Those Were The Days Volume II

[BlueDust]

Welcome, one and all, to the second volume of Those Were the Days. I thank you kindly for reading the last edition and the feedback you gave is appreciated. I have tried my best to take on board your comments with this column. I have plenty of time on my hands at the moment whilst I wait for certain things to fall into place, which is incredibly frustrating, so I can write pretty much as I please.

I also need to correct a glaring error in my last column. Toward the end I made mention of Lou Thesz being the subject of this volume. He is not, nor is he, as I stated, the saviour of professional wrestling. Not at this stage of the journey anyway. So, for that, I hang my head in shame and beg forgiveness at an act of such gross misinformation. Hopefully, come the end of this volume, I will be able to hold my head high once again. With that out of the way we can get on with the show.....

Those Were The Days

At the end of Volume 1 professional wrestling was in crisis. The world had moved on from the epic duels of Frank Gotch and Georg Hackenschmidt. They drew the largest crowd to any US sporting event outside of horse racing. They battled in front of 30,000 people at the newly opened Comiskey Park, Chicago. However, given the shenanigans and controversy surrounding the fight, those 30,000 people left the venue bitter and disappointed. To make matters worse, the news media savagely belittled professional wrestling. They were not shy about sharing their disillusionment with the public and wrestling became a joke. The media and the public felt betrayed, and rightly so, when they learnt it wasn’t real. The stars of the early 20th Century were no longer stars.

By the time Frank Gotch retired in 1913 wrestling was no longer a legitimate sport in the eyes of the public. The media were no longer covering it in their newspapers and a void was left when nobody took up Gotch’s mantle as a superstar and figurehead. Wrestling, for all intents and purposes, was dead. There was definitely no sport left in the industry, but the entertainment was only just beginning.

The debacle of the Gotch/Hackenschmidt encounter wasn’t the only problem the industry faced. As the cities had grown, the impresarios of the carnivals moved into offices and established territories for themselves. Much like the territories of the NWA days, they ran by a set of unwritten rules that forbade stepping over territorial borders. Each promotion quickly established their own champions and this simply massed confusion. Wrestling was still very much available to the masses, but the masses just weren’t interested. The matches of years gone by had been long, heavily mat based encounters. They had been gargantuan struggles between genuinely gifted fighters and it wasn’t unknown for matches to go past 5 hours. Regardless of the real/fake argument and the uncertainty around the sport’s legitimacy, the people were just not being entertained.

As professional wrestling in the United States was falling from grace, one man was very much on the rise throughout Europe. Between 1910 and 1915, Robert Friedrich was causing quite a stir throughout Europe. He wrestled under the name Ed Lewis and was nicknamed “The Strangler”. There are varying legends surrounding “The Strangler” moniker and it is personal preference which you believe. It is either: a reference and homage to Evan “The Strangler” Lewis, the first “Strangler” or a nickname given to him by the Parisians during his time in France. Ed Lewis liked to use a sleeper hold to finish opponents. Supposedly illegal in America, it cut off the brain’s supply of blood and literally sent opponents to sleep. It bared more than a passing resemblance to an actual strangling, hence the name is born. Ed “The Strangler” Lewis is, arguably, the best “Hooker” ever to emerge from the carnivals and one of the best wrestlers ever to walk this earth. He was capable of crippling anyone at anytime he chose and on top of this he was unbeatable. He lost when he chose to lose. In over 6,000 career matches, Ed Lewis lost only 33.

Ed "The Strangler" Lewis

Ed “The Strangler” Lewis, reputation preceding him, returned to America in 1915. At this time, the man at the top of the pile was Joe Stecher. Stecher was another legendary “Hooker” from the carnival days who held numerous championships and became the youngest World Champion at the age of 22. Needless to say, Stecher and Lewis clashed almost immediately. They fought 3 times between 1915 and 1920 with two draws and a controversial victory for Stecher (Lewis was accidentally rendered unconscious when he fell and hit his head on a chair). All matches went for over 2 hours, and one passed the 5 hour mark.

