November 3, 1972

I need to personally thank Dangerous Dan Roeglin, my friend from Milwaukee, for stepping up to the base for me and giving me quite a column. His writing ability has brought me many good e-mails requesting another shot at his being a guest writer again.

I would also like to thank the many fans and friends that called me and sent cards and e-mails. To begin to name all of you would be a large undertaking, and I want to devote this space to “The Way It Was;" however, you know that from my heart comes a big THANK YOU for remembering me and making me feel very loved and appreciated.--Percival

St. Joseph (or St. Joe), Missouri was one of the largest drawing towns in the Kansas City Territory from the depression era when Gust Karras began to promote it. He seemed to bring an endless amount of talent to the St. Joe area every Friday night. Just when you thought you had seen the best there was, he would kick it up a notch and bring in something bigger and better for the fans.

Most of the wrestlers were qualified to headline any arena within the Midwest, let alone the world. Gust also promoted the Harlem Globetrotters, country music superstars and other events through his office at 713 Edmund in downtown St. Joe.

I had gone on St. Joe television, by way of a pre-recorded interview, as I was booked in Salina, Kansas with many of my charges in the town that would be headquarters for Tony's Pizza. I spoke about how great that Roger Kirby was and that his meeting Black Angus in a Texas Death match would be the only way to teach this ingrate from across the pond a little respect, and the Texas way.

Just two weeks before, I had severed my multi-year business relationship with Angus during a tag team match against Rufus R. Jones and The Stomper. Angus was the unfortunate victim of a briefcase to the forehead by accident from me. He came off the mat and decided then and there to break one of the cardinal rules I had outlined in our contract ... NEVER PUT YOUR HANDS ON PERCIVAL A. FRIEND.

I cautioned fans to not trust the giant from Scotland as he had shown his true colors, that he was a gutless coward. He also showed me that there was a soft spot between his ears for wrestling fans under that greasy, unkempt bush of hair and beard that he hid behind.

I applauded Roger Kirby because he not only was the former World's Junior Heavyweight champ but, now that we had teamed up with Harley Race, we were the Tag Team Champions. St. Joe didn't deserve to see Angus anymore, and I was going to do something about that on November 3, the following Friday, at City Auditorium.

True to his word, Gust Karras put together one of the best cards I had ever been involved in. It had six matches, and it began at 8:30 to a fully packed house that even had S.R.O. signs out, with Omar Atlas meeting Billy Howard in the opener.

Just the night before, Atlas was involved in a match with Benji Rameriz in Denver, and it resulted in Rameriz being taken to the hospital with a torn bicep muscle. Atlas was not an unfamiliar face in the crowd as he had headlined many cards at the city auditorium.

Billy Howard, on the other hand, had just come in from Milwaukee a short time back and beat the living daylights out of Bob Orton Sr. who had trained for three days prior to meet Steve Bolus. Billy showed the crowd that he was a street fighter and that he could take care of himself whenever the occasion came up.

The bell rang, and instant action filled the ring so much that referee Frankie Diamond could not contain it in the ring. Ten minutes later, when the time limit expired, both athletes were covered in sweat, and their bodies ached from grueling hold and counter hold that left an undecided victor in the battle.

Les Thornton had come to ringside to offer Omar some help in getting back to the dressing room, but he was blindsided by The Destroyer, a huge masked man that many thought had just come in from Japan. This hooded monster showed Thornton that coming out of the school at Wiggins didn't mean a thing to him as he broke hold after hold put on him. The second match ended in another draw as the time limit was just not long enough for these athletes to get the better of each other.

Bobby Whitlock had made his way from the dressing room area to the ring and was quietly signing autographs when a huge roar came out of the back of the building. Ronnie Etchison had come out of the door and was headed to the ring. Ronnie, along with Sonny Meyers and Gust Karras, were St. Joe natives that packed in crowds every time they appeared.

Bobby decided that he would get aggressive and jump Ronnie before the bell rang and had Ronnie in a bad way until the “old pro from St. Joe” decided that he had endured enough from this opponent and turned the tables on Whitlock, and, after four body slams, he grabbed Bobby by the ankles and used a big swing until even Whitlock didn't know where he was and then jumped on his shoulders for the three count.

Following a brief intermission, the ladies headed to the ring to do combat. So great was this card they even had the Ladies U.S. Champ on the card.

To be continued ...

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers

2003 BWC Hall of Fame Inductee
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