tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22611917726565928612024-03-12T22:25:04.597-05:00Territory DaysAttempting to document exactly who ran wrestling where, for which booking offices and when for all of the various towns with regular shows.Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-73874704716280137872019-09-18T21:25:00.003-05:002021-08-09T07:10:12.450-05:00The Stanley Buresh Scavenger Hunt While I was working on my first book on the history of wrestling in Alabama, I was fortunate enough to track down family of some of the wrestlers that appeared in the state in the 1930s. One of those family members was David Buresh, the youngest son of the Kangaroo Kicker, the Australian Bushman, Stanley Buresh. As with most things in the wrestling business, the truth was somewhat different than the gimmick. The moniker seems to have been given to him by a promoter in Texas, attempting to add some pizzazz to the young light heavyweight, due to his ability to throw a dropkick, hit his opponent and land on his feet. Kind of like kangaroo do.<br />
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Stanley Buresh was not, in fact, an Australian, he was born on the 13th of March 1903 (or 1901 according to family records) in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemia" target="_blank">Bohemia</a>, which would shortly become part of Czechoslovakia, and what is now the western half of the Czech Republic. When he was still a young boy, his family emigrated to the United States, in 1909, and settled in the area of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge,_Nebraska" target="_blank">Dodge, Nebraska</a>. As many Bohemia immigrants had done, Stanley's father Josef brought his family to eastern Nebraska and set about farming.<br />
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If someone wanted to learn wrestling, there is quite possibly no better place they could have landed in the 1910-1920 time period than Dodge, as that just happened to be the home town of one <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Stecher" target="_blank">Joe Stecher</a>, wrestling's heavyweight champion of the world, and his brother Anton, or Tony. The Stecher brothers trained a great many boys to be wrestlers at the Y.M.C.A. in Dodge, among them the Buresh brothers, Stanley and his older brother, Frank. Both would go on to wrestle professionally for many years, Frank wrestling for some 20 years before giving up the mat to focus on farming, and Stanley for some 30 years before finally retiring from the business in the early 1950s. In the course of that 30 year odyssey, Stanley would make it as far as New Zealand in 1931, but he never actually made it to Australia.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO5FJep2HTLb_RmKY0VNB0w9XbQTJFF9qfgziT2f59qRqYF06Cwvt0YDfXzVujO0J3po9Po_Ol9EuKomhpEirwEiiAaOB8HfbplY4hi0s6XEusSS29daX7CliHhzwR51Ib167fd7xQuvI/s1600/StanleyBureshRecord.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="874" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO5FJep2HTLb_RmKY0VNB0w9XbQTJFF9qfgziT2f59qRqYF06Cwvt0YDfXzVujO0J3po9Po_Ol9EuKomhpEirwEiiAaOB8HfbplY4hi0s6XEusSS29daX7CliHhzwR51Ib167fd7xQuvI/s640/StanleyBureshRecord.JPG" width="347" /></a></div>
After chatting with David, he sent me several photos, some newspaper clippings and this listing that detailed the first 64 matches of Stanley Buresh's career. As the list is undated, I decided to attempt to track down the details of each of these matches to see what I could chronicle of the young wrestler's just entering the professional game.<br />
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The record states that Stanley "started professional wrestling in the month of March, at Omaha, Nebraska, state tournament, at the age of 19 years. That tournament took place on March 26, 1921. The Omaha World-Herald listed Earl Caddock, Wayne Munn and Farmer Burns as referees, though the results only mention Munn (heavyweights) and Burns (middleweights) working the event, along with Walker Barnaby (lightweights). Among the participants, aside from both Buresh brothers were one Andrew Lutzi of Lincoln, who would go on to a long wrestling and promoting career as Paul Jones, and Rudy Hason, who would also have a long wrestling and promoting career as Rudy Dusek. Both future heavyweights won their divisions, Hason already a heavyweight, and Lutzi the light heavy bracket.<br />
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Of the 64 matches listed, thus far, I have found newspaper records for 32 of them, while also finding another 9 matches that were not listed. There are also a few that may not have actually happened, or at the very least garnered absolutely no mention in the local papers. I did find that Buresh briefly wrestled under the name <i><b>Ernest Misek</b></i>, possibly due to a shortage of viable opponents once he had built a reputation in Kansas and Nebraska in 1923.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmVxXEGhNiD1Bx0WV_0arYnesiR1OZ1YvrOo_z3ii0pxFGjGelMU1d0ghiltIvMWDRZt-HnxoChTETNLFX3Qfk5FU8atnn08xHNdgj_9dVhw8RPDRaWLdDpLEjJ_FeMrmDHMtAJQwSX2I/s1600/1925-07-02_WolfPointHerald-ad.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="882" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmVxXEGhNiD1Bx0WV_0arYnesiR1OZ1YvrOo_z3ii0pxFGjGelMU1d0ghiltIvMWDRZt-HnxoChTETNLFX3Qfk5FU8atnn08xHNdgj_9dVhw8RPDRaWLdDpLEjJ_FeMrmDHMtAJQwSX2I/s400/1925-07-02_WolfPointHerald-ad.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>
During his homesteading in Wolf Point, Montana, in 1925, Stanley participated in a three day wrestling tournament as part of the Wolf Point Stampede. From Thursday, July 9 to Saturday, July 11, he defeated Elwood House, Jake Armand and Dick Daviscourt. While the list ends with his 24 March 1926 victory over Bill Pappas, Buresh would continue to appear in Wolf Point through November of that year. In December 1926, he moved on to the Pacific Northwest and connected with Ted Thye, and it was through Thye that Buresh would join a tour of New Zealand in 1931.<br />
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You can view the wrestling record of Stanley Buresh at WrestlingData.com. While not complete, it is ever-growing as I, and other researchers, fill in more wrestling cards each day.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=bsuche&aufgabe=suche&wname=Stanley+Buresh" target="_blank">Stanley Buresh @ WrestlingData.com</a></b></h2>
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I am compiling the information as I find it to a <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1k0GM5NnDxhVbyFVqMRf1JvBEhdsGK13O-TgfgQKPP1s/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Google Docs spreadsheet</a>.</div>
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<iframe height="800" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTJZ8N3vpKQcoweh4_zplwW90nv5HoPB4n0NSjwAgTxX-00thqh1jv0-xu5-_sglaF4MaZdfbkxztlv/pubhtml?gid=34351811&single=true&widget=true&headers=false" width="100%"></iframe>Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-79935403777601908092019-08-21T09:17:00.000-05:002019-08-21T09:17:16.614-05:00Resources for Wrestling Research<div>
[This post will be a work-in-progress, and will change as I become aware of new resources.] </div>
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A good place to start when
researching a wrestler, promotion, or other related subject are
newspaper archives. Every day hundreds, if not thousands, of pages of
old newspapers are being digitized, made searchable through OCR (optical
character recognition) technology and released to the web. Some such
resources are free to the public, some are provided as commercial
products. Some of those commercial options are available through
agreements with local public library systems, and so are effectively
free for patrons. For most of the following, I will just be using the
term 'wrestler' to include anyone associated with the business be they
actual wrestlers, referees, managers or promoters, just to save time.<br /><br />Aside
from just articles, ads and results for wrestling shows, newspapers
also bring us news of accidents, deaths and obituaries, weddings, and
often retrospective articles when a retired wrestler becomes something
of a local icon.<br /><br />Newspapers (free)<br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://ChroniclingAmerica.log.gov&source=gmail&ust=1566480742762000&usg=AFQjCNHWVcrilcadXX2pOvhFlo70cLzDJg" href="http://chroniclingamerica.log.gov/" target="_blank">ChroniclingAmerica.log.gov</a>
is a newspaper digitization program headed by the United States Library
of Congress, and has a goal to digitize all available newspapers that
are in the public domain. That means the content is largely pre-1926.
Through a partnership with Newspapers.com, a lot of the papers on
Chronicling America are also available through the paid service, which
boosts Newspapers.com's catalog but also allows for a much smoother user
interface than what the LOC currently offers. This program is mostly
executed by various state archives and university libraries, where they
can receive government grants to digitize their newspaper collections
and provide them to the Library of Congress to host on the Chronicling
America site.<br /><br />The Google Newspaper Archive (<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://news.google.com/newspapers&source=gmail&ust=1566480742762000&usg=AFQjCNF2ieqyu-o5-eNWjZJOs3OX6lTZIg" href="http://news.google.com/newspapers" target="_blank">news.google.com/newspapers</a>)
is one of a long line of semi-abandoned Google experiments. Back when
they were binge-scanning every book they could get their hands on, they
also began digitizing newspapers, new and old. They also briefly bought
out a website called PaperofRecord.com that happened to have the
largest collection of Mexican newspapers on the web. Sadly, since
Google was not able to work out an agreement with the Hemeroteca
Nacional Digital de Mexico that had provided the Mexican papers, all of
that content was removed from Google's site and, even once
PaperofRecord.com was sold to another party, the Mexican papers were
never restored and now remain mostly inaccessible outside of Mexico.<br /><br />Mexican
papers aside, the Google Newspaper Archive is still online and while
the search facility is mostly useless the papers are still there and can
be browsed directly. While many titles have now been removed, this
collection still includes many titles that are available nowhere else,
as yet. So it still a valuable, though tedious, resource for historical
newspaper research.<br /><br />Back to Mexico, there are a few newspapers
that are free to search and read on the site for the Hemeroteca Nacional
Digital de Mexico (<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.hndm.unam.mx/&source=gmail&ust=1566480742762000&usg=AFQjCNHnDoGZ04MUoZUeZnckPh3PQ50X-A" href="http://www.hndm.unam.mx/" target="_blank">http://www.hndm.unam.mx/</a>), namely El Informador, the main newspaper of Guadalajara.</div>
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<br />Elephind.com
is a sort of meta search engine that attempts to provide a single
search interface for several of the various independent newspaper
digitization sites across the world.<br /><br />Newspapers (subscription)<br /><br />Newspapers.com
is a now subsidiary of Ancestry.com and is available through paid
subscription. They probably have the largest catalog with the best user
interface of the available commercial options, and are constantly
adding new titles and pages to their offerings. <br /><br />GenealogyBank.com
is a subsidiary of Newsbank.com, and as the title implies, is geared
more directly toward genealogical research, but still have an impressive
catalog of newspapers in their archive. For the most part, there is
not a lot of overlap with the titles offered at Newspapers.com, so a
subscription to both, for those who could afford it, would be very
useful.<br /><br />NewspaperArchive.com has probably the smallest collection
of the paid sites, and due to poor management, squandered their early
lead in the field. They also racked up a lot of bad user sentiment with
questionable billing practices and poor site performance. While those
days are largely past, the company as it stands now is having to recover
a log of lost ground. They are still adding new content, but they
dont' really offer any convenient way to know what that is. For what
they offer, they are also the most expensive of the three sites, but
still, the do offer papers not covered by either Newspapers.com or
GenealogyBank.com<br /><br /><br />Genealogy Resources<br /><br />While genealogy
sites might not immediately seem relevant to wrestling research,
remember that family history research is largely just searching for
information on specific people. And wrestlers are certainly specific
people! Sites along these lines are perfect for fleshing out personal
details about a wrestler's whereabouts at various points in their lives,
before, during and after their wrestling careers. Sometimes tracking
them down requires working from a different angle, such as finding a
sibling or child and working back toward your main subject. Often you
can reconstruct a part of their family tree and find living family
members to talk to, who sometimes are only too happy to talk about their
long departed loved ones.<br /><br />Free sites:<br />FamilySearch.org is the
primary genealogy website maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints. The Mormons' enthusiasm for family history is a
benefit for everyone due to the sheer volume of information they are
constantly making available. The site contains census records (see
where the wrestlers were born, where they lived, family members, etc.),
immigration records (mostly ships passenger lists), city directories
(sort of the precursor to phone books), vital records (birth, marriage,
divorce and death records) and a variety of other records both civilian
and military. <br /><br />FindAGrave.com is another good resource, not just
to locate the final resting place of a wrestler, but also possibly
connections to family. Especially in the case of wrestlers long
deceased, often it is through family that we might be able to find more
about a wrestler. <br /><br />Fold3.com is primarily an archive of military
records, though they do also have some census records, immigration
records and city directories. I have had a lot of success finding
wrestlers from the 1910s-1950s in the World War I and World War II draft
registrations. Those draft records typically include a full name, date
and place of birth, and current residence. The WWII records also
include employment information, height, weight, hair color, skin color,
other distinguishing features (cauliflower ears!) and a copy of the
wrestlers' signature.<br /></div>
Facebook.com. Seriously! If you
have managed to find any surviving relatives through any of the
resources listed above (in obituaries or as virtual flowers left on Find
A Grave), if you want to get in touch, search for them on Facebook. I
have found more than a few family members and descendants of wrestlers
on Facebook. The most difficult part is then getting them to respond,
and hopefully being interested enough to help.<br />Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-36655688861163164782019-05-06T16:09:00.000-05:002019-05-06T16:09:59.721-05:00Great Wrestling Venues—Alabama 1931-1935 After much procrastination and silence, book 1 is in the bag! I am please to present my first published work, <a href="http://crowbarpress.com/cbp-books/42-al1.html" target="_blank"><i><b>The Great Pro Wrestling Venues, Volume 3 - Alabama: 1931-1935</b></i></a>. On sale now at <a href="http://crowbarpress.com/">CrowbarPress.com</a>!<br />
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<a href="http://crowbarpress.com/cbp-books/42-al1.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://crowbarpress.com/cbp-books/42-al1/42-ftcvr-med.png" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="300" height="320" width="243" /> <img border="0" src="http://crowbarpress.com/cbp-books/42-al1/42-bkcvr-med.png" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="300" height="320" width="243" /></a></div>
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First to dispel any confusion, <span dir="ltr"><span class="_3l3x _1n4g"><span><span>the "Volume 3" is the
result of a re-branding of a series of results-oriented books Crowbar Press is
doing. The initial intent was to do a series of similar books called
"Wrestling's Greatest Cities", but the first book was only for Madison
Square Garden (Vol 1),</span></span><span><span><span> the second book
was for Nashville (Vol 2) and the third book (this one) was going to be for
the whole state of Alabama. When I pointed out that the "cities"
series was comprised of 1 city, 1 venue and 1 state, the concept was re-thought and the venues title was born. So if the MSG and Nashville books see a second printing, they may be re-titled to fit the series.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span dir="ltr"><span class="_3l3x _1n4g"><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span dir="ltr"><span class="_3l3x _1n4g"><span><span><span> Anyway, to quote the listing at <a href="http://crowbarpress.com/">CrowbarPress.com</a>:</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span dir="ltr"><span class="_3l3x _1n4g"><span><span><span>This comprehensive work covers the matches in the ring and the events
that took place behind the scenes in Alabama from 1931 through
1935. Travel down Alabama highways and enjoy the memories of more than
2,000 wrestling shows, 4,000 matches, and more than 550 illustrations
and images — program covers, newspaper headlines and articles,
advertisements, and memorabilia — all of which accompany the stories and
information to enhance the sensation of traveling back in time. This
is yet another incredible work from Crowbar Press that you will refer to
time and time again. </span></span></span></span></span></blockquote>
<span dir="ltr"><span class="_3l3x _1n4g"><span><span><span> The book actually starts as far back as 1905, as I included a brief account of the state of wrestling in Alabama prior to 1931, as a preface to what was to come later. But the main focus was in the 1931-1935 period. Now on to 1936-1940!</span></span></span></span></span><br />
Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-91109508699047572522018-12-26T11:37:00.000-06:002018-12-26T11:37:04.391-06:00Building a Book on Alabama Pro Wrestling History (Part 7) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://wrestlingdata.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="wrestlingdata.com" border="0" data-original-height="70" data-original-width="633" height="68" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXKOawkfeR1XvBm0uAR-cahYO2v9e2l34-Tzu8Q3F6-ndllru8YfeM2mPCbiyS8bL1DEcwVOvR-Fxjb_K9mRM9Oyat__91rfX7ZIoyiLrOLi7VxtRNE1dwr3atUpo3vRZGYvRBreKO0m4/s640/gb.gif" title="" width="640" /></a></div>
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Formatting is in the final stages, and everything is still on track to have book in-hand by the end of January 2019. If all goes to plan, it should be released along with a few other, similar books.<br />
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In the meantime, I have been spending a lot of my research hours on trying to fill out other territories where most of Chris Jordan's roster worked between 1930-1935 on <a href="http://wrestlingdata.com/">WrestlingData.com</a>. For the most part, that means filling in the Michigan towns run by Adam Weissmuller and Farmer Nick (Detroit, Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Jackson, Flint), Mike Meroney's territory that covered the northeastern corner of Arkansas (Blytheville, Jonesboro), southeastern corner of Missouri (Poplar Bluff, Sikeston, Cape Girardeau, Caruthersville), southwestern corner of Kentucky (Hopkinsville, Paducah, Bowling Green, Owensboro) and most of western Tennessee (Dyersburg, Clarksville), a bit of Sam Avey's territory (Tulsa, Joplin, Oklahoma City), Gust Karras early efforts in St. Joseph, Missouri, as well as an assortment of other towns including Evansville, Louisville, Memphis, Chattanooga and Atlanta. It might take awhile to find the results for Poplar Bluff and Bowling Green, as neither are currently covered in any of the online newspaper archives, but both represent significant towns in their respective territories.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVaUmBGOJrejWhH0FETEAqqMbaPXGf_xjFUCVO26CURtk3B_isE1xzzsFJ9E0-waZkLSsccXJFrKdKPkCo2JwHp2OeTGwA-NqE0LgRW17XHjEvvEsggvW-Qn3krchnCXtiihsuLRP-f_4/s1600/ad.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="778" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVaUmBGOJrejWhH0FETEAqqMbaPXGf_xjFUCVO26CURtk3B_isE1xzzsFJ9E0-waZkLSsccXJFrKdKPkCo2JwHp2OeTGwA-NqE0LgRW17XHjEvvEsggvW-Qn3krchnCXtiihsuLRP-f_4/s400/ad.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Box ad from the 26 Aug 1934 Battle Creek Enquirer and Evening News</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This effort will greatly fill out the records of Joe Dillman, Freddie Knichel, Jack Purdin, Cecil "Blacksmith" Pedigo, Jack Reynolds, Dale Haddock, Stanley Buresh, Billy Love, Lon Chaney, Jimmy "Kid" Lott and Roy Welch. After having heard so much about Roy Welch in recent years from reading books published by <a href="http://markjamesbooks.com/" target="_blank">Mark James</a>, as well as all of the wonderful memories from <a href="https://tnstud.com/" target="_blank">Ron Fuller</a>'s Studcast, I was surprised that so little of Welch's early career had been documented in any detail. I wish WrestlingData had a way of showing a graph of matches being added by wrestler over time. <br />
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So once the book comes out, you will be better able to track the various paths taken by these, and many other, wrestlers from 1930-1935. I will attempt to do the same for 1936-1940 when the second book is ready to go.Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-4489017806036443262018-11-23T11:24:00.000-06:002018-11-23T11:24:22.793-06:00Building a Book on Alabama Pro Wrestling History (Part 6)In the lengthy break since the last posting here, much progress has been made.<br />
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To follow up on the previous post, for the most part, newspaper clippings from 1931-1940 are complete. Apparently Cullman was never run as a regular town, despite it's prime location along Highway 31, about halfway between Decatur and Birmingham. Along the way, I found wrestling had been run in Selma, Opelika and Marion, at least briefly. I also learned that Chris Jordan actively pursued either running shows or providing talent to towns in the surrounding states, as well as all the way to the East Coast in the Carolinas.<br />
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I've been working with Scott Teal, at Crowbar Press, and after much discussion, the decision was made to break the book into two volumes. Book one has been compiled, submitted, marked-up, re-edited, re-submitted, appended and is generally done. Unfortunately, in my attempt to format my working draft along the lines that Scott recommended, I did not take the differences between the inner and outer margins into account. While I submitted a draft that I thought would be sufficient once ads and photos were added, as it turned out, those margins resulted in a lot more fitting on a page than I had anticipated, and I came up a bit short in my initial effort regarding the expected page count. On one had this was very frustrating, but on the other, it forced me to go back and find a lot more content to add to the book. It also means I will be much better prepared for volume two.<br />
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Volume 1 will cover 1931-1935, but will also have an opening section giving a quick overview of the state of wrestling in Alabama from 1908-1930. Newspapers.com released a few new runs of Alabama papers while I was "finishing up" my draft which exposed me to a much broader look at the subject. I had made some assumptions, due to earlier limited search results, that there really wasn't all that much wrestling in Alabama prior to 1931. There was more than I thought, though it was not all that organized, and was very sporadic. With all that Scott and I added, the book will still end up a bit short of 200 pages once printed; probably in the vicinity of 175-185 pages. <br />
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Unfortunately, due to the poor quality of a lot of the microfilm scans from the earlier days of microfilm technology, many of the wrestler photos I had hoped to include were found unsuitable for re-printing. Thankfully others were found as replacements, but I will make a stronger effort to find the newspaper hardcopies for Volume 2, if I run across any questionable quality photos. Thankfully, the various county archives, as well as the Alabama state archives still have a lot of the hardcopies of their newspapers in large, bound volumes.<br />
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Since the January post, I was also able to make contact with the families of three of the wrestlers who appeared in Alabama in the 1930s. I met with Chris Jordan's grandson and daughter-in-law, and they shared some wonderful memories, photos and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings from around 1931-1932. I met with the family of Freddie Knichel's son, and they also shared some great memories. Unfortunately, in their case, Freddie's house burned sometime in the 1970s, along with almost all of the memorabilia from his wrestling career, but they graciously shared what surviving photos they had. I also had a phone conversation with the son of Stanley Buresh, and he also shared several memories and photos from his father's career. Most of what Chris Jordan's family shared will be in Volume 2, as most of the photos and items were from after 1935.<br />
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I expect to have Volume 1 in my hands before the end of January 2019, and will try my best to see that Volume 2 is ready by the end of 2019. I am hoping enough people buy Volume 1 that I can get some good feedback on ways to make Volume 2 better. The general format for both books will be like Scott's earlier books on Nashville and Madison Square Garden, including details of every card I could find across the entire state of Alabama, interspersed with a variety of advertisements, articles, as well as introductions for each year summarizing the events of the year, including some historical context. Also included will be some statistics on appearances by the regularly used talent and brief overviews of various venues to hold wrestling.<br />
<br />
As this is a relatively undocumented piece of wrestling history, I really hope someone learns something and enjoys it (or hates it) enough to provide some feedback.Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-17986042643710783262018-01-12T18:52:00.000-06:002018-01-12T18:52:09.048-06:00Building a Book on Alabama Pro Wrestling History (Part 5)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48-a_w5GlbMAMABsFSe5ut-DQpHb5N9QEBl0YEl566kcmrNE2KYP18xFA_X6OWijl8NcCNqc74Gei7rmX0FwQMMXziSfV-eFuwyijytKMLlCyv_wRE468olku2IEWgSG97Ugt9eSLS1w/s1600/BlacksmithPedigo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1409" data-original-width="588" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48-a_w5GlbMAMABsFSe5ut-DQpHb5N9QEBl0YEl566kcmrNE2KYP18xFA_X6OWijl8NcCNqc74Gei7rmX0FwQMMXziSfV-eFuwyijytKMLlCyv_wRE468olku2IEWgSG97Ugt9eSLS1w/s640/BlacksmithPedigo.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
In what may be the final trip to the Alabama State Archives in Montgomery, I managed to finish off scanning what I needed from the Birmingham News for 1939-40. I also managed to fill in a few gaps or oversights in my Montgomery coverage as well as picking up the 3-4 months that Chris Jordan ran wrestling in Selma in 1932 from the <i>Selma Times-Journal</i>, which had some good photos. As far as I know, that is the last town that ran wrestling in the 1930s. Or at the very least, that is the last town for which I found a reference where I could find any actual evidence. The two towns that are still mysteries are Courtland (a small town along US 72 between Muscle Shoals and Decatur) and Cullman (the largest town on I-65 between Decatur and Birmingham). <br />
<br />
All I've found for Courtland was a mention in either the <i>Decatur Daily</i> or the <i>Florence Times</i> about a show being scheduled there at their new arena. But when I checked the actual local weekly paper, the <i>Moulton Advertiser</i>, I could find nothing about it in the issues before or after the event was supposed to have taken place. As far as I could tell, Courtland didn't have its own paper, and Moulton was the next nearest town that did.<br />
<br />
Cullman, which was also only covered by two weekly papers, the <i>Cullman Democrat</i> and the <i>Cullman Tribune</i>. <i>The Cullman Democrat</i> (which is partially covered at Newspapers.com) was very spotty with its coverage of wrestling. There are a handful of references to wrestling shows, a couple of which give the impression either that wrestling is about to start, or that wrestling has already been a weekly thing. But no more than a couple of references can be found in the entire year. I suppose for the sake of completion, I should check out the <i>Tribune</i>.<br />
<br />
I also picked up everything from 1931-1938 from the <i>Jasper Advertiser</i>, which seemed to be the "major" paper covering Jasper, Alabama in the 1930s. For a out of the way place like Walker County, Alabama, I was surprised to find they were covered by three different newspapers; the <i>Mountain Eagle</i>, the <i>Jasper Advertiser</i> and the <i>Carbon Hill News</i>. What I was happy to find was that the <i>Jasper Advertiser</i>, at least early on, included some great photos of several of the wrestlers (and the brand new Jasper City Auditorium), and as I was photographing from the hard-copies (instead of b&w or gray-scale microfilm), they should hopefully turn out good when printed.<br />
