National Wrestling Alliance Convention

Meeting Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Meeting Dates: August 28-29, 1959

Officers:

President: Sam Muchnick (reelected)
1st Vice President: Frank Tunney (reelected)
2nd Vice President: Leroy McGuirk
Treasurer: Sam Avey

Sam Muchnick described the 1959 National Wrestling Alliance Convention as being
"harmonious, constructive, and educational" in his September 1, 1959 letter to the
organization's membership. He also thanked the body for electing him to the presidency
for the 10th straight year. Muchnick pledged to do his best for the organization and for
the business.

In Attendance:

Sam Muchnick
Frank Tunney
Leroy McGuirk
Orville Brown
Stu Hart
Al Karasick (also alternate for Joe Malcewicz)
Fred Kohler
Roy Welch (also alternate for Cowboy Luttrall)
Dennis Stecher
Bill Lewis
Mike London
Salvador Lutteroth Jr.
Joe "Toots" Mondt
Karl Sarpolis
Leo Voss (alternate for Jim Crockett)
Sidney Balkin (alternate for Morris Sigel)

Membership Roster:

Sam Muchnick
Frank Tunney
Leroy McGuirk
Orville Brown
Stu Hart
Al Karasick
Fred Kohler
Bill Lewis
Mike London
Salvador Lutteroth Jr.
Joe "Toots" Mondt
Karl Sarpolis
Dennis Stecher
Roy Welch
Jim Crockett
Cowboy Luttrall
Joe Malcewicz
Morris Sigel
Al Haft
Harry Light
Pedro Martinez
Cliff Maupin
Cliff Olson
Don Owen
Eddie Quinn
Dave Reynolds

NWA Board of Directors:

Sam Muchnick
Frank Tunney
Orville Brown
Stu Hart
Dennis Stecher
Fred Kohler
Joe "Toots" Mondt
Morris Sigel
Joe Malcewicz

*One Director position was open and Jim Crockett was nominated. It was going to be
voted by the membership at a later date. Crockett was approved, and became the 10th
member of the NWA BOD.

Sam Muchnick revealed during the meeting that the NWA attorney Harry N. Soffer billed
the organization $2,500 for his work in the Sonny Myers case, which the Alliance won.
Soffer billed the NWA only $2,500 for work that totaled over $4,900. However, the NWA
treasury only hade $2,125 from members, and some members failed to send their
assessments completely. Muchnick called the win over Myers, "a great victory."

In December 1959, Muchnick received a Western Union telegram from Eddie Quinn in
Montreal, telling him to stop booking Pat O'Connor because he was under an "exclusive
contract" to Quinn. O'Connor, of course, was the NWA World Heavyweight Champion,
and this request was highly unusual. Within days, Quinn's Montreal lawyer, Louis A.
DeZwirek sent a letter to Muchnick explaining that O'Connor was under contract to Quinn
until November 10, 1964. The letter said: "Mr. O'Connor cannot engage himself in any
way as a professional wrestler until the expiry of the contract without the approval and
authorization of Mr. Quinn." The letter was dated December 17, 1959.

Muchnick responded to Quinn's attorney on December 30, 1959, telling him that his own
lawyer had reviewed the contract between O'Connor and Quinn and it was "his opinion
that it is not enforceable." Thus, he was going to continue booking the wrestler.

The Illinois State Athletic Commission, through a letter by chairman Frank Gilmer to
DeZwirek on January 6, 1960, announced that it would not abide by the 1954 to 1964
contract. The letter stated that O'Connor had testified under oath that Quinn "did
nothing for him during the entire year of 1959, to secure wrestling contests or
exhibitions." Gilmer recommended taking the matter to court if he wanted to further press
the issue.

One of the main issues in the O'Connor contract matter for Quinn was preventing the
former from wrestling in Chicago for Fred Kohler, who he was currently engaged in a
promotional war with. On January 9, 1960, the day following O'Connor's appearance,
Kohler wrote a letter to William Kilgore of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division.
Kohler wanted to call his attention to a "violation of the Consent Decree issued against
the members of the National Wrestling Alliance by Mr. Eddie Quinn of Boston and
Montreal."

Kohler went on to say that Quinn had been "using various devious means to prevent Mr.
O'Connor from wrestling for me in Chicago and other cities in the Chicagoland area." He
noted that Quinn, instead of doing anything booking for O'Connor, had been "publicizing,
advertising, and introducing Mr. [Wladek] Kowalski as the world's heavyweight champion."
Also, "Mr. O'Connor has posted $10,000.00 cash appearance bond with the National
Wrestling Alliance to guarantee his appearances and while Mr. O'Connor did wrestle for
me last night, January 8th, in a championship match in Chicago, it was done to spite
efforts by Mr. Quinn to prevent him from it."

Research by Tim Hornbaker
December 12, 2010

National Wrestling Alliance Convention - 1959