March 30, 1972 Part Two

When I left you last, the third match on a huge card for Kansas City, Kansas had just taken place. The Viking was to face Bob Orton, the Big O, in what was billed as a Texas Death match. Both men with blood in their eyes fought into the crowd, out into the hallway and then back to the ring where it didn't last long and then finally back into the stage area and then into the dressing rooms where it was contained by security.

Gust Karras took the mike and stated that the only way to keep these two in the ring and finish this feud would be to surround the ring with men in a Lumberjack match. He told the sellout crowd that the match would be signed for an upcoming card.

Following an intermission, the semi-main event was escorted to the ring by uniformed police. Chati Yokouchi and Yasu Fuji were surrounded by at least eight officers, and fans were still taking pokes at them. This unpopular team from the land of the rising sun are tag team champs and have been for a long time. They have faced many problems with not only opponents but fans too.

Chati, the spokesman for the group, told a stunned audience that they were much more superior than any other team that had ever been in the ring here in Kansas City. He went on to say that their new hold that will render an opponent unable to continue and paralyze the arm will be unveiled during the tag match.

Fuji began to slap his hand with the side of his hand in a Karate chop movement and shout out words in Japanese to the fans who were not happy at all with him.

The dressing room doors flew open, and Steve Bolus, a crowd favorite, began his trek towards the ring, followed by The Stomper, Archie Gouldie. They, of course, stopped during their way to the ring to pose for pictures and sign autographs for the fans. With the formal introductions complete by ring announcer Bill Kersten, the match started with a very fast pace by Bolus and Fuji. The two nearly had fans climbing into the ring as they fought from one hold to another.

At one point during the melee, Chati called the younger Fuji to their corner and handed him some of the leftover ceremonial salt and told him to throw it into Steve's eyes. Fans were screaming at the top of their lungs for referee Ron Etchison to stop this action before Steve was blinded by the salt. Fuji and Bolus went into the collar and elbow lock and it was then that Fuji went to throw the salt when Etchison "BUMPED" into Fuji's hand and caused the salt to end up in his own eyes.

Steve tagged in the big guy from Iowa, the Stomper, and all heck broke loose and bodies were flying all over the ring. In a desperate move of his own, Chati reached out and grabbed Stomper in the armpit and began to squeeze the artery inside the pectoral region and caused the much larger athlete to scream out in pain. Stomper's hand began to claw up as Chati increased the pressure. In less than a minute, Stomper's arm was locked in like being in a vise, and he was forced to give up.

I remember seeing this hold as a very young man, and it was used by Verne Gagne and taught to him when he toured Japan in the early 50's. Archie was carried to the dressing rooms where the doctor had the task of "undoing the damage to the artery." I was standing near the entrance as the doctor came out and offered a solution to the problem at hand, and, with the help of the movement, the arm returned to its original shape.

The bell rang for the main event, and the team we would face that night headed to the ring. Rufus R. Jones and Danny Yellowbear, the gutless coward that tried to beat the stuffings out of me the week before, had the crowd on their feet as they entered the ring.

As our dressing room doors opened, I led the way to the ring, followed by Angus and Handsome Harley Race. I was resplendent in my canary yellow sport coat and the bright Kelly green slacks, matched up with the light orange silk shirt and topped off with a flowered tie that had a rainbow of colors in it. The ensemble was accented with red, white and blue Dingo boots and a Campbell clan tam on my head.

As planned, Harley took the initial start of the match and taught Rufus a few new holds that he learned while in Japan the past four weeks. At one point, I thought that his eyes were going to pop out of his head while Harley applied hold after hold on the next to biggest athlete in the ring.

Our goal that evening was to win the match and be the number one contenders for the North American Tag belts held by Chati and Fuji. After beating down Rufus, Angus was tagged in and began to suplex the battered down Jones to the mat. Finally, Rufus got to his corner and tagged in the Native American, and the top of the auditorium shook with vibrations from the fans’ loud screaming. In what seemed like an hour of pounding on Angus, I had Harley jump into the ring and put an end to this nonsense from old Yellowbear.

Harley pounded on Littlebear until his arms were tired, and then Rufus jumped in and they fought to the ropes where both men fell through and ended up on the floor to continue the fight. Since Angus and Yellowbear were the legal men in the ring, I hollered for Angus to unveil our new hold that I had taught to him earlier that week.

Angus grabbed Littlebear in a hammerlock and then lifted him high over his chest into the air. Yellowbear knew that, if he didn't give up, his arm would be dislocated from his shoulder, and he would be out of wrestling for a long time. He conveniently gave up and was dropped to the mat by Angus. I jumped into the ring to congratulate him and was grabbed by Yellowbear. I placed a few hard kicks to his shoulder that caused him to pass out. We raised our hands in victory and then fought our way back to the dressing rooms, surrounded by at least 12 security people and six uniformed police.

We proved to the fans of Kansas City that we were the better team, and Gust Karras had no choice but to award us with a title shot in the next few weeks.

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers

2003 BWC Hall of Fame Inductee
2004 CAC Hall of Fame Inductee
2006 LWA Hall of Fame Inductee
2007 TCCW Hall of Fame Honoree