The details of the years 1915-1920 are scarce. Wrestling wasn’t being reported on in the newspapers and not much seems to have survived to this day. As such, I can only really briefly discuss the matches between Stecher and Lewis. It is, however, known that these two became real-life enemies for years to come. It is also during these years that the industry, unbeknownst to those in it, began to change forever. To whichever territory Ed Lewis travelled, his reputation always beat him there. No promoter in the East wanted to do business with Lewis for fear that he would be too dominant and they would never be able to retrieve their championship. Being unable to find work in the east, Ed Lewis headed to Chicago where he met Billy Sandow and Joseph “Toots” Mondt.

These three men, colloquially known as the “Gold Dust Trio”, changed the face of the business forever. These men came together in a floundering industry and turned it upside down. As I have previously discussed, there was little to no real interest in the sport, no media coverage, no superstar to draw the crowds and no public interest. The matches were long and, for the most part, dull. Real competition couldn’t provide the thrills we seek and matches in this era consisted, almost entirely, of today’s rest holds – headlocks, waist locks, hammerlocks and the list goes on. The “sport” was going nowhere, and the “entertainment” was only ever really at the fore in the carnivals. Billy Sandow, a shrewd businessman and tough negotiator; “Toots” Mondt, a wrestler himself and an all-round creative genius; and Ed “The Strangler” Lewis, the legend of professional wrestling came together to give us “Sports-Entertainment”.

Long before Vince McMahon coined the phrase and packaged his product as “Sports-Entertainment”, the “Gold Dust Trio” were doing the very same thing. The innovative and creative genius of “Toots” Mondt reinvigorated, reenergised and reawakened a sleeping giant. The “Gold Dust Trio” noticed the quagmire in which wrestling was festering and sought to change the ways of business. The trio opened up their own promotion and “Toots”, in particular, was a driving force for change. He believed that people couldn’t appreciate a mat wrestling classic and that the masses wanted to be entertained. He recognised that to really appreciate a 5 hour epic bout required an understanding of the art that most members of the general population just didn’t have. What “Toots” proposed was a packaged wrestling show, the very first of its kind, to take on tour. The show was booked very much like today’s shows. There would be openers, mid-carders and main event level matches and each wrestler was placed and built accordingly. Wrestlers, for the first time, were contracted to one promotion which allowed for storylines to be developed and rivalries to emerge over weeks and months. This was a massive change in a business that was still stuck in vaudevillian exhibitions where wrestlers travelled the country in search of their next match. “Toots” also enforced time limits on matches. Long gone were the days of 2 hour matches, unless it was booked to be so. “Toots” introduced count-outs, he introduced the flashy moves, signature moves and pre-booked match finishes. He gave each wrestler a signature move, most of which he created. He termed this style “Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling” – A mish-mash of boxing, Greco-roman, bar-room brawling, freestyle and theatre. There is no doubting that “Toots” Mondt was a wrestling visionary. A man who changed the wrestling business more than, perhaps, any other man in its history. Their success was quick and meteoric. Being able to keep wrestlers under contract and away from competition from years at a time gave them an edge. They had a fresh, unique approach to the business which captured imaginations and brought the fans flocking back.

Since the retirement of Frank Gotch there had been several World Champions, but none had really been particularly popular. Throughout most of the period leading into the 1920’s, Joe Stecher had held the title (although he lost in to Earl Caddock in an upset, eventually winning it back). Joe Stecher and Ed Lewis were never friends and it is no surprise that these two would lock horns in and out of the squared circle. On December 13th 1920, Ed Lewis won the World Heavyweight Championship from Joe Stecher in a legitimate “shoot” fight. The two were fierce rivals at the time and this did nothing to improve their relationship. Stecher and Lewis would be consistently at war throughout the 1920’s in the first “Monday Night War” (for lack of a better term - I believe they warred the entire week, not just Mondays).

Joe Stecher - Lewis' career long rival

Stecher set up a rival promotion and the two were constantly at loggerheads with one another. The culmination of the feud came in 1925. On April 15th Stanislaus Zbyszko challenged Wayne Munn for the “Gold Dust Trio’s” championship. Wayne Munn was a former football player turned pro-wrestler and had been slowly built into a credible champion by Lewis and Co. Zbyszko, not too keen on losing to a footballer, switched to the Stecher camp without informing his former bosses. Needless to say, when match time arrived, controversy was not far behind. Stanislaus proceeded to mercilessly beat and humiliate Wayne Munn. The referee had no choice but to award the title to Zbyszko, to do otherwise would have started a riot after such a comprehensive victory.