<br />
So If I don't find anything major in the <i>Cullman Tribune</i>, I think I'm done here, and can spend the next month hammering out the connective tissue for this beast and working all of the results into a shape more closely resembling what Scott Teal used in his Madison Square Garden and Nashville books. Oh, and it looks like this will probably be a two-parter. It was getting fairly hefty with nothing but cards and results and a few bits of writing (nearly 250 pages), so I've been convinced it would be best to break that in two to allow a lot more room to breathe. That gives me a good 100 pages per volume to work in photos, ads, articles and history.Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-57440858261550630742017-12-19T13:12:00.002-06:002020-09-06T10:06:45.067-05:00Wrestling Promoters of the 1930sFor the moment, this will just be a list of promoters I have found named in newspapers, including when and where they were promoting from 1930-1940. Most of these will be local promoters.<br />
<br />
Sam Avey<br />
Joplin, Missouri <br />
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (1933)<br />
Tulsa, Oklahoma<br />
<br />
Dwight Barker<br />
Lansing, Michigan (1934)<br />
<br />Pete Buzukos<div>Yuma, Arizona (1932- )<br /><div><br /></div><div>
Bud Cole<br />
Benton Harbor, Michigan (1933-)<br />
<br />
Romeo Cunningham<br />
Sante Fe, New Mexico (1936)<br />
<br />
Jack Curley <br />
New York, New York<br />
<br />
Lou Cutler<br />
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (1933-) <br />
<br />
Fred DeMerritte <br />
Huntsville, Alabama<br />
<br />
Jimmy DeSalvo/Disalvo<br />
Corinth, Mississippi (1934-1935)<br />
<br />
Floyd Dixon<br />
Mobile, Alabama (1935)<br />
<br />
John Donnelly<br />
Kingsport, Tennessee (1933)<br />
<br />
Tom Ferguson<br />
Bessemer, Alabama (1931)<br />
<br />
Al Fine<br />
Fairfield, Alabama (7 Dec 1931 - 26 Dec 1931)<br />
Jasper, Alabama (7 Dec 1931 - 26 Dec 1931 )<br />
<br />
John Flaska<br />
Albuquerque, New Mexico (1936)<br />
<br />
J.O. Gideon<br />
Sedalia, Missouri (1933)<br />
<br />
Jim Graham<br />
Nashville, Tennessee<br />
<br />
Al Haft <br />
Columbus, Ohio<br />
<br />
Butler P.A. Hine<br />
Decatur, Alabama (23 May 1932 - 14 July 1932)<br />
<br />
Chris Jordan<br />
Anniston, Alabama<br />
Bessemer, labama <br />
Birmingham, labama <br />
Decatur, Alabama (15 July 1932 - 1940)<br />
Dothan, Alabama<br />
Fairfield, Alabama (27 Dec 1931 - 1940)<br />
Gadsden, Alabama<br />
Homewood, Alabama<br />
Huntsville, Alabama (23 Aug 1932 - )<br />
Jasper, Alabama (27 Dec 1931 - 1940)<br />
Marion, Alabama <br />
Mobile, Alabama <br />
Montgomery, Alabama<br />
Opelika, Alabama <br />
Panama City, Flabama <br />
Pell City, Alabama<br />
Pensacola, Florida (1933)<br />
Selma, Alabama <br />
Sheffield, Alabama<br />
Tarrant City,Alabama<br />
Tuscaloosa, Alabama<br />
<br />
Gust Karras<br />
St. Joseph, Missouri (1933- )<br />
<br />
Nicholas Kiricon (Farmer Nick)<br />
Battle Creek, Michigan 1932<br />
Kalamazoo, Michigan 1933 <br />
<br />
Freddie Knichel<br />
Columbia, Tennessee 193x<br />
Henry Kolln<br />
Huntsville, Alabama <br />
<br />
Charles Kuykendall<br />
Columbus, Mississippi (1933) <br />
<br />
Ted Lewis<br />
Owensboro, Kentucky (1935)<br />
<br />
James "Kid" Lott<br />
Tarrant City, Alabama (1931 )<br />
<br />
John McIntosh<br />
El Paso, Texas (1936)<br />
<br />
Jimmy McLemore<br />
Vincennes, Indiana (1931) <br />
<br />
Mike Meroney / Charles Sinkey<br />
Blytheville, Arkansas<br />
Cape Girardeau, Missouri <br />
Carruthersville, Missouri<br />
Jonesboro, Arkansas <br />
Poplar Bluff, Missouri <br />
Sikeston, Missouri<br />
<br />
Bert Mauldin<br />
Hope, Arkansas (July 1935 - ) <br />
<br />
Vic Miller<br />
Greenwood, Mississippi (1934- )<br />
<br />
Tom Packs<br />
St. Louis, Missouri <br />
<br />
Noel W. Ray<br />
Gadsden, labama <br />
<br />
Charlie Rentrop<br />
Memphis, Tennessee<br />
Montgomery, Alabama<br />
<br />
Bill Romanoff <br />
Jackson, Mississippi (1931-1955)<br />
Biloxi, Mississippi<br />
Gulfport, Mississippi <br />
<br />
Sam Sampson<br />
Santa Ana, California <br />
<br />
George Sanders<br />
El Dorado, AR (1934-<br />
<br />
Curtis Sanford<br />
Birmingham, Alabama (1931) <br />
<br />
<br />
William Schwabe<br />
Kirkland, Missouri (1933) <br />
<br />
Julius Siegel<br />
Shreveport, Louisiana <br />
<br />
Sam Siegel<br />
Birmingham, Alabama (1931)<br />
Montgomery, Alabama (1931-1932)<br />
Hartford, Connecticut (1933-)<br />
<br />
Morris Sigel<br />
Houston, Texas<br />
<br />
Charles "Titanic" Sinkey<br />
Corinth, Mississippi (1936-)<br />
<br />
Al Stecher<br />
Santa Cruz (1940) <br />
<br />
Jack Spurgin<br />
Maryville, Alabama (1931)<br />
<br />
F.L. Thompson<br />
Greenville, South Carolina (1933)<br />
<br />
William "Red" Thornton<br />
Santa Cruz, California<br />
<br />
E.K. Tyler<br />
Anniston, Alabama (9 Mar 1932 - ) <br />
<br />
Adam Weissmuller<br />
Detroit, Michigan (193x-)<br />
Lansing, Michigan (1933)<br />
<br />
Roy Welch (Mid-South Booking)<br />
Dyersburg, Tennessee<br />
Clarksville, Tennessee<br />
<br />
<br /></div></div>Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-10198044708811577382017-10-12T20:28:00.002-05:002017-10-12T20:28:16.589-05:00Building a Book on Alabama Pro Wrestling History (Part 4) Back in Montgomery, at the Archives, trying to knock out the last years of Birmingham I need to get rolling on the writing part of this project. I will be mighty glad to get to that. Today, I knocked out the rest of what I was missing from 1931, and picked up January through August of 1936, which leaves me a day and a half to try to get as much of the remaining 52 months as I can. I don't think I'll quite make it, but having wrapped up 1931, at least I can get started writing as I now have the beginning of the wrestling boom in Alabama.<br />
<br />
It would appear that what Chris Jordan ultimately built into a multi-state territory by 1940 began with a man by the name of Curtis Sanford, who began promoting boxing for the American Legion in Birmingham in February of 1931. This was specifically the Gorgas Post No. 115, that got the ball rolling. The first wrestling card was held on April 6th, and deadlined by Ernie Dusek vs. John Katan with an undercard of Homer Smiles vs Billy Edwards and three boxing matches. Smiles would go on to be a very popular football coach (there is a stadium named after him in Leeds), and Billy Edwards would soon be better known as Bad Bill Edwards, one of the more prominent heels to work cards mostly around the Birmingham area.<br />
<br />
The State of Alabama had recently reorganized its athletic and boxing commission, and under the new rules, only American Legion posts were to be issued promoting licenses for boxing and wrestling, so that the Legion could use the proceeds from the events to continue their community and charitable work. By 1930, Birmingham was large enough that it had two Legion Posts, typically referred to as Post No. 1 and the Gorgas Post (No. 115). Almost instantly, there was contention between the two posts, that would take a couple of years to shake out. In the years and decades to follow, Post No. 115 would merge into Post No. 1, and the name of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_C._Gorgas" target="_blank">General Gorgas</a> would be retained, and the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) organization would be given equal footing with the American Legion in the state, as far as promoting sporting events.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDc1vMZgo0yQmAHoPn1youxoECGNGTkr5t08NjrgyVRhX-miDPAFryR7224srjti0uBweopbpi_OMPRe15ng6ZonSTGpFiYF1nFyNcNr2ArVz64SGvN96t7vyzqc02txVk3lDjHA6rYPs/s1600/siegel-column.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="213" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDc1vMZgo0yQmAHoPn1youxoECGNGTkr5t08NjrgyVRhX-miDPAFryR7224srjti0uBweopbpi_OMPRe15ng6ZonSTGpFiYF1nFyNcNr2ArVz64SGvN96t7vyzqc02txVk3lDjHA6rYPs/s400/siegel-column.JPG" width="170" /></a></div>
By April 16th, Sanford stepped aside when the American Legion (Post No. 1) brought in Sam Siegel, along with his connections to Rudy Dusek, and thus the talent pool of Jack Curley of Jim Londos, Jim McMillen and the Duseks, all the way down to "Rubber Man" Sol Slagel. Siegel wrote a series of articles for the Birmingham News from mid-April to June, explaining the "new style" of wrestling, introducing many of the wrestlers that would be coming to Alabama, as well as some brief history of the last few years and how he came to be in Birmingham.<br />
<br />
Most of the towns that began running wrestling over the following years seem to have begun as boxing towns. In the first few years, mixed boxing and wrestling cards were common, and in a couple towns, like Sheffield and Huntsville, boxing was often the more popular, resulting in extended periods with no wrestling. <a href="https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=58276650" target="_blank">Battling Bozo</a> was probably the most popular draw in boxing in the state in the early 1930s, both for his comedic boxing stylings, as well as his frequent appearances as a special guest referee.<br />
<br />
The American Legion post in Tarrant City began holding boxing cards in May, and by August, had appointed Kid Lott as their new boxing and wrestling promoter, and held their first wrestling card on August 11th. The snowball effect kicked in, and shortly thereafter, American Legion posts all over the state wanted in on the action, promoting their own boxing and wrestling events, and thus the Alabama wrestling boom of the 1930s was born.Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-83843882732144596692017-07-09T08:08:00.000-05:002017-10-12T20:29:28.579-05:00Building a Book on Alabama Pro Wrestling History (Part 3) <br />
A few bits of good news came out of the past week. First and foremost, when my first two reels of the 1934 Birmingham News arrived at the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library, I was only assessed a fee of $2. The HMCPL only charges $1 per microfilm reel for processing Inter-Library Loan requests, and apparently they were able to find the microfilm somewhere other than the state archives. And apparently that other library didn't charge anything for loaning out their films. YAY! I also found that the HMCPL allows up to 5 concurrent ILL requests, so I went ahead and requested the next 5 months of 1934. If all goes well, I hope to be mid way through 1935 by the end of July.<br />
<br />
I made the long trek to Montgomery yesterday to get started on the Montgomery Advertiser. While I was fortunate to catch them on a weekend they were open (2nd weekend of every month, just like the Archives in Birmingham), they were also holding a genealogy seminar that morning. On the positive side, it meant for the first 4 hours I was there, things were quiet in the Research Room and there was no waiting for one of the two (TWO! Seriously, just two? The Tennessee State Archives has about ten!) microfilm scanners, but once the seminar let out, it started to get busy, so I packed it in for the long drive home. <br />
While there, I managed to knock out 15 months worth of the Advertiser, from November 1931-January 1933. Another positive discovery was that the Montgomery Advertiser was a much smaller paper than I had anticipated, to the point where they could fit two and sometimes three months on a single reel. So my original estimate of 120 reels to cover 1931-1940 for Montgomery has been revised down to 55-60 reels. The combination of fewer reels to borrow, and the dramatically reduced fees greatly reduce my projected expenses for this project, which is a very good thing.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJMxY1pUtNkWK_tD2Q07k3q7jIQAY4mONqH54rZUB9RKJkg7FzFEagRf836g5A2RvMWbZPXDBgMXoMf1wsSH237FyfHEHsmWE0zAH-SgAveMFLJ04i3gC6XFbhhnejYdCQKphyYagGMsA/s1600/siegel-headline.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="574" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJMxY1pUtNkWK_tD2Q07k3q7jIQAY4mONqH54rZUB9RKJkg7FzFEagRf836g5A2RvMWbZPXDBgMXoMf1wsSH237FyfHEHsmWE0zAH-SgAveMFLJ04i3gC6XFbhhnejYdCQKphyYagGMsA/s400/siegel-headline.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
A couple of quick notes on what I found in the films I got through: Sam Siegel, heavyweight promoter in Birmingham, was announced in November 1931 as the new matchmaker for Montgomery Post No. 2, replacing Roy B. Strickland, who had requested to be relived of the duty due to being too busy with his own business. Naturally, big things were promised with Siegel coming in, but in the fifteen months I scanned through, he only ran a handful of shows at the end of 1931 into early 1932. Though I didn't find any big announcement, in June, arrangements had been made for Chris Jordan to begin running weekly shows at the Cramton Bowl, kicking things off in style with a main event between former world heavyweight champ Gus Sonnenberg against Jim Hesslyn (repeatedly misspelled as Kesslyn in the Advertiser) on June 8th. An estimated 1,000 fans turned out for the show.<br />
<br />
Since I was there, I also asked them to pull their hard copy of the 1938 Huntsville Times to try to fill in more details for a show that was advertised for Wednesday, 20 April 1938. The microfilm at the HMCPL was missing that issue, and so was GenealogyBank.com. As it turns out, the Archives were also missing that issue. Tuesday the 19th jumped straight to Thursday the 21st, with no mention of no paper having been printed for the 20th. So I have to assume, they just failed to acquire that issue, and that the microfilms were probably taken from the hard copies at the Archives. As no mention was made of the show in the 21 April issue, and it was the last show announced in 1938, I'm leaning toward it having been cancelled due to poor turnout. A few days later an announcement was made that wrestling and boxing shows would be suspended "until the present political campaign is finished." Must have been a long campaign as shows were not resumed until July of 1939.<br />
<br />
As a progress report, last week I had noticed that I'd apparently not abstracted the cards and results from the Tuscaloosa News, even though I had all the clippings collected already, so I knocked that out (thanks to the mid-week holiday), and have updated the grid on the first of these posts. While 1932 was a very busy year, with a lot of small towns being run, I suspect once Jordan expanded to Dothan, Montgomery and Mobile, that towns like Tarrant City, Bessemer and Homewood were largely abandoned. There was only so much talent to go around, so it would only have made sense for Jordan to have concentrated his efforts in the larger towns where he could stand to make a lot more money.Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-12414728489451449682017-07-02T17:28:00.000-05:002017-10-12T20:29:13.584-05:00Building a Book on Alabama Pro Wrestling History (Part 2) <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt-6FR79ZxEfeKitp2DCIke2-0mWpHQZ67rSMUG8OzIPoGSuipJj1AizsOmyurWRWVnEwamN9bGALe24Q3bLPdSBvKhPFGPkY7DUbHvYolzd7RQTucjfEG0POn2kgL29GBUyocpcfH0aU/s1600/gadsdenlibrary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="851" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt-6FR79ZxEfeKitp2DCIke2-0mWpHQZ67rSMUG8OzIPoGSuipJj1AizsOmyurWRWVnEwamN9bGALe24Q3bLPdSBvKhPFGPkY7DUbHvYolzd7RQTucjfEG0POn2kgL29GBUyocpcfH0aU/s320/gadsdenlibrary.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="http://wbrc.com/">WBRC.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I finished gathering clippings from Gadsden this weekend, so I now have 1933-40 to cover Gadsden, and the shows from neighboring Attalla in 1939-40. Joe Gunther started running shows in Gadsden again with a special Independence Day show, but either he only ran sporadically after that, or the newspaper just stopped giving the shows regular coverage. Possibly due to a frequent postponements due to weather, because shows were being run mainly in the Amphitheater, Jordan, and later Gunther, just put Gadsden on a lower priority. A lot of shows were rained out over 1938-39, even some shows scheduled for the City Auditorium. Possibly that is why they began running shows in Attalla.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, I was wrong about the library at Samford. I paid them a visit a couple of months ago and found that, while their catalog system still lists a lot of the newspapers I need (for Birmingham, Montgomery & Mobile), their actual microfilm holdings had suffered a really bad case of vinegar syndrome, and they lost a large percentage of what I needed. When speaking with a librarian at the Birmingham Archives, they said hey'd had the same problem a few years ago, but that Birmingham had replaced everything they lost. Apparently Samford lacked the budget to do the same. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSubgrjr4bJRvV6BTJ5GT8L4kEoQTecgul7e-q0i2INFWYH3IS4-RcP6mHGDXLi8a8Um9hezzr5f_VoGdnszi1PMWnt3in3hQt_1ogRYqr_t351IZAFFVI4VDC3eL6KZvKT-0uD9FmkQ/s1600/bham-archives.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="453" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSubgrjr4bJRvV6BTJ5GT8L4kEoQTecgul7e-q0i2INFWYH3IS4-RcP6mHGDXLi8a8Um9hezzr5f_VoGdnszi1PMWnt3in3hQt_1ogRYqr_t351IZAFFVI4VDC3eL6KZvKT-0uD9FmkQ/s320/bham-archives.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birmingham Archives</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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As a result, I will have to keep making trips to Birmingham, and possibly to Montgomery. I'm working out the relative costs of utilizing the inter-library loan system to just have the reels I need sent up to Huntsville and/or Decatur. The issue there is the Alabama Department of Archives & History charges $15 per reel, with a limit of only two reels per loan. So $30 a pop (plus probably a couple of dollars to the local library) for two reels, which for B'ham and Montgomery means roughly two months of newspaper. And so far, that process seems to be slow. I put my application in for the first two months of the 1934 Birmingham News a week ago and haven't heard anything yet. <br />
<br />
So, doing some basic math, I need roughly 10 years of newspapers from three major Alabama cities. If each reel is only a month, that's something like 360 reels of microfilm. At $15 a pop, that would run me $5,400, not including any local fees the library will charge for their effort. Now I can get through anywhere from 8-12 reels of microfilm in a day, if I'm at the library all day. Maybe more, I've only had one complete day so far. Each trip to Birmingham costs me around $50, (estimating $30 for gas & $20 for food). And since I've already got 1932-33 covered, that leaves me with another 8 years to cover, which means roughly $400. <br />
<br />
I really don't think I can work any faster there because Birmingham uses the the <a href="http://www.stimaging.com/st-viewscan-iii-microfilm_scanner/" target="_blank">ST ViewScan III</a>, which is decent enough hardware, but the ViewScan software is buggy as hell and crashes constantly. That issue, combined with the annoying library patron kiosk software intended to keep users locked into a restricted sandbox, for security purposes. However, <i>none of the librarians seem to know how it works</i>! If they had the admin password, they could at least launch the Task Manager and kill the ViewScan software so it could be relaunched without having to terminate and re-start my session, over and over. Every other library I've visited (that has a microfilm scanner) has the <a href="http://e-imagedata.com/scanpro2200-lowcost/" target="_blank">e-Image Data ScanPro</a> series of machine, which works so much better, doesn't crash (except maybe once per day), and doesn't have the annoying security software locking down their machines. On those, I can get a lot more work done, a lot more quickly.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.archives.alabama.gov/images/frontsummer07_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.archives.alabama.gov/images/frontsummer07_1.jpg" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alabama Department of Archives & History</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For Montgomery, I've got an extra 2 hours, round-trip, so call it $60 per trip to accommodate the extra gas. Having not used their scanners before, I don' t know what models they have. I need to email them and ask. If they have the ViewScans, I'm screwed. But if, by some miracle, they have the ScanPros (like the Tennessee State Archives have), I can probably get through 12-14 reels in a day. Also, Montgomery has the entire newspaper archive for the state of Alabama, so I can knock out Montgomery, Mobile and Dothan, all at the same place. The Dothan Eagle was only a weekly paper, so probably not more than 3-4 reels per year, so upwards of 48 reels (probably less), plus the estimated 120 for Mobile and 120 for Montgomery, and that's 288 reels to get through. At 14 reels per trip, that's roughly 20 trips, at $60 each for $1,200 expenses. So actually going there saves me roughly $3,800 over the inter-library loan route, though it does add a lot of wear & tear on my car with all that driving.<br />
<br />
Now I understand, so clearly, why Scott Teal says there's not really any money in publishing books on wrestling history.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-85504289906277221212017-06-16T21:14:00.000-05:002018-12-21T09:52:21.985-06:00Building a Book on Alabama Pro Wrestling History (Part 1) I don't really know why I decided to try to write a book on professional wrestling history in Alabama. It is a subject I know absolutely nothing about. Apparently very few people know anything about it prior to the 1950s. Most of the questions I've asked of the people who I'd think would know come back with very little. That's not to say I don't get the occasional pointer to some one else or some other source. But outside the heavyweight title picture, there just hasn't been a lot of work produced to cover wrestling in the 1930s, much less in Alabama. There are some show results posted to wrestling forums here and there, but nothing collected and nothing comprehensive. And even what has been posted is effectively just the raw cards and results with no context provided.<br />
<br />
So I was curious, what kind of history of wrestling does Alabama have? When did it start? Who were the movers and shakers that got the ball rolling to result in what became the Mid-America, Continental and Gulf Coast territories, and ultimately the fairly vibrant independent scene that exists today? <br />
<br />
Last December (2016), I had some unexpected money land in my hands, and figured I'd finally spring for a subscription to <a href="http://newspapers.com/">Newspapers.com</a>. That, combined with my existing subscription to <a href="http://genealogybank.com/">GenealogyBank.com</a> and what existed on the all-but-defunct Google Newspaper Archive, gave me a big pool of resources to work with, even though there wasn't a lot of coverage for Alabama prior to the 1950s. Add to that about 15 years worth of research skills and knowledge from researching my family history and I had a lot of tools waiting on a project.<br />
<br />
The first big resource I discovered was <a href="http://wrestlingdata.com/">WrestlingData.com</a> (the English version of <a href="http://genickbruch.com/">GenickBruch.com</a>), a massive database of wrestling information started by a group of fans in Germany. And while it had over 320,000 shows listed when I first started searching it, I found that, aside from results from shows over the last 10 years, and a handful of scattered results from Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile and Anniston, Alabama was effectively unrepresented from a historical perspective. And more recently, shows I had attended in the last 15 years were also not listed. I'm a sucker for a massive database project, so I decided to see what I could do about filling in that void from 1900-1950.<br />
<br />
I have no idea how long this project is going to take, but here are my ideas, thus far, as to what it will cover. <br />
<br />
When? To try to keep this to something I can accomplish in my lifetime, I've decided to focus on the 1930s. From my research so far, this seems to be when "big time" pro wrestling was introduced to Alabama on a major scale outside of just the three big cities (Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile). I'm just defining "big time" as weekly shows with a somewhat consistent roster.<br />
<br />
Who? Without question, the single man to do the most to establish wrestling across the state was Chris Jordan. Jordan was a nationally known championship level middleweight wrestler in the 1910s-1920s. At the end of his in-ring career, he settled first in Jasper, and then finally in Fairfield (now basically a suburb of Birmingham) and quickly became the top promoter of wrestling in Alabama. Jordan died unexpectedly in 1940, at the age of 56, which cut short what would have been a legendary promoting career. For me, his death helped define an era on which I could focus, that being the 1930s. <br />
<br />
I'm trying to decide if I want to include his wrestling career in this book, or if I want to leave that as a separate project. I will probably concentrate on his promoting career, and depending on how large a book that results in, make a decision on this later. If I leave it for later, it may be in included in the larger context of non-heavyweight wrestling in those early years of the sport.<br />
<br />
Below I will track my progress as I work through the various newspapers for the busier wrestling towns in 1930's Alabama. A black box indicates there was no wrestling in that town for that year. Or at least none reported in the newspaper. No fill color means I haven't started on that year/town. Proofed means I've cleaned up any typos and fixed the formatting and complete means I've decided naming standards and updated all of the names to fit (for instance, I'm choosing Knichel over Knichels, Knichol, Knickel, Knickles, etc).<br />
<br />
Progress:<br />
<br />
<table align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Key</td>
<td bgcolor="38fff8"> </td>
<td>=acquired</td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"> </td>
<td>=transcribed</td>
<td bgcolor="fe0000"> </td>
<td>=proofed</td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"> </td>
<td>=complete</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th></th>
<th>1931</th>
<th>1932</th>
<th>1933</th>
<th>1934</th>
<th>1935</th>
<th>1936</th>
<th>1937</th>
<th>1938</th>
<th>1939</th>
<th>1940</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Anniston</td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Bessemer</td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Birmingham</td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="38fff8"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Decatur</td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dothan</td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Fairfield</td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Gadsden</td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Homewood</td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Huntsville</td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jasper</td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff340"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mobile</td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Montgomery</td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sheffield</td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tarrant City</td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tuscaloosa</td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="34ff34"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="000000"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
<td bgcolor="6200c9"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There was wrestling in a few smaller towns (Albertville, Cullman and Leeds come to mind), but since they either were not run regularly or I haven't found any card details or results, I'm not going to include them in the table. Progress for Sheffield includes shows in Florence, and progress for Gadsden includes shows in Attalla.<br />
<br />
I see the project following this basic process:<br />
<br />
Research - accumulate everything I can find from newspaper archives and hope that I come across some other resources to help flesh out the dry cards and results with historical context and photos.<br />
<br />
Writing - actually write the prose of the book to tell the story of the rise of Chris Jordan's promotion in the 1930's, amid the depth of the depression and cover prominent story lines and programs. Write short bios for as many of the performers and personalities as possible. Fill in the context of contemporary events happening in Alabama and across the world during the 1930s.<br />
<br />
Quality Control - this includes proof reading for typos, as well as basic fact checking and settling on spellings for various wrestlers whose names were spelled a half dozen different ways from one source to the next<br />
<br />
Layout - this is where all of the newspaper snippets, photos and possibly charts and maps would be added to the text and organized in a format that is ready for print or e-book release.<br />
<br />
Publishing - See the book printed and made available for both of you who might be interested in seeing the finished result.<br />
<br />
