wala. At this time, he focused his attention to the rest of the world. Accompanied by his younger brother Imam Bukhsh, Gama sailed to England to compete with the Western Wrestlers. In London, Gama issued a challenge that he could throw any three wrestlers in thirty minutes of any weight class. This announcement however was seen as a bluff by the wrestlers and their promoter R.B. Benjamin. For a long time no one came forward to accept the challenge. In order to break the ice, Gama presented another challenge to specific heavy weight wrestlers. He challenged Stanislaus Zbyszko and Frank Gotch, either he would beat them or pay them the prize money and go home. The first professional wrestler to take his challenge was the American Benjamin Roller. In the bout, Gama pinned Roller in 1 minute 40 seconds the first time, and in 9 minutes 10 seconds the other.

The next to accept Gama's challenge was Stanislaus Zbyszko and the date of bout was set to be 10 September 1910. The match was £250 in prize money and the John Bull Belt. Within a minute, Zbyszko was taken down and remained in that position for the remaining 2 hours and 35 minutes of the match. There were a few brief moments when Zbyszko would get up, but he just ended back down in his previous position. The two men were set to face each other again on 17th September 1910. On that date, Zbyszko failed to show up and Gama was announced the winner by default. He was awarded the prize and the John Bull Belt. Receiving this belt entitled Gama to be called Rustam-e-Zamana or World Champion.

Shortly after his return from England, Gama faced Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala in Allahabad. This bout eventually ended the long struggle between the two pillars of Indian wrestling of that time in favor of Gama and he won the title of Rustam-e-Hind or Champion of India. Later in his life when asked about who was his strongest opponent, Gama replied, "Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala
After beating Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala, Gama beat Pandit Biddu, who was one of the best wrestlers in India of that time (1916).

In 1922, during a visit to India, the Prince of Wales presented Gama with a silver mace.

Gama did not have any opponents until 1927, when it was announced that Gama and Zbyszko would face each other again. The day finally came in 1928 when both wrestlers met again in Patiala. The result of the bout was drawn quickly when Gama threw Zbyszko in only 42 seconds. He was now known as the "Great wrestler" of the Indian subcontinent

After soundly beating Zbyszko in 42 seconds, Gama beat Jesse Petersen in February 1929. This bout lasted only one and a half minutes.By the mid 1940's Gama continued to put out challenges but added a stipulation. The stipulation was that anyone who wanted to wrestle the great Gama had to wrestle and defeat Imam first. No one did. This was the last bout that Gama fought during his career and although he did not retire until 1955, he did not find any opponent and retired undefeated as the World Champion. Once he even challenged to stop a train from moving but instead asked the British government in India to make an 11 km stretch fare free for all the Indians but the challenge was put down by the British government.

Before he left Europe Gama not only defeated the Europeans but also defeated many renowned Japanese judo and grappling experts including the famous Matsuya Mada

After the partition of India and subsequent occupation of Kashmir, Gama opted to move to the Islamic state of Pakistan where he lived the rest of his life with his brother, the Indian Champion Imam Bux and his nephews, the famous Bholu Brothers. Once Gama moved to Pakistan he decided to retire and never wrestled in Pakistan. After retiring, he helped to train his nephew Bhollu who held the Pakistani wrestling championship for almost 20 years.

[TTX]

All great choices.

[Vegas]

Dec 7, 2008 13:51:26 GMT -5 @captaincold said:

Dec 7, 2008 12:40:34 GMT -5 Vegas said:

I think those are two really good picks.

I have the booK "The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams" which ranks the Dusek Riot Squad as the 4th greatest tag team of all time behind only the Fabulous Kangaroos, the Road Warriors, and the British Bulldogs.

Chief Don Eagle would be another good card to get. I'd probably feud him with Gorgeous George and wouldn't he also be the first Native American so far in LOW?

The Pro Wrestling Hall Of Fame books are really good so far I have Tag Teams and Heels. There's at leat one more called the Canadians. Here's another old school wrestler that looked pretty good

Yeah, the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame books are excellent. I have all 3 of them, The Heels, The Tag Teams, and The Canadians. The Canadians is good too , but it's alot shorter than the other two books. I read the next book to be released in the series is The Faces.

[maddog1981]

I thought about guys I wanted that were obscure and the two names that leapt out at me the most were Cocoa Samoa and Pampero Firpo.

[smathis]

Definitely great picks. The Duseks would be a huge addition to LOW. I'd also like to see (in no particular order)

The Fabulous Fargos
The Golden Grahams
Boris Malenko
The Infernos & JC Dykes
Skull Murphy & Brute Bernard
Sam Steamboat
and Lou Thesz, of course

LOW team best get busy!

[jkcotg]

This pick may be a bit more known than some of the guys above.. but I would love to see..

Manny Fernandez..

Thought Rude and Fernandez were awesome together back in the mid-80s

[Demosthenes]

Dec 7, 2008 13:51:26 GMT -5 @captaincold said:

Dec 7, 2008 12:40:34 GMT -5 Vegas said:

I think those are two really good picks.

I have the booK "The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams" which ranks the Dusek Riot Squad as the 4th greatest tag team of all time behind only the Fabulous Kangaroos, the Road Warriors, and the British Bulldogs.

