Moberly, Missouri

One of the most misjudged towns as far as fan support had to have been Moberly, Missouri. It was a town that Gust Karras loved, as he had wrestled there during the depression years, and it was good to him. I only was there for the money and the belt that Danny Yellowbear wore around his fat waist.

On September 27, 1866, the largest city in Randolph County was born, a product of a railroad auction. In connecting with the Chariton and Randolph Railroad at Moberly, the North Missouri Railroad Company began a legacy of railroading in the county lasting to this day. With the coming of the Wabash Railroad Shops in 1873, Moberly seemed to spring from the prairie overnight and was subsequently dubbed the "magic city."

A unique geographic feature of the county is the "great divide." This high ridge of land stretches from Boone County (to the south) to Iowa and is easily distinguished as one travels through the county. Interesting to note, water falling on the eastern slopes of this divide drains to the Mississippi River, while water falling on its western slopes flows to the Missouri River. Moberly sits on a high point of this divide, and, because of this, was thought to be safe from tornadoes. Unfortunately, this folklore was disproved on July 4, 1995 when a tornado ripped through the center of town.

Famous Randolph Countians include General Omar Bradley, five-star general from World War II. Moberly always ran during the summertime, as most of it's populace were there during the harvesting season for nearby farms which dominated the area for miles.

Roger Kirby and I were scheduled to be in Moberly for an afternoon radio program which was one of Gust Karras' way of drawing more fans to the event. I had stopped at the local drug store on the way to the radio station and bought a newspaper, something that I did every time I went into a new town, and each time thereafter, to see just what was going on.

Arriving at the station, I got together with the disc jockey in charge for the afternoon and discussed the 10-minute episode that would be coming up. Roger just sat in a quiet trance and stayed oblivious to his surroundings. As we went on the air, I reminded all the fans listening to the program on “rabbit ears antennas” that they were invited to see Danny Yellowbear wrestle for the last time tonight as Central States Champion.

I then went on to talk about how lonely it must be to be in Moberly, Missouri. They probably roll up the sidewalks at 6:30 and sit by the windows watching weeds grow in their fields. I also spoke about how ugly the young men of Moberly are and the only way they could get a date would be to look on a calendar.

Needless to say, the switchboard for the station lit up like a Christmas tree, and there were a lot of people very angry with me that day. Roger ended the interview with his line, "Mr. Friend is the reason I am going to be leaving Moberly tonight as YOUR champion, and you can take that to the bank."

We headed out the door and proceeded back to the downtown area and were going to get something to eat before going to the high school auditorium that night. I suggested to Kirby that we get some food to go and eat at Rothwell Park, and it would break up the monotony of the day so far.

I always carried survival supplies, like a blanket in the trunk of my Eldorado for just such whims. The only cafe that was open was not very receptive to me after all the remarks I had made on the radio just a short time ago. The waitress did not want to wait on me, and the owner said the only way he would wait on me was for me to go back outside the building and get my food at the back door.

As hungry as I was, I argued that I was a citizen of these great United States and that he was discriminating against me. He simply told me that I was not wanted there and to just leave before he called the local police. Fortunately, I had seen a Chinese restaurant going to the radio station, and we proceeded back there after getting the car pelted with clumps of red mud.

Roger and I spent the next two hours in the park going over the plan on how to beat Danny Yellowbear that evening. The plan was simple, just like Yellowbear, and I was confident that nothing would stand in the way of Kirby getting that crowning glory to his winning ways added to his name.

Getting to the auditorium was not a hard thing, but finding a place to park was a real problem that night. It seemed like all of Moberly and parts of every town within a 25-mile radius were parked in the lot. I did the only thing I could and that was to go to the local police department and ask them for assistance in getting the parking spaces back for the dignified guests of Heart of America promotions.

They had to send two cruisers and four tow trucks to the lot, and they began to pull the cars and pickups from the designated areas … much to the dismay of the vehicle owners. Then, they had to post a guard to keep our cars from being destroyed by the irate fans of Moberly.

To be continued…..

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