To rub salt in to the wounds Zbyszko quickly dropped the title to Stecher leaving Lewis’ promotion without a title. Their only option was to nullify the contest and re-crown Wayne Munn as the champion. However, Munn had lost all credibility, as had the promotion. It was no longer the dominant face of professional wrestling it had once been. In an effort to save face, Munn quickly dropped the title to Lewis, but it was far too late. The industry now had two dominant champions parading themselves as the true Worlds Champion (Flair anyone? HBK/Razor Ramon?). At this point, it would be understandable to think this was fiction, but unfortunately not. In the fictional world of wrestling we would be getting our blow off match (the ladder match between Michaels and Ramon). Joe Stecher had other ideas. He, point blank, refused to defend his title against anyone for fear of losing. Another massive blow was dealt to the credibility of the industry. Although, in 1928, Stecher finally agreed to drop the belt to Lewis, but by then the chance had long since gone and the damage was well and truly done.

The problems were only just beginning. In 1929, after 5 years promoting travelling foreign wrestlers to promoters looking for a new challenger to their champion, Jack Pfeffer arrived in New York. Pfeffer was a survivor and escapee of the persecution of Jews during World War I and had arrived in America in 1921. Upon relocation to New York, Pfeffer teamed up with Big Apple promoter Jack Curley. Following the demise of the Gold Dust Trio, the duo gathered an alliance or “Trust” of promoters together, which allowed the sharing of talent and was a big move for the industry at the time. Pfeffer quickly established himself as a leading booking agent and positioned to take Curley’s place at the top. The top star in New York was Jim Londos and this was one of New York’s best periods in its illustrious wrestling history. The dealings between these 3 men were messy and confusing at the best of times. On one particular occasion, Londos and Curley fell into a dispute that led to Londos leaving for another promotion, to which Pfeffer followed. However, the dispute was solved and the damage repaired. Londos returned to New York and a new nationwide “Trust” was formed (a precursor to the NWA). It’s all remarkably confusing for a side plot to the main story. Suffice it to say that somewhere amidst all these dealings and disputes, Jack Pfeffer got left out in the cold and he was pissed.

The ever controversial Jack Pfeffer

Pfeffer had revenge in his mind and he knew exactly how to get it. In a move that shook the foundations of the industry and sent it spiralling to the ground, Pfeffer revealed all the trade secrets to the news media. He revealed the “fakery” and “theatrics” of the business to an already sceptical crowd. Pfeffer had turned the newspapers, journalists and the wrestling fans into cynics, a change that the media at least, never really recovered from. The New York media felt that Curley’s promotion was using them as fools to help gain publicity. In 1934, one newspaper covered an impending battle between Londos and Everett Marshall with the headline – “Londos and Marshall meet at Garden tonight for 26th time. Score - Londos 26, Marshall 0.” Curly’s credibility was forever tarnished and professional wrestling had once again been destroyed.

To nicely top it all off, a drunken press agent accidentally revealed the results for the following nights show to a journalist. This really didn’t help matters and any remaining interest was pretty much vanquished.

Collectively, Jack Pfeffer, Joe Stecher and the demise of the “Gold Dust Trio” had once again sent professional wrestling tumbling into a tailspin. Popularity plummeted and when you factor in the crash of Wall Street and the worsening depression, wrestling’s future looked very bleak. The gates dropped to next to nothing, there was no money left in the sport and very few stars remained. Ed Lewis retired in 1932, Joe Stecher rarely fought again, only coming out of retirement when all his money had run dry, and wrestling was banished to the halls and clubs from whence it came. Having spent little more than 10 years back on its feet, wrestling was a laughing stock once more.

Wrestling was dead. By the 1940’s it was going nowhere fast. Radio had made superstars out of Baseball and Football and the sports quickly became America’s pastimes. Wrestling, however, did not lend itself easily to radio. Whilst Football and Baseball retained its excitement over the radio waves, wrestling did not. It was monotonous and mundane to report and not much easier to listen to. To enjoy wrestling, you really had to be there. However, if, as wrestling fans, we have learnt anything, it is that our beloved sport can ride any wave and survive any fall or stumble and it was about to ride the biggest wave yet.....

Television.