The first two stages will likely coincide a bit, as it will take a very long time to accumulate all the information I need for Birmingham, Dothan, Mobile and Montgomery, and I don't want to be idle while waiting to be able to travel to the Alabama state archives in Montgomery.Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-57239401929358974702017-04-12T23:24:00.002-05:002017-09-07T15:51:48.831-05:00[In-Progress] Wrestling in Alabama, 1932 I'm in the research and information gathering phase of a project that I hope will result in a book, or books, on the history of regular, modern pro wrestling in Alabama. There has been a lot of work done on the Gulas/Welch era of the late 1940s-1970s, but very little work seems to have been done (or at least published) on the prior era of the sport in Alabama. And while there are several works covering wrestling from 1900-1930, almost all of it is focused on the heavyweight title picture and the associated evolution of various wrestling cartels, ultimately resulting in the formation of the National Wrestling Aassociation, and later the National Wrestling Alliance. I'm hoping to add something to the void that is the light heavyweight wrestling scene, at least in Alabama, during the 1930s.<br />
<br />
While there was wrestling in Alabama during the 1900-1930 time period, most of it was clustered around Birmingham in the early 1930s, but that would change dramatically in 1932, under the guidance of Chris Jordan. This post will be my test-bed for working out the formatting and content of what I hope to eventually be "<b><i>A History of Pro Wrestling in Alabama: The Chris Jordan Years (1931 - 1940)</i></b>".<br />
<br />
1932 was the year former welterweight and middleweight champion Chris Jordan would begin taking over light heavyweight wrestling in Alabama. Jordan had come to the area in 1931 as a wrestler and promoter of carnival athletic shows. In December of 1931, the American Legion suspended Jim Beasley, the promoter of shows in Fairfield, for "irregularities" and temporarily installed Al H. Fine, of Minneapolis, as the new promoter for Fairfield. In late December of 1931, Chris Jordan was named as the American Legion's new promoter for Jasper (1931-12-27 B'ham News) and Fairfield (1931-12-28 B'ham News), when Al Fine decided he needed to return home (the paper says to Indianapolis, despite saying he was from Minneapolis previously).<br />
<br />
Unless otherwise noted, all cards were sponsored by Chris Jordan.<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 1 January 1932<br />
(Theater) ... Freddie Knichel beat Bad Bill Edwards (2-1) ... Joe Gunther drew Bulldog Mallory (1-1)<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Friday 1 January 1932<br />
Promoter: Tom Ferguson<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) ... James Henry vs Mickey O'Neil ... Big Boy Taylor vs Bob Stewart<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 7 January 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Freddie Knichel beat Buddy Williamson (42:00, 2-0) ... Tiger Boyd drew Fritz Crane (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Bessemer, AL: Friday, 8 January 1932<br />
Promoter: Tom Ferguson<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Fritz Crane vs Bobby O’Neil … The show opened with the first round of an amateur wrestling tournament<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: 8 January 1932<br />
(Theater) ... Buddy Wilkerson vs Bulldog Mallory ... Tiger Boyd vs Jack Lentz<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Friday, 8 January 1932<br />
Promoter: Kid Lott<br />
(Tarrant Theater) ... Jack Freeman vs "Soops" Padget ... Chuck Jones vs Roughhouse Jefferies<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 11 January 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... George Zaharias beat Ernie Dusek (2-1, 3rd fall referee decision) ... Paul Harper beat Jack Washburn (26:00) ... Referee: Sam Siegel<br />
<div>
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Tuesday, 12 January 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Ernie Dusek beat Jack Washburn (36:55, 2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Marshall Blackstock beat Nick Nestor (18:40) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
The Tarrant City Legion announced on January 10th that Kid Lott had been replaced as promoter for the city. Lott stepped down as he was unable to handle the workload of promoting for Tarrant along with his referee duties and his increasing wrestling schedule around the state. Lott was succeeded as promoter by L.L. Doughty<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Tuesday, 12 January 1932<br />
Promoter: L.L. Doughty<br />
(Tarrant Theater) ... Jack Freeman beat Mickey O'Neil (20:00, 2-1) ... Tiger Boyd beat Bearcat Jones (40:00, 2-1)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 14 January 1932<br />
Attendance: 1000+<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... World Junior Middleweight Champion Bill Romanoff beat Henry Burke (37:30, 2-0) ... Joe Dillman beat Jack Lentz (32:00, 2-1)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Bessemer, AL: Friday, 15 January 1932<br />
Promoter: Tom Ferguson<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Mike Polo vs Dennis (Jack) Lentz … Bulldog Mallory vs Roughhouse Jefferies<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: 15 January 1932<br />
(Theater) ... World Junior Middleweight Champion Bill Romanoff drew Freddie Knichel (60:00, 1-1) ... Joe Dillman beat Henry Burke (2-0)<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Tuesday, 19 January 1932<br />
Promoter: L.L. Doughty<br />
(Tarrant Theater) ... Jack Burke vs Mickey O'Neil ... Jack Lentz vs Jack Dillon<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 21 January 1932<br />
Attendance: 1400<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Freddie Knichel beat Joe Dillman (44:00, 2-1) ... Joe Spugnardi beat Joe Gunther (37:30, 2-1)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Bessemer, AL: Friday, 22 January 1932<br />
Promoter: Tom Ferguson<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Freddie Knichel beat Henry Burke (2-1) … Joe Gunther beat Ambrose Cole via DQ<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: 22 January 1932<br />
(Theater) ... Joe Dillman beat Kid Lott (2-1) ... Joe Dillman beat Jack Freeman (2-0, 2nd fall forfeit) ... Joe Spugnardi drew Bulldog Mallory (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 25 January 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
Attendance: ~4000<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Rudy Dusek beat George Zaharias (55:26, 2-1) ... Marshall Blackstock beat Nick Nestor (18:10) ... Referee: Marshall Blackstock (main event)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Montgomery, AL; Tuesday, 26 January 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Jack Blackstock beat Rex Smith (16:50, 2-1) ... Nick Nestor beat Kid Lott (sub for Charlie Leahman) (19:54)<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Tuesday, 26 January 1932<br />
Promoter: L.L. Doughty<br />
(Tarrant Theater) ... Soop Padget vs Tiger Boyd ... Ambrose Cole vs Chuck Jones<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 27 January 1932<br />
Promoter: Tom Ferguson<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Henry Burke vs Ambrose Cole … Tiger Boyd vs Jack Lentz<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 28 January 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Edgar Davie beat Freddie Knichel (42:55, 2-1) ... Bill Romanoff beat Mike Spugnardi (35:00, 2-0) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Jasper, AL: 29 January 1932<br />
(Theater) ... Joe Dillman beat Bearcat Jones (2-0) ... Bill Romanoff beat Joe Gunther (2-1)<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Tuesday, 2 February 1932<br />
Promoter: L.L. Doughty<br />
(Tarrant Theater) ... Tiger Boyd beat Jack Freeman (26:00, 2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Ambrose Cole beat Chuck Jones (29:00, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 3 February 1932<br />
Promoter: Tom Ferguson<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Joe Gunther vs Bulldog Mallory … Freddie Knichel vs Ambrose Cole<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 4 February 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Joe Dillman beat Edgar Davie (50:30, 2-1) ... Fritz Crane beat Jack Lentz (40:30, 2-0) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Friday, 5 February 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Marshall Blackstock vs Pat O'Shocker ... Paul Harper vs Steve Znoski<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Jasper, AL: Friday, 5 February 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Freddie Knichel beat Joe Gunther () ... Fritz Crane vs Edgar Davies () ... Referee: Bulldog Mallory<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Tuesday, 9 February 1932<br />
Promoter: L.L. Doughty<br />
(Tarrant Theater) ... Tom Malloy vs Scotty Dawkins ... ? vs ? ... Future shows were mostly a mix of amateur boxing and amateur wrestling. I suspect this was a financial decision as the pro wrestling shows had not been drawing well, and by going to a full amateur card, the post wouldn't have to pay the talent to perform.<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 12 February 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Scotty Williams beat Buddy Wilkerson (2-0) ... Bulldog Mallory vs Gayle Byrd<br />
<br />
In late 1931 to early 1932, wrestling was only promoted sporadically in Tuscaloosa, usually as part of mixed cards paired with both pro and amateur boxing and the occasional amateur wrestling match, often with participants from the University of Alabama. Chris Jordan began providing talent for Tuscaloosa in March of 1932, but due to cold weather regular shows would not start until March 31st. From mid-June to the end of September, only straight boxing cards were held.<br />
<br />
Maynor Field was the original airport serving Tuscaloosa, starting in 1929. Hargrove Van de Graaff owned the land adjacent to Maynor Field, where the newer, larger airport would be built.<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Friday, 12 February 1932<br />
Promoter: Walter Bertels<br />
(Maynor Field) … Henry Patrick beat Ben Smith (24:00, 2-0) … Bert Richardson beat Bob Burdin (6:00) ... The show also featured three boxing matches<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 19 February 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Sailor Jack Watkins beat Joe Dillman (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Freddie Knichel drew Bulldog Mallory (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Tuesday, 23 February 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Blue Sun Jennings beat Lew Plummer (2-1) ... Steve Znoski beat Kid Lott (sub for John Katan)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 26 February 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Sailor Watkins beat Sammy Miller (38:00, 2-1) ... Scotty Williams beat Bulldog Mallory (2-0)<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 2 March 1932<br />
Promoter: Tom Ferguson<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Joe Gunther vs ? … Sailor Watkins vs Jack Morrow<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 3 March 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... World Junior Middleweight Champion Bill Romanoff beat Freddie Knichel (52:30, 2-1) ... Chief Chacoma beat Roughhouse Sullivan (2-1) Chacoma was reportedly fined for attacking the referee following a 2nd fall disqualification ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 4 March 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Billy Romanoff beat Joe Gunther (2-1) ... Jack Morrow beat Sailor Watkins (45:00, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 9 March 1932<br />
Promoters: Lewis Ruffner & Bill Thomas<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Freddie Knichel vs Sammy Miller … Jack McClesky vs Walter Hedrick<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 10 March 1932<br />
Attendance: 1500<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Farmer Grove beat Sailor Watkins (39:00, 2-1) ... John Felix beat Joe Gunther (45:00, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 11 March 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Jack Morrow beat Farmer Grove (2-1) ... John Felix beat Sammy Miller (38:00, 2-1)<br />
<br />
An article in the March 9th Anniston Star announced the return of wrestling to Anniston, sponsored by the American Legion, and hosted at the Anniston Athletic Club on 14th Street and Wilmer Avenue, following the success of several weeks of boxing card, according to local promoter, E. K. Tyler. Chris Jordan, of Birmingham, would be helping supply talent for the shows, beginning on Monday, March 14th.<br />
This would be the first regularly scheduled wrestling shows held in Anniston since 1921. <br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 14 March 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club)
<br />
<ul>
<li>Freddie Knichel beat Joe Gunther (51:00, 2-1)</li>
<li>Sammy Miller beat Bulldog Mallory (51:00, 2-1)</li>
</ul>
Referees: Pete Apostoles (main event), Ray Kettles (preliminary)
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nyNUaNEGVn6AQGHp8hizacduSjdud4KTg2_FQkIUfXczce8Ex3t6gklWjuS2SyEjrWTa5bH2eGBmny6c_DPY1DcQ_FEL3fHXVoTs3UnNI9eu-wg9cFmZtLdu3h5eP4TlAJF0iUgRlN0/s1600/Chacoma.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nyNUaNEGVn6AQGHp8hizacduSjdud4KTg2_FQkIUfXczce8Ex3t6gklWjuS2SyEjrWTa5bH2eGBmny6c_DPY1DcQ_FEL3fHXVoTs3UnNI9eu-wg9cFmZtLdu3h5eP4TlAJF0iUgRlN0/s320/Chacoma.JPG" width="143" /></a></div>
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 16 March 1932<br />
Promoters: Lewis Ruffner & Bill Thomas<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Chief Chacoma vs Joe Gunther … John Felix vs Bulldog Mallory<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 17 March 1932<br />
Attendance: 1600<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Blacksmith Pedigo beat Scotty Williams (48:13, 2-1) ... Freddie Knichel beat Jack Sherry (23:00, 2-0)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 18 March 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Cecil Pedigo beat Freddie Knichel (2-1) ... Scotty Williams beat Jack Sherry (18:00, 2-0)<br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 21 March 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club)<br />
Sammy Miller beat Mike Chacoma (31:00, 2-1, 3rd fall DQ)<br />
Kid Lott beat Bearcat Jones (26:30, 2-0)<br />
Roy Kettles drew Walter Hedrick<br />
Referee: Pete Apostoles
<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Tuesday, 22 March 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Rudy Dusek beat George Hills (27:42, 2-0, 2nd fall forfeit) ... Blue Sun Jennings beat Steve Znoski (40:55, 2-1) ... Referee: Sam Siegel<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 23 March 1932<br />
Promoters: Lewis Ruffner & Bill Thomas<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Freddie Knichel vs John Case … Sammy Miller vs Hank Galvin<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 24 March 1932<br />
Attendance: 1600<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Blacksmith Pedigo beat Bill Romanoff (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... John Felix beat Chief Chacoma (27:00, 2-0) ... Joe Gunther drew Bulldog Mallory (20:00) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 25 March 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Cecil Pedigo beat Mike Chacoma ... Joe Gunther vs Jack Case<br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 28 March 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club)<br />
- John Felix beat Freddie Knichel (28:15, 2-1)<br />
- Joe Gunther beat Bulldog Mallory (2-1)<br />
Referee: Pete Apostoles
<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 30 March 1932<br />
Promoters: ?<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Chief Chacoma vs Joe Gunther … John Felix vs Sammy Miller<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 31 March 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Joe Dillman beat Doc Burns (30:30, 2-1) ... Joe Gunther beat Sammy Miller (32:30, 2-1) ... Roughhouse Sullivan beat Walter Heddrick (18:00)<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Thursday, 31 March 1932<br />
Promoter: Walter Bertels<br />
(Maynor Field) … Freddie Knichel drew Chief Chacoma (30:00, 1-1) … Henry Patrick drew Ben Smith (15:00) … Referee: Henry Patrick (main event) … This mixed card featured 8 boxing matches and four wrestling matches<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 1 April 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Joe Dillman beat Young Mallow (Tom Malloy?) (35:00, 2-0) ... Freddie Knichel beat Doc Burns (2-1)<br />
<br />
HOMEWOOD, ALABAMA 1932 (From the Birmingham News)<br />
<br />
The Homewood American Legion announced in the Birmingham News, on April 3rd, that they would begin a new season of wrestling on Tuesday nights, with Chris Jordan promoting.<br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 4 April 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club)<br />
Joe Dillman beat Tom Malloy (sub for Kid Lott) (24:40, 2-1)<br />
Ed Kanthe beat Doc Burns (33:45, 2-1, 3rd fall DQ)<br />
Referee: Joe Gunther<br />
<b>[For some reason, Joe Dillman was always referred to as Joe Dalman in Anniston in 1932.]</b><br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 4 April 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(Legion Field) ... Blue Sun Jennings drew Rudy Dusek (90:00, 1-1) ... Ernie Dusek beat Steve Znoski (28:57, 2-1)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 5 April 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Ed Kenthe beat Chief Chacoma (2-0) ... John Felix beat Joe Gunther (2-0) ... Chacoma was married Miss Lillian Ferguson before his match. This was Chris Jordan's first show as the promoter for the American Legion there.<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 6 April 1932<br />
Promoters: ?<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Joe Dillman vs Tom Malloy … Freddie Knichel vs Roughhouse Jack Sullivan<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 7 April 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Blacksmith Pedigo beat Bob Steinsmith (35:00, 2-0) ... John Felix beat Ed Kenthe (35:15, 2-1) ... Primo McGraw beat Jack Tunney (5:00) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 8 April 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Cecil Pedigo beat Ed Kenthe (2-1) ... Joe Gunther beat Bob Steinsmith (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Referee: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 11 April 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club) ... Joe Dillman beat Big Boy taylor (15:45, 2-0) … Joe Gunther drew Mike Chacoma (60:00, 1-1)
<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 12 April 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Dillman beat George Harben (19:30, 2-0) ... Freddie Knichel beat Ed Kenthe (2-1)<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 13 April 1932<br />
Promoters: ?<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Joe Gunther vs Doc Burns … Chief Chacoma vs Freddie Knichel<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 14 April 1932<br />
Attendance: 1600<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... John Felix beat Bill Romanoff (47:00, 2-1) ... Don Cortez beat Togo Sato (27:00, 2-0) ... Kid Lott drew Tom Malloy (20:00)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 15 April 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Don Cortez beat Freddie Knichel (2-1, 3rd fall forfeit) ... John Felix beat Doc Burns<br />
<br />
Leeds, AL: Saturday, 16 April 1932<br />
(venue) ... Joe Dillman vs Tom Malloy ... Doc Burns vs Roughhouse Jack Sullivan<br />
<br />
Anniston, AL: Monday, 18 April 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club) ... Freddie Knichel beat Doc Burns (30:34, 2-1) … Don Cortez beat Jack Sutherland (sub for Tago Saro) (33:15, 2-1)
<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 19 April 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Gunther beat Bad Bill Edwards (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Don Cortez beat Doc Burns (2-0) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 20 April 1932<br />
Promoters: Lewis Ruffner & Bill Thomas<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Tom Malloy beat George Harben (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) … Don Cortez beat Roughhouse Jack Sullivan (2-0) … Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Wednesday, 20 April 1932<br />
(Maynor Field) … Freddie Knichel beat Bad Bill Edwards (13:00, 2-1) … Joe Gunther beat Doc Burns (2-1) … Referee: Henry Patrick<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 21 April 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Don Cortez beat Freddie Knichel (36:00, 2-1) ... Henri Clausen beat Bad Bill Edwards (12:00, 2-0) ... Salvatore Vella beat Primo McGraw (3:00)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 22 April 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Don Cortez beat Joe Dillman (34:00, 2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Joe Gunther drew Henry Clausen (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Bill Edwards<br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 25 April 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club) … Joe Dillman beat Jack Freeman () … Joe Gunther drew Henry Claussen (60:00, 1-1)
<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 25 April 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Ed (Strangler) Lewis beat Blue Sun Jennings (2-0) ... John Paul Jones drew Ernie Dusek (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 26 April 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Dillman beat Kid Lott (, 2-1) ... Henri Clausen beat Freddie Knichel (26:30, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 27 April 1932<br />
Promoters: ?<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Pete Marelia vs Freddie Knichel … Roy Anderson vs Muggsy Malone<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Wednesday, 27 April 1932<br />
(Maynor Field) … Joe Dillman beat Bearcat Jones (19:00, 2-0) … Kid Lott beat George harven (2-1) … Henry Patrick drew Charlie Whitmore (20:00) via tld<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 28 April 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Jack Domar beat Pete Marelia (36:04, 2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Joe Dillman beat Roy Anderson (2-1) ... Joe Gunther drew Henri Clausen (30:00) ... Referee: Bill Edwards<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 29 April 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Pete Marelia beat Bill Edwards (2-0) ... Roy Anderson beat Jack Domar (2-1, 3rd vall DQ) ... Referee: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 2 May 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club) ... Pete Marella beat Baldy Whitmore (27:20, 2-0) … 4-Round Boxing Match: Eddie Tipton beat Bobby Epps (4th round TKO) … Johnny Carlin beat Roy Anderson (32:15, 2-1)
<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 2 May 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... John Paul Jones beat George Vasell (49:07, 2-1) ... Pat O'Shocker beat Roy Lumpkin (37:18, 2-0, 2nd fall forfeit) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 3 May 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Jack Domar vs Roy Anderson ... Pete Marelia vs Bad Bill Edwards<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 4 May 1932<br />
Promoters: ?<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Henri Clausen vs Joe Fisher … Johnny Carlin vs Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 5 May 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Farmer Grove vs Johnny Carlin ... Bill Romanoff vs Jack Domar<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Thursday, 5 May 1932<br />
(Maynor Field) … Pete Marella beat Henri Clausen (2-1) … Joe Gunther beat Henry Patrick (7:30, 2-0)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 6 May 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Pete Marelia vs Farmer Grove ... Bill Romanoff vs Johnny Carlin<br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 9 May 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club) ... Joe Gunther beat Joe Fisher (40:05, 2-1) … 4-Round Boxing Match: Eddie Tipton beat Red Crawford (decision) … Henry Claussen beat Pete Lamar (27:15, 2-1) …
<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 9 May 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Ernie Dusek beat Pat O'Shocker (60:00, 2-1, post match DQ, riot) ... John Paul Jones beat Jack O'Dell (2-1) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<div>
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 10 May 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Fritz Crane beat Scotty Dawkins (30:00, 2-1) ... Pete Marelia beat Frank Lamar (15:30, 2-0) </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Jordan had been packing them in at Fairfield, and they ran out of space, so beginning with the May 12th card, the matches were moved to a newly built outdoor "wrestling stadium" constructed by the American Legion post in Fairfield. The new venue could reportedly seat 3,300 spectators.<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 12 May 1932<br />
Attendance: 2000<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Gunther beat Pete Marelia (2-1) ... Jack Domar beat Doc Burns (2-1) ... Henri Clausen vs Buddy Wilkerson (7:00, no contest) Promoter Chris Jordan called a halt to this match due to the lackluster performance being put on by Clausen and Wilkerson.<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Thursday, 12 May 1932<br />
(Maynor Field) … Joe Dillman beat Roy Anderson (2-1) … Tom Malloy beat Charlie Whitmore (23:00, 2-0) … <br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 13 May 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Fritz Crane beat Roy Anderson (2-0) ... Joe Gunther beat Buddy Wilkinson (2-1)<br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 16 May 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club) ... Joe Dillman beat Fritz Crane (26:40, 2-1) … Scotty Dawkins beat Tom Malloy (24:05, 2-0) … 4-Round Boxing Match: Eddie Tipton beat Red Crawford (decision)
<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 16 May 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... John Paul Jones beat Floyd Marshall (2-1) ... Herman Hickman beat Jack Zarnas (22:00, 2-0, 2nd round forfeit)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 17 May 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Gunther vs Joe Fisher ... Fritz Crane vs Tom Malloy<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 18 May 1932<br />
Promoters: ?<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Tiger Caddell vs Jack Williams … Kid Lott vs Tom Malloy<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Friday, 19 May 1932<br />
(Maynor Field) … Rained out … Joe Gunther, who was scheduled to appear, was able to make it to Fairfield in time to appear in the main event on the card there against Sailor Dunkle<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 19 May 1932<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Gunther beat Sailor Dunkle (2-1) This match was added to the card purely because Chris Jordan was very disappointed in the intended main event of Fields vs Spencer ... Cyclone Fields vs Al Spencer ... Joe Dillman beat Tiger Caddell (2-1) ... Fritz Crane beat Jack Williams<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Jasper, AL: Friday, 20 May 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Joe Dillman beat Scotty Dawkins (2-1) ... Sailor Dunklin beat Joe Fisher (2-0)<br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 23 May 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club) ... Joe Dillman beat Scotty Dawkins (21:45, 2-1) … 4-Round Boxing Match: Eddie Tipton drew Jesse Mabry … Joe Gunther drew Sailor Dunklin (60:00, 1-1)
<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 24 May 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Wildcat Pete beat Doc Burns (2-1) ... Sailor Dunkle drew Freddie Knichel (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 25 May 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Wildcat Pete vs Joe Fisher … Sailor Wayne Dunkle vs Jack Lamar … On May 29th, the Worth Lewis Post of Bessemer announced it would discontinue wrestling shows to begin a series of amateur boxing shows.<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 26 May 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Freddie Knichel beat Gayle Byrd (2-1) ... Johnny Carlin beat Wildcat Pete (2-1) ... Sailor Dunkle drew Doc Burns (20:00)<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Thursday, 26 May 1932<br />
Promoter: Walter Bertels<br />
(Maynor Field) … Rained out<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 27 May 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Wildcat Pete beat Freddie Knichel (2-1) ... Johnny Carlin beat Tom Malloy (2-0)<br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 30 May 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club) ... Mike Chacoma beat Doc Burns (26:50, 2-1) … Gayle Byrd beat Wild Cat Pete (20:15, 2-0) … <br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 30 May 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Rudy Dusek beat John Paul Jones (2-1, 3rd fall COR) ... Red Demon beat George Hills (2-1) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
An
article in the May 23rd Decatur Daily announced that Butler P.A. Hine,
promoter for local American Legion Post No. 15, would be bringing boxing
and wrestling to Decatur in cooperation with promoter Chris Jordan, who
had found great success promoting cards in Fairfield, Alabama. This
would be the first in a run of regular shows that would continue until
Jordan's death in 1940. The initial run of shows was staged outdoors at
the Alabama Hosiery Mills baseball park.<br />
<br />
The Decatur Daily
rarely reported actual, or even estimated, attendance numbers for the
shows. Most often the writers just described the crowds as “large” or
“light”.
