Those years also featured many Houston area stars--including Lou Plummer, who would eventually move to New Waverly and become a high school coach at New Waverly High School. Other local favorites were Sterling “Dizzy Davis,” Jimmy James, Al Lovelock, Marvin Jones, and Chester Hayes, a Sam Houston High School graduate who was an All-State selection in football and would go on to play football at Rice Institute. Handsome George Holmes also saw action in the Houston Wrestling ring, in-between the numerous movies he starred in while working for 20th Century Fox.
It was also an exciting time for Houston’s own Gorgeous George. Houston Wrestling fans witnessed firsthand Gorgeous George’s soon-to-be world-famous ring character evolve. George started the decade with short brown hair and no fancy robes or valet, but by the end of the forties, Gorgeous George had long, blonde, curly hair, dressed in fancy robes, and strutted down the aisle with his valet to “Pomp and Circumstance.”
It has been said that Gorgeous George would eventually have over one hundred fifty ornate robes made from different fabrics and jewels from around the world. He never wanted to be seen in the same town wearing the same robe. This storyteller is convinced that his wife, Kaye, and the legendary Gorgeous George are related.
It would not be until the fifties that Gorgeous George soared to his greatest heights. He not only became the “Toast of the Coast,” but the envy of much of the sports and entertainment world.
Sigel did a tremendous job of signing talent, and was responsible for establishing Houston as one of the premier World Title towns in the business. He transformed the promotion and turned Houston Wrestling into a red-hot, World Title market. This distinction would characterize the Houston Wrestling promotion for the next fifty years.
Throughout the war and post war years, many of the greatest World Title matches of the decade took place in the Houston Wrestling ring. That period began with Bronko Nagurski as the World Heavyweight Champion, and ended with Lou Thesz as World Champion.
Bobby Managoff won the World Heavyweight Title in the Houston Wrestling ring on November 27, 1942. For the next eight years Houston Wrestling fans witnessed an exciting parade of World Champions, including Bronko Nagurski, Ray Steele, Sandor Szabo, Wild Bill Longson, Yvon Robert, Bobby Managoff, Whipper Billy Watson, and finally Lou Thesz.
One of the most famous World Title showdowns in Houston that decade featured World Champion Wild Bill Longson against former World Champion Lou Thesz, with “special referee” former World Boxing Champion Jack Sharkey.
Jack Sharkey was no stranger to sports fans from around the world, as he had won the World Heavyweight Boxing Title by defeating Max Schmeling on June 21, 1932. Leave it to Sigel to make an outstanding World Title showdown between Longson and Thesz even bigger and better by putting Jack Sharkey in the ring. It was quite a feat for Promoter Morris Sigel to sign all three World Champions, and the event was a historical treat for the sold-out crowd.
The national spotlight of professional wrestling was focused on the City Auditorium on the night of December 12, 1947. The battle was everything fans and promoters had expected. Longson barely held on to his World Title in a bout that had both wrestling and boxing fans talking for many years. Houston Wrestling was indeed becoming one of top wrestling towns in the nation, a position the promotion would continue to maintain for decades.
Sigel also established the Houston Wrestling promotion as a strong weekly promotion, another distinction that shaped the image of Houston Wrestling for the next half century. This would become even more important with the invention of television.
***
Try to imagine what it must have been like at a match in this era.
It is Friday, December 7, 1945, and the Houston Wrestling fans are filing into the City Auditorium. If you close your eyes, you may be able to hear the hustle and bustle of activity as thousands of wrestling fans file through noisy turnstiles. Young program sellers shout, “Get your lucky number program! This is your last chance to get your lucky number program!” Concession vendors yell, “Get your ice cold beer!” while others vend popcorn, peanuts, and hot dogs.
If you try hard enough, you can even feel the excitement in the air. This is not just any Friday night of Houston Wrestling. The main event is the long-awaited World Title match between World Heavyweight Champion Wild Bill Longson from Salt Lake City, and top contender Lt. Paul Boesch from Long Beach, New York.