Chief Don Eagle would be another good card to get. I'd probably feud him with Gorgeous George and wouldn't he also be the first Native American so far in LOW?

The Pro Wrestling Hall Of Fame books are really good so far I have Tag Teams and Heels. There's at leat one more called the Canadians. Here's another old school wrestler that looked pretty good

The Great Gama

Kashmiri Muslim wrestler Ghulam Muhammad, whose Punjabi/Indian nickname was "Gama" was born to the renowned Kashmiri wrestler Muhammad Aziz in India. They were of Kashmiri wrestling stock. At the age of five, his father died and Gama was taken care of by his maternal uncle Eida. Maharaja Bhawani Singh, the ruler of Datia (a princely state of the British Raj in Madhya Pradesh) patronized the young wrestler and his brother Imam Bukhsh. Gama was first noticed at the age of ten when he entered a strongman competition, which included many gruelling exercises including Indian squats, which were held in Jodhpur . The contest was attended by more than four hundred wrestlers and young Gama was among the last remaining fifteen wrestlers. At that point the Maharaja of Jodhpur announced Gama as the victor due to his remarkable show of enormous stamina and dedication among the many older wrestlers.

Fame came to Gama at the age of 19 when he challenged the then Wrestling Champion of India, Raheem Baksh Sultani Wala. At 6'9" tall with an impressive record, Raheem was thought to easily defeat the 5' 7" Gama, but the bout continued for hours and eventually ended in a draw. The contest with Raheem was the turning point in Gama's career. After that, he was looked upon as the next contender for the title Champion of India. In the first bout Gama remained defensive, but in a second match, Gama was more offensive. Gama was bleeding from his nose and ears but he managed to destroy the lungs and heart of Raheem Baksh.

By 1910, Gama had defeated all the prominent Indian wrestlers who faced him except the Champion Wala. At this time, he focused his attention to the rest of the world. Accompanied by his younger brother Imam Bukhsh, Gama sailed to England to compete with the Western Wrestlers. In London, Gama issued a challenge that he could throw any three wrestlers in thirty minutes of any weight class. This announcement however was seen as a bluff by the wrestlers and their promoter R.B. Benjamin. For a long time no one came forward to accept the challenge. In order to break the ice, Gama presented another challenge to specific heavy weight wrestlers. He challenged Stanislaus Zbyszko and Frank Gotch, either he would beat them or pay them the prize money and go home. The first professional wrestler to take his challenge was the American Benjamin Roller. In the bout, Gama pinned Roller in 1 minute 40 seconds the first time, and in 9 minutes 10 seconds the other.

The next to accept Gama's challenge was Stanislaus Zbyszko and the date of bout was set to be 10 September 1910. The match was £250 in prize money and the John Bull Belt. Within a minute, Zbyszko was taken down and remained in that position for the remaining 2 hours and 35 minutes of the match. There were a few brief moments when Zbyszko would get up, but he just ended back down in his previous position. The two men were set to face each other again on 17th September 1910. On that date, Zbyszko failed to show up and Gama was announced the winner by default. He was awarded the prize and the John Bull Belt. Receiving this belt entitled Gama to be called Rustam-e-Zamana or World Champion.

Shortly after his return from England, Gama faced Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala in Allahabad. This bout eventually ended the long struggle between the two pillars of Indian wrestling of that time in favor of Gama and he won the title of Rustam-e-Hind or Champion of India. Later in his life when asked about who was his strongest opponent, Gama replied, "Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala
After beating Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala, Gama beat Pandit Biddu, who was one of the best wrestlers in India of that time (1916).

In 1922, during a visit to India, the Prince of Wales presented Gama with a silver mace.

Gama did not have any opponents until 1927, when it was announced that Gama and Zbyszko would face each other again. The day finally came in 1928 when both wrestlers met again in Patiala. The result of the bout was drawn quickly when Gama threw Zbyszko in only 42 seconds. He was now known as the "Great wrestler" of the Indian subcontinent

After soundly beating Zbyszko in 42 seconds, Gama beat Jesse Petersen in February 1929. This bout lasted only one and a half minutes.By the mid 1940's Gama continued to put out challenges but added a stipulation. The stipulation was that anyone who wanted to wrestle the great Gama had to wrestle and defeat Imam first. No one did. This was the last bout that Gama fought during his career and although he did not retire until 1955, he did not find any opponent and retired undefeated as the World Champion. Once he even challenged to stop a train from moving but instead asked the British government in India to make an 11 km stretch fare free for all the Indians but the challenge was put down by the British government.

Before he left Europe Gama not only defeated the Europeans but also defeated many renowned Japanese judo and grappling experts including the famous Matsuya Mada

After the partition of India and subsequent occupation of Kashmir, Gama opted to move to the Islamic state of Pakistan where he lived the rest of his life with his brother, the Indian Champion Imam Bux and his nephews, the famous Bholu Brothers. Once Gama moved to Pakistan he decided to retire and never wrestled in Pakistan. After retiring, he helped to train his nephew Bhollu who held the Pakistani wrestling championship for almost 20 years.

I did some studying on The Great Gama a few years ago and would really enjoy him in the LOW. If there was not so much racism in The Great Gamas time, I really think he would be considered one of the top 10 wrestlers of all time.