MY ST. LOUIS WRESTLING MEMORIES

By

Bob Jinkerson

Some might think it over-dramatic to refer to seeing your first wrestling match on television as a “life changing experience”.  But from the time I stumbled across “Wrestling At The Chase” in 1959 at age 10, my life really was changed.   Now, over 45 years later I am still a student and follower of the wrestling business as it was.  I watch very little of the current product and keep up with it just enough to have an idea of what’s going on.  But seeing the action on my parents’ black and white TV and hearing Joe Garagiola’s colorful and often humorous commentary, hooked me for life.

 I have a vague memory of that first show, but vivid memories of many shows to come.   Joe’s running feud with Rip Hawk, the Busch Bavarian commercials with Taro Myaki, the late Don Cunningham’s straightforward commentary, the fun George Abel always seemed to have, Sam Menacker’s brief tenure and of course Larry’s enthusiasm and love of the business, always present in his commentary.

 I attended my first live show at Kiel Auditorium in 1964.  My reaction as I entered and saw the ring, awash in white lights with smoke hanging in the air, was similar to my first reaction to seeing Sportsman’s park for the first time.  Our seats were on the North Ramp, providing a clear, great view of the ring and the subsequent action.  The main event would be a World Championship match, pitting the reigning six time champion Lou Thesz against the extremely popular former champion Pat O’Connor.

 Prior to that match was a semi-final match between Dick the Bruiser and another popular wrestler, especially with the ladies—John Paul Henning.  It lasted all of five minutes as they went outside the ring almost immediately.  But the main event was a true classic as Thesz and O’Connor faced off for an hour, with Lou taking the only fall at around the 56 minute mark.  I was a huge admirer and fan of Thesz, but I was clearly in the minority as O’Connor was the clear crowd favorite.  Thesz played to that, drawing intense heat by doing subtle heel things like scooting to the ropes every time O’Connor applied a hold.  Then he REALLY did the unspeakable—he had O’Connor on the ropes and when the referee called for a break, Lou threw a punch!!!

 I had the pleasure of seeing so many great matches live after that, both at Kiel and at the St. Louis Arena.  One of the greatest I saw at the latter venue was an hour long battle between Dory Funk Jr and Jack Brisco who could always be counted on to put on a five star match filled with lots of heat as Funk wore the heel designation in these battles.

 Speaking of great feuds, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the beautiful ladies of the ring.  In particular, Jean Antone and Betty Nicoli had many classic battles in St. Louis.  Jean was petite, demure and gorgeous—Betty, bigger and more aggressive with a classic, Italian look and beautiful in her own right.

 I became acquainted, through fan clubs and correspondence, with Don Wilson who was the timekeeper for a time.  Don and I became good friends.  Through him I was able to meet some of my heroes and I discovered that some of the meanest in the ring were the nicest outside.  Hans Schmidt and Dr. Bill Miller (Big Bill), were definitely personable.  I met them at Joe Tangaro’s one night after the matches.  Joe was a class act as well.

 In my opinion, the creation of the Missouri Heavyweight title was one of the smartest decisions Sam Muchnick ever made.  One look at the list of wrestlers who wore that belt and you can easily see why it became one of the most respected regional titles in wrestling, even though it was primarily a St. Louis title.

 One of the wildest matches I ever saw was an outdoor match at a baseball field in North St. Louis County.  It was in the summer of 1965 and had four matches.  My aunt and I sat ringside.  The opening match featured the colorful heel prelim wrestler Joe Tomasso.  I don’t remember who his opponent was, but they wrestled to a 15 minute draw.  The second match was between Jean Antone and Betty Niccoli, won by Jean.  The third match pitted Wilbur Snyder against another opponent whose name escapes me.

 But I do have a clear memory of the main event—the great Gene Kiniski against the also great Johnny Valentine.  This was about a year before Kiniski’s capture of the NWA title from Lou Thesz.  Valentine was, in my opinion, one of the greatest wrestlers never to capture the NWA World Championship.  It was one of those sticky, humid St. Louis nights and sweat was flying with every blow struck.  My aunt and I could actually feel it sometimes.  The match was scheduled for two out of three falls with either a 30 or 45 minute time limit as I remember.  Kiniski captured the first fall with his kindling wood backbreaker.  Valentine took the second after one of his “brain busters”.  The third fall saw them go outside the ring, causing those of us at ringside to scatter as these two behemoths brawled.  At one point, the record player used to play the National Anthem before the card started was demolished to pieces!

 These are just some of my memories.  I have hundreds more!!!!  Thanks to people like Larry Matysik, Herb Simmons and others devoted to “Wrestling like it used to be” those memories will live forever.

 Thanks for reading!

 Bob Jinkerson