<br />
<br />
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Decatur, AL: Tuesday, 31 May 1932<br />
Attendance: 500<br />
(Alabama Mills
Park) ... Freddie Knichel beat Sailor Dunklin (46:52, 2-1) ... Doc Burns
drew Roy Anderson (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Audrey Watkins ... <br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 31 May 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Jack Vincent vs Cy Perkins ... Gayle Byrd vs Chief Chacoma<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Tuesday, 31 May 1932<br />
Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Johnny Carlin beat Bobcat Pete (2-1) ... Fritz Crane beat Tom Malloy (17:00, 2-0) ... Joe Gunther beat Henry Patrick (15:00)<br />
<br />
Though no promoter was mentioned in the article, this was either Chris Jordan's first card in Montgomery, or the local American Legion ran this show with his talent, but without his promoting<br />
assistance as the Montgomery Advertiser reported a paltry $10 gate. There was no advertising or announcement in the newspaper of this show, only the results were posted after the fact. Subsequent shows were preceded by the usual two or three days of hype and the occasional ad.<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 2 June 1932<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Gunther beat Freddie Knichel (2-1) ... Johnny Carlin beat Joe Dillman (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Referee: Kid Lott ... For some reason the News reported this as Gunther's 8th win in a row at Fairfield. His actual record over his last eight appearances in Fairfield was actually 4-2-2.<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Thursday, 2 June 1932<br />
Promoter: Walter Bertels<br />
(Maynor Field) … Mixed boxing & wrestling show (3 boxing matches, 2 wrestling matches) … Henry Patrick beat Art Nareff (23:00, 2-0) … Norman Bolden beat Lem Shelton (10:00, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 3 June 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Chris Jordan beat Johnny Carlin (2-1) ... Joe Gunther beat Mike Reed (2-0) ... Referee: Gayle Byrd<br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 6 June 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club) ... Gayle Byrd beat Mike Chacoma (2-1, 3rd fall DQ, riot) … Joe Gunther drew Mike Reed (60:00, 1-1) … The American Legion announced there would be no further wrestling matches due to “inadequate police protection and a lack of financial response from the city” unless arrangements were made to control the vandalism. Rocks were thrown through windows in the building in the riot following the main event, as Chacoma was escorted from the building by police.
<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 6 June 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... John Paul Jones beat Ernie Dusek (43:18, 2-1) ... Milo Steinborn beat Frank Speer (32:20, 2-1) ... Referee: Fowler<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 7 June 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Gunther drew Mike Reid (60:00, 1-1) ... Gayle Byrd beat Sailor Dunkle (2-1)<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Wednesday, 8 June 1932<br />
Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Attendance: ~1,000 ... Gus Sonnenberg beat Jim Hesslyn (42:00, 2-1) ... Gayle Byrd beat Jack Fields (2-0) ... Referees: Chris Jordan (main event), Max Scholder (preliminary)<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 9 June 1932<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Gus Sonnenberg vs John Poddubny ...<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Thursday, 9 June 1932<br />
Promoter: Walter Bertels<br />
(Maynor Field) … Mixed boxing & wrestling show (6 boxing matches, 1 wrestling match) … <br />
Henry Patrick beat Buddy Brown (8:00)<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Friday, 10 June 1932<br />
(Alabama
Mills Park) ... Joe Gunther beat Freddie Fields (18:32, 2-0) ... Fred
Lassiter beat Tom Malloy (16:20, 2-1) ... Referees: John Felix
(preliminary), Audrey Watkins (main event) ... Between falls, the crowd
was entertained by the Central High School band<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 10 June 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Marin Plestina (sub for Gus Sonnenberg) beat Joe Dillman (2-0) ... Hank Calvin beat Doc Burns (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Referee: Green<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 13 June 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jim Londos beat Rudy Dusek (43:34, 2-0, 2nd fall forfeit) ... John Paul Jones drew George Zaharias (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 14 June 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Don Moore beat Bennie Wilson (2-1, 3rd fall DQ, riot) ... Jim Headrick beat Hank Calvin (2-0) ... Referee: Max Scolder<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Tuesday, 14 June 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Jack Morgan beat Clete Duval (2-1) ... Mike Reed beat Mike Chacoma (2-1, 3rd fall DQ)<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 16 June 1932<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Leo Donoghue beat John Felix (2-1) ... Lon Chaney beat Jim Headrick (2-1) ... Mike Reid beat Don Moore (15:00)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 17 June 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Jack Purdin beat Fred Lassiter (2-1) ... Jack Moore beat Jackie Fields (2-0)<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Friday, 17 June 1932<br />
Promoter: Walter Bertels<br />
(Maynor Field) … Mixed boxing & wrestling show (5 boxing matches, 2 wrestling matches) … Henry Patrick beat Ben Smith (2-1) … Two “Hardin youngsters” wrestled to a 10 minute draw<br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 20 June 1932<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club) … John Felix beat Mike Chacoma (34:10, 2-1) … Don Moore beat Jack Purdin (36:00, 2-1) … Referee: Joe Dillman<br />
<br />
Once the regular schedule of Decatur shows began, the card was typically opened by a one-hour limit preliminary and closed by a two-hour limit main event.<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 20 June 1932<br />
(Alabama
Mills Park) ... Joe Gunther (sub for Leo Donoghue) beat Gayle Byrd
(35:07, 2-1) ... Doc Burns beat Clete Duval (20:24, 2-1) ... Referee:
Audrey Watkins <br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 21 June 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Don Moore beat Chief Chacoma (2-1) ... Gayle Byrd beat AL Fields (2-1) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Wednesday, 22 June 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Lon Chaney beat Fred Lassiter (2-1) ... Leo Donoghue beat Benny Wilson (2-1) ... Referee: Andy Jaffe<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 23 June 1932<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Gunther beat Leo Donoghue (2-1) ... Lon Chaney beat Jack Purdin (2-0)Birmingham, AL: Monday, 27 June 1932<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 24 June 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Leo Donoghue beat Gayle Byrd () ... Joe Gunther beat Buck Lawson () ... Jess Rushing beat Shin Songer (10:00)<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 27 June 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Pat O'Shocker beat Ernie Dusek (2-1, 3rd vall COR) ... Herman Hickman drew Frank Speer (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<div>
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 28 June 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Freddie Knichel beat Tony Lyle (2-1) ... Kid Lott drew Lon Chaney (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Tuesday, 28 June 1932<br />
Local Promoter: Andy Jaffe<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Attendance: ~2,000 ... John Felix beat Leo Donoghue (2-1, 3rd fall UTC) ... Joe Gunther beat Doc Burns (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Freddie Knichel drew Tony Lyle (15:00) ... Referee: Fred Lassiter<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 30 June 1932<br />
Attendance: 1800<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Scotty Williams beat Joe Gunther (2-1) ... John Felix beat Gayle Byrd (2-1)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Montgomery, AL; Friday, 1 July 1932<br />
Local Promoter: Andy Jaffe<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Doc Burns beat Mike Chacoma (32:00, 2-0) ... Freddie Knichel beat Gayle Byrd (2-1) ... Referee: Leo Donoghue<br />
<br />
Anniston: Monday, 04 July 1932
<br />
(Anniston Athletic Club) ... Kid Lott beat Lon Chaney (27:50, 2-1) … Gayle Byrd drew Leo Donoghue (60:00, 1-1) … Two boxing matches opened the card<br />
<br />
After this, Anniston just went back to holding boxing cards. Wrestling would not return to Anniston until September 1934.
<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 4 July 1932<br />
(Alabama Mills Park) … Freddie Knichel beat Tony Lyle (51:37, 2-1) … Joe Gunther beat Doc Burns (27:00, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 4 July 1932<br />
Local Promoter: Andy Jaffe<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Scotty Williams beat Buck Lawson (26:00, 2-1) ... Bill Romanoff drew John Felix (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 5 July 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... rained out, rescheduled for Wednesday<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Wednesday, 6 July 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Leo Donoghue vs Buck Lawson ... Gayle Byrd vs Tony Lyle<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 7 July 1932<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Bill Romanoff beat Freddie Knichel (2-1) The News reported a fist fight broke out in the crowd during the main event that went on for 15 minutes, delaying the match ... Fred Lassiter beat Lon Chaney via DQ ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 11 July 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... George Zaharias beat Pat O'Shocker (2-1) ... John Paul Jones beat Milo Steinborn (2-1)<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 11 July 1932<br />
(Alabama
Mills Park) … Scotty Williams beat Gayle Byrd (18:59, 2-0) … Leo
Donohue beat John Felix (25:18, 2-1) via disqualification … Referees:
Joe Gunther (preliminary), Audrey Watkins (main event)<br />
<br />
Butler
Hine is last mentioned as promoter on July 14th in a letter to the
Decatur Daily explaining how he is taking a loss on the wrestling shows
in order to keep them going for the public, but that the shows are
barely making enough money to pay the wrestlers’ travel expenses. Going
forward, only Chris Jordan is mentioned in the role of matchmaker and
promoter for the shows in Decatur.<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 12 July 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Gunther beat Roy Allen (23:30, 2-0) ... Kid Lott beat Fred Lassiter (sub for Lon Chaney) (2-1, 3rd fall COR) <br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Tuesday, 12 July 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Freddie Knichel beat Tony Lyle (35:26, 2-1) ... John Felix beat Doc Burns (20:16, 2-1) ... Referees: Harry Nelson, Andy Jaffe<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 14 July 1932<br />
Attendance: 2000<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Bill Romanoff beat Scotty Williams (2-1) ... Leo Donoghue beat John Felix (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Jasper, AL: Friday, 15 July 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... John Felix vs Gayle Byrd ... Dale Haddock vs Buck Lawson<br />
<br />
On July 16th, an announcement was made that Chris Jordan had signed on with the Worth Lewis Post in Bessemer to begin holding wrestling shows again beginning the following Tuesday night, July 19th.<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 18 July 1932<br />
(Alabama
Mills Park) ... Buck Lawson beat Roy Allen (32:34, 2-1) … Fred Lassiter
beat Bill Harris (sub for Tony Lyle) (4:10, 1-0) … Referee: Audrey
Watkins … Lassiter and Watkins faced off in an amateur boxing match for
two 2-minute rounds with no decision given.
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 18 July 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Bill Romanoff beat Leo Donoghue (39:36, 2-1) ... Scotty Williams drew Joe Gunther (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Tuesday, 19 July 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … John Felix vs Buck Lawson … Tony Lyle vs Roy Allen<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 19 July 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Scotty Williams vs Gayle Byrd ... Leo Donoghue vs Dale Haddock<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 21 July 1932<br />
Attendance: 2000<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... John Felix beat Joe Gunther (23:34, 2-1) ... Buck Lawson beat Jack Domar (2-1, 3rd fall DQ)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 22 July 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Kid Lott beat Fred Lassiter (2-1) ... Leo Donoghue beat Roy Allen (2-1) ... Shin Songer beat Hill Jones (15:00)<br />
<br />
A piece in the July 24th Birmingham News reports that wrestling was returning to Tarrant City after a six month break. The new shows would be on Wednesday, now promoted by Chris Jordan.<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 25 July 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... John Paul Jones beat George Zaharias (44:34, 2-1) ... Blue Sun Jennings beat George Tragos (33:00, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 25 July 1932<br />
No show was held due to the American Legion convention taking place in Gadsden. Future cards would be held at Garrett Park.<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 25 July 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Joe Gunther beat Leo Donoghue (~53:00, 2-1) ... Buck Lawson beat Ray Allen (32:00, 2-0) ... Referee: Fred Lassiter<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 26 July 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... John Felix vs Buck Lawson ... Bill Romanoff vs Roy Allen<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Tuesday, 27 July 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … John Felix vs Buck Lawson … Dale Haddock vs Leo Donoghue<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Wednesday, 27 July 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Fred Lassiter vs Jack Hollenbeck ... Dale Haddock vs Roy Allen<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 28 July 1932<br />
Attendance: 2500<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... John Felix beat Bill Romanoff (2-1) ... Buck Lawson beat Leo Donoghue (60:00, 1-0) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 29 July 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Dale Haddock beat Bill Romanoff (2-0) ... Joe Gunther beat Buck Lawson (2-1)<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 1 August 1932<br />
(Garrett
Park) … Buck Lawson beat Bill Romanoff (28:30, 2-1) via
disqualification … Leo Donoghue beat Jimmy Shaver (24:48, 2-1) …
Referee: Audrey Watkins
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 1 August 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Joe Gunther beat Freddie Knichel (2-1, 3rd fall COR) ... Kid Lott beat Jack Hollenbeck (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Referee: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Tuesday, 2 August 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Bulldog Mallory vs Dale Haddock … Bill Love vs Jack Hollenback<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 2 August 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Gunther vs Mike Shaven ... Kid Lott vs John Mauldin<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Wednesday, 3 August 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Freddie Knichel vs Dale Haddock ... Fred Lassiter vs John Mauldin<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 4 August 1932<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Freddie Knichel beat Buck Lawson (2-1) ... Billy Love beat Fred Lassiter (2-1)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 5 August 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Bulldog Mallory beat Freddie Knichel (2-1) ... John Mauldin beat Jack Hollenbeck (2-1, 3rd fall DQ)<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 8 August 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... John Paul Jones beat Frank Bronowicz (2-1) ... Pat O'Shocker beat Blue Sun Jennings (48:41, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 8 August 1932<br />
(Garrett
Park) … Freddie Knichel beat Buck Lawson (30:40, 2-1) … Jack Hollenbeck
beat Johnnie Mauldin (31:51: 2-0) … Referee: Audrey Watkins … Mauldin
substituted for the advertised Billy Love who was reportedly injured in a
recent match in Mobile [This would be the Aug. 5th show vs. The Masked
Marvel]
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYHz_jMseJxzln7tajwnZkS3PHePtRbYRXznhJPwSaF21HiifNtD9seE1Tec9RndLMcyp6aGVJqVuZxYQzp7UDIdjvFCU41P7pBdO6duxxqL2i9wu8QnorvwEG2nXT9UJ-mPKXxmNeYA/s1600/gunther.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYHz_jMseJxzln7tajwnZkS3PHePtRbYRXznhJPwSaF21HiifNtD9seE1Tec9RndLMcyp6aGVJqVuZxYQzp7UDIdjvFCU41P7pBdO6duxxqL2i9wu8QnorvwEG2nXT9UJ-mPKXxmNeYA/s320/gunther.JPG" width="191" /></a></div>
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 8 August 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... World Junior Middleweight Champion Blacksmith Pedigo beat Joe Gunther (40:51, 2-1) ... Bulldog Mallory beat Jim Shaeen (2-1)<br />
The show opened with a 4-round boxing match.<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 9 August 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... John Felix beat Dale Haddock (2-1) ... Freddie Knichel beat Bulldog Mallory (2-1, 3rd fall forfeit) <br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 10 August 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Fred Lassiter vs Kid Lott … Buck Lawson vs Roy Allen<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Wednesday, 10 August 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... John Hollenbeck vs John Mauldin ... Johnnie Shaven vs Bulldog Mallory<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 11 August 1932<br />
Attendance: 3000<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Blacksmith Pedigo vs John Felix<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Jasper, AL: Friday, 12 August 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Blacksmith Pedigo beat Dale Haddock (2-0) ... John Mauldin beat Fred Lassiter<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 15 August 1932<br />
(Garrett Park) …
Blacksmith Pedigo beat Joe Gunther (41:23, 2-1) … Jack Hollenbeck drew
The Masked Marvel (60:00, 1-1) … Referee: Audrey Watkins
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 15 August 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Freddie Knichel beat Dale Haddock (2-1) ... Joe Dillman beat Fred Lassiter (20:00, 2-0)<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 16 August 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Gunther vs Buck Lawson ... Fred Lassiter vs Lon Chaney<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 17 August 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Blacksmith Pedigo vs Dale Haddock … Johnny Mauldin vs Jack Hollenback<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Wednesday, 17 August 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Fred Lassiter vs Don Cortez ... Buck Jones ... Roy Allen<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 18 August 1932<br />
Attendance: 2000<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Kopecky beat Don Cortez (2-0) ... Joe Dillman beat Lon Chaney (2-1)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 19 August 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Lon Chaney beat Kid Lott (2-1) ... Blacksmith Pedigo beat Buck Lawson (2-1)<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 22 August 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Jim McMillen beat Chief Tommy Marvin (32:25, 2-0) ... George Zaharias drew Ernie Dusek (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Sam Siegel<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Decatur, AL: Monday, 22 August 1932<br />
(Garrett Park) … Lon Chaney vs Jack Hollenbeck … Buck Lawson vs Dale Haddock
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 22 August 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Attendance: 1,400 ... World Junior Middleweight Champion Blacksmith Pedigo beat Bill Romanoff (42:00, 2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Kid Lott drew Joe Dillman (60:00, 1-1) ... Referees: Chris Jordan (main event), Andy Jaffe (preliminary)<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 23 August 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Blacksmith Pedigo beat Bulldog Mallory (2-0) ... Lon Chaney beat Jack Hollenbeck ... Referee: Max Scholder<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 24 August 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Kid Lott vs Lon Chaney … Buck Lawson vs Bulldog Mallory<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Wednesday, 24 August 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Dillman vs John Mauldin ... Dale Haddock vs Billy Watson<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 25 August 1932<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Bill Romanoff beat Joe Gunther (2-1) ... Joe Kopecky beat Fritz Crane (2-0)<br />
<br />
With the relative success in Decatur, the American Legion announced their intent to sponsor wrestling in Huntsville beginning on the 25rd of August, with Chris Jordan promoting. Prior to this, the Huntsville Times had been covering the shows in Decatur.<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Thursday, 25 August 1932<br />
(The Punch Bowl) … Cecil “Blacksmith” Pedigo beat Freddie Knichel (39:32, 2-1) … Lon Chaney beat Fred Lassiter (sub for Buck Lawson) (32:47, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 26 August 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Bill Romanoff beat Bulldog Mallory (2-1) ... Joe Gunther derw Dale Hadock (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 29 August 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Tommy Marvin beat Jack Hurley (32:03, 2-1) ... John Paul Jones beat George Henkins (36:16, 2-0)<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 29 August 1932<br />
(Garrett
Park) … Joe Dillman beat Lon Chaney (31:58, 2-1) ... Bulldog Mallory
beat Cyclone Watson (25:30, 2-1) ... Referee: Audrey Watkins
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 29 August 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Joe Gunther beat Ray Allen (28:00, 2-0) ... Billy Londos drew Freddie Knichel (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 30 August 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Freddie Knichel beat Dale Haddock (2-1) ... Joe Dillman beat Scroggy Higgins (2-1) <br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 31 August 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Joe Dillman vs Farmer Grove … Joe Gunther vs Dale Haddock<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Wednesday, 31 August 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Freddie Knichel vs Bulldog Mallory ... Billy Watson vs Roy Allen<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 1 September 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Blacksmith Pedigo beat Billy Londos (2-1) ... Joe Dillman drew Joe Kopecky (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Thursday, 1 September 1932<br />
(The Punch Bowl) … Lon Chaney beat Farmer Grove (32:30, 2-1) ... Joe Gunther beat Bulldog Mallory (43:00, 2-0)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Jasper, AL: Friday, 2 September 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Joe Dillman vs Lon Chaney (2-1) ... Billy Londos vs Freddie Knichel (2-1, 3rd fall COR)<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 5 September 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... John Paul Jones beat (2-1) ... George Tragos beat Jack Hurley (2-1) ... Herman Hickman beat Wee Willie Davis (08:55) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 5 September 1932<br />
(Garrett
Park) … Bill Londos beat Dale Haddock (34:18, 2-0) … Scoggy Higgins
beat Fred Lassiter (25:31, 2-0) … Referees: Audrey Watkins
(preliminary), Bill Hoskins (main event)
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 5 September 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Joe Dillman beat Kid Lott (2-1) ... Freddie Knichel beat Joe Gunther (60:00, 1-0)<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 6 September 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Lon Chaney vs Kid Lott ... Billy Londos vs Fred Lassiter<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 7 September 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Freddie Knichel vs Roy Allen … Bulldog Mallory vs Billy Watson<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Wednesday, 7 September 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Gunther vs Dale Haddock ... Lon Chaney vs Scroggy Higgins<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 8 September 1932<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Bill Romanoff vs John Felix ... Blacksmith Pedigo vs Scotty Williams<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Jasper, AL: Friday, 9 September 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Scroggy Higgins beat Fred Lassiter (2-0) ... Joe Gunther beat Roy Allen (2-0)<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Friday, 9 September 1932<br />
(The Punch Bowl) ... Scotty Williams beat John Felix (21:25, 2-1) … Roy Banks beat John Mallory (DQ) ... Banks and Mallory subbed for Joe Dillman and Jack Hollenbeck ... Referee: Bill Hoskins<br />
<br />
After two years of legal wrangling, on September 12th, the General Gorgas Post No. 115 ran its first wrestling card at the City Auditorium. Chris Jordan, who was already promoting in Fairfield, Bessemer and Homewood, and providing talent to several other towns in Alabama, would promote the show.<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 12 September 1932<br />
Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Bob Wolfe beat Rough House Hagan (32:26, 2-1) ... Ken Hollis beat Chief Buffalo (52:11, 2-1) ... Freddie Knichel drew Joe Gunther (30:00)<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 12 September 1932<br />
(Garrett Park) … Joe Dillman beat Scoggy Higgins (28:34, 2-1) … Leo Donoghue beat Ray Banks (28:45, 2-0) … Referee: Roy Allen
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 12 September 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... John Felix beat World Junior Middleweight Champion Scotty Williams (25:00, 2-1) ... Joe Kopecky beat Lon Chaney (30:00, 2-0) ... Referee: Fred Lassiter ... Williams' title was not in play as Felix was 10 pounds over the middleweight limit.<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 13 September 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Blacksmith Pedigo vs Dale Haddock ... John Felix vs Ray Banks<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 14 September 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Scotty Williams vs Ray Banks … John Felix vs Dale Haddock<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 15 September 1932<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Leo Donoghue beat Scotty Williams ... Roughhouse Hagan drew Ken Hollis (30:00) ... Billy Love beat Tony Lyle (20:00, 2-0)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Jasper, AL: Friday, 16 September 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Speedball Wold beat Scroggy Higgins ... Bulldog Mallory beat Billy Londos (2-1)<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Friday, 16 September 1932<br />
(The Punch Bowl) ... Chief Buffalo beat Tony Lyle ... Buffalo and Lyle subbed for Kid Lott and Ken Hollis... Dale Haddock beat Roy Allen (2-1) ... This was the last show of the year for Huntsville. The Times reported in poor attendance after two straight shows of substitutions and lackluster matches.<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 19 September 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jim Londos beat John Paul Jones (52:20, 2-0) ... Ernie Dusek beat George Tragos (26:27, 2-1) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
That
was the last outdoor show as the American Legion had been working on an
arrangement to move the wrestling matches into the new Martin Arena,
which had been the American Cleaners laundry in a previous life. The
new arena was configured with 385 permanent seats with room for another
50-75 chairs when needed.
