Brief History:
The headquarters of the National Wrestling Alliance was in St. Louis for most of its existance, and the organization was championed, almost religiously, by the esteemed Sam Muchnick.
Background:
Resting on the banks of the Mississippi River, and under the famous Arch, St. Louis, the Gateway to the West, has been a wrestling center for decades. The city has seen champions all of shapes and sizes, competition on all levels, from high school to professional, and has seen promoters vie for the profitable territory. The fans have benefited from these battles, and have never done without. St. Louis saw champions Lou Thesz and Bill Longson on a regular basis and had promoters Tom Packs and Sam Muchnick organize wrestling shows with unbelievable skill, providing the eager local audience with a consistent stream of fine athletes and only the best matches possible.
One of the earliest major wrestling talents from St. Louis was George Baptiste. Baptiste was born around 1864 to Greek parents, and wrestled as an amateur into his early twenties, even winning a tournament in 1889. He turned professional, and standing 5’6’’ and weighing 155 lbs, it was normal for him to take on opponents of greater stature. Extremely strong, Baptiste scored many victories on the mat, and performed stunts with weights, including raising 300 pounds from the ground with his neck, and lifting 500 pounds with one hand, eight inches off the floor. Baptiste competed in both the Graeco-Roman and in the catch-as-catch-can styles, but excelled in the former. During his career, he held a claim to the Missouri State and World Middleweight Titles.
Baptiste dropped matches to Dan McLeod and Farmer Burns, and had a key role in training fellow St. Louis wrestler Bernarr MacFadden (Bernard Adolphus McFadden). He traveled and trained with Max Luttbeg through the Midwest in 1896 and in 1899, his two week marriage to Nellis Kyle ended with the latter yearning to return to her hometown of Milford, Connecticut. Upon retirement from grappling, George maintained a training center outside of St. Louis, where both boxers and wrestlers worked out. He was also a businessman and returned often to referee matches into the 1920s.
On January 22, 1924, Packs promoted one of the most sought out matches in the sport, Joe Stecher vs. Stanislaus Zbyszko, and gained interest from throughout the Midwest. A staggering 10,000 fans turned out at the St. Louis Coliseum and witnessed Stecher’s victory with the second and third falls. On the undercard, Renato Gardini beat Jim Londos in 41:05. Two weeks later, Gardini and World Champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis drew only 4,000 fans to the Coliseum on a night in which a snowstorm hit the area. The important matches of the year in St. Louis focused on Stecher, Londos, Gardini, and Lewis, and saw Londos receive two heavyweight title shots. His April 1 bout with the “Strangler” ended when Lewis kicked him in the face during the third fall, which reportedly caused a blood tumor at the base of his brain, and below his left ear. Lewis and his manager claimed the legit kick was an accident, while others thought the referee, Lewis and Sandow’s pal Sam Avey, should have disqualified the champion.
The second Londos-Lewis bout took place on June 12 at the St. Louis University Stadium, bringing in a gate of $14,410 for Packs. This time, there was no successful kickoff or punt, as the champion beat Londos squarely with the second fall in 40:37 and then the third in 10:24. Jim opened up the match with a victory in 24:57. Packs faced a promotional rival in 1924 by the name of Gus Tiefenthaler, who made his first effort on May 7 at the Battery A Open Air Arena. In the main event and dominating press reports was reputed trustbuster Marin Plestina, accompanied by his controversial manager Joe Marsh, and followed up on the undercard by a German shooter named Hans Steinke. Plestina beat Mike Howard, and Plestina beat Bill Sampson, both with straight-fall victories. In yet another attempt to secure a big match, Plestina challenged his longtime rival “Strangler” Lewis, and once again, it would fall on deaf ears.
The attention Plestina was getting became too much for Packs to ignore, and finally, he offered Marin a match with Gardini, who was an Olympic wrestler for Italy and no one to take lightly. If Plestina won the match, he’d be awarded a main event contest on one of Packs’s shows. Plestina refused, and negotiations with Londos scheduled a private wrestling match that did nothing but agitate Packs. Once Londos backed out of a date with Stecher on July 9, Packs obtained an injunction to prevent him from competing with Plestina. Finally, Packs got both Londos and Plestina in one of his rings on July 30 at the University Stadium, and the Greek won a 90-minute handicap match when his opponent failed to secure even one of the two falls he needed within the time-limit.