The national spotlight of professional wrestling is focused on Houston, fans anxiously waiting to see if Lt. Paul Boesch, the most decorated wrestler-soldier of World War II, can make a dream come true and defeat Wild Bill Longson for the World Heavyweight Title. How appropriate it would be for him to win the World Title on the fourth anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This is what a Cinderella sports story is all about.
It was the biggest match in Paul Boesch’s wrestling career. The city of Houston was his second home, and the home crowd came out in force to cheer him on. He wanted to win the World Title not only for himself, but for the many wrestlers who put their careers on hold and fought for their country. He wanted to win it for the ones who could no longer wrestle due to wounds suffered in battle. But most importantly, he wanted to win it for the wrestlers who tragically never came back. He was ready! Houston was ready! The post-war wrestling world was ready!
Paul Boesch wrestled the greatest match of his career that night. Longson was one of the toughest World Champions in the sport’s history. Boesch turned in a tremendous and inspirational effort, unfortunately, this was one Cinderella story that did not end as he and fans had hoped. Promoters were also pulling for Boesch because they were aware of the box office appeal that he would have had in their respective towns and territories.
But destiny is a precarious and powerful force. If Boesch had managed the huge upset, it would have changed the course of his life. More importantly, it would have drastically changed the course of Houston Wrestling. Boesch did not walk out the ring with the World Title belt, but he stayed in Houston for the rest of his life. By the end of the decade, Paul Boesch was the heart and soul of Houston Wrestling, a role he held for over forty years. Winning the title would have meant leaving Houston, so the lives he touched and the good deeds he accomplished would never have happened. Yes, destiny is a very precarious and powerful force.
That showdown capped a very successful 1945 Houston Wrestling year. Americans were ready for a more peaceful world, and Houston Wrestling fans were ready for Houston Wrestling to continue entertaining them without further disruptions from harsh realities.
Promoter Morris Sigel started the 1946 Houston Wrestling season with a dressing room full of talent. He had stars like colorful Buddy Rogers, Houston’s own Sterling “Dizzy” Davis, Paul Boesch (who was no longer a lieutenant since he was honorably discharged), Whiskers Savage (who had earned enough money to buy wrestling tights and boots), Jim “Thunderbolt” Casey, Lou Plummer, Don Evans, Ellis Bashara, Houstonian Al Lovelock, and World Heavyweight Champion Wild Bill Longson. Sigel also had his staff primed and ready.
Listed below are the individuals and their job titles according to the Houston Wrestling program dated January 4, 1946:
Morris P. Sigel, Promoter and Owner
Frank J. Burke, Manager
Dr. Karl Sarpolis, Advisor
Adie Marks, Publicity Director
Jerry Shultz, Announcer and Ticket Sales
Bruce Layer, Radio Announcer
Leon Harrison and Fred Kohul, Timekeepers
Wm. R. Martin, Chief Usher
Miss Lee Stephenson, Secretary
Office Address: 502 Milam Bldg. Houston 2 Texas
Houston Wrestling tickets could be purchased in advance at the Auditorium Hotel Drug Store across the street from the City Auditorium. The phone number was B. 3-2636.
Ticket prices were:
Ringside $3.00
Arena $2.50 & $1.85
General Admission $1.20
There were no significant increases in tick
et prices for many years, but remember, Morris Sigel also operated the food and drink concessions, which helped him make more money for every show he promoted. It was a great incentive for him to keep ticket prices low so attendance would be high and concessions would prosper. Again, Sigel proved himself a prudent businessman.
In addition to the wealth of talent, Sigel, with the advice of Doc Sarpolis, established the Texas Heavyweight Championship as one of the premier professional wrestling titles in the business. Most mat action during 1946 centered on the Texas Championship belt. The Texas Champion would be a top contender for the World Heavyweight Title when the Champion came to Houston.
One star of Houston Wrestling during the forties was the talented Buddy Rogers. Rogers’ real name was Herman Rohde, and he was born on February 20, 1921, in Camden, New Jersey. “Buddy Rogers” was later born in the office of Promoter Morris Sigel. Some wrestling sources credit Sigel for renaming Herman after a movie character, while other sources credit Herman himself. Regardless, Sigel and Herman worked together to developed the flashy character who would be one of the sport’s most famous stars.