Television was in its infancy and very few people had one in their homes. Wrestling became a communal pastime. Whole neighbourhoods would gather together to watch the biggest stars, the greatest matches, and the nastiest heels. True legends came to prominence – Lou Thesz, Gorgeous George, Killer Kowalski, Gene Kiniski, Dick the Bruiser and many more. Wrestling was tailor made for television with its pageantry and larger than life characters. It offered a unique blend of theatrics and athleticism that kept the whole family entertained. It provided cheap, original programming and the networks loved it. Wrestling was about to boom and to help it along its way came the NWA.

However, this is a subject for another column. I have kept you long enough with my tales of rises to stardom and falls from grace. The industry we love is the best in the world, simply because it is the most resilient in the world. Throughout a 150 year history, professional wrestling has been on the verge of collapse with alarming regularity, only to pick itself up, dust of its jacket, and push forward into a new era. Between the 20’s and the 40’s wrestling was revolutionised. It lost any shred of legitimacy that clung to its boots and embraced itself as entertainment. “Toots” Mondt indelibly etched his legacy on every match we watch today - pre-scripted finishes, count outs, tag-team wrestling, disqualifications, signature moves, flashy suplexes and larger than life personalities. The modern day promotions were seen for the first time and led themselves into a war which eventually saw the downfall of the “Gold Dust Trio”. Many moments in history echo in our time – WCW collapsed after losing a war, numerous egos refuse to drop the title or put over talent. Wrestling may survive the peaks and troughs but it never really learns.

So what became of the stars of our show? Well.....

Ed "The Strangler" Lewis - After his retirement, Lewis became instrumental in the career of Lou Thesz. He trained and occasionally managed Thesz and saw him become the leading man in the industry. Lewis wrestled several more times, despite having become legally blind. He finally hung up the boots in 1948. Lewis was destitute, suffering from Trachoma and relied on others to survive. He died at the age of 75 on August 8th 1966.

Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt - Mondt continued to have an impact on the sport that has ramifications to this day. He took over the New York territory from Jack Curley and after several years of success in the NWA met Vince McMahon Sr. The WWWF was formed in a breakaway from the NWA and the rest, as they say, is history. “Toots” died on June 11, 1976. He was 90 years old.

"Toots" Mondt (Centre) with Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon Sr.

Billy Sandow - Sandow was the businessman of the “Gold Dust Trio” and made the deals that made it all possible. Sandow went on to manage several other wrestlers, none of whom ever accomplished anything close to Lewis. Sandow died in 1972 at the age of 88.

Joe Stecher - After his semi-retirement the depression tempted Stecher back to the ring for a payday. He was still a massive draw behind Ed “The Strangler” Lewis and had several high profile matches with Londos, helping to make him a credible champion for the 1930’s. He retired for good in 1934 but suffered an emotional breakdown shortly afterwards. He suffered from severe depression and was later institutionalised. Joe Stecher died at age 81 in 1974.

Wayne Munn - Munn’s career never recovered after the humiliation he suffered at the hands of Zbyszko. Munn died in 1931 due to kidney problems. He was 35.

Stanislaus Zbyszko - Zbyszko travelled to India to face the Great Gama in a rematch but he lost in just 30 seconds in front of 60,000 fans. Nonetheless it was a massive payday for Stanislaus. He retired shortly afterwards and became an active scout and trainer. He discovered the legendary Antonino Rocca and trained both Johnny Valentine and Harley Race at his Missouri farm. He died at the age of 88 on September 23rd 1967.

Jack Pfeffer - Pfeffer never retracted his stance on professional wrestling after exposing the secrets of the sport. He presented shows with bizarre performers and storylines and was renowned for booking “freak” characters. A company made up almost entirely of Doink the Clowns, Goldusts and Mankinds. Pfeffer pushed tag-team and midget wrestling as novelty headline attractions and invented the blood capsule to enhance the image of violence. Pfeffer was instrumental in many talents careers including Buddy Rogers, Mildred Burke and Fabulous Moolah. He was one of the pioneers of women’s wrestling and also helped Sam Muchnick promote his first show. He finally settled in Chicago, the old “Gold Dust Trio” stomping ground, where he largely ruined the territory. He introduced sound-alike gimmicks such as “Bummy Rogers” and “Hobo Brazil”, thus repelling most other talent (Although this wouldn’t stop Vince McMahon proceeding with Fake Diesel, Gillberg, Nacho Man and numerous others). Jack Pfeffer died in a nursing home in 1974, he was 79. Pfeffer is still one of the most controversial figures in the industry, but also one of the most imaginative minds ever to grace it.