With egos growing at days passed, the animosity among the top layer of wrestlers, promoters, and managers who dictated the course of the sport heightened, and as a result, Packs severed his ties to the Lewis-Sandow group. Lines in the sand were drawn, and wrestlers found some semblence of loyalty to the promoters they felt could make them the best deal financially. At the same time, the heavyweight championship needed to be protected by the men who had custody of it, and Lewis and Sandow were not going to give up the title to a wrestler who they couldn’t benefit from. The sport had transitioned full circle to a time in which the World Champion would be decided in a board room rather than on the mat. In 1924, the politicing behind the championship was more prevaliant than at any time in history. Titles had changed hands in worked matches before that, but Lewis and Sandow’s control of the heavyweight belt was much more organized than at any time prior.
While Packs, the Stechers, and Jack Curley looked for way to fight the system, Lewis and Sandow found a way to spark interest in their clique by passing the heavyweight title to a newcomer named Wayne Munn. Munn was a talented football player, and although he had failed to make headway as a boxer, his managers thought he’d fare far better as a wrestler in a well controlled, and non-hostile environment. Well, needless to say, there were many hostilities in the wrestling world at that time, and once Munn was “made” champion, there was a “X” on his back that marked him. A plan formed by the Curley-Packs regime found a friend on the opposing side, hired him, and on April 15, 1925 in Philadelphia, Stanislaus Zbyszko double-crossed Munn in the ring, and took whatever claim he had to the World Title.
Zbyszko was well compensated for his efforts, and Joe Stecher waited for the title to be passed. The build up in St. Louis was brillant, but not without a word from the opposing side, who were fuming at the turn of events. On May 6 at the St. Louis University Field, Packs introduced the new titleholder to the crowd, and Zbyszko proceeded to beat Dick Daviscourt in two-straight falls. Prior to the main event, Joe’s brother Tony issued a challenge to the winner, and put up $10,000 to bind a match.
St. Louis area newspapers followed Packs’s attempts to sign a title bout between Zbyszko and Stecher from his scheduled meeting with the champion along with Tony Stecher on May 7 at the Hotel Statler, which Stanislaus blew off, to his subsequent train ride to Chicago late that night. Packs later followed Zbyszko from Chicago to Springfield, Massachusetts and back, reportedly trying everything possible to sign the deal, and most likely just watching the back of his hired gun. On May 12, Packs received final confirmation from Zbyszko for a $50,000 deal that binded a match against Stecher on May 30. Incidently, May 30 was the date of the Ed Lewis-Wayne Munn rematch in Michigan City, Indiana.
Gus Tiefenthaler, the local representative of the Lewis gang, promoted his own brand to the St. Louis audience on May 21 at Stars’ Park. There, John Pesek ousted John Evko in two-straight falls, Richard Schikat defeated Tom Draak and Pat McGill wrestled Mike Romano to a draw. Before the start of the main event, the announcer proclaimed that Pesek would throw both Stecher and Zbyszko in the same night or forfeit $5,000, only to receive some heckling from the crowd. To prepare for the important match, Stecher trained at the Red Ball Gymnasium with George Tragos, Gus Eisel, Henry Costa and Dan Koloff, while Zbyszko worked out with Joe Novesky and Frank Judson at Billiken Stadium. Packs made accomodations for 18,000 people the St. Louis University Field, and more than 15,000 attended the May 30 program. Stecher beat Zbyszko in two-straight falls (1:26:18, 39:22), and captured the disputed World Heavyweight Title.
According to Department of Justice records, Sam Muchnick claimed that his office booked Hannibel, Missouri in 1949, and that Hillsboro, East St. Louis, and Alton, Illinois should "belong to us," after a promoter in one of the latter trio wanted to go "shopping" for a agency to work with. In 1950, he wanted Fred Kohler of Chicago to refer a promoter in Lawrenceville, Illinois to his office, and then told a promoter in Cape Girardeau that he had a working agreement with the "Tennessee people" regarding that town.
Reportedly in 1954, East St. Louis promoter Harry Wills became "dissatisfied" with the wrestlers that Muchnick was sending him, and tried to obtain talent from Chicago. The Illinois State Athletic Commission chairman Osborne contacted Kohler, explaining that Wills "wants the shows [in his town] to be handled by your organization," and told him to "please cooperate by handling his show."
Kohler, in turn, passed on the letter to Muchnick, who responded via letter on December 9, 1954. Muchnick told Kohler that "we have been booking East St. Louis as long as I can remember, and the Illinois commission says that is must be an Illinois man. It is strictly in restraint of trade, and my attorney tells me that, if necessary, we can go into court against the Illinois Athletic Commission and make an issue of this. As I told you previously, in order to get them off your back, you can put some shows into East St. Louis. But, if you are going to put top men like Gagne, Rocca, Schmidt, O'Connor, and others like that across the river, they will be losing their potential value to me. As I told you, you and I are not only associates in business, but good personal friends. I would not want our relationship injured in any way over a 'phantom promoter' who has not had a show since last January."
