Article of the Week

[pikemojo]

I just had to post that one. I just find it so funny. It is too short to be an Article of the Week but is still definitely worth posting.

[pikemojo]

Andre a Giant Among Men

The Age – June 22, 1978
By Stephen Phillips

Andre the giant, the biggest man in the grunt and groan business of professional wrestling, bills himself as the eighth wonder of the world.

And standing in the monstrous shadow cast by his vast 231.3 kg (36 stone), 2.26 m (7 ft. 5 in.) frame, you are quick to agree.

He is 32, big, mean, rich and your typical food-loving Frenchman.

He can speak English but prefers to communicate through his manager Frank Valois or else fend off unwanted queries with one flick of his outsized hands.

What does a giant eat? Does he have much trouble buying clothes? How does he squeeze himself into those tight seats in jets to keep up with his equally tight international schedule?

“Uh!” he groaned in reply to the first question and the hand indicated that Mr. Valois would be taking command.

“Oh, Andre eats all the food he can get, after all he is the biggest athlete in the world,” Mr. Valois said.

World Championship Wrestling compere and former VFL great Ted Whitten elaborated.

I had breakfast with him at Sydney airport one morning. Like a fool I offered to shout. He ordered eight eggs, 12 sausages, lambs fry and bacon, fruit, two large pots of coffee and a dozen slices of toast,” Whitten said.

On Saturday night he makes his farewell Australian appearance at Festival Hall against Brute Bernard and another international baddie, J. J. Dillon.

On Sunday he will tuck himself into two first class seats on a Jumbo bound for New York.

Andre is the biggest attraction in world wrestling in more ways than one. He makes $300,000 a year, owns restaurants in Montreal and his native France and sports a $10,000 watch surrounded by 59 diamonds.

How long will you continue wrestling, I asked. “Uh!” Another wave of the hand and Mr. Valois chipped in: “Oh, maybe 10 more years.”

[pikemojo]

Hutton Is Carried Out But Retains His Title

Globe & Mail - August 15, 1958
By Rex MacLeod

Dick Hutton was freighted out of Maple Leaf Gardens ring on a stretcher last night – still the recumbent champeen of the National Wrestling Alliance and a few allied outposts.

Champeens, as a rule, don’t leave the ring in this manner, a point which was argued forcibly by challenger Lou Thesz, who had hopes of regaining the title he had held for many years.

But referee Bert Maxwell, a portly chappie who is devoid of sentiment, declined to indulge in any bandinage. He disqualified Thesz after 24 minutes and two seconds of highly skillful grappling.

Naturally there was an uproar among the crowd of 6,002. Many thought that Thesz had won legitimately. A few expressed concern about the motionless Hutton and a few others thought that Maxwell had lost a few more marbles.

The end, to coin a phrase, came unexpectedly although Thesz, seemingly enraged by Maxwell’s peculiar concept of justice, had been growing more angry by the second. And when Thesz gets angry he grows muscles on his muscles.

In one moment of fury he hurled Hutton, a mere 250 pounds, out of the ring to the cement floor. Hutton, the fool, tried to climb back into the ring but Thesz drop-kicked him back to the cement.

Hutton arose groggily and once more tried to get back. Again Thesz went airborne to launch a drop kick but this time Maxwell somehow got in the prohibited area. He took the full impact of Thesz’ drop kick on one of his chins and fell flopping like a beached porpoise on the ring apron.

Hutton, meanwhile, had climbed wearily through the ropes, a reckless manoeuver. Thesz hoisted him aloft, aimed carefully and slammed him all over the canvas.

Thesz was perched on the comatose Hutton when Maxwell reeled back into the ring and clapped Thesz on the back. Numerous fans thought that Maxwell was proclaiming Thesz the winner. There was some jubilation but it was short-lived. Maxwell was merely informing everyone that Thesz had been disqualified.

Naturally Thesz protested. He gesticulated wildly, even threatened to punch Maxwell. He pleaded that he had not kicked Maxwell intentionally but the referee ignored him.

Hutton was examined briefly in the ring by a doctor before he was borne away to the dressing room. It was announced later that he did not suffer any ill effects.

The gigantic Miller brothers, Ed and Bill, won their tag team match in the semi-final by defeating Athol Layton and George Pencheff. Ed Miller subdued Pencheff with an expanding back-breaker at 23:42. Seconds before the playful Millers had played wishbone with the exhausted Pencheff.

In other exhibitions of skill and science Tarzan Tourville dispatched Tiger Tasker with a series of drop kicks, fancy Frenchy Vignal stopped Al Korman with an airplane spin and spread, and Wilbur Snyder won by disqualification over Dan Miller, younger member of the rowdy clan.

[pikemojo]

Oki Shikina Bows To Londos At Olympic

Los Angeles Times - February 23, 1933

Oki (Chokey) Shikina was no match for Jimmy Londos last night, the Greek titleholder stopping the Japanese grappler in the second round of the tussle at the Olympic.

Londos used a backward body slam to beat Shikina and Oki was knocked out by the fall, forcing three cops and an usher to pack him away. The end came after 16m. 23s. of the catch-as-catch-can round.