<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 19 September 1932<br />
(Martin
Arena) … (,-) … Freddie Knichel beat John Felix (44:30, 2-1) …
Referees: Aubrey Watkins (preliminary), Bill Hoskins (main event)
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 19 September 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Billy Love beat Bob (Speedball) Wolfe (2-1) ... Joe Gunther beat Dale Haddock (31:00, 2-0) ... Referee: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 20 September 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Chief Buffalo vs Tony Lyle ... Leo Donoghue vs Bulldog Mallory<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Wednesday, 21 September 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Ken Hollis vs Lon Chaney ... Freddie Knichel vs Tony Lyle<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 22 September 1932<br />
Attendance: 2000<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Leo Donoghue beat Blacksmith Pedigo (2-1) ... Ken Hollis beat Billy Love (2-0) ... Roughhouse Hagan beat Bob Steinsmith<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 23 September 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Joe Dillman beat Ken Hollis (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Freddie Knichel beat Bulldog Mallory (2-1)<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 26 September 1932<br />
Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Joe Dillman beat Bob Wolfe (35:10, 2-1) ... Ken Hollis drew Lon Chaney (60:00, 1-1) ... Freddie Knichel beat Roy Allen (12:58) ... Referee: Ernest Kelly<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 26 September 1932 <br />
(Martin
Arena) … Leo Donoghue beat Billy Londos (54:40, 2-1, 3rd fall DQ) … Eli
Lux beat Bill Hoskins (1-0, 13:59) … Referee: Bill Hoskins (main event)
… Fritz Crane failed to appear for his advertised match against with
Eli Lux and was suspended by the Alabama Boxing Commission
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 26 September 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Chief Buffalo beat Al Stecher (47:00, 2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Roughhouse Hagan beat John Felix (2-1) ... Referees: Al Stecher, Sam Steinsmith<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
The American Legion's James R. Crowe Post in Sheffield announced on September 27th that arrangements had been made for wrestling matches to be held under the promotion of Chris Jordan. The first bouts were scheduled for October 6th.<br />
<br />
"The James R. Crowe post has made arrangements for the use of the building formerly occupied by Maddox garage, First street and Columbia avenue, and seats are now being installed to handle a crowd of 1,200 or more persons, it is revealed."<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 27 September 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Gunther vs John Felix ... Tiger Kelly vs Fritz Crane<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 28 September 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Fritz Crane vs Chief Buffalo … Lon Chaney vs Tony Lyle<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Wednesday, 28 September 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Billy Love vs Jack Hagan ... Billy Londos vs Jackie Bobo<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 29 September 1932<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Al Stecher beat Eli Lux (27:00, 2-1) ... Chief Buffalo beat Lon Chaney (2-0) ... Referee: Max Scholder<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Jasper, AL: Friday, 30 September 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Chief Buffalo beat Billy Love (2-0) ... Joe Gunther beat Ben Wagner (2-1)<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 3 October 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Jim McMillen beat George Zaharias (51:22, 2-1) ... John Paul Jones drew George Tragos (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 3 October 1932<br />
(Martin
Arena) … Arena Dedication Night … Al Stecher beat Chief Buffalo (36:03,
2-1) … Freddie Knichel drew Joe Gunther (60:00: 1-1) … Referee: Bill
Hoskins
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 3 October 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Ken Hollis beat Joe Dillman (34:16, 2-1) ... World Junior Middleweight Champion Leo Donoghue drew Billy Londos (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Ernest Kelly<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 4 October 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Freddie Knichel vs Bob Steinsmith ... Ken Hollis vs Eli Lux<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Tuesday, 4 October 1932<br />
Promoter: Hargrove Van de Graaff<br />
(Maynor Field) … Al Stecher beat Rough House Hagen (29:00, 2-0) … Joe Gunther beat Billy Londos (29:45, 2-1) … <br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 5 October 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Roughhouse Hagan vs Lon Chaney … Bob Steinsmith vs Billy Londos<br />
<br />
Tarrant City, AL: Wednesday, 5 October 1932<br />
(Outdoor Arena) ... Bob Wolfe vs Ernest Kelly ... John Felix vs Bulldog Mallory<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 6 October 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Waino Ketonen beat Ken Hollis (2-0) ... Junior Middleweight Championship Match: Leo Donoghue (c) beat Bill Romanoff (41:00. 2-1)<br />
<br />
Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 6 October 1932<br />
Attendance: 1050<br />
(Legion Hall) ... Rough-House Hagan beat John Felix (51:00, 2-1) ... Joe Gunther beat Bulldog Mallory (36:00, 2-1) ... Boxing Match: The Gold Dust Twins ... Referees: Bill Hoskins (wrestling), Dewey Robbins (boxing, and timekeeper for the wrestling matches)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 7 October 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... John Felix beat Bob Steinsmith (2-0) ... Waino Ketonen beat Eli Lux (2-0)<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 10 October 1932<br />
Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Al Stecher beat Rex Mobley (2-1) ... Cullen Red (sub for Joe Dillman) beat Chief Buffalo (25:13, 2-1) ...<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 10 October 1932<br />
(Martin Arena) … Lon Chaney beat Eli Lux (31:52, 2-1) … Bill Romanoff beat Bob Steinsmith (28:00, 2-0) … Referee: Bill Hoskins
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 10 October 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... World Middleweight Champion Gus Kallio beat Freddie Knichel (42:00, 2-0) ... Ken Hollis beat Bob Wolfe (23:00, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 11 October 1932<br />
(Homewood Theater) ... Joe Gunther vs Billy Londos ... Bob Wolfe vs Lon Chaney<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Tuesday, 11 October 1932<br />
Promoter: Hargrove Van de Graaff<br />
(Maynor Field) … Waino Ketonen beat Leo Donoghue (14:30, 2-0) … Gus Kallio beat Bill Romanoff (26:00, 2-0)<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 13 October 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... World Middleweight Champion Gus Kallio beat John Felix (54:00, 2-1) ... Junior Middleweight Champion Leo Donoghue drew Joe Gunther (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<br />
Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 13 October 1932<br />
(Legion Hall) ... Freddie Knichel beat Rough-House Hagan (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Rex Mobley beat Bob Wolfe (2-0) ... Referee: Bill Hoskins<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 14 October 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Leo Donoghue vs Bulldog Mallory ... Al Stecher vs Ken Hollis<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 17 October 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Jim McMillen beat George Tragos (42:15, 2-0, 2nd fall forfeit) ... Pat O'Shocker drew Tony DeVito (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 17 October 1932<br />
(Martin
Arena) … Rex Mobley beat Tiger Kelley (28:49, 2-1) … Billy Londos drew
Freddie Knichel (60:00, 1-1) … Referee: Audrey Watkins
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 17 October 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Waino Ketonen beat Roughhouse Hagan (37:00, 2-0) ... Joe Gunther beat Hugo Pogi (60:00, 1-0) ... Referee: Bob Barry<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 18 October 1932<br />
(Homewood Theater) ... Gus Johnson vs Jack Hagan ... Lon Chaney vs Ernest Kelly<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Tuesday, 18 October 1932<br />
Promoter: Hargrove Van de Graaff<br />
(Maynor Field) … Eli Lux vs Rex Mobley (2 hour time limit, 2/3 falls) ... John Felix vs Freddie Knichel (1 hour time limit, 2/3 falls) … no results or cancellation found<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 19 October 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … John Felix vs Luis (Ugo?) Pogi … Gus Johnson vs Lon Chaney<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 20 October 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... World Middleweight Championship Match: Gus Kallio (c) beat Waino Ketonen () ... Freddie Knichel beat Jack Hagan (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Referee: Tom Berry<br />
<br />
Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 20 October 1932<br />
(Legion Hall) ... Al Stecher beat Eli Lux (29:00, 2-0) ... Rex Mobley beat Lon Chaney (37:00, 2-1) ... Referee: Bill Hoskins<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 24 October 1932<br />
Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Dutch Green beat Al Stecher (40:51, 2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Stanley Buersch beat Rex Mobley (45:55, 2-1) ... Referees: Kid Lott (main event), Ben Chapman (preliminary)<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 24 October 1932<br />
(Martin
Arena) … Waino Ketonen beat Lon Chaney (21:50, 2-0) … Joe Gunther beat
Ugo Pogi (49:00, 2-0) … Referees: Audrey Watkins (preliminary), Bill
Hoskins (main event)
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 24 October 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Joe Dillman beat Gus Johnson (2-0) ... John Felix drew Leo Donoghue (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Tuesday, 25 October 1932<br />
(Homewood Theater) ... Leo Donoghue vs Ugo Pogi ... Freddie Knichel vs Waino Ketonen<br />
<br />
Tuscaloosa, AL: Tuesday, 25 October 1932<br />
Promoter: Hargrove Van de Graaff<br />
(Maynor Field) … Gus Johnson beat Eli Lux (7:40, 2-0) … Stanley Buersch beat Cliff Edwards (21:00, 2-0)<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 26 October 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Joe Gunther vs Waino Ketonen … Freddie Knichel vs Billy Londos<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 27 October 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Junior Middleweight Champion Leo Donoghue beat Freddie Knichel (2-1, 3rd fall COR) ... Joe Dillman beat Jack Travis (27:06, 2-0)<br />
<br />
Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 27 October 1932<br />
(Legion Hall) ... Rex Mobley beat Mike Meroney (23:00, 2-1) ... Billy Londos drew Joe Gunther (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 28 October 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Al Stecher beat Jack Travis (2-0) ... Leo Donoghue beat Billy Londos (2-1)<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 31 October 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... John Paul Jones beat Tony DeVito (29:49, 2-1) ... Pat O'Shocker beat John Plummer (47:29, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 31 October 1932<br />
(Martin
Arena) … Rex Mobley beat Dutch Green (34:57, 2-1, 3rd fall DQ) … Leo
Donoghue beat Mack Sherry (34:25, 2-0) … Referee: Bill Hoskins
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 31 October 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Al Stecher beat Jack Travis (28:00, 2-1) ... Freddie Knichel drew Billy Londos (60:00, 0-0)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Tuscaloosa, AL: Tuesday, 1 November 1932<br />
Promoter: Hargrove Van de Graaff<br />
(Maynor Field) … Kid Lott beat Gus Johnson (sub for Al Stecher) (2-1) … Leo Donoghue beat John Felix (2-0, 2nd fall DQ) … This was the last wrestling show of the year, the promoters citing poor attendance<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 2 November 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Joe Dillman vs Ernest Kelly … Bulldog Mallory vs Ugo Pogi<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Wednesday, 2 November 1932<br />
(Homewood Theater) ... Kid Lott vs Rex Mobley ... John Felix vs Jack Sherry<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 3 November 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Junior Middleweight Champion Leo Donoghue beat Blacksmith Pedigo (sub for Gayle Byrd) (30:00, 2-0) ... Joe Gunther beat Ugo Pogi (60:00, 1-0) ... Billy Londos beat Bulldog Mallory (8:00)<br />
<br />
Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 3 November 1932<br />
(Legion Hall) ... Joe Dillman drew Kid Lott (60:00, 1-1) ... Stanley Buersch beat Bill Travis (sub for Cliff Davis) (2-0) ... Announcer: Max Levinson<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 4 November 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Joe Dillman vs Mike Meroney ... Blacksmith Pedigo vs Joe Gunther<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 7 November 1932<br />
Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Stanley Buersch beat Dutch Green (31:26, 2-0) ... Al Stecher beat Johnny Carlin (35:19, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 7 November 1932<br />
(Martin
Arena) … Lawrence County Night … Joe Dillman beat Mike Meroney (36:54,
2-1) … Joe Gunther drew Gayle Byrd (60:00, 1-1) … Referee: Audrey
Watkins … The crowd was entertained by Paul Puckett’s ‘Bama Darlyns
during intermissions<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 7 November 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Freddie Knichel beat Jack Sherry (sub for Blacksmith Pedigo) (31:00, 2-0) ... Ernest Kelly beat Rex Mobley (47:00, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 9 November 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Freddie Knichel vs Jack Sherry … Kid Lott vs Mike Meroney<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Wednesday, 9 November 1932<br />
(Homewood Theater) ... Gayle Byrd vs Charlie Harbo ... Jimmy Demos vs Jack Travis<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 10 November 1932<br />
(AOld Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Freddie Knichel beat Gayle Byrd (2-1) ... Rex Mobley beat Pete DeSalvo (2-0) ... Ernest Kelly beat Big Boy Taylor (8:00)<br />
<br />
Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 10 November 1932<br />
(Legion Hall) ... Billy Londos beat Ugo Pogi (41:30, 2-1) ... Johnny Carlin beat Dutch Green (33:00, 2-1) ... Referee: Bill Hoskins<br />
<br />
Jasper, AL: Friday, 11 November 1932<br />
(Jasper Theater) ... Tarzan the Ape Man vs Kid Lott ... Jimmie Dunn vs Freddie Knichel<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 14 November 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Dr. Ralph Wilson beat Abe Kashey (2-1) ... John Paul Jones beat John Katan (56:43, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 14 November 1932<br />
(Martin
Arena) … Rex Mobley beat Jimmy DeSalvo (21:40, 2-1) … Leo Donoghue beat
Billy Londos (31:35, 2-1) … Referee: Bill Alexander (preliminary), Bill
Hoskins (main event)
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 14 November 1932<br />
(Cramton Bowl) ... Joe Dillman beat Ernest Kelly (sub for Al Stecher) (2-1) ... Jimmy Dennis (sub for Buck Lawson) beat Hugo Pogi (36:00, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 16 November 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Leo Donoghue vs Gayle Byrd … Kid Lott vs Pete DeSalvo<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Wednesday, 16 November 1932<br />
(Homewood Theater) ... Buck Lawson vs Jack Sherry ... Rex Mobley vs Mike Meroney<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 17 November 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Joe Gunther drew Freddie Knichel (60:00, 1-1) ... Junior Middleweight Champion Leo Donoghue beat Buck Lawson (36:13, 2-0)<br />
<br />
Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 17 November 1932<br />
(Legion Hall) ... Gayle Byrd beat Jack Sherry (27:00, 2-0) ... Rex Mobley beat Dutch Green (sub for Johnny Carlin) (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Referee: Bill Hoskins<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 21 November 1932<br />
Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Joe Dillman beat AL Stecher (2-1) ... Rex Mobley drew Fritz Crane (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 21 November 1932<br />
(Martin
Arena) … Tarzan (George) Romanoff beat Buck Lawson (2-0) … Gayle Byrd
beat Mack Sherry (2-1) … Lawson substituted for the advertised Freddie
Knichel who was said to be “laid low with influenza”
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 21 November 1932<br />
(Maxwell Field) ... Mike Meroney beat Dutch Green (35:00, 2-1) ... Joe Gunther drew Jimmy Dennis (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<br />
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 23 November 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) … Billy Londos vs Lou Cherry … Charlie Harbo vs Ugo Pogi<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Wednesday, 23 November 1932<br />
(Homewood Theater) ... Freddie Knichel vs Billy Demos ... Olie Olson vs Mike Meroney<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 24 November 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Tarzan the Ape Man vs Dutch Green ... Billy Demos vs Gayle Byrd<br />
<br />
Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 24 November 1932<br />
(Legion Hall) ... Joe Gunther beat Billy Londos (35:30, 2-1) ... Jimmie DeSalvo beat Tiger Kelly (41:00, 2-1) ... DeSalvo and Kelly were subs for Joe Dillman and Al Stecher<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 28 November 1932<br />
(Martin
Arena) … Joe Dillman beat Rex Mobley (2-1) via knockout from a back
drop … Joe Gunther beat Jimmy Chanus (2-0) … Referee: Bill Hoskins
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 28 November 1932<br />
(Maxwell Field) ... Tarzan the Ape Man beat Buck Lawson (23:00, 2-0) ... Al Stecher beat Jimmy DeSalvo (2-1)<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Tueday, 29 November 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... George Zaharias beat Dr. Ralph Wilson (2-1) ... "Australian Rules Match" (Six 10-minute rounds): Pat O'Shocker drew Abe Kashey (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Bessemer, AL: Wednesday, 30 November 1932<br />
(1818 4th Avenue) …Billy Londos vs Lou Cherry … Ernest Kelly vs Jimmy DeSalvo<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 1 December 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Tarzan the Ape Man vs Gayle Byrd ... Finish Match: Freddie Knichel vs Joe Gunther<br />
<br />
Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 1 December 1932<br />
(Legion Hall) ... Jimmie Demos beat Buck Lawson (36:00, 2-1) ... Joe Dillman beat Dutch Green (20:00, 2-0) ... Referee: Jimmie DeSalvo ... Announcer: Max Levinson ... Timekeeper: D.R. Robbins<br />
<br />
Homewood, AL: Wednesday, 2 December 1932<br />
(Homewood Theater) ... Charity show to support the local Community Chest. This was to be a mixed boxing/wrestling show, but no card was announced and no results were found.<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 05 December 1932<br />
Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Joe Dillman beat Fritz Crane (2-1) ... Al Stecher beat Pancho Villa (45:00, 1-0) ... Yaqui Joe beat Dutch Green (17:05)<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 5 December 1932<br />
(Martin
Arena) … Joe Gunther beat Gayle Byrd (sub for Bobby Sampson) (42:45,
2-1) … Jack Hollenbeck beat Mike Meroney (29:55, 2-0) … Referee: Ernest
Kelley
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 5 December 1932<br />
(Maxwell Field) ... Tarzan the Ape Man beat Charlie Nichols (32:00, 2-1) ... Freddie Knichel drew Jimmy Demos (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 8 December 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Joe Dillman beat Tarzan the Ape Man (28:48, 2-1) ... Joe Gunther beat Billy Demos (60:00, 1-0)<br />
<br />
Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 8 December 1932<br />
(Legion Hall) ... Tiger Kelly beat Mike Meroney (29:00, 2-0) ... Freddie Knichel beat Billy Londos (2-1) ... Referee: Bob Kent ... Announcer: Max Levinson<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 12 December 1932<br />
(Martin Arena) …
Tarzan the Ape Man beat Dutch Green (2-1) … Charlie Nichols beat Tiger
Kelley (26:59, 2-1) … Referee: Bobby Kernichel (probably Bob Knichel)
<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 12 December 1932<br />
(Maxwell Field) ... Attendance: >1,000 ... Al Stecher beat Joe Dillman (34, 2-1) ... Freddie Knichel beat Joe Gunther (60:00, 1-0)<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Tuesday, 13 December 1932<br />
Promoter: Sam Siegel<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Dr. Ralph Wilson beat Tony DeVito (22:18, 2-1) ... Pat O'Shocker drew Al Baffert (60:00, 1-1)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 15 December 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Al Stecher vs Charlie Nichols ... Tarzan the Ape Man vs Mike Meroney<br />
<br />
Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 15 December 1932<br />
(Legion Hall) ... Joe Gunther beat Bull Smith (23:00, 2-0) ... Fritz Crane beat Tiger Kelly (27:00, 2-1) ... Referee: Bill Hoskins<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 19 December 1932<br />
Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
(City Auditorium) ... Joe Dillman beat Al Stecher (2-1, 3rd fall DQ) ... Stecher was fined $25 for punching the referee after being disqualified for punching Dillman ... Sammy Kohen beat Sammy Samson (2-1) ... Kid Lott drew Ernest Kelly (30:00) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 19 December 1932<br />
(Martin
Arena) … Freddie Knichel beat Joe Gunther (40:17, 2-1) … Dale Haddock
beat Bull Smith (42:25, 2-1) … Referee: Bob Knichel<br />
<br />
Montgomery, AL; Monday, 19 December 1932<br />
(Maxwell Field) ... Tarzan the Ape Man beat Dutch Green (58:58, 2-1) ... Billy Londos vs Jimmy Demos (25:00, no contest) ... The Londos/Demos match was halted by the promoters for being too boring. These last two appearances of "Tarzan" (George Romanoff) are slightly confusing, as he is referred to as "The Masked Marvel", even though he is said to be the same man from previous weeks, but they down play the "Tarzan" character.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 22 December 1932</div>
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Sammy Kohen beat Joe Gunther (2-1) ... Bobby Samson beat Freddie Knichel (60:00, 1-1))<br />
<br />
Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 22 December 1932<br />
(Legion Hall) ... Jimmie Demos beat Dale Haddock (27:30, 2-0) ... Al Stecher beat Dutch Green (44:00, 2-1, 3rd fall COR) ... Referee: Dewey Robbins ... Announcer: Roy T. Kelly<br />
<br />
Birmingham, AL: Monday, 26 December 1932<br />
Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
(City Auditorium) ... World Middleweight Championship: Gus Kallio (c) beat Sammy Kohen (50:51, 2-1) ... Pancho Villa beat Tarzan the Ape Man (27:03, 2-1) ... Kid Lott beat Dutch Green (20:20)<br />
<div>
<br />
Fairfield, AL: Thursday, 29 December 1932<br />
(Old Uneeda Laundry Bldg) ... Joe Dillman beat Pancho Villa (2-1) ... Sammy Kohen beat Billy Demos (sub for Bill Romanoff) (2-1) </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-88479117768688673552017-03-24T10:59:00.001-05:002017-05-05T09:59:41.347-05:00Early 1900s Pro Wrestling Weight Classes<br />
<u><b>About Weight Classes</b></u> <br />
In the 1900s-1910s, wrestling was divided up into five classes:<br />
<br />
featherweight (125 pounds)<br />
lightweight (135 pounds)<br />
welterweight (145 pounds)<br />
middleweight (158 pounds)<br />
heavyweight (anything above 158 pounds)<br />
<br />
As there was no governing body for the sport to officially recognize champions, it was not uncommon for several men to claim the same title across the country. While the regional champions were usually recognized within their limited geography by various athletic clubs, newspapers and the National Police Gazette (which was sort of a cross between Esquire, True Detective, Playboy and Sports Illustrated), when two title claimants met, the winner was typically recognized as the more definitive champion. The most accepted method for a claimant to be widely recognized was for him to simply arrange matches with all the other prominent claimants and defeat them decisively.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishCvu0ZpKm8xUkGzddGiJ4hfZ9_k308xTdD7hyphenhyphenfrM5c3GOuHC0M13QstmQVE5OcApdP1kWaGqxl7cRUzSLs8tgQsZJugyl9AKAnAQITTAVyNVf6c4NJ4uOcHnsnD7Ti7Ep095n2CfO18/s1600/1907-11-19_BostonJournal-ad.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishCvu0ZpKm8xUkGzddGiJ4hfZ9_k308xTdD7hyphenhyphenfrM5c3GOuHC0M13QstmQVE5OcApdP1kWaGqxl7cRUzSLs8tgQsZJugyl9AKAnAQITTAVyNVf6c4NJ4uOcHnsnD7Ti7Ep095n2CfO18/s320/1907-11-19_BostonJournal-ad.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
However, in order for the title to change hands, both contestants were expected to make the appropriate weight for the title in question. If a challenger could not make the 158 pounds to officially wrestle for the middleweight title, then even if he beat the champion, the title would not be at stake. When this occurred, the match was often said to be wrestled "at catch weights". An example of this was when Chris Jordan wrestled Eugene Tremblay in 1907. At the time, Tremblay was the recognized as the world lightweight champion, but when they met, Jordan outweighed Tremblay by 11 pounds so Jordan's victory did not qualify him for the lightweight title. Knowing that Jordan outweighed him, Tremblay didn't have to qualify at the 135 pound limit for this encounter, though there is nothing in the newspaper articles before or after the match to indicate whether or not he did.<br />
<br />
However, that never stopped newspaper writers or those advertising such an event as a "Championship Wrestling Bout" as was seen in this Columbia Theater ad in the <i>Boston Journal</i>. After all, the goal was to make money. In some cases this led to confusion as to who was legitimately the champion. More to follow...Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-28580301580605520372017-03-22T16:01:00.001-05:002017-03-27T10:27:47.129-05:00Wrestling in Sheffield, Alabama in 1933<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana"; font-size: small;">SHEFFIELD, ALABAMA 1933 (From the Florence Times)<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 05 January 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Jim Hesslyn beat George Harbin (2-1) ... Dale Haddock beat
Freddie Knichel (48:00, 2-0) ... 3-Round Boxing Match: Buster Cox vs
Putman Tilson<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 12 January 1933<br />(Legion Hall) ... Jim Hesslyn beat Joe Dillman (2-1) via dq ... Dale Haddock drew Joe Gunther (60:00) ... Referee: Ernest Kelly<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 19 January 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Tiger Kelly beat George Harben (2-1) ... Tarzan the Ape Man
drew Kid Lott (60:00, 1-1) ... all proceeds from the show went to
Associated Charities of Sheffield ... Tarzan and Kid Lott substituted
for Joe Gunther (who had injured his foot earlier in the week) and Jack
Sherry<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 26 January 1933<br />(Legion Hall)
... Tiger Kelly beat Eddie Pope (2-1) ... Jimmie Demos beat Walter
Miller (15:00, 2-1) ... Miller substituted for Al Santell<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 02 February 1933<br />(Legion Hall) ... Tarzan the Ape Man beat Eddie Pope (2-1) ... Kid Lott beat Dutch Green (37:00, 2-0)<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 09 February 1933<br />(Legion Hall) ... Eddie Elzea vs Joe Dillman ... Jimmie Demis vs Joe Turner<br /><br />The microfilm archives of The Florence Times are missing issues from 8-22 February 1933.<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 23 February 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Tarzan the Ape Man beat Pete Seajack (22:00, 2-0) ... Jack
Sherry beat Joe Turner (2-1) ... Tarzan voluntarily unmasked, but did
not announce his name ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded the
wrestling matches ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 02 March 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Stanley Buersch beat Tiger Kelly (41:00, 2-1) ... Jimmie
Demos beat Sammy Miller (32:30, 2-1) ... The "Gold Dust Twins" were
scheduled to open the show with a boxing match, but forgot their gloves,
so they wrestled instead ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 09 March 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Joe Dillman beat George Harben (2-0) ... Cowboy Boland beat
Jack Sherry (2-1) ... The Gold Dust Twins remembered their gloves and
boxed before the wrestling started<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 16 March 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Kid Lott beat Joe Dillman (43:50, 2-1) ... George Romanoff
beat Rough House Hagen (40:00, 2-1) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match
preceded the wrestling matches ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 23 March 1933<br />(Legion Hall) ... Jim Hesslyn beat George Harben (2-0) ... Eddie Elzea beat Dr. Fredericks (2-1) ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 30 March 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... George Romanoff beat Eddie Elzea (2-1) ... Freddie Lassiter
beat Jacques Moreau (23:00, 2-0) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match
preceded the wrestling matches ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 06 April 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Tiger Kelly beat Jim Hesslyn (2-1) ... Rough House Hagen drew
Roy Allen (60:00, 1-1) via time-limit draw ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 13 April 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Al Stecher beat Tiger Kelly (2-1) ... Roy Allen beat Jacques
Moreau (2-1) via dq ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded the
wrestling matches ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 20 April 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Al Stecher beat Rough House Hagen (2-1)... Kid Lott beat
Freddie Lassiter (2-1) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded the
wrestling matches ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 27 April 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Tiger Kelly beat Lon Chaney (2-0) ... Pete Demetroff beat Roy
Allen (25:00, 2-0) ... Tiger Kelly substituted for Joe Dillman, who was
injured in a match in Jasper earlier in the week ... A 3-round amateur
boxing match preceded the wrestling matches ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 04 May 1933<br />(Legion Hall) ... Rained out ... scheduled card was Ernest Kelly vs Cliff McLeod ... Pete Demetroff vs Henry Clausen<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 11 May 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Rained out second consecutive week ... scheduled card was
Francis Journee vs Cliff McLeod ... Rough House Hagen vs Pete Demetroff<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 18 May 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Stanley Buersch beat Kid Lott (2-1) ... Charlie Cure drew
Tiger Kelly (60:00, 1-1) via time-limit draw ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 25 May 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Al Stecher beat George Harben (2-1) ... Ripper Reeves beat
Lon Chaney (2-0) via dq ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded the
wrestling matches ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 01 June 1933<br />(Legion Hall) ... Stanley Buersch beat Charlie Cure (2-1) ... Ripper Reeves beat Hunter O'Neal (2-0) ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 08 June 1933<br />(Legion Hall) ... Stenley Buersch beat Hans Wagner (2-1) ... Tiger Kelly beat Charlie Cure<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 15 June 1933<br />(Legion Hall) ... Joe Dillman vs Ripper Reeves ... Charlie Cure vs Stanley West<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 22 June 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Stanley Buersch beat Joe Dillman (2-1) ... Kid Lott beat Hans
Wagner (29:30, 2-1) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded the
wrestling matches ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 29 June 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Kid Lott beat Ripper Reeves ... Walter Roxy beat Freddie
Knichel ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded the wrestling
matches ... Referee: Dewey Robbins<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 06 July 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Joe Dillman beat Kid Lott ... Walter Roxy beat Bulldog
Mallory ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded the wrestling
matches ... Referee: Jack Freeman<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 13 July 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Tuffy Cleet beat Fritz Crane (2-1) ... Vic Weber beat Al
Westergard (26:00, 2-1) ... Referee: Ernest (Tiger) Kelly<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 20 July 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Tuffy Cleet beat Walter Miller (27:00, 2-1) ... Pete
Demetroff beat Mike London (2-0) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match
preceded the wrestling matches ... Referee: Bulldog Mallory<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 27 July 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Frank Buersch beat Gus Pappas (21:00, 2-1) ... Pete Demetroff
beat Bulldog Mallory (2-1) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded
the wrestling matches ... Referee: Tuffy Cleet<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 03 August 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Tuffy Cleet beat Pete Ramos (2-1) .. Bulldog Mallory drew
Dale Haddock (60:00, 1-1) via time-limit draw ... Referees: Tuffy Cleet
(preliminary), Bulldog Mallory (main event)<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 10 August 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Tuffy Cleet beat Joe Dillman (2-1) ... Bulldog Mallory beat
Jimmy Shaber (2-1) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded the
wrestling matches ... Referee: Mike London<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 17 August 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Dale Haddock beat Henry Kollen (2-1) ... Walter Miller beat
Gus Pappas (40:00, 2-1) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded the
wrestling matches<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 24 August 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Joe Dillman beat Tommie Galbos (2-1) ... Pete Demetroff beat
Eddie Baker (2-1) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded the
wrestling matches ... Referee: Jimmy Murphy<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 31 August 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Ernest (Tiger) Kelly beat Jack Purdin (2-1) via countout ...