Thank you for reading and I hope you have enjoyed this volume of Those Were the Days. Please leave feedback to help me improve my writing. I apologise if this was a bit long but I just kept writing. For all of those that braved it to the end I have included a link to some matches from this era for you to peruse at your leisure.

1) Joe Stecher Vs Earl Caddock – 1920 – The oldest professional wrestling on film. This is their rematch held at Madison Square Garden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQl6mmAtkbE

2) “Handsome” Jim Londos Vs Rudy Dusek – 1932

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ety3rzb1SIc

3) Ed “The Strangler” Lewis Vs Dick Shikat – 1932

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uaqd8mz4n3A
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4yzGulkZzQ


Those Were The Days Volume III: A Portrait Special coming some time soon.

[J and Silent Dubb]

Another nice effort, and for sir

This was a great piece of history that once again I had not taken the time to research and I found this column very informative.

I'm still curious to see where your column will take us after the history lesson, whether it is the history of specific wrestlers, a similar effort to your previous ROH to WWE column, or something brand new. Take that as a great piece of praise though, because you have the reader waiting for another helping of "Those were the Days."

[BlueDust]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've pretty much got the next couple planned out. In my head anyways.....beyond that I'm as interested to see where it goes as you are...Thanks for reading.

['Plan]

Good god, I think someone's columnist career just exploded in a very bright light. After your first column this was a ridiculously great step up so well done.

It was an incredibly engaging read and I am seriously impressed by the depth of research that must go into these pieces. The images, matches, everything about it shows just how enthusiastic you are about pro wrestling and how much time and effort you put into your work. You deserve a great deal of respect for that alone. The fact that your work isn't suffering from the minor mistakes that plague even the most veteran columnists is another huge point in your favour to. Your prose is free flowing, easy to read and both expressive and creative. Your addition of those match links (which I shall check out shortly for sure!) were a great addition and contextualising the history with short biographies of "the stars of the show" was a minor but brilliant addition; it added a great deal to the column on its own.

That said, do make sure you watch that length. Your first could have been ever so slightly longer, this ever so slightly shorter. Third time lucky though! Having said that, the read didn't drag and that's incredibly important to note there. I would also advise deciding whether to refer to a certain wrestler by either their forename or surname and sticking to it. The amount of names in there got confusing in itself and by swapping your references to Stanislaus Zybyzsko meant I had to go back and re-read a few sentences which isn't something the reader should be expected to do.

Having said that, this was an incredibly good column for someone so fresh to the scene. A huge step up from your previous effort and I'm beginning to get very excited about your future around here. You've made a name for yourself with this. Now you just need to prove you can live up to it with your third instalment. I have every confidence you will do just that.

[meandi]

This was good. My only question is at the end of one paragraph, you mention that wrestling is basically dead in the late 20's/early 30's, however, the next paragraph is talking about entire neighborhoods gathering around the television to watch in the 40's. What happened during those ten years to make people care enough again to watch it on television?

[Smarmy]

I personally really enjoyed this column. I love history and always reading up on it on all ranges of subjects. This was a fascinating read, obviously well researched, very informative and excellently put together. Fantastic. Well done

[BlueDust]

'Plan - High praise indeed. I don't really know what to say. I'm glad you enjoyed it and hope that I can produce a worthy third column as well. With the Zbyszko thing, it was because I hated constantly typing his name, it's awkward to type and spell. In hindsight, of course you are right and your advice is noted and appreciated. As for the length, i'll just keep plugging away until I get it right. Admittedly this did feel a bit long but I grew so attached to the story and the characters I didn't want to let any of it go.

Meandi - Wrestling was effectively dead towards the end of the 30's and television played a large part in resurrecting it. There wasn't really much else to watch. Of course, it's not the only factor involved but I will be covering that in a later column hopefully so don't want to go into much detail here. Apologies if that wasn't the way it seemed when reading. Thanks for your feedback.

Smarmy. Glad you enjoyed it. I aim to produce informative columns that aren't too complex or lengthy in the detail but still give a good insight into the way things were. It is nice to hear that I am managing to do that.

Thank you for your comments and thank you for reading guys. I appreciate it.