Starting the match, Oki won the toss and elected to wrestle with the kimonos on in jiu-jitsu style.Shikina had the better of the going, but failed to make Londos say Unlce Oki, which is what one must do to win in jiu-jitsu grappling. This went on for 20m. and then the catch-as-catch-can wrestling commenced, which ended disastrously for Oki.

George Kotsonaros and Vic Christy grappled all over the place in the semi-wind-up but got practically nowhere for the match ended after thirty minutes in a draw. Kotsonaros suffered a cut eye during the melee, while Christy contracted a pretty shiner and with all the grunts, groans and grimaces there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Wladek Zbyszko inaugurated a new hold to beat Don DeLaun in the special event. After two minutes and thirty-seven seconds of wrestling hither and thither around the gring, Don tried a flying scissors. Just as Don started to fly Zibby turned his back so De Laun landed plop on the broad Pole's rear. Zibby got all excited and started coughing, falling backward with Don on the bottom. Thus De Laun was knocked colder than an Eskimo's hat and Zbyszko was awarded the victory on a backward cough drop.

Rudy Skarda beat Henry Graber in 20m. 47s. with a sneaker side body slam. This also was a new fall improvised for the occasion. Skarda started to look for a nickel or something. This drew Graber's attention and he also commenced gazing at the canvas. Skarda then jumped on poor old Hank when he wasn't looking and won the match.

In the opening bout Walter La Core beat Clyde Miller in 14m. 10s. with a body slam. This is sometimes known in the wrestling world as a "buddy" slam, as it is only used between "pals." La Core presented a striking color scheme, wearing bright yellow tights, which were enhanced later in the bout when La Core suffered a nose bleed.

[pikemojo]

Most Happy Wrestler

This Week Magazine / The Milwaukee Journal – June 14, 1959

By Al Silverman

Tony Rocca makes $150,000 a year and plans to live to be 150. And look at all the fun he has!

It was the morning of a big wrestling match for Antonino Rocca, and I joined him at 10:30. I had been with fighters, ballplayers and tennis stars on the eve of title bouts, World Series games and Davis Cup play. How would it be with a wrestler?

Tony greeted me happily – he had learned that the Garden was sold out. And since he had just finished his daily exercise, his massive 51-inch chest was heaving and buckling as if it were caught in a storm.

“Just stretching myself,” he said. “Nothing special. Let’s have breakfast.”

I had coffee. Rocca had green beans topped with lemon and oil, coffee and five vitamin pills.

Vitamins are part of Rocca’s crash program to live 150 years. He had read about an experiment on mice that made them live four times their normal span. “I should be able to make one-and-a-half times,” said Rocca.

The rest of the morning the most successful wrestler in the world ($150,000 a year for the last nine years) sat barefoot in his elegantly decorated apartment and talked mainly about his secret of life.

“Just be happy,” he said. “I read in the papers about crimes, kidnappings, stabbings. People don’t seem to have balance. I believe American man, for instance, condescends too much to women. I believe he’s losing his power so he feels impotent. Crime results.”

Rocca spies a girl

At 12:15 Rocca left his apartment and hurried to the Waldorf-Astoria where he had lunch with a group of prominent Argentinian industrialists. Rocca was born in Italy (April, 1925, he says) but went to Argentina when he was 15. In the taxi on the way to the hotel he spied a girl walking on the street. All he could see was her back. It was enough.

“Ah,” he exclaimed, “there is the secret to life – rhythm. Look at that girl. Look at the way she walks. She has rhythm. Life is a rhythm itself.”

For lunch Rocca had consommé, six lamb chops, two boiled potatoes, fresh salad, ice cream and coffee. He chatted in Spanish until 4 p.m. with his fellow Argentinians, then taxied back to his apartment.

Normally on the day of a match Rocca takes a long walk after lunch. He trains for the most part by walking the broad avenues of New York City, talking with people and looking for women with rhythm. But the big luncheon had thrown him off stride.

Back in his apartment he turned on his modern hi-fi set and played flamenco guitar records. “Music,” he assured me, “will cure every disease of man.”

A horde of admirers

He got to Madison Square Garden at 7:30 that night and had to fight his way through a horde of admirers who cackled loudly at him in Spanish. There are more than a million Spanish-speaking people in New York. Rocca claims they’re all his friends.

“What are they saying?” I asked. Rocca looked slightly smug. “They say, ‘Rocca, we love you.’”

This was Rocca’s first appearance in New York in two months, and it may be the reason why there was a record crowd of 21,240 in attendance. The gross gate was $63,896 – Rocca got 25 per cent.

At 10:10 Antonino made his appearance in the ring. The first thing he did was leap in the air like a kangaroo. The audience responded with a prolonged ovation. Rocca held up his hands for quiet.

“Please, my people,” he said in Spanish, “don’t throw things. Leave everything to me.”

The “villain” slugged him

Rocca has had to make such a speech before each Garden match ever since November 19, 1957. He had won his match and was engaged in a victory dance when the “villain” stole up on him and slugged him.

