Yes, George Steele and Lou Thesz met on Nov. 15, 1974 at Kiel.  Thesz subbed for Edouard Carpentier, who suffered a broken hand and was announced as replaced by Thesz on Nov. 11.  Thesz was already on hand to officiate the title match between champion Dory Funk, Jr. and challenger Jack Brisco.  Thesz pinned Steele with the flying scissors (Thesz press) in 7:40.  I was the ring announcer.  Of course, Steele did not do his gimmick..maybe just a hint..but it was tight match, on the mat a lot, and nothing special save for Thesz still being a piece of iron.

Yes, Bob, that match versus Steele was indeed the final match Lou had as a wrestler in St. Louis.  He had several special referee appearances..but that bout with Steele on Nov. 15, 1974, was the last time Lou wore the tights in his hometown.

By the way, here is the Steele record for Kiel matches only....he was actually billed as Jim Steele at first.

11/17/72 - beat Ben Justice

12/1/72 - beat Billy Howard

2/16/73 - beat Don Anderson; eliminated in Battle Royal

3/2/73 - with Dan Miller beat Ron Etchison & Amazing Zuma, traded first two falls with Etchison

4/27/73 - beat Louis Tillet

5/18/73 - lost via disq to Pat O'Connor

6/15/73 - with Bill and Dan Miller lost to O'Conor, Rufus Jones and Bobo Brazil

8/24/74 - with Bob Brown beat The Viking and Sailor Art Thomas, traded first two falls with Thomas

11/15/74 - lost to Lou Thesz

1/1/77 - lost to Jack Brisco

I got to know Jim Meyer (Steele) better when he served as an agent for the WWF while I was with them.  Good guy, easy to talk with - I liked him.  He never understood why Sam wouldn't let him do his gimmick, but that was Sam.  He knew his own town inside and out.  Many in wrestling didn't grasp what St. Louis was and WHY it was.  From 1947 thru 1983, name one town that was a consistently successful as St. Louis.  Or where wrestling and its performers were more respected by the general public and media.

I do recall Sam saying that George was a terrific wrestler and why did he want to do that "nutty gimmick."  Then he'd shake his head, and say "but I guess it works some places."

Just not St. Louis.  And not against Thesz...who he most assuredly did wrestle. 

I've been wondering who has control of the libaray? Is it true that WWE is thinking about buying it?

Did Sam ever talk about the situation surrounding Thesz's dropping of the NWA title to Ed Carpentier in 1957?

How much trouble did Sam have when he made the decision to have Rogers drop the title back to Thesz? How many times did Buddy skip out of the match, before they got him in the ring? Did Vince SR & Sam agree on the change?

I am a St. Louis native and lifelong wrestling fan (well, since the early 1980s when I was about 5).  My Great Aunt and I used to watch Wrestling at the Chase and I'm pretty sure one of the first incidents I remember from pro wrestling happened on the show.  I have almost finished reading your great book and the stipulation about a wrestler losing his mask prompted me to remember this.  Here's the situation:  Two wrestlers had a match and one guy lost and was forced to remove his mask.  When the mask came off, the announcer exclaimed, "It's Pat Kelly, It's Pat Kelly!"  Now, I know the Kelly Twins wrestled in St. Louis because I have the first nine volumes and there are matches on there with Pat Kelly.  So...was this a Wrestling at the Chase match?  If so, can you give me some background about what happened?

hi larry. i purchased your book. what an awesome book. loved it and will recommend it to all my wrestling friends. question, with such great cards as you had, and as great a business man as he was, why didn't he video tape his matches and keep them. because the lineups i have read about, there were no better cards anywhere in the world during st louis heyday, including madison square garden(even though i have never thought overall those cards were all that great).

Thanks for buying my book, Richard. Keep in mind during Sam's heyday television was used to build the arena/house cards.  The only reason Madison Square Garden shows were on tv was because a station paid the McMahon clan to do it.  Taping on his own would have been cost-prohibitive for Sam; airing it might have cut down live attendace.  Remember, even into the 80s, major league baseball was leery of how many games to telecast and the NFL stil has a blackout rule if a home team fails to sell all the tickets to its game. 

Bob Ellis/Pat O' Connor (1960/61??) title match was my first introduction to wrestling "psychology". Being young, one is much more impressionable but I still think the loudest boos I have heard was when O' Connor had to play heel in the 2nd and third fall to keep his belt. I don't recall anything about the match but Ellis taking the 2nd with his bulldog headlock and the cascade of boos for O' Connor in the match. Did you attend that one? If so, do you recall anything about it? Ellis could not have been more popular with the fans but was he considered by his peers to be a good "woker"? The Kowalski/Kiniski second from the top match on a O'Connor vs Hutton or Watson title card was the first Kiel card I attended. Did the fans back either one in that heel vs heel match? Again being young, I don't recall anything but a lot of kicking and stomping.

Speaking of boos and heat, what do you consider to be the most crowd heated matches you either saw or announced for?

Too bad your publisher could not go for about 900 pages like Bill Clinton's book was

As to Kowalksi vs. Kiniski, that was on Dec. 11, 1959.  My sketchy notes (hey, give me a break - I was only 12) is Pat O'Connor beat Dick Hutton by winning the first and third falls, while Kowalski and Kiniski were both disqualified.  This being Sam Muchnick, I'm sure there was no attempt whatsoever to portray either as the heel or baby face, just two of the toughest.  When Sam did Dick "the Bruiser" versus Fritz Von Erich in the mid-60s, I definitely recall NO attempt was made to "baby face" either.  It was sold out for their matches -- let the audience cheer who they wished.  I recall that as definitely 50-50.

The first O'Connor-Ellis title bout was Ferb. 5, 1960.  It was a one fall to a finish match, quite unusual, which O'Connor won by a count out when Ellis flew out of the ring, cracked his head on the press table, and was stunned on the floor.  The semi-final, right under NWA title, was a girls' championship match in which June Byers defeated Lorraine Johnson.

The second O'Connor-Ellis battle, which is likely the one Harry recalls, was Nov. 18, 1960.  It was best of three falls, which O'Connor won by taking the first and third falls.    Likely Pat did the subtle heel bit, but again neither was portrayed as a heel or baby face.  Side note...in the third match, Dan Hodge defended the Junior heavy crown by beating Rock Hunter.

Strong bill Nov. 18, by the way.  Also Buddy Rogers, billed as U.S. Champion, defeated Frank Townsend, John Paul Henning and Whipper Billy Watson defeated Gene Kiniski and Kinji Shibuya, Hodge over Hunter, Rip Hawk downed Doug Lindsey (later Gilbert), and Lorraine Johnson pinned Jessica Rogers.

Anyone else remember any of those bouts??????