It is hard to imagine that either man realized how monumental their creation would become as they sat in Sigel’s office, yet together they spent the next few years developing Buddy Rogers into a wrestling icon. This was a classic example of how a sports promoter and an athlete could work together to create a superstar. The promoter made the star, and in turn the star made the promoter. Together they created a synergy that propelled both individuals to new heights. Sigel gave Buddy Rogers the push outside the ring, including making him the Texas Heavyweight champion. Inside the ring, Rogers delivered the kind of action that made him an exciting star to watch and a record-setting box office attraction.
During his career, “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers held numerous wrestling titles, including both the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Title and the World Wide Wrestling Federation (the forerunner of the WWE) World Heavyweight Title. For decades, he was the only man to win World Titles from both major wrestling organizations. Interestingly, the second man to accomplish that feat grew up idolizing “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers and designed his own wrestling character after the superstar. That man was “Nature Boy” Ric Flair.
Buddy Rogers’ flamboyant image and action-oriented style in the ring made him a natural for the golden years of television: the fifties. Whether working for the National Wrestling Alliance or the Word Wide Wrestling Federation, his unique combination created a legend. No matter what territory the blonde grappler worked, he was a superstar in the ring and at the box office. Even after he retired from wrestling, he made his rounds by acting as a manager for promising wrestling talent. His experience and knowledge helped take those athletes to the next level.
Rogers died of a heart attack on June 26, 1992. Some wrestling officials claim he was in training for yet another comeback at the age of seventy. If you knew Buddy Rogers, you would know that was not out of the realm of possibility. That was Buddy Rogers!
The forties was not only a history-making decade for male wrestlers at Houston Wrestling; it was a history-making decade for female wrestlers. Those years started by featuring Mildred Burke, who claimed to be the best female wrestler in the world, and finished with the debut of Lillian Ellison, better known as “The Fabulous Moolah.” She dominated the female pro-wrestling world for the next four decades.
Mildred Burke was one of the most fascinating female wrestlers to step inside the male-dominated ring. According to the Houston Wrestling Program of October 3, 1946, she was working at the YMCA in Kansas City as a stenographer and bookkeeper. Also working at the YMCA was professional wrestler Billy Wolfe, who had his own wrestling school on the side. Mildred became interested in wrestling and approached Wolfe about training her to be a wrestler.
Wolfe did not like the idea, and quickly put her in the ring with a man. He gave Burke's opponent instructions to “rough her up” so she would be sent packing. His strategy backfired: Burke quickly beat the male contender. She went on to defeat all other wrestlers in Wolfe’s wrestling school, male and female. It was a very impressive feat, and Wolfe became so convinced of her wrestling ability and toughness that he trained her and became her manager.
There are numerous stories of her toughness, but this storyteller’s favorite is the one in which Burke quickly won a match in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Afterward, some fans were giving her a hard time. Her manager stepped inside the ring, took the microphone, and removed a one hundred dollar bill from his wallet. He announced that he would give any man or woman roughly the same size as Mildred the bill if they could last twenty minutes with her in the ring. One man quickly volunteered. He was a football player and entered the ring confident and cocky. He started showboating, making fun of Mildred, but she grabbed him and not only beat him, but also broke his arm with her famous arm bar hold! Needless to say, he did not collect the prize.
Wolfe was not only impressed with Burke's toughness but her beauty. They eventually married. This storyteller is not sure who proposed, but if it was Mildred Burke who took the initiative, one can only assume that Billy Wolfe’s answer was “Yes ma’am!”
You would think a woman that tough would have grown up a tomboy, however that was not the case with Burke. She played with dolls and other toys for sweet little girls, and as a woman she loved dressing up in beautiful gowns and high heels. Burke loved diamonds and wore huge rings, which were likely purchased from the $30,000 a year she was making. In the early forties, that was big bucks! She took a great deal of pride in her cooking as well. She boasted that she made the best chili and cherry pie in the country, but who was going to argue?