In February 1955, Wills filed an antitrust suit against Muchnick in Federal Court, asking for damages in excess of $300,000.
Wrestlers from St. Louis:
Biographies and Articles:
Tom Packs
Obituaries:
Lou Baptiste (Louis Baptiste), a referee in St. Louis during the 1920s, died on May 26, 1935. Lou was George Baptiste's younger brother.
One of Missouri's earliest wrestling champions, George Baptiste died on December 1, 1938 in St. Louis. He was survived by his wife Lillian. Baptiste, after retirement from wrestling, was a longtime referee and owned a Tent and Awning business with his brother Lou.
Sports writer for the East St. Louis Daily Journal and timekeeper at many area wrestling shows, Earl Brady died on December 2, 1944.
Sam Muchnick's father Saul Muchnick died on February 19, 1952 at St. Louis Jewish Hospital. He was survived by his wife Rebecca and children.
Otto Lippman, a former wrestling promoter and sportsman, was killed after being hit with a car on March 2, 1956 in Springfield, Missouri. He was 79.
Former Missouri state champion in the middleweight class and a trainer of many future profsesional stars, Lloyd Carter died in July 1966 in Sarasota County, Florida.
Longtime Missouri State Athletic Commission Chairman Charles Pian died in December 1967 at St. Louis. Pian was well known throughout the wrestling world and served a term as National Wrestling Association President in 1961.
"Whitey" Brexler (Otto George Brexler), a wrestling star in the St. Louis area during the 1930s, died in June 1973. Brexler was also a fireman, and captured several grappling championships amongst firemen, in tournaments. He represented Engine Company No.11.
St. Louis native Bobby Shane (Robert Schoenberger) died in a Florida plane crash on February 20, 1975.
Claimant to the Missouri State Title in the early 1920s, Jake Reed (Van Edison Reed) passed away on January 11, 1978. Reed was born in Chillicothe and lived in Fulton, Missouri.
Sam Muchnick's mother Rebecca Muchnick died in December 1980. According to the 1930 Federal Census, "Becky" came to the United States from Russia in 1912.
Only weeks after the death of his mother, Sam Muchnick suffered the loss of his wife Helen Muchnick in January 1981.
Billy Scharbert (William H. Scharbert) died in St. Louis, Missouri in April 1982. Scharbert was a longtime East St. Louis wrestling mainstay on the semi-professional circuit, and was one of Lou Thesz's earliest ring rivals.
Arguably, the most successful wrestler in St. Louis wrestling history, Bill Longson (Willard Longson) died on December 10, 1982. Longson was National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Champion on three occasions and dominated the St. Louis mat scene for a number of years.
Eddie Plesti (Edward Pistorius), a fireman and wrestler in the 1930s, died in May 1987 in St. Louis. Plesti and "Whitey" Brexler were constant rivals in the firemen wrestling tournaments. Among the other known wrestlers to compete in these events were Matthew Matesick, Tommy Godfrey, and Charles Thotus.
Part-time wrestler and brother of former state champion Jake Reed, Fred Reed (Fred C. Reed) died on December 10, 1987 in Eldon, Missouri.
A title claimant in the 1940s, Marshall Carter (Marshall W. Esteppe) of Sturgeon, Missouri, died on January 19, 1989.
Joe Millich (Walter Millich) died on Thursday, June 14, 1990 at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. He was 73.
Reportedly the winner of seven Ozark AAU wrestling championships in a row at 165-pounds, Mileo Occhi died on August 8, 1990. Occhi turned professional wrestler in the mid-1930s.
A regional champion throughout the country, Ray Eckert (Floyd Eckert) died on July 7, 1996 at 79 years of age in California, Missouri. Eckert supplimented his income as a wrestler during his early career, spending the days working as a swimming pool lifeguard.
Successful wrestler and champion throughout North America, Joe F. Tangaro passed away on September 30, 1997 in south St. Louis County at the age of 70.
The legendary St. Louis promoter and National Wrestling Alliance President, Sam Muchnick died on December 30, 1998.
The highly successful professional wrestler Ray Villmer (Raymond Henry Villmer) died on January 9, 2005 in Tallahassee, Florida. He was 92 years of age. Villmer was a St. Louis product and held many regional distinctions.
Missouri State Wrestling Titles:
World Heavyweight Title
Missouri State Heavyweight Title
St. Louis Wrestling Results:
St. Louis Wrestling Results - 1912
St. Louis Wrestling Results - 1923
St. Louis Wrestling Results - 1924
St. Louis Wrestling Results - 1925
Other Missouri Wrestling Results:
Moberly Wrestling Results - 1932
East St. Louis Wrestling Results:
East St. Louis Wrestling Results - 1933
|