In the next 20 minutes Madison Square Garden became a shambles. Over 800 chairs were broken and 12 policemen knocked down. Rocca was fined $2,600 by the State Athletic Commission. “They said I tried to excite the people,” he explained. “I said, ‘Gentlemen, I pay, shake hands.’”

The tag-team match started: Rocca and Miguel Perez versus the Graham brothers, two portly, bleached blonds who affect mean dispositions – the “villains.”

In the tag-team form of pseudo-mayhem two men are supposed to wrestle in the ring while their partners wait outside the ropes until they are tagged. All four wrestlers end up in the ring together more often than not. This allows plenty of latitude for such sneaky work as slugging from behind and other low dramatic devices, calculated to stir the audience.

Rocca’s great forte as a wrestler is his amazing agility. Never is he still onstage. He wrestles barefoot and uses his feet all the time – he does everything with them except shake hands. He’ll drop to the canvas and trip an opponent, fly through the air and kick him on the chin or leap on his back and beat a tattoo with his feet on the poor man’s chest. He winds it all up with a blood-curdling yell and drops all 228 pounds on the “villain.”

It was in this fashion that Rocca scored the first fall of the match, on one of the Graham brothers. A few minutes later Rocca and teammate Perez were awarded the second, deciding, fall when the referee disqualified the Graham boys – the “bad guys” – for dirty business.

Rocca’s got dignity

After it was all over Rocca strutted slowly back to his dressing room, stopping to talk to his fans and sign autographs.

One thing bothered me. With all the murderous-looking blows landed in the match no one had been killed or even injured. I asked Tony about this.

“It is condition that does it,” Rocca said vaguely.

After he had showered and dressed we left the Garden and went to a Spanish restaurant. Rocca ordered a big steak, well done, fresh salad and hot tea.

“Have you ever lost a match?” I asked.

“Never.”

“What if a promoter should one day ask you to lose?”

Rocca raised his eyebrows. “Never, I have dignity,” he said. “I always do my best.”

Reflecting further on his peculiar profession, he added, “A champion like me makes money because I please the people. They yell, they are happy, they go home and sleep good.

“When I finish wrestling I’m going to start a crusade to make people happy. They should go to bed with a big smile and awake with a big smile.”

It was now 2:15 in the morning. Rocca took leave with a big grin. I don’t doubt he practiced what he preached and took it to bed with him.

[Demosthenes]

Please keep this up! I desire to learn more about wrestling. I love learning about history. You bring both of those to me. In case no one has told you, THANK YOU!

[pikemojo]

Thank you. I am glad that people are reading it. I will definitely keep it up.

Any requests on specific LOW wrestlers that anyone would like to see featured? So far I have just been featuring some of my personal favorites...Rocca, Gotch, Pesek, Penny Banner , Dick Hutton, Maurice Tillet, etc...

[pikemojo]

The “Terrible Turk” Lost

The New York Times – July 7, 1898

Yousouf, who was lost on the La Bourgogne, came to this country last Winter with a reputation of being the best wrestler in the world. His enormous size and brutal tactics when wrestling won him the title of the “Terrible Turk.” He had met every foreign wrestler of note, and when he came to this country William A. Brady became his manager and arranged a match with Ernest Roeber. The men met in Madison Square Garden on March 25. It was the Turk’s first appearance, and the building was packed. Yousouf lost on a foul, having forced Roeber off the platform and rendering him helpless.

The men met again in May at the Metropolitan Opera House, and the Turk came near causing a riot by his foul tactics. Yousouf afterward met Heraklides, the Greek wrestler, and won easily, after nearly breaking the Greek’s neck.

Manager Brady was seen in his office, in the Manhattan Theatre, last night. He said Yousouf’s contract with him expired last Friday in Buffalo. The Turk then came to New York and called at Mr. Brady’s office to say good-bye, explaining that he would sail the next morning on the French Line steamer.

He had $3,000 in French gold coins and $3,000 in American money with him.

[pikemojo]

Rikidozan, Mat Idol Of Japan, Stabbed, Dies

Los Angeles Times News Service - December 16, 1963
By Ted Sell

TOKYO – Rikidozan, who brought American-style professional wrestling to Japan, died Sunday of a stab wound received from a Tokyo gangster last week.

The towering Japanese wrestler had performed in California and expected to return early next year to meet American Lou Thesz, from whom Rikidozan took the international heavyweight championship three years ago.

Rikidozan, a Korean by descent but naturalized as a Japanese, was a millionaire and the strong-man idol of Japanese children who watched him on television.

Police said his business connections, including ownership of bars, apartment houses and a nightclub and sports center in Tokyo, had brought him into close connection with one of the numerous gangs which dominate and regulate Tokyo night life.

He was stabbed during a restroom altercation with a member of a rival gang in one of Tokyo’s plushest and most expensive night clubs on Dec. 8.

The assailant was arrested several hours later after members of the two gangs had begun preparations for what police feared would be a large scale bloodletting.

[cruefan68]

Great stuff here, Pikemojo. Real interesting to read and helpful in possible ways to use the respective wrestlers. Thanks for posting these