Monday Night

For most fans living in Topeka, Monday night was a way of life. Heart of America Sports, along with Gust Karras promotions, brought the very best wrestlers to do battle in the capital city of Kansas.

The crowds were usually sellouts due to the tremendous fan support. Men like Danny Littlebear, Omar Atlas, The Stomper, Bob Geigel and Pat O'Connor were the mainstays in 1971 and 1972. They fought men like Yasu Fuji, Chati Yokouchi, Benny Rameriz, Black Jack Black, Harley Race and Black Angus, who was managed by me.

Traveling to Topeka was very easy due to the Kansas Turnpike, which at the time was one of the finest roads in the entire territory. It far surpassed the interstate highways and local roads that led us to many of the great towns that made up the Kansas City region.

My Monday began with a short trip to St. Joseph to the wrestling office of Gust Karras on Edmund Avenue in the downtown section. It was there that I inked many contracts to have my men meet some of the outstanding talent that made up the roster of wrestlers. As usual, Gust sat behind a huge walnut desk piled over with papers, pictures and three telephones that rang constantly with people wanting to just talk to the legend himself.

I had been bothered with a former world champ sticking his nose where it was not appreciated. Fat Pat O'Connor had made the mistake of intervening in a match we had on the last card at Topeka with Omar Atlas. We had beaten the former Central States champion and were giving him many reasons not to ever ask for a rematch when O'Connor came running out of the back and charged the ring with blood in his eye for Angus and myself.

Of course, we fought him off as best we could, but the training and superb athleticism that took this man to the top of the NWA came out in him that night. He made a mockery of Angus and was going to do the same to me when I bailed out of the ring into the arms of four uniformed officers of the sheriff’s department who led me back to the dressing room area with Angus.

Pat got on the microphone and demanded a match with Angus on the following card because of what we had done to his friend Omar Atlas. I reminded Gust that we both had rights to a decision as to whom we faced as champion. Angus was not just another pretty face in the ballroom, as far as I was concerned.

The match was made for two weeks later in Topeka, and it gave us plenty of time to get ready for the battle. I quietly left the wrestling office and headed back down the highway to get Angus for lunch at the hotel Kansascitian. It was not my favorite place to eat at, but it was where Angus had a suite.

Following a porterhouse steak lunch, Angus and I went over the lineups for the next two weeks. The matches that he would have and the men he would be facing and where. He was very happy with the decisions that I had made, as it would give him the pride of defending the newly won championship that he had just won from Omar Atlas.

We were scheduled to leave for Wichita at 3 p.m., as it was a 200-mile trip by way of the turnpike. Our first opponent would be Danny Littlebear at the beautiful Century II auditorium. It was a big building with ample parking underneath its dome-like appearance for at least 100 cars.

People were lined up at 6:30 as we pulled into the armed gate to get into the parking area reserved for wrestlers. I was happy that we had made the trip safely and were going to finally put an end to all the crying and whining that Littlebear did to Gust Karras about this match. He wanted to be champion once again, as it gave him the status and wealth of the upper elite of our group.

Angus, Earl Black, Benny Rameriz and I made our way to the third floor section of the dressing rooms and proceeded to get all the kinks out of our bodies from the trip. Even though we came in one of the best Cadillac cars that money could buy, we were tired.

Harley Race was seated at the rear of the area and was quietly putting on his handmade boots that he had just gotten from the trip he made to Japan just the week before. He rose and shook hands with all of us and asked us to join him. He had a tough battle ahead tonight facing Omar Atlas.

To be continued…

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers
2004 CAC Honoree