Dale Haddock beat Jimmy Murphy (2-0) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match
prece<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana";">d</span>ed the wrestling matches ... Referee: Strong<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Monday, 02 September 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Joe Dillman beat Blacksmith Pedigo (29:00, 2-0) ... John
Felix beat Bill Hoskins (17:00) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match
preceded the wrestling matches ... Referee: Dillman officiated the
preliminary while Hoskins and Felix shared referee duties in the main
event. Tuffy Cleet was reportedly injured in an automobile accident and
unable to work, resulting in the shuffled card.<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 07 September 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Tom Galbos beat Tiger Kelly (20:30, 2-1) ... Blacksmith
Pedigo beat Vic Weber (32:00, 2-1) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match
preceded the wrestling matches ... Weber's loss was purportedly his
first in 19 matches in the South<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 14 September 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Tiger Kelly beat Mickey McGuire (2-1) ... Pete Demetroff beat
Al Thompson (29:00, 2-1) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded
the wrestling matches ... Referee: Farmer Vance<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 21 September 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Roughhouse Sam Nelson beat Joe Dillman (2-1) ... Jimmy Murphy
beat Gorilla Tucker (2-1) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded
the wrestling matches<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 28 September 1933<br />(Legion Hall) ... Tuffy Cleet beat Walter Logan (26:00, 2-1) ... Lon Chaney beat Ace Judkins (35:00, 2-1)<br /><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 05 October 1933<br />(Legion
Hall) ... Tuffy Cleet beat Tiger Kelly (33:00, 2-1) ... Stanley Vance
beat Gorilla Tucker (22:00, 2-0) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match
preceded the wrestling matches</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana"; font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana"; font-size: small;"><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 12 October 1933<br />(Legion Hall) ... Jack Spurgin beat Tuffy Cleet (12:00, 2-0) ... Gus Pappas drew Eddie Baker (60:00, 1-1) ... A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded the wrestling matches</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana"; font-size: small;">Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana";">9</span> October 1933<br />(Legion Hall) ... Jack Spurgin beat <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana";">Rough House Sam Nelson (30:00, 2-1)</span> via disqualification ... Lon Chaney beat Eddie Baker (26:50, 2-1) <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana";">... </span>A 3-round amateur boxing match preceded the wrestling matches ... Referee: Bob Knichel </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana"; font-size: small;"><br />Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 26 October 1933<br />(Legion Hall) ... Jack Spurgin beat John Fulton (25:00, 2-0) ... Joe Shimkus beat Floyd Tuck (2-0) ... (amateur match) Bobo Rand beat Mule Taylor (15:00, 1-0) ... Referee: John Fulton (preliminary), Hallon Box (amateur match) </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana"; font-size: small;">Sheffield, AL: Thursday, 02 November 1933<br />(Legion Hall) ... Al Stecher beat Jack Spurgin (2-1) ... Pat McCarthy beat Tuffy Cleet (60:00, 1-0) ... Referee: Gus Pappas<br /> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana"; font-size: small;">I have to get back to Florence to get the rest of the year as Google News Archive doesn't have <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana";">Nov</span>-Dec 1933 online.</span>Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-82940274585971252952017-03-09T14:07:00.001-06:002017-10-31T14:21:34.341-05:00[In-Progress] Pro Wrestling Profile: Chris Jordan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgswBptMbZB3HgFqKv4r0BATighyhFojc9D3OU7e-UCLu1ksCzXcIzgBGB0YXSUTGsYJrvWJEMV7pXc06mL7BEwqinFAol5pMBO7y3XDCWu1I-vh2ltHgykigMW5unNH0gBqqa2a2hxElk/s1600/youngChrisJordan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgswBptMbZB3HgFqKv4r0BATighyhFojc9D3OU7e-UCLu1ksCzXcIzgBGB0YXSUTGsYJrvWJEMV7pXc06mL7BEwqinFAol5pMBO7y3XDCWu1I-vh2ltHgykigMW5unNH0gBqqa2a2hxElk/s200/youngChrisJordan.JPG" width="129" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYPzI3O_OvtwWT1qseDNaEB-gch4JqnRDd4eWzlq23V7c14HyqdYq1fMQ7k5KJUTesGQ_dRkTNE0xqvXSrWsu5KPRm7SWtpBm998FUJU-vltP5N4VWTs56BHUUKZwCDWSyKhUw0rVY_lU/s1600/1918-03-19_CorsicanaSemi-WeeklyLight-ChrisJordan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYPzI3O_OvtwWT1qseDNaEB-gch4JqnRDd4eWzlq23V7c14HyqdYq1fMQ7k5KJUTesGQ_dRkTNE0xqvXSrWsu5KPRm7SWtpBm998FUJU-vltP5N4VWTs56BHUUKZwCDWSyKhUw0rVY_lU/s200/1918-03-19_CorsicanaSemi-WeeklyLight-ChrisJordan.JPG" width="163" /></a>
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<br />
Real Name: Christope Gregory Jordan (according to his death certificate and obituary) or Christopher Gregory Jordan (according to his headstone)<br />
<br />
Nicknames/Aliases: Young Prokos<br />
<br />
<br />
Birth: 17 January 1886, Constantinople, Turkey <span style="font-size: x-small;">(his gravestone incorrectly shows 1896)</span><br />
<br />
Death: 18 April 1940, Fairfield Heights, Jefferson County, Alabama<br />
<br />
<a href="https://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=176548844" target="_blank">Chris Jordan @ FindAGrave.com</a> <br />
<br />
Earliest appearance (so far): 27 December 1906, vs. Joe Hantorhas at the Columbia Theater, Boston Massachusetts. Billed as "Christie Jordan" on a card with James Prokos vs Wilfred Barrett.<br />
<br />
Latest appearance (so far): 29 June 1931 at Broad Ripple Pool Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana<br />
<br />
All of the following is based purely on information from newspaper articles spanning Jordan's career, and as such, all of it should be taken with a grain of salt, down to his name.<br />
<br />
According to multiple newspaper accounts, Chris Jordan was born
in Turkey, to Greek parents, and it was always his Greekness that was played up by promoters and sports writers. Sources conflict on when Chris first took an interest in wrestling. One write-up says he was a wrestler in Turkey and when old enough to be faced with the choice between having to go to university or get a job, Chris chose wrestling and left Turkey for America. Another article suggests his first experience wrestling was after arriving in the U.S. and after being taken to watch a wrestling show in Boston, he was encouraged to take a stab at the sport due to his size, quickness and strength.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWk906b9LhpjRgghmu2tT8uRI8dIUqvbTnj-k1pX_TmzZx0t9sLZ5U-eKVrxwu-gcxwkWmMR_GlGvM9gyFjOUVC8e7scW3-KtYmm3En2bB28H64I-L7QFoELvqX7JDcg_rmUjYTLUYCg/s1600/1909-10-13_BostonHerald.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWk906b9LhpjRgghmu2tT8uRI8dIUqvbTnj-k1pX_TmzZx0t9sLZ5U-eKVrxwu-gcxwkWmMR_GlGvM9gyFjOUVC8e7scW3-KtYmm3En2bB28H64I-L7QFoELvqX7JDcg_rmUjYTLUYCg/s200/1909-10-13_BostonHerald.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
In either case, after crossing Europe, he arrived in America in mid-1906 and settled
in the Boston area. After being denied entry into the U.S. Navy, Chris took jobs in a shoe factory and with an electric company. Jordan didn't initially take to the catch-as-catch-can style of the sport, his first match (reportedly with Peter James), leaving him exhausted and sore after 30 minutes, he gave it another try a few months later, under the name "Young Prokos". It was common practice at the time for new wrestlers to enter the sport using the name of a more prominent wrestler and simply prefacing it with "Young". In Jordan's case, he was borrowing the moniker of James Prokos, a well-known light heavyweight of the time. Once Chris Jordan was well established, his own brother, Steve, would wrestle for several years as "Young Jordan".By all accounts, his brother
only wrestled for a few years and left the sport. <br />
<br />
Jordan quickly began establishing a reputation in the greater Boston area as a serious welterweight grappler. After effectively throwing everyone in his weight class in the area, he headed west, settling in Pittsburgh for the better part of 1909-1910.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
From there he would move on to Cleveland, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Lincoln, El Paso.<br />
<br />
<br />
Jordan's promotional career seems to have begun in the late 1920s, as he was wrestling and promoting shows in Macon, Georgia, in 1929. Prior to his final southern migration, he promoted shows in Evansville, Indiana in early 1931.<br />
<br />
By 1931, Chris had settled in Jasper, Alabama. In 1932, the American Legion fired their current light heavyweight wrestling promoter, and Jordan was drafted into the role. He quickly established and expanded the light heavyweight circuit around Birmingham, promoting regular shows in Fairfield (where he ultimately settled), Homewood, Tarrant and Bessemer, with spot shows in Leeds. By the end of 1932, he was making forays into larger towns like Tuscaloosa and Anniston, acting as the central booking office for light heavyweight talent across Alabama. From middle Alabama, he expanded to south to Montgomery, Dothan and Mobile, and northward into Florence, Sheffield, Decatur and Huntsville.<br />
<br />
In 1938-39, Jordan became ill, and began grooming Joe Gunther to help out on the promotion side. By late 1939, he was incapacitated to the point of being forced to retire from promoting and hand the whole enterprise off to Gunther, and in April of 1940, Chris Jordan died at his home in Fairfield Heights, Alabama. According to his death certificate, he died of heart failure due to rheumatic heart disease and mitral stenosis, so apparently due to damage caused by rheumatic fever.<br />
<br />Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-37081543875066540792017-02-28T10:53:00.001-06:002019-10-05T18:56:09.144-05:00Wrestling in Decatur, Alabama in 1933Decatur, ALABAMA 1933 (From the Decatur Daily)<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 02 January 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Tarzan the Ape Man (George Romanoff) beat Joe Gunther (2-1) ... George Harbin beat Tiger (Ernest) Kelly (2-1) ... Referee: Bob Knichel<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 09 January 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Dale Haddock beat Freddie Knichel (34:45, 2-1) ... Dutch Green beat Al Sentel (37:40, 2-1) ... Referee: Bob Knichel ... Promoter: Chris Jordan ... Al Sentel substituted for the advertised Jimmy Demos<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL: Monday, 16 January 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Tarzan the Ape Man (George Romanoff) beat Dutch Green (23:25, 2-1) ... Jimmy Demos beat Jack Sherry (25:05, 2-0) ... Referee: Fred Demeritte ... Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
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Decatur. AL, Monday, 23 January 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Joe Dillman beat Tiger Kelly (33:30, 2-1) ... Dutch Green beat Jimmy Demos (23:00, 2-0) ... Referee: Fred Demeritte<br />
<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Monday, 30 January 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Jim Hesslyn beat George Harbin (49:31, 2-1) ... Joe Turner beat Bill Watson (20:00, 2-0) ... Referees: Audrey Watkins (opener), Joe Turner (main event) ... Turner and Watson substituted for the advertised Ambrose Cole and Walter Miller<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Monday, 06 February 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Tiger Kelly beat Kid Lott (36:25, 2-1) ... Jimmy Demis beat Roy Allen (2-1)<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Monday, 13 February 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Jim Hesslyn beat Eddie Elzea (2-1) ... Kid Lott beat Pete Seajack (2-0) ... Referees: Fred Demeritte (opener), Kid Lott (main event) ... Promoter: Chris Jordan ... Kid Lott substituted for the advertised Tarzan the Ape Man (George Romanoff)<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Monday, 20 February 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Joe Dillman beat George Harbin (36:10, 2-1) ... Sammy Miller beat Dutch Green (33:45, 2-1) ... Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Monday, 27 February 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Tarzan the Ape Man beat Fred Lassiter (23:15, 2-1) ... Eddie Pope drew Rough House Hagen (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Audrey Watkins<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Monday, 05 March 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... The advertised match was called off citing the "banking holiday". This was in reference to President Franklin Roosevelt's announcement of a four-day banking holiday to keep banks closed until Congress could pass what would be the Emergency Banking Act, stabilizing the nation's banks following a cascading series of runs on banks by account holders.<br />
<br />
The Decatur Daily reported on March 9th that the American Legion, at the suggestion of Chris Jordan, were considering moving their shows from Monday nights to Tuesday nights. According to Jordan, there were already shows in Birmingham and Montgomery on Mondays and in Mobile on Fridays, so moving Decatur's show to Tuesday would allow for better access to talent. At the same time, Sheffield was running on Thursdays and Gadsden was also running on Fridays.<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 14 March 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... George Harbin beat Eddie Elzea (49:30, 2-1) ... Eddie Pope beat Cowboy Bill Roland (20:55, 2-0) ... Referee: Audrey Watkins ... Promoter: Chris Jordan ... Roland substituted for the advertised Jimmy Demos.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93Jsu-1n6Qa8fxkMItN5Ch8r_MJvEM79msUulxAL5SfU_5_GY4BkJvyhJ_dnmnlGjFej_AAurbnzw_hIvRb3Y_wz2J4-dti9FfteRl1HKhpcPwZYhlK9aW7yr-BLfACW5IwKcClv-cCI/s1600/1933-03-22_DecaturDaily-headline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93Jsu-1n6Qa8fxkMItN5Ch8r_MJvEM79msUulxAL5SfU_5_GY4BkJvyhJ_dnmnlGjFej_AAurbnzw_hIvRb3Y_wz2J4-dti9FfteRl1HKhpcPwZYhlK9aW7yr-BLfACW5IwKcClv-cCI/s200/1933-03-22_DecaturDaily-headline.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 21 March 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Tarzan the Ape Man (George Romanoff) beat Lon Chaney (2-1) via dq when Chaney threw a spectator's Coca-Cola into Tarzan's eyes ... Roughhouse Hagen beat Roy Allen (47:50, 2-1) ... Referee: Audrey Watkins ... Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 28 March 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Eddie Pope beat Fred Lassiter (2-1) ... Jacques Moreau beat Roughhouse Hagen (31:55, 2-0) via dq ... Referee: Audrey Watkins ... Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 04 April 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Tiger Kelly beat Lon Chaney (58:26, 2-1) ... Tarzan the Ape Man (George Romanoff) beat Jim Mellen (25:55, 2-0) ... Referee: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 11 April 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Al Stecher beat Tarzan the Ape Man (George Romanoff) (21:45, 2-1) ... Lon Chaney beat Roughhouse Hagen (30:30, 2-1) ... Referee: Bill Hoskins ... Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 18 April 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Al Stecher beat Lon Chaney (27:00, 2-1) ... Jacques Moreau beat Roy Allen (26:50, 2-1) ... Referees: Audrey Watkins (main event), Fred Demeritte (preliminary) ... Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 25 April 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Al Stecher beat Lon Chaney (34:05, 2-1) ... Tarzan the Ape Man beat Sammy Miller (19:10, 2-0) ... Referee: Kid Lott<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 02 May 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Tom Galbos beat Kid Lott (29:00, 2-1) ... Ernest Kelly beat Cliff McLeod (33:10, 2-1) via dq ... Referee: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 09 May 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Pat Corrigan beat Lon Chaney (33:20, 2-1) ... Tom Galbos beat Charley Cure (25:25, 2-1) ... Referee: Pat Corrigan (preliminary), Charley Cure (main event) ... Lon Chaney substituted for the advertised Joe Dillman<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0OeCGDcua2GVK8mXjZ9RlRnEj8JNEaC81AxvCGkQ-w5zE-LU9SkXn9qQ9Jk36dM4iFoitAfC5x96r1PyeJ_q6umidf7AjXxqvOSc1TBrx83WsKa5clD2MHhQHbjCx1wn4ciFzsCJQAP8/s1600/1933-05-16_DecaturDaily-ad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0OeCGDcua2GVK8mXjZ9RlRnEj8JNEaC81AxvCGkQ-w5zE-LU9SkXn9qQ9Jk36dM4iFoitAfC5x96r1PyeJ_q6umidf7AjXxqvOSc1TBrx83WsKa5clD2MHhQHbjCx1wn4ciFzsCJQAP8/s320/1933-05-16_DecaturDaily-ad.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 16 May 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Stanley Buresh beat Cliff McLeod (23:25, 2-0) ... Kid Lott beat Lon Chaney (46:35, 2-1) ... Referee: Tom Galbos<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 23 May 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Stanley Buresh beat Alex Reeves (35:50, 2-1) ... Roughhouse Hagen beat Sam Bowen (30:35, 2-1) ... Referee: Bulldog Mallory<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 30 May 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Stanley Buresh beat Tarzan the Ape Man (George Romanoff) (25:30, 2-1) ... Buc Lawson beat Bulldog Mallory (31:40, 2-1) via dq ... Amateur bout: Harry Lawber drew Hilyer Laymon (10:00) via tld ... Referee: Audrey Watkins<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 06 June 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Tiger Kelly beat Al Stecher (2-1) ... Freddie Knichel beat Bulldog Mallory (27:13, 2-1) ... Referee: Alex Reeves<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 13 June 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Tiger Kelly beat Stanley West (37:05, 2-1) via dq ... Freddie Knichel beat Joe Turner (13:45, 2-0) ... Referee: Hans Wagner ... Stanley West substituted for the advertised Has Wagner in the main event, Wagner having been injured in Birmingham the previous night<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 20 June 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Stanley Buresh beat Tuffy Cleet (32:50, 2-1) via dq ... Stanley West beat Alex Reeves (27:55, 2-1) ... Referee: Murray Smith<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 27 June 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Joe Dillman beat Hans Wagner (21:25, 2-0) ... Kid Lott beat Tuffy Cleet (34:25, 2-1) via dq ... Referee: Murray Smith<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 04 July 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Kid Lott beat Bob Jackson (19:10, 2-1) ... Stanley Buresh beat Walter Roxy (33:40, 2-1) ... Amateur Match: Harry Lawber drew Hilyer Laymon (10:00) ... Amateur Match: Henry Knoblock drew Jim Bob Fowler (05:00) ... Referee: Bill Hoskins<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 11 July 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Stanley Buersh beat Al Westergard (38:40, 2-1) ... Ernest Kelly beat Fritz Crane (27:35, 2-1) ... Amateur Match: Jim Bob Fowler beat Henry Knoblock ... Referee: Mike London<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 18 July 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Frank Buresh beat Gus Pappas (19:35, 2-1) ... Harry Kolln drew Vic Weber (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir2Sbty-HAy81Ym9-yWDYu-6vR53GAFfpuzAxDBGEzS-2UgpRXOlgl2isiw6QVilg_q4s9I135VV2rF1TwiberLnkCpZ4Z-eyj6fJeAoL5uFBLBcaZqLHLcH3OybRfIRBZqbaMcLaKW8s/s1600/1933-07-21_DecaturDaily-headline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir2Sbty-HAy81Ym9-yWDYu-6vR53GAFfpuzAxDBGEzS-2UgpRXOlgl2isiw6QVilg_q4s9I135VV2rF1TwiberLnkCpZ4Z-eyj6fJeAoL5uFBLBcaZqLHLcH3OybRfIRBZqbaMcLaKW8s/s200/1933-07-21_DecaturDaily-headline.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 25 July 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Joe Dillman beat Walter Miller (25:30, 2-1) ... Al Westergard beat Pete Demetroff (2-1) ... Referee: Tuffy Cleet ... Demetroff substituted for the advertised Pete Ramos<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 01 August 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Joe Dillman beat Tuffy Cleet (17:40, 2-1) ... Dale Haddock beat Pete Demetroff (45:25, 2-1) ... Referee: Frank Buresh ... Haddock and Demetroff substituted for the advertised Stanley West and Tuffy Cleet preliminary. Cleet was moved to the main event and Buresh, originally scheduled to meet Dillman, took on referee duties<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 08 August 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Frank Buresh beat Joe Dillman (2-1) ... Mike London beat Dale Haddock (27:20, 2-1) via dq ... Referee: Bulldog Mallory<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 15 August 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Jim Hesslyn beat Tiger Kelly (48:15, 2-1) ... Vic Weber beat Eddie Baker (2-0) ... Referee: Audrey Watkins<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcs5O6X6Cm2o3dEuOA6e1GG_gPPO-69clvdtKusb5GyORk8URy3ZIK0yZpKVD0OjHDwIF5eRV7pwxqN3ZckwCP5U4pDNQsysXl4F-_wHbLiReXGD_KhzeBCoHViQ2at_oEJl3w_1gSkBg/s1600/1933-08-18_DecaturDaily-TomGalbos.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcs5O6X6Cm2o3dEuOA6e1GG_gPPO-69clvdtKusb5GyORk8URy3ZIK0yZpKVD0OjHDwIF5eRV7pwxqN3ZckwCP5U4pDNQsysXl4F-_wHbLiReXGD_KhzeBCoHViQ2at_oEJl3w_1gSkBg/s400/1933-08-18_DecaturDaily-TomGalbos.JPG" width="162" /></a></div>
