Harley vs. Rufus Part Two

When I left you last … Harley Race and I had gone to Des Moines, Iowa to do battle with Rufus R. Jones. A lot of matches between these two huge men had left no clear victor in their matches. Harley had come to me and asked for my expert help in getting a good victory against Jones.

Harley and I arrived at 6 p.m. at the Auditorium and went directly to our dressing room. Harley began a warm up regimen that would put many athletes to shame. He did deep knee bends, pushups, situps, squats with huge dressing tables on his shoulders and then jogging around the room. I sat as usual at my table looking over my upcoming schedule for the following month ahead.

After about an hour of constant working out, Harley came over to my table and sat down to talk about what strategy I had in mind for the match. Harley was always concerned about his opponents and finding a logical way to beat them in the middle of the ring, or outside the ring if necessary. I began my observation of Rufus and the cheating ways he won matches.

‘Rufus, for the first thing,” I began, “has the blessing of Promoter Gust Karras on his side, and, as you know, he goes crying to him every time something doesn't go his way … RIGHT?” Harley agreed. “Rufus has that hard head of his that had butted his way to a lot of victories … RIGHT?” Harley again agreed. “Rufus uses that BIG SWING maneuver … RIGHT?” Harley again nodded his head.

“I have a way I know will stop his winning streak and put him in a defensive mood. It will make him want to wrestle instead of breaking rules all the time.” Harley questioned my logic but put his full trust in me and went along with everything I had to suggest.

The undercard was a super card in its own right. Danny Little Bear opened the card with Bob Orton Sr. and beat him in a little over eight minutes with an Indian Death Lock. The second match had Black Jack Black, a friend of Angus Campbell and another one of the huge grapplers that I had under contract, beating Bobby Whitlock with a series of bodyslams and a press.

Pat O'Connor was on the card and faced Benny Rameriz, and it ended in a time limit draw. Texas Bob Geigel met and beat Ronnie Etchison, the old pro from St. Joe. The semi-main event had Ted & Jerry Oates against Ron Bass & Dutch Mantel . It was for the World's Tag Team Championship and ended in a countout by both teams as the action ended up on the arena floor and all the way back to the dressing room before it could be contained.

As the bell rang for the main event, Ole "Rabbit Ears" Moody, the referee, stuck his ugly head into our dressing room and yelled, "Come on, Race ... your opponent is in the ring ... what are you waiting for?” When he saw me for the first time that night, Moody questioned as to why I was there. I told him to mind his own business and just do what he was paid too much to do ... referee the match.

Harley began to think about the words I had said to him earlier about having the ability to make Rufus wrestle instead of breaking the rules. I assured him that I had everything under control and not to worry about anything. We began the escort to the ring under the watch of eight of Des Moines’ finest police. Fans were not told that I would be at ringside and were really mad at me for being with Harley. Harley kind of enjoyed the extra attention and gloated to the people that we had Rufus right where we wanted him.

Rufus glanced over toward the front row where his family was sitting and saw something that took his eyes and concentration away from Harley and me. A huge man was seated next to his son (The Reverend Slick in later years) and Mrs. Jones. For some reason, Rufus knew that something was up and began to try and jump from the ring to get at this huge man with a beard and wearing a big hat and overcoat. Referee Richard Moody grabbed Rufus and told him he had to concentrate on what was going on in the ring.

Rufus kept trying to get out of the ring to get at this stranger but was restrained by both Moody and Race. I was inching towards the big guy seated at ringside when Rufus jumped out of the ring and grabbed me. I thought that I was a goner, but Harley had also jumped out of the ring and was beating the snot out of Rufus. Rufus turned the tables on us and regained his composure and was doing a good job of teaching Harley a lesson in humility when that huge guy seated at ringside grabbed the little guy and started towards me. Suddenly he pulled the big hat off and shed the big overcoat, and there was Angus Campbell, the man that made wrestling a household name in the Midwest .

By now, Rufus had gone berserk with Angus holding his son under his arm and tried in vain to get at him. Harley grabbed Rufus in a series of painful arm and leg locks and had the bigger Jones at bay for a while. He tried to get Rufus to submit but could not get it to happen. Angus had set himself at ringside and held up the little guy every few moments to let Jones know who was in charge of the situation.

In a fit of rage, Rufus grabbed Harley and headbutted him, knocking him over the top rope onto the arena floor and splitting Race's forehead from side to side. Rufus then jumped out to the floor on the other side and grabbed his son away from Angus and proceeded to beat the heck out of Angus. They fought back towards the concession area and had police very busy trying to keep fans away from them as they bashed each other's bodies senseless. Guys from the back joined into the fight, and we had a battle royal going on between everybody. They fought all the way back to the dressing rooms.

In the meantime, Harley had climbed into the ring a bloody, beaten mess, and Rufus was counted out of the ring, as the referee had no other choice. I had jumped into the ring as there was a riot in progress outside the ring. Along with extra officers and Harley, we started towards the dressing room where we met up with an angry Angus. He was mad at himself for letting the kid go when Rufus grabbed at him. He pleaded with Harley and me not to be mad at him. He was worried that he would not have a future in the Midwest for his error.

Rufus had gone to Gust Karras and demanded a match with Angus for what he had done to his family. I thought it was pretty funny to outthink Rufus … but that was not a hard thing to do. After all … I was the Epitome of wrestling managers … RIGHT?

Naturally, he was given the opportunity at a later date by Gust Karras.

We won the battle that night but not the war.

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