March 30, 1972

Kansas City, Kansas had been a hotbed for wrestling since the early 40's. Huge stars in the wrestling business had come there to do battle with the likes of Orville Brown, Gust Karras and Wild Red Berry, just to name a couple.

The Thursday night tradition of filling Memorial Hall with excited fans had been a weekly thing for Heart of America Sports. They had the cream of the crop coming to do battle from all over the world.

Just the week before, I was involved in a handicap Texas Death Match with Angus against Rufus R. Jones. I was excited, to say the least, and put my wrestling gear on that I had worn during the days I was the Green Hornet.

The match was controlled by referee Bob Geigel, a rulebreaker from way back. Gust Karras, promoter, picked Geigel for his no-nonsense fighting ability and because he couldn't count to 10 without changing hands. For those of you who might not remember the early Texas Death Matches, the only way a man could be eliminated was to be rendered unable to return to action after a count of 10 was given by the official.

Toward the end of the match, we had Geigel knocked out and prone on the mat. I personally stopped old Rabbit Ears Moody with a well placed fist to the side of his head. Ronnie Etchison was also stopped as he entered the ring and was told to call it straight down the line or he would end up like the others.

We were victorious that night but not before that gutless coward, Danny Yellowbear (Littlebear), hit the ring and knocked Angus out with those Tomahawk Chops and then tried to chase me out of the building.

I went to the commission and demanded a tag team match for the following week with Angus teaming with Handsome Harley Race, who had just come back from a trip to the Far East, to face Rufus and Yellowbear. I was successful in completing the match with the stipulation that Ronnie Etchison would not be the referee.

The following Thursday, we had to park in the police lot nearly a block away and be escorted to Memorial Hall as fans had pelted my new Cadillac with stones and pop bottles. Life for us was not always a bed of roses, more like a field of nails sticking through planks of wood.

The building had been sold out for six days, and promoter Gust Karras had to bring in extra security to help keep the crowd in line. I have to give credit to Karras, the one legged promoter from St. Joe; he did look out for the boys with enough security every week. That's all I can thank him for.

The opening match had Benny Ramirez, formerly "The Mummy" from Mexico, facing Terry Martin from Moncton, New Brunswick. Angus had faced Terry a few times and always complained that he was in the ring with an octopus the way that Martin wrestled. Terry beat Benji in a little over nine minutes with a series of arm drags and drop kicks and finally covered his shoulders with a 1-2-3 to win.

To show you the caliber of this card, Barbara Galento, daughter of Spider Galento, a huge name in the Deep South, faced U.S. Women's Champ Betty Niccoli in a non-title match. Barbara showed the fans of Kansas City why she was tougher than a $2 steak. She handed Betty one of the rare defeats in her career and then grabbed Bill Kersten, the announcer, right by his clip-on tie and demanded a title match with this "China Doll Champion" that she just beat in under five minutes.

As the doors of the dressing room flew open, local "BAD BOY" Bob Orton Sr. started for the ring, surrounded by at least 12 uniformed officers. Fans were throwing anything they could at him, and that included full glasses of ice cold beer. The Viking came forth next, and the two caught sight of each other and began to fight as if their last match had not ended. Bill Kersten was quick to do the introductions from ringside and ring the bell before ducking behind three officers blocking the ringside barricades that separated fans from us.

It was called a Texas Death Match but never reached the first counted fall as both men fought into the ringside areas. They took down rows of chairs and then fought unto the stage and into the dressing room areas, where they were parted from each other. Gust Karras grabbed the mike and told the capacity crowd that these two would have to have the ring surrounded by lumberjacks to keep them in it if they were ever to face each other again.

Anyone that knew Bob Orton, "The Kansas Tornado," knew that he was more than just a fighter in the ring. On his days he was not wrestling, he was a bouncer at his parents’ bar in North Kansas City. His reputation was never challenged after one encounter with him. You went straight to the hospital, and then, when you were able to, you came back and apologized to him and his parents.

The Viking, on the other hand, was a grizzled veteran of nearly 10 years of mat wars when I met him in the Old Amarillo Territory while passing through during the mid 60's. He loved a good battle and kept that thumb of his taped very heavily to give him an extra advantage over opponents. He always claimed that it was an old fishing injury that he encountered while on the high seas off the coast of Labrador.

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