Burke stood five feet three inches and weighed only one hundred fifteen pounds when she started wrestling. She was petite, she was beautiful,.but most importantly, she was tough! There was little official recognition given to the so-called World Champion of female wrestling in the early forties. However, nobody disputed her claim to the title, especially the football player from Vicksburg, Mississippi.
As female wrestling started to become more popular in the forties, Houston Wrestling laid claim to their own local female star, June Byers. June was five feet seven and a half inches tall and weighed 145 pounds. She was born in Houston, attended public school there, and was inspired to be a female wrestler after attending Houston Wrestling and witnessing the wild excitement. She was hooked. Byers trained on the east coast and quickly became a star. During her illustrious career, several wrestling organizations recognized her as their female World Champion, but she was Houston Wrestling’s first and most famous homegrown female wrestling superstar.
The female wrestler who dominated professional wrestling ranks longer than any other was Lillian Ellison, known worldwide as “The Fabulous Moolah.” She made her Houston Wrestling debut in 1948, and for the next forty years would be recognized by various wrestling organizations as the Women’s Wrestling World Champion. “The Fabulous Moolah” was also the first lady wrestler to be voted into a professional wrestling Hall of Fame.
Mary Lillian Ellison was born in 1923 in South Carolina. She was the youngest of thirteen children and the only girl, so it’s no wonder she grew up to be tough. Ellison was inspired to be a female wrestler after she watched the legendary Mildred Burke compete at local matches. Ellison vowed to become a lady wrestler one day, but married when she was only fourteen years old and at age fifteen she gave birth to a baby girl. She divorced her husband and left her daughter with a friend so she could pursue her wrestling dream.
She began her career with Mildred Burke’s husband Billy Wolfe, who at that time was one of the premier women’s wrestling promoters. Wolfe and Mildred Burke trained Ellison and gave the young star her first major push. Ellison broke away from the husband-and-wife team when she started a romance with professional wrestler Johnny Long. Long introduced her to the famous promoter Jack Pfeffer, who changed her name to “Slave Girl Moolah.” (Pfeffer was also instrumental in h
elping the career of another future wrestling superstar, Paul Boesch. However that is another story, for a different chapter.)
As “Slave Girl Moolah,” Ellison continued to wrestle, but also became a valet to the legendary Buddy Rogers. After she broke up with Buddy Rogers for personal reasons, she served as valet to the Elephant Boy, another professional wrestler. Soon she was given the ring name of “The Fabulous Moolah” by Vince McMahon Sr., the father of the current King of professional wrestling, Vince McMahon of the WWE. Although The Fabulous Moolah was a great valet, she was an even better wrestler.
As mentioned before, “The Fabulous Moolah” was recognized as the Women’s Wrestling World Champion by more organizations for more years than any other lady wrestler in the history of the business. On June 24, 1995, she became the first female wrestler inducted into a professional wrestling Hall of Fame. She passed away on November 2, 2007. I enjoyed the times that I was able to book “The Fabulous Moolah” on my wrestling cards, as there will never be another like her.
One of the most interesting and often discussed events of the forties was the night that the Houston Symphony and Houston Wrestling teamed up to raise funds for World War II by selling war bonds. These War bonds were used to gain admittance to a World Title wrestling card promoted by Morris Sigel in the City Auditorium. The Houston Symphony’s CEO, philanthropist Roy Cullen, was an oil tycoon and one of the richest men in the world. That unforgettable show took place on Friday, January 21, 1944, and featured wrestling matches with the Houston Symphony playing music in between bouts.
The event filled the City Auditorium with Houston Wrestling fans sitting next to Houston Symphony fans. This evening was notable not only because of the huge amount of money raised, but because Ellis Bashara, who wrestled on the card, stole the show. After his win over Dave Levin, Bashara walked up to symphony conductor Ernst Hoffmann, and gently took his conductor’s baton. Sweaty and bloody and still wearing only his wrestling tights, Bashara started to conduct the symphony, much to the delight of thousands of wrestling fans, and much to the shock of thousands of horrified symphony fans. Bashara had been a music major in college, and so he did indeed know how to conduct a symphony orchestra. One Houston music critic was extremely upset because he was certain Bashara had set the Houston Symphony back fifty years!
When Wrestling Was Rasslin' Page 4
