Wrestling Bloopers

A quick look back at this past week ... Danny Hodge, former Junior Heavyweight Champ, was honored in Oklahoma City by lawmakers and the Governor. March 29, 2005 was named "Danny Hodge Day".

Please remember Dr. David Ring's mom , who passed away. Services were held on Friday. Also Jim Zordani's father passed away this past week Kindly remember them in your prayers.--Percival

The following is a true wrestling story of 1959-60 vintage. I call it a blooper situation that only a well-tuned true fan like myself would have picked up on. Enough of my ballyhoo; on with the story.

Time frame 1959-60, location Omaha, Nebraska. The Omaha wrestling scene was a hotbed of the best professional wrestling in North America. Tagged with the title "Wrestling Capital of the World," it was truly a grand time for professional wrestling. Oh! How I remember how Dick The Bruiser had kept the turnstiles clicking during the 1956-‘57 season, and he would likewise do in ‘58-‘59 with Mitsu Arakawa and his dreaded stomach claw. Joe Dusek, member of the hated Omaha Riot Squad, made up of his brothers Rudy, Emil, Ernie and himself, had purchased the promotion from, I believe, Max Clayton. Joe ran the promotion, starting late in 1956. He had a very tight working agreement with Verne Gagne. Although the promotion was close to the AWA, they rarely made reference to it. Joe was lucky that he had access to some of the finest talent in North America. Much like Casey Stengel, all he had to do was make out the lineup card, and he and the fans had a winner.

I will relate some good stories about the Duseks some other time. Back to my wrestling cloud of 1959-60. I was already a top-rate fan, even at the tender age of eleven. I would watch All Star Wrestling live from the TV studios of KETV Channel 7 every Monday night during the 1959-‘60 season. I call it a season because the matches would shut down for at least a month (July). The season would always end with a huge card at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha. When the matches would start up again, there would usually be a new array of talent brought into the area.

On a fall Monday night, I was glued to the television as the ring would appear, and the golden voice of Thompson Holt (no joke, his name was Holt) would boom out with ALL STAR WRESTLING (he would name who would meet who). He would get into the ring and wait for the gladiators to enter for their match. On this night in 1959, a huge man, very tall and wearing black boots, black trunks and a black mask with a white X on the forehead area, got into the ring. I can still remember Holt's introduction. "And in this corner, at six foot six, 295 pounds, he is from here, from there, from everywhere. DOCTOR X!"

This is not the Doctor X of the AWA in the 1970's. Omaha had their Doctor X long before the Twin Cities of the AWA did. I was in awe. The big man was terrific as he mauled his hapless opponent. He was a nasty, mean villain. After the match, he was interviewed by Holt, who appeared scared to death as the masked man ranted and raved and stated that if there was any man in the area who could beat him in 20 minutes, he would give him $1000 and take his mask off. But he doubted there was any man who could do it. So was launched the legend of Dr. X.

He drew large crowds for some time. He was a fantastic performer who could really wrestle. I can still hear Joe Dusek saying, "Well, fans, its the end of the line for X Saturday Night when so and so gets done with him. If he gets beat, we will all know who he is. I don't even know who he is." Yeah, right, Joe.

The next Monday night, once again the Phantom entered into the ring and won his match, but, before he could leave the ring, Dr. X jumped into the ring and pulled the Phantom's mask off. Joe Dusek began to yell on the mic, "It's no doubt about it, its Nick Bock! It’s Nick Bock! His name is Nick Bockwinkel! I wrestled his dad!" He went on to say that he called Nick Bockwinkel Nick Bock. Confused? Well, that was Joe, and that will be another story. Anyway in front of me stood a young Nick Bockwinkel. Nick went to the mic and said, "I want him, Joe, any time, any place; with these fans behind me, I know I can beat Dr. Miller---I mean, Dr. X."

Wait a minute, what did he say? I thought, ah ha, I bet Dr. X's name is Miller. The match was set for what else but Saturday night, and what happened in front of a packed house? Nick got beat. The slip didn't hurt the matches a bit, and I may have been one the only fans that took notice of the slip. Dr. X's run continued for a long time, with large crowds coming out to see him get beat. Not me, I loved him, and when he won, I was happy. That's the way it was long ago for me, Nick Bockwinkel, and DR. BILL, I MEAN DR. MILLER, I MEAN DR. X NICK. NOW YOU GOT ME DOING IT!!

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