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 22 August 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Tom Galbos beat Jim Hesslyn (2-1) via dq ... Vic Weber drew Dale Haddock (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Jack Purdin<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 29 August 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Tiger Kelly beat Tuffy Cleet (2-1) ... John Felix beat Vic Weber (22:50, 2-1) ... Referee: Murphy of Dallas, Texas<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 05 September 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Lon Chaney beat Pete Demetroff (32:15, 2-0) ... Blacksmith Pedigo beat Mike London (33:25, 2-1) ... Referee: Dale Haddock<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 12 September 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Freddie Knichel beat Blacksmith Pedigo (23:50, 2-1) ... Tom Galbos beat Walter Miller (27:35, 2-1) ... Referee: Audrey Watkins<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 19 September 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Walter Miller beat Ernest Kelly (18:55, 2-1) ... Juan Cortez beat Farmer Vance (26:50, 2-1) ... Referee: Stanley Hackney ... Walter Miller substituted for the advertised Ernest Zellers<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 26 September 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Stanley Hackney beat Walter Miller (33:00, 2-0) ... Freddie Knichel beat Mike London (23:15, 2-1) ... Referee: Audrey Watkins<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 03 October 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Frank Buresh beat Pat McGee (31:45, 2-1) ... John Felix beat Gorilla Tucker (36:55, 2-1) ... Referee: Farmer Vance ... Pat McGee substituted for the advertised Tiger Kelly, Gorilla Tucker substituted for the advertised Freddie Knichel<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 10 October 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Stanley Buresh beat Gus Pappas (13:55, 2-0) via dq ... Jack Purdin beat John Fulton (2-1) ... Referee: Audrey Watkins<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 17 October 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Tuffy Cleet beat Lon Chaney (56:10, 2-1) ... Freddie Knichel beat Eddie Baker (2-0) ... Referee: Bob Knichel (no relation to Freddie)<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 24 October 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Frank Buresh beat Tuffy Cleet (23:55, 2-1) ... Dude Chick beat Rex Mobley (37:55, 2-1) ... Referee: Bob Knichel<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj94V8AcSwSU7jgzkZhLikbRSTCK0z6IWEbUTmPHPYoaVgk6OZTsCii2Lo0BNKZiceCFqrdhVrqAk8Jw9_dNJJ6PowOUgxjX40z1xo4Z1PnV2UtccUHV1sqwW1D9XEGBBWsEh0sgJw3ZyU/s1600/JackReynolds.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj94V8AcSwSU7jgzkZhLikbRSTCK0z6IWEbUTmPHPYoaVgk6OZTsCii2Lo0BNKZiceCFqrdhVrqAk8Jw9_dNJJ6PowOUgxjX40z1xo4Z1PnV2UtccUHV1sqwW1D9XEGBBWsEh0sgJw3ZyU/s1600/JackReynolds.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack Reynolds</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 31 October 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... World Welterweight Champion Jack Reynolds beat Freddie Knichel (13:45, 1-0) ... Knichel was unable to continue due to a leg injury ... Pat McKee beat Stanley Hackney (24:20, 2-1) ... Referee: Gus Pappas<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 07 November 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Red Lyons beat Tuffy Cleet (29:50, 2-1) ... Pat O'Brien beat Walter Logan (28:00, 2-0) ... Referee: Gus Pappas ... Pat O'Brien substituted for the advertised Pat McKee<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 14 November 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Red Lyons beat World Light Heavyweight Champion Hugh Nichols (11:55, 2-1) ... The title was not on the line as both wrestlers were announced as being over the 175lbs weight limit for the light heavyweight class ... Pat O'Brien beat Joe Parelli (31:15, 2-1) via dq ... Referee: George LaMarr<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 21 November 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Pat O'Brien beat Frank Malcewicz (44:50, 2-1) ... George LaMarr beat George Ligosky (19:40, 2-0) ... Referee: Coy Martin ... Attendance: 300 ... Frank Malcewicz substituted for the advertised Jack Spurgin<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 28 November 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Joe Shimkus beat Sam Nelson (31:40, 2-1) ... Floyd Tuck beat Jack Delane (26:50, 2-1) via dq ... Referee: Sam Nelson (preliminary), Jack Delane (main event) ... Tuck and Delane substituted for the advertised Pat O'Brien and George LaMarr<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 05 December 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Joe Shimkus beat Jack Spurgin (2-1) ... Walter Logan beat Basanta Singh (14:45, 2-0) ... Referee: Floyd Tuck ... Basanta Singh substituted for the advertised Red Lyons and the card was rearranged.<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 12 December 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Joe Shimkus beat Tony Catalina (43:05, 2-1) ... Pat Murphy beat Walter Logan (24:51, 2-0) ... Referee: Floyd Tuck<br />
<br />
Decatur. AL, Tuesday, 19 December 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Joe Shimkus beat Ernest Kelly (35:35, 2-1) ... Joe Dillman beat Jack Purdin (34:39, 2-1) ... Referee: Coy Martin<br />
<br />
Decatur, AL, Tuesday, 26 December 1933<br />
(Martin Arena) ... Tony Catalina vs Jack Spurgin ... Flying Dutchman vs Jim Lolas ... no results foundJason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-9005642665923100502017-02-08T23:24:00.001-06:002022-08-20T07:13:23.130-05:00[In-Progress] Pro Wrestling Profile: Joe Dillman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwXKNYY7VpK4v7O2ObSXspK6-DbbHuKSP7XU3lCrKVIibiPIOf3dQKgqpuogfDR4IB1FMa4Z-Yxs8f91dbyopm0kUwnciAGNKg6szjdANjQq0atB-F6NIcg0TY3AbyWOcrg6KmQMQlSr0/s1600/1932-04-27_TuscaloosaNews-Dillman-photo.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwXKNYY7VpK4v7O2ObSXspK6-DbbHuKSP7XU3lCrKVIibiPIOf3dQKgqpuogfDR4IB1FMa4Z-Yxs8f91dbyopm0kUwnciAGNKg6szjdANjQq0atB-F6NIcg0TY3AbyWOcrg6KmQMQlSr0/s400/1932-04-27_TuscaloosaNews-Dillman-photo.JPG" width="156" /></a></div>
Real name: Joe Dilman / Dillman (?)<br />
<br />
Most of the early Indiana newspapers from 1930 list him as "Joe
Dilman" with a single 'l'. So far, I've been unable to place him in any
U.S. Census returns. Other early mentions include Delmas, Dalmas, Dalman, as well as "Joe Hassen/Hasson" and later in southern Georgia as "Yousseff Hassan". Thanks to Kasper at WrestlingData, who discovered Dillman working in Florida out of Al Ritchie's Miami office as Serge Kotsonaras in 1939.<br />
<br />
Nicknames: "Dynamite" Joe Dillman, "What-A-Man" Joe Dillman<br />
<br />
Hometown: Akron, Ohio (?)<br />
<br />
The 1930 results in multiple Indiana newspapers from August and
September list him as being from Akron, OH. By December, the
Indianapolis and Louisville, Kentucky, newspapers were listing him as
being from Duluth, Minnesota. From 1932-1938, he was fairly consistently listed as hailing from Indianapolis or Birmingham, Alabama.<br />
<br />
Birth date: 1895-1905?<br />
A mention in the Palladium-Item from Richmond, Indiana, says the following:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Dilman
will be making his first appearance in this part of the country. He is
a veteran of the mat game, but has confined his activities to the
eastern cities."</blockquote>
The image to the right is from a 1934 issue of the <i>Tuscaloosa News</i>, but the same photo had been used in Decatur and Gadsden in 1933. None of the mentions of Dillman in the newspapers ever refer to him being young, or a rookie, but his limited appearances in 1930-1931 seem to indicate that was when his professional career started. Unless he really did start somewhere in the eastern part of the country and under a completely different name.<br />
<br />
Death date: after 1966<br />
<br />
Earliest
appearance (so far): 01 September 1930. Tomlinson Hall, Indianapolis,
Indiana. Joe lost to "Silent Olsen" in the second preliminary of a four
match card. [02 September 1930, <i>The Indianapolis Star</i>, p11]<br />
<br />
Latest
appearance (so far): 15 March 1967. Fairgrounds Coliseum, Nashville,
Tennessee. Joe refereed an NWA World Tag Team title match between
Jackie Fargo & Len Rossi vs. Gene Kiniski & Tojo Yamamoto. [16
March 1967, <i>The Tennessean</i>, p72]<br />
<br />
Throughout his active wrestling career, Joe Dillman mostly worked in the
role of a heel, who was highly skilled but wouldn't hesitate to break
the rules to win a match. In more modern times, he would probably be
considered something of a tweener, or someone who walked the line between babyface and heel. Despite his "traditional" role as a
rough working heel, he was apparently a good enough technical wrestler
that wherever he worked, he won over the fans with his skill and
ultimately even his cocky attitude. In more than one town, after he'd
worked there a few times, he went from being billed as his usual
"Dynamite" Joe Dillman to "What-A-Man" Joe Dillman.<br />
<br />
The latest match result I've located has him wrestling into at least
February 1948 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky (where he'd been a favorite
years earlier), Nashville and Blytheville, Arkansas.<br />
<br />
In the 4 July 1954 <i>Montgomery Advertiser</i>, the usual article announcing the upcoming card says this:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The Montgomery American Legion Post and Nick Goulas [sic], promoter
from Nashville announced jointly last night that Joe "Dynamite" Dillman,
who wrestled for years and thrilled thousands in this section years go,
has been named matchmaker for Montgomery.<br />
Dillman is
slated to arrive in Montgomery Monday and will begin preparations for
wrestling here. Dillman said yesterday that he was happy to return to
Montgomery. "I have wrestled in Montgomery many times in the past and
I've always found Alabama's Capital City a good wrestling town."</blockquote>
<br />
Later
in the month he is reported as the referee in match results. He pops
up later that year, refereeing in Anniston, Alabama. <br />
<br />
On January 31, 1955, an article in the <i>Courier News</i>
of Blytheville, hyping an upcoming NWA Southern Heavyweight
Championship bout between Freddie Blassie (c) and Tarzan Hewitt said the
NWA had appointed Joe Dillman as special referee for the title match.
From then until I lose track of him, all of the mentions of him I find
are working as a referee.<br />
<br />
So far, the last
mention I find of Joe Dillman in the online newspaper archives at my
disposal is the above mentioned 15 March 1967 show in Nashville, where
he worked the NWA World Tag Title match between the champions Jackie
Fargo & Len Rossi against Gene Kiniski & Tojo Yamamoto. To
date, I have yet to uncover his true home town or his final resting
place. For that matter, I still don't even have a good idea at birth
year. Currently, I suspect it to be somewhere between 1895-1905, but
that is purely speculation based on the publicity photos in the
newspapers and his never being mentioned as a young man, but always a
mat veteran. I am curious whether he used a different name prior to
1930, or if my lack of success is due not having access to the papers
where he worked.<br />
<br />
Below is a rough detailing of
Joe's travels over the course of his career. For more details on the
actual shows, consult Joe Dillman's record at <a href="http://wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=bios&wrestler=16509" target="_blank">WrestlingData.com</a>.
Currently the data at WD is very incomplete, but I am adding shows and
results several times a week for the cities where Dillman worked. Based on the gap between mid-1942 and 1945, I would suspect military service during World War II. If that is the case, I hope to find a service record.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(cities listed generally in the order he first worked)</span><br />
<br />
1930: Indiana (Indianapolis); Kentucky (Louisville)<br />
<br />
1931: Indiana (Indianapolis, Kokomo, Terra Haute), Kentucky (Louisville), Ohio (Cincinnati)<br />
<br />
1932: Indiana (Indianapolis, Kokomo), Alabama (Fairfield, Anniston, Bessemer, Homewood, Leeds, Tuscaloosa, Mobile, Sheffield), Kentucky (Louisville, Hopkinsville, Cadiz), Tennessee (Nashville, Johnson City)<br />
<br />
1933: Alabama (Sheffield, Decatur, Gadsden, Dothan, Huntsville), Mississippi (Jackson), Texas (Dallas), Arkansas (Little Rock), Tennessee (Kingsport)<br />
<br />
1934: Alabama (Decatur, Huntsville, Sheffield, Tuscaloosa, Anniston, Dothan), Arkansas (Little Rock), Tennessee (Nashville), Oklahoma (Oklahoma City), South Carolina (Columbia), Florida (Tallahasee)<br />
<br />
1935: Alabama (Sheffield, Anniston, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa), Kentucky (Louisville), Tennessee (Nashville), Georgia (Albany), Arkansas (Little Rock)<br />
<br />
1936: Tennesee (Nashville), Alabama (Anniston, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville), South Carolina (Columbia, Charleston), Missouri (Sikeston), Indiana (Evansville)<br />
<br />
1937: Kentucky (Louisville), Alabama (Huntsville, Anniston, Mobile), Arkansas (Blytheville, Little Rock), Indiana (Evansville), Tennessee (Nashville), Louisiana (Baton Rouge, Monroe, New Orleans), Mississippi (Jackson)<br />
<br />
1938: Tennessee (Nashville), Indiana (Evansville), Kentucky (Hopkinsville), Alabama (Tuscaloosa), Louisiana (New Orleans), Arkansas (Blytheville)<br />
<br />
1939: Indiana (Evansville), Louisiana (New Orleans), Alabama (Huntsville, Tuscaloosa), Tennessee (Nashville), Kentucky (Hopkinsville, Paducah), Georgia (Atlanta), Florida (Lake Worth, Miami)<br />
<br />
1940: Arkansas (Blytheville, Little Rock), Alabama (Tuscaloosa), Tennessee (Nashville), Louisiana (New Orleans), Illinois (Springfield, Chatham, Alton)<br />
<br />
1941: Illinois (Alton), Tennessee (Nashville), Arkansas (Blytheville, Little Rock), Missouri (St. Louis)<br />
<br />
1942: Tennessee (Knoxville, Nashville), Arkansas (Blytheville)<br />
<br />
1943: <br />
<br />
1944:<br />
<br />
1945: Tennessee (Nashville)<br />
<br />
1946: Florida (Tampa)<br />
<br />
1947: Florida (Tampa), Tennessee (Nashville, Knoxville)<br />
<br />
1948: Arkansas (Blytheville), Kentucky (Hopkinsville), Tennessee (Nashville)Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-80572183277276369212017-02-08T20:10:00.001-06:002017-02-08T23:25:11.127-06:00Profiles for Wrestlers in 1930's Alabama<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-2Fr_ApLP7NfsDIlN5ueG_lorX_I56hhyphenhyphene398c29rWQUQQkEjYylqv0PzkF49c2MiP8AY_2ArpddiMI9X5g6mI5ZdWryXbR0n8LcN6ARGxdQGJYh_QIRqcO0ZFy2QDMqcPZ_Yunqt5s8/s1600/headline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-2Fr_ApLP7NfsDIlN5ueG_lorX_I56hhyphenhyphene398c29rWQUQQkEjYylqv0PzkF49c2MiP8AY_2ArpddiMI9X5g6mI5ZdWryXbR0n8LcN6ARGxdQGJYh_QIRqcO0ZFy2QDMqcPZ_Yunqt5s8/s320/headline.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Digging through all these old records and newspapers, my interest is increasingly drawn to a handful of characters that make recurring appearances. I've not found any prior efforts focusing on these individuals, so I've decided to attempt to construct profiles and brief biographies for them here on Territory Days. And just to keep some semblance of activity, I'm going to build these profiles in the open, a blog post for each, editing and commenting as I go. Hopefully this will interest someone other than me, and just maybe it will provoke someone into helping out with a detail here and there.<br />
<br />
The following are my choices for this research project (list subject to change). These are all wrestlers who figured prominently in the business all over Alabama (and the South in general) in the 1930s. <br />
<ul>
<li>Chris Jordan</li>
<li>Joe Gunther</li>
<li><a href="https://territorydays.blogspot.com/2017/02/pro-wrestling-profile-joe-dillman.html" target="_blank">"Dynamite" Joe Dillman</a></li>
<li>Tuffy Cleet</li>
<li>Lon Chaney</li>
<li>Freddie Knichel</li>
<li>Ernest "Tiger" Kelly</li>
<li>Stanley Buersch</li>
<li>Frank Buersch </li>
<li>Jim Hesslyn</li>
<li>Kid Lott</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-57712576527593246412017-02-01T06:00:00.000-06:002019-10-05T19:00:07.523-05:00Wrestling in Huntsville, Alabama in 1933 Unlike most of other towns in Alabama, it took promoter Chris Jordan a few tries before profession wrestling took hold in Huntsville. However, once the fans finally started to support the shows (after abortive attempts in August-September 1932 and again in February 1933), shows ran consistently for about the next four years.<br />
<br />
HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA 1933 (From the Huntsville Times)<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 01 February 1933<br />
The local "40 and 8" organization announces its intent to begin bi-weekly matches at the Dallas Street National Guard Armory, with Chris Jordan promoting, provided the could deliver the cards as advertised. A brief attempt at wrestling had failed the previous August & September due partly to frequent card changes as well as poor weather. The initial card, scheduled for Tuesday, February 2nd, was to include Eddie Pope vs Kid Lott and Dutch Green vs Tarzan the Ape Man (George Romanoff).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlbAnVZ2P-qSkBUi0KUXA27Ct7iiRp0cUbzUkulMM8L5ivMUEINAK4rjVjOhyphenhyphen7TpouHOsf84EyNbcJuGdF8uTephfaG2PGE5rKTau-K74zcltpWfJfvKJdeip0qWukO7bEJuTeE0HgpK8/s1600/1933-02-07_HuntsvilleTimes-rain.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlbAnVZ2P-qSkBUi0KUXA27Ct7iiRp0cUbzUkulMM8L5ivMUEINAK4rjVjOhyphenhyphen7TpouHOsf84EyNbcJuGdF8uTephfaG2PGE5rKTau-K74zcltpWfJfvKJdeip0qWukO7bEJuTeE0HgpK8/s1600/1933-02-07_HuntsvilleTimes-rain.JPG" /></a></div>
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 07 February 1933<br />
Due to bad weather, and a poor expected turnout, the "40 and 8" contacted Chris Jordan to cancel the event.<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 21 February 1933<br />
(National Guard Armory, Dallas Street) The announced card of Tarzan the Apeman vs Stanley Buresh and Joe Dillman vs Ernest Kelly is cancelled when a crowd of less than 100 people, including free passes, is all that shows up. This would be the last attempt at wrestling in Huntsville until October.<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 04 October 1933<br />
(National Guard Armory, Dallas Street) ... Jack Purdin beat Lon Chaney (2-1) via dq ... Gus Pappas beat Otto Matulka (35:50, 2-1) ... Referee: Musso ...Promoter: Fred Demeritte/Chris Jordan ... local wrestler Clifford "Happy Jack" Helton challenges Chaney after the main event ... Matulka substitutes for the advertised Ernest Kelly<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 11 October 1933<br />
(National Guard Armory, Dallas Street) ... Jack Purdin beat Gus Pappas (18:30, 2-0) ... Eddie Baker beat Mike London (27:30, 2-1) ... Promoter Fred Demeritte/Chris Jordan ... Helton again makes his presence known; the paper says he trained under Ralph Smith and has been working Smith's circuit in West Tennessee<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatRSxGbXUXoB6G2n3KJUm4gPX39aVP8Z4dIAUPXe93LaHNj1nN9_Dg8HRQrjgUaQy4j-GoURdTtzyN198aRyPACdf7VXf6rr8n3-dQIQKYIf7etEAhw-c7meiEpWMqkWdohpFpomQibQ/s1600/1933-10-18_HuntsvilleTimes-Hackney.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatRSxGbXUXoB6G2n3KJUm4gPX39aVP8Z4dIAUPXe93LaHNj1nN9_Dg8HRQrjgUaQy4j-GoURdTtzyN198aRyPACdf7VXf6rr8n3-dQIQKYIf7etEAhw-c7meiEpWMqkWdohpFpomQibQ/s400/1933-10-18_HuntsvilleTimes-Hackney.JPG" width="155" /></a></div>
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 18 October 1933<br />
(National Guard Armory, Dallas Street) ... Jack Purdin beat "Rough House" Sam Nelson (2-1) via dq ... Francis Stull beat Stanley Hackney (28:00, 2-1) ... Referee: Bill Rush ... Promoter: Fred Demeritte ... Stull substituted for the announced Bobby Burns<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 25 October 1933<br />
(National Guard Armory, Dallas Street) ... Tuffy Cleet beat Jack Purdin (32:002-1 ) ... Freddie Knichel beat Francis Stull (25:00, 2-1) via countout when Stull missed a flying tackle and knocked himself out on the floor ... Promoter: Fred Demeritte<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 01 November 1933<br />
(National Guard Armory, Dallas Street) ... Rough House Nelson beat Tuffy Cleet () via countout ... Rex Mobley beat Jack Spurgin (21:00, 2-1) via dq ... Referee: Tuffy Cleet (opener), Jack Spurgin (main event) ... Spurgin and Nelson brawled to end the show as Cleet was restrained by the police ... estimated attendance was close to 500<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 08 November 1933<br />
(National Guard Armory, Dallas Street) ... World Welterweight Champion Jack Reynolds beat Francis Stull (13:00, 2-0) ... Rough House Nelson beat Jack Spurgin (45:00, 2-1) ... Promoter: Fred Demeritte<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 15 November 1933<br />
(National Guard Armory, Dallas Street) ... World Light Heavyweight Champion Hugh Nichols beat Rough House Nelson (18:00, 2-0) ... Tuffy Cleet beat Walter Logan (2-1) ... Promoter: Chris Jordan<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 22 November 1933<br />
(National Guard Armory, Dallas Street) ... Red Lyons beat George LaMarr (43:00, 1-1) LaMarr was unable to return for the third fall... Tuffy Cleet drew Dude Chick (60:00, 1-1) ... Referee: Tuck<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 29 November 1933<br />
(National Guard Armory, Dallas Street) ... Dude Chick beat George Sauer (1-1) Sauer was unable to return for the third fall ... Joe Shimkus beat Red Lyons (30:00, 2-1) ... Referee: Coy Martin<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 06 December 1933<br />
(National Guard Armory, Dallas Street) ... Joe Shimkus beat Dude Chick (34:00, 2-1) ... Basanta Singh beat Francis Stull (21:00, 2-1) ... Shinkus substituted for the advertised Tuffy Cleet<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 13 December 1933<br />
(National Guard Armory, Dallas Street) ... Joe Shimkus beat Jack Newell ... Al Baffert beat Pat Murphy (31:00, 1-0) ... Promoter: Fred Demeritte ... Murphy substituted for the advertised Tony Catalina<br />
<br />
Huntsville, AL: Wednesday, 20 December 1933<br />
(National Guard Armory, Dallas Street) ... Joe Dillman beat Walter Logan (24:00, 2-0) ... Suleyman Bey beat Jack Spurgin (29:00, 2-1) ... Promoter: Fred Demeritte<br />
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<br /></div>
Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-58793722879691872822017-01-28T19:58:00.000-06:002019-10-05T18:58:37.159-05:00Wrestling in Gadsden, Alabama in 1933GADSDEN, ALABAMA 1933 (From the Gadsden Times)<br />
<br />
With the exception of the local Gadsden-area amateurs often used for preliminary matches, wrestlers for promoter Noel Ray's shows were provided by Chris Jordan of Birmingham, Alabama, who promoted all over the Southeast. Ray was an accomplished local amateur wrestler in his own right and would "go pro" in May of 1933 and have a handful of opening matches through out the summer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-PdQQYbwgrPWE_a0RNJHOocRwMSaJtt_J-3aI3OmoWneR3gWA641bfBkUH4hCOjoZCxyeVE_cTVkgY9c1F6YrGx8SLLrYRnjcns2adWyrqXydaQhubd8pt5Hiq_iDP6gAuDWFvq2zRw/s1600/1933-03-22_GadsdenTimes-Hesslyn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-PdQQYbwgrPWE_a0RNJHOocRwMSaJtt_J-3aI3OmoWneR3gWA641bfBkUH4hCOjoZCxyeVE_cTVkgY9c1F6YrGx8SLLrYRnjcns2adWyrqXydaQhubd8pt5Hiq_iDP6gAuDWFvq2zRw/s320/1933-03-22_GadsdenTimes-Hesslyn.jpg" width="147" /></a></div>
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 24 March 1933<br />
(American Legion Arena) ... Jim Hesslyn beat Ernest Kelly (44:35, 2-1) ... Georgin Harben beat Eddie Elzea (39:52, 2-0) ... Referee: Sammy Miller ... Promoter: Noel W. Ray<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 31 March 1933<br />
(American Legion Arena) ... Lon Chaney beat Jim Mellon (37:12, 2-0) ... "Rough House" Jack Hagen beat Jack Sherry (30:56, 2-1) ... Bob Burns beat Max Weiner (9:20) ... Referee: Ernest Kelly ... Promoter: Noel W. Ray ... Jack Mellon (or Mellen) was listed as 170 lbs, wrestling fireman from Battle Creek, Michigan ... Bob Burns was referred to as a former University of Alabama wrestler<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 07 April 1933<br />
(American Legion Arena) ... Eddie Pope beat Roy Allen (8:00) in one fall, Allen was unable to continue after suffering a strained back from Pope's "crab hold" ... Eddie Pope beat Sammy Miller (24:52, 2-0) ... Cowboy Roland beat Jack/Jacques Moreau (24:41, 2-1) ... Pope wrestled twice to make up for the no-show by Scotty McNaught, who had been heavily advertised ... Promoter: Noel W. Ray<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 14 April 1933<br />
(American Legion Arena) ... Ernest Kelly beat Al Stecher (33:25) via dq ... Jim Hesslyn drew Joe Dillman (60:00) with no falls ... David Lee Reid beat Bill Stewart (13:10) ... Referee: George Harben ... Promoter: Noel W. Ray ... Reid and Stewart were listed as Gadsden locals<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 21 April 1933<br />
(American Legion Arena) ... Ernest Kelly beat Jim Hesslyn (34:20, 2-0) ... Eddie Pope beat Freddie Lassiter (27:12, 2-0) ... Referee: "Rough House" Hagen ... Promoter: Noel W. Ray<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 28 April 1933<br />
(American Legion Arena) ... Al Stecher beat Eddie Pope (2-1) ... Ed "Bull" White beat Charlie Cure (17:20, 2-1) ... Referee Roy Allen ... Ed White listed as former Army football player and pro football All-American tackle<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 05 May 1933<br />
(American Legion Arena) ... Joe Dillman beat Francis (Francois) Journee (26:42, 2-1) ... Ernest Kelly beat Clint McLeod (2-1) ... Lopez Brazile beat Lawrence Vinson (3:10) ... Promoter: Noel Ray ... Vinson listed as local high school football star ... Brazile's name is also spelled Brazell and Brazill in subsequent mentions in the newspaper<br />
<br />
Apparently at this point the weather had warmed up enough that the American Legion built an outdoor arena at their golf course here promoter Noel Ray moved his shows.<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 12 May 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... First show at the newly contructed outdoor arena at the American Legion golf course on First Street... Al Stecher beat Pat Corrigan (26:23, 2-1) ... Eddie Pope beat Pete Demetroff (2-1) ... Noel "Kid" Ray beat Dr. Roller (10:44, 2-1)<br />
... the Times claims Corrigan was on the recent Savoldi-Londos card in Chicago (7 April @ Chicago Stadium), but the pre-show card and show results listed in the Chicago Tribune do not support that claim ... This was Noel Ray's first professional wrestling match<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJlYKzKlYDxvgBYtfiFVQrS1mrIUgX7s1XNY4UqhFjytveRSqL-WnIB1-6nmEDCBrOCbhFu-c9kDo0khxNxcssjhRtxAA_d-qIEYcojObgFBRX_LkV_VLFD0YBRrk1dB6Wjml0FWdgs8/s1600/1933-05-18_GadsdenTimes-Hagen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJlYKzKlYDxvgBYtfiFVQrS1mrIUgX7s1XNY4UqhFjytveRSqL-WnIB1-6nmEDCBrOCbhFu-c9kDo0khxNxcssjhRtxAA_d-qIEYcojObgFBRX_LkV_VLFD0YBRrk1dB6Wjml0FWdgs8/s320/1933-05-18_GadsdenTimes-Hagen.jpg" width="109" /></a></div>
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 19 May 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Stanley Buresh beat Kid Lott (25:17, 2-1) ... Tarzan, the Ape Man (George Romanoff) beat "Rough House" Jack Hagen (60:00, 1-0) ... Lopez Brazile beat Jimmy Price (1:55)<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 26 May 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Al Stecher beat George Romanoff (17:12, 2-0) .. Kid Lott beat Jack Hagen (9:10, 2-0) .. Clarence Bynum drew Kit Pritchett (15:00) .. Bynum is listed as from Emma Sansom High School<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 02 June 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Al Stecher beat Jack Freeman (32:00, 2-1) .. Stanley Buresh beat Hans Wagner (34:22, 2-1) .. Noel Ray beat Red Sanger (10:20)<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Saturday, 10 June 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Ernest Kelly vs Stanley Buresh (2/3 Falls, 2 hr time limit) ... Al Stecher vs Ripper Reeves (2/3 falls, 60 min time limit) ... Promoter: Noel Ray ... show was delayed a day due to rain, no results were published<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 16 June 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Hans Wagner beat Stanley West (29:15, 2-1) .. Freddie Knichel beat Bulldog Mallory (23:49, 2-0) ... Promoter: Noel Ray<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 23 June 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Dillman beat Walter Roxy (9:40, 2-0) ... Bobby Jackson beat Ripper Reeves (26:12, 2-1) ... Roxy is listed as a University of Indiana wrestling star whose only collegiate loss came in the 1930 Big Ten tournament ... Reeves is listed as a former University of Florida All-Southern guard in football.<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 30 June 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Dillman beat Bobby Burns (21:55, 2-0) ... Bobby Jackson beat Freddie Knichel (40:15, 2-1) ... Gadsden Times says Burns' real name is 'Tony Rico', a member of the 1928 U.S. Olympic wrestling team.<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 07 July 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Ernest Kelly beat Stanley Buresh (2-1) .. Bobby Jackson beat Walter Roxy (28:30, 2-1) ... David Lee Reid beat Bill Stewart via countout ... Buresh's loss reportedly ended a 180 match winning streak<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5J4zihUddubHvYJ5U-G8wbKrXq9peHl_nbCjDmtLnorhlHlmenyScr5JRAggwXoLY2G7GjteC4AjZ_9msOCTQMCdsaD6y4MSBW5q1ny5Y4dLw2xB-B57faEIF67MQjXwOe163PiGRnMQ/s1600/1933-07-14_GadsdenTimes-Gunther.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5J4zihUddubHvYJ5U-G8wbKrXq9peHl_nbCjDmtLnorhlHlmenyScr5JRAggwXoLY2G7GjteC4AjZ_9msOCTQMCdsaD6y4MSBW5q1ny5Y4dLw2xB-B57faEIF67MQjXwOe163PiGRnMQ/s320/1933-07-14_GadsdenTimes-Gunther.jpg" width="105" /></a></div>
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 14 July 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Ernest Kelly vs Stanley West ... Joe Gunther vs Vic Webber ... Noel Ray vs Bulldog Mallory<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 21 July 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... "Queen's Night" ... Tuffy Cleet beat Ernest Kelly (48:30, 2-1) ... Henry Kolln beat Farmer Vance (21:34, 2-1) ... Noel Ray beat Bulldog Mallory (20:00) via dq<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 28 July 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Tuffy Cleet beat Frank Buresh (20:15) via countout ... Vic Webber beat Mike Longon (24:49, 2-1) ... Referee: Ripper Reeves<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 04 August 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Vic Webber beat Dale Haddock (28:50, 2-1) ... Gus Pappas beat Pete Ramos (25:30, 2-1) ... Kid Ray drew Jimmy Shaber (15:00) ... Shaber is listed as "welterweight champion of Albania"<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 11 August 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Stanley Buresh beat "Pop" Papas (27:40, 2-0) ... Vic Webber beat John Felix (36:19, 2-1) via dq ... Papas substituted for Cleet who was not cleared to wrestle by the on-site doctor due to a carbuncle<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 18 August 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Jim Hesslyn beat Mickey McGuire (2-1) ... Henry Kolln beat Pete Demetroff (15:25, 2-1) ... Referee: Pappas<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 25 August 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Jim Hesslyn beat Frank Buresh (22:42, 2-1) ... John Felix beat Dale Haddock (35:10, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 01 September 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Jim Hesslyn beat Ernest Kelly (45:42, 2-1) via dq ... Vic Webber beat Eddie Baker (28:22, 2-1)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieoAI8R6m6fIC4j89doNtVhrNrwUiYp_VHRmahrFd7KVSfGxY_jC-gS3RHrO9ENkkuFJ73G94yqcvStdafZNQei3ydBeZEiOgbfgzy4z6QQf2wUl8jq4fgkq-1b8YzCzHxRjjlwj3krjw/s1600/1933-09-06_GadsdenTimes-Galbos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieoAI8R6m6fIC4j89doNtVhrNrwUiYp_VHRmahrFd7KVSfGxY_jC-gS3RHrO9ENkkuFJ73G94yqcvStdafZNQei3ydBeZEiOgbfgzy4z6QQf2wUl8jq4fgkq-1b8YzCzHxRjjlwj3krjw/s320/1933-09-06_GadsdenTimes-Galbos.jpg" width="116" /></a></div>
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 08 September 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Joe Dillman beat Tom Galbos (39:50, 2-1) ... John Felix beat Pete Demetroff (20:05, 2-1)<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 15 September 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Mickey McGuire beat Jack Purdin (35:20, 2-1) ... Vic Webber beat Al Thompson (30:10, 2-0) ... Referee: Farmer Vance ... Promoter: Kid Ray ... Purdin was a substitution for Tuffy Cleet who had been suspended by the state athletic commission. This may refer to an issue mentioned in the <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/fXe5JoPRKrcVVG2j6" target="_blank">August 5th commission meeting minutes</a> concerning Tuffy Cleet striking a spectator during a show in Sheffield, resulting in a $10 fine.<br />
<br />
Google's newspaper archive is missing 8 June - 26 September 1933 of the Florence Times, so I'll have to go to Florence to fill in the missing dates from the microfilm at the library.<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 22 September 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Tuffy Cleet vs Roughhouse Sam Nelson ... John Felix vs Eddie Baker<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 29 September 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Tuffy Cleet vs Ace Judkins ... Freddie Knichel vs Eddie Baker<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 06 October 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Frank Buresh beat Otto Matulka (55:20, 2-1) ... Mike London beat Gorilla Tucker (2-0)<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Wednesday, 11 October 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... World Light Heavyweight Champion Hugh Nichols beat Frank Buresh (33:50, 2-1) ... Jack Purdin beat Jack Spurgin (11:00, 2-0) ... Spurgin was substituted for the advertised Otto Matulka<br />
<br />
Gadsden, AL: Friday, 20 October 1933<br />
(American Legion Outdoor Arena) ... Frank Buresh vs Bill Fulton ... Jack Purdin vs John McKee<br />
<br />
At this point, promoter Noel Ray moved the shows into the "new downtown arena" the American Legion had set up. The hype for the shows in the newspaper continued, but for some reason, they stopped posting the results.<br />
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Gadsden, AL: Monday, 23 October 1933<br />
(American Legion Arena) ... Nick Bozinis vs Lon Chaney ... Harry Davison vs Harry "Speedy" Schaeffer<br />
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Gadsden, AL: Friday, 30 October 1933<br />
(American Legion Arena) ... Joe Dillman vs Harry Davison ... Freddie Knichel vs Tommy Tassos ... Billy Love vs Ray Myers ... Promoter: Noel Ray<br />
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Gadsden, AL: Monday, 06 November 1933<br />
(American Legion Arena) ... George "Wildcat" Pete vs Dick Sampson ... Tommy Tassos vs Eddie Baker<br />
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Gadsden, AL: Monday, 13 November 1933<br />
(American Legion Arena) ... George "Wildcat" Pete vs Ray "Tuffy" Meyers (2/3 Falls, 2h time limit) ... Tommy Tassos vs Omar Hanna (2/3 Falls, 60 min time limit) ... Referee Mal "Big Boy" Taylor<br />
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Gadsden, AL: Monday, 20 November 1933<br />
(American Legion Arena) ... Freddie Knichel vs Eddie Baker ... Bulldog Mallory vs Jack Carson ... Promoter: Noel Ray<br />
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Thanks to the Gadsden Public Library for the use of their ScanProJason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2261191772656592861.post-5322596035757531982016-11-06T15:00:00.000-06:002017-02-06T10:42:28.029-06:00Archives of the Alabama Boxing & Wrestling Commission (1939-1980)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsC5xUqvE4tXFZoBRk753lXNNA8A9WLImPXltQZqeqI1KNNUbGJCNBi_v5yCrXOTuyts0Mu20qSKUFiDgt71kvsdJukk5XgYXZaPBJyR0Ziu0xHkJOtIrIVLQLUo0jL0BFFsjPOTsJHgU/s1600/letterhead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsC5xUqvE4tXFZoBRk753lXNNA8A9WLImPXltQZqeqI1KNNUbGJCNBi_v5yCrXOTuyts0Mu20qSKUFiDgt71kvsdJukk5XgYXZaPBJyR0Ziu0xHkJOtIrIVLQLUo0jL0BFFsjPOTsJHgU/s640/letterhead.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I recently got it in my head to start working with a couple of the online pro wrestling database sites to help populate their event databases with old shows from Alabama. I'd noticed that a lot of attention had already been given to the hot beds of wrestling (Georgia, Texas, Chicago, St. Louis, Florida, New York, etc.), but no one seemed to be working on Alabama. Or at least not Northern Alabama, from Birmingham up. In the course of researching my family history, I'd become very familiar with researching newspaper archives and noticed that Google's Newspaper Archives included several papers from smaller towns in Alabama where wrestling was a weekly event.<br />
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The more I read these old articles and event results, the more I realized I didn't know who most of these people were, either the promoters or the wrestlers. So after piling about three years worth of results in to WrestlingData.com for Florence, Alabama in the 1930s-1950s, I thought I would see what might be available at the Alabama Department of History and Archives in Montgomery. <br />
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This past Friday, I spent the whole day at the Alabama Department of Archives & History photographing records from the old Alabama Boxing & Wrestling Commission (and the prior Alabama Athletic Commission) that existed from about 1927-1980. It was a fascinating experience for anyone interested in the bureacratic side of the wrestling business. I'm just going to ignore the boxing part of that from here on out so I don't have to qualify anything as I go. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGfE1mVNb_JTwQy_big9Uud2p8HnGA5UF8b_8TJEpkH9sy6gPZEP19Wi58r96tA0ZbJn77IGen9IRPBALdCl4rbtZsxkmShTR2F7OuDP4LMi5zeuo3MqxCqAgIrQslYbtge-R9tgIimg/s1600/badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGfE1mVNb_JTwQy_big9Uud2p8HnGA5UF8b_8TJEpkH9sy6gPZEP19Wi58r96tA0ZbJn77IGen9IRPBALdCl4rbtZsxkmShTR2F7OuDP4LMi5zeuo3MqxCqAgIrQslYbtge-R9tgIimg/s320/badge.jpg" width="209" /></a> The Commission was established primarily as a body to regulate (read: tax) boxing and wrestling events in the state. Under that guise they issued licenses for promoters, match makers, time keepers, ticket takers, managers, wrestlers, referees and inspectors. The inspectors were basically part-time employees of the commission whose job was to attend the shows, verify the wrestlers and promoters were licensed, assess the gate receipts and report everything back to the commission. Inspectors were also used to investigate claims of outlaw shows running without a license and, if need be, bring in local law enforcement to shut down the shows and report back to the commission. The representatives of the Commission even had badges!<br />
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The commission held periodic meetings to discuss various topics like license applications from promoters and match makers, to try and mediate issues between promoters, receive reports from inspectors, to discuss changes in their various fees and just to update everyone on the goings-on in the state since the previous meeting. The minutes are all bound in three enormous binders. The binders are the old style that hold 11" x 14" papers and the whole thing weighs like 15 lbs. As this was one of the last things I photographed, I only had time to get the oldest volume. I didn't get every page, as some I considered very mundane or only addressed boxing. Here are the pages of Commission minutes:<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/photos/iCVatFEgCr4gKMQHA">https://goo.gl/photos/iCVatFEgCr4gKMQHA</a><br />
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When it came down to actual records regarding promoters, wrestlers and events, the archive contained mostly records from the 1970s. Given the 50 year history of the commission, that was somewhat disappointing and I am curious as to what became of all the rest of the records. Also, the records weren't all that well organized. Despite how the various boxes of paper might be described in the Archive's catalog, basically every box was an assortment of all of the below records. The records in question were generally of these categories:<br />
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License applications for promoters, managers, match makers, time keepers, referees and wrestlers; anyone doing any of these tasks was required by law to pay a licence fee to the Commission each year. The fees varied, and lists were maintained of who was currently licensed to do what, and when their licenses were up for expiration. This was both a very fascinating and very frustrating set of records due both to the relative sparsity (again, mostly just records for the 1970s), but also because there was apparently no requirement that the wrestlers actually use real names. Seriously, there is <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/n2B64dSj4ML83E4U7" target="_blank">a registration for "Yankee #2"</a> and on the signature line someone signed "Yankee #2".<br />
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The staff at the Archives actually had to review all of the documents in this collection to redact any Social Security Numbers that were included on the forms. They spent probably two hours scouring through all the forms, covering the SSNs with little Post It notes and the photocopying to the pages so they could provide me with the "sanitized" copies. I felt bad for the amount of time they spent on that as these records didn't provide anywhere near the information I was hoping. But they said they would have had to do it anyway whenever someone requested them, so they didn't mind.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/photos/vxsPfyDAKttoSSHi8">https://goo.gl/photos/vxsPfyDAKttoSSHi8</a><br />
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Event permits; these listed the date, location and participants. Sometimes these permits were accompanied by wrestling license applications for any as-yet-unlicensed wrestlers. Promoters were supposed to supply lists of towns and events they were going to run 7 days in advance. There are more than a few scolding letters from the Commission to promoters who "forgot" to submit their permits and notices of events.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/photos/TeHhMzJWeFMbjFr18">https://goo.gl/photos/TeHhMzJWeFMbjFr18</a><br />
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Event reports; I think these were submitted by the inspectors and listed the location, the promoter, the actual wrestlers in the show, the gate receipts and whatever fees were to be assessed.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/photos/Ahs9PTTt9N3GFmMm6">https://goo.gl/photos/Ahs9PTTt9N3GFmMm6</a><br />
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Physicians Exams; I didn't request the actual box of these, so the few I have are those that were mixed into the event reports. Typically the exams just took place at an event. Exams were required within 90 days of a entering the ring, and were required for any wrestler applying for a license. Next time I go back, these will be a focus as they seem to give more actual detail than the license applications.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/photos/sQK9aE4t5X7Fi8vF6">https://goo.gl/photos/sQK9aE4t5X7Fi8vF6</a><br />
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Wrestling Reports; this was a collection I thought would be very useful, but as it turns out, all it contained were the event dates & locations and the associated gate and fees collected. Purely financial information that I did not bother to photograph. For what it's worth, these records correspond with the permit numbers assigned for each show. So if someone wanted to do some forensic accounting for fun, they could tie all the records together and see how accurate the accounting was.<br />
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Unlicensed show investigations; mixed in with all the various records were the occasional report from a commission inspector who was tasked with investigating a report of illegal shows being held. This was another area that was rather thin in documentation. <br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/photos/ozB64NyrvkjJ1pbd9">https://goo.gl/photos/ozB64NyrvkjJ1pbd9</a><br />
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Another area I skipped were all of the bookkeeping records which were mainly things like office equipment and supply inventories and expenses and all of the travel expenses sent in by the inspectors. Lots of "where's my check?" letters from the inspectors looking for their $5 check.<br />
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Correspondence; there was a ton of correspondance relating to all of the above. There was an lengthy back and forth between the Commission and various National Guard commanders and promoters regarding the reach of the Commission. For most of the history of the sport in Alabama, a great majority of wrestling event were sponsored by and held at National Guard Armories, American Legion and VFW halls. The National Guard held the position that anything occurring under their purview was not subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission. In some cases, promoters would even argue that any event sponsored by a military or law enforcement organization was excluded from Commission regulations, even of not held on National Guard property. In a few cases, there were even letters from fans either complaining or praising the quality of the shows they had attended.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/photos/9VckjmoSZ8kmxxcU7">https://goo.gl/photos/9VckjmoSZ8kmxxcU7</a><br />
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Also in the archive were a variety of newsletters and materials from the National Wrestling Association of America, which was an organization comprised of the various state commissions. This organization was in no way affiliated with the old National Wrestling Association wrestling cartel from the 1930s-40s. This Association seemed to exist for the purpose of providing an avenue of communication between the various state commissions to keep track of which individuals were licensed, suspended or outright banned from competing or holding events in the various states. They also existed to hold annual conventions in exotic locations (Panama, Venezuela, Hawaii, Mexico, etc) so the state commissioners could charge their respective states for expensive vacations in the sun during the winter months. Below are the images from the Association.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/photos/eSWaHR9kfKNZGmru5">https://goo.gl/photos/eSWaHR9kfKNZGmru5</a><br />
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I intend to go back sometime before the end of the year to get the rest of what I missed, and maybe by then I'll have gone through all of this and worked up some new avenues to pursue. The staff of the Alabama Department of Archives and History were real troopers and were always happy to help. I really appreciated their professionalism. I'm already planning a trip to Nashville to see what the Tennessee Athletic Commission has on wrestling.<br />
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Until next time...Jason Presleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13543465200431539036noreply@blogger.com0