Pampero Firpo

Tex had made it very uncomfortable for super bad guys like Don "Mr. America" Fargo, Dandy Dan Miller, Ali Baba, Mike “Porky Pig" Loren, Kabooki, Hans Schmidt, "Killer" Tim Brooks and Dr. Jerry Graham, just to name a few.

On an interview with the late Lord Athol Layton at WXON-TV in Walled Lake, Michigan, Tex started off as usual by saying, "By golly, Lordie, we’re gonna have a good time at Cobo this next Saturday night … It'll be just like back at the ranch in Texas where we used to go behind the barn and tussle to see who was the best cowhand. But Lordie … I don't know about this Fargo fellow ... he's a good looking guy … I can't figure out whether to lock up with him or just give him a kiss on the cheek.”

Naturally, his comments broke up the entire dressing room as we watched and listened on the monitor … all but one … Pampero Firpo.

Pampero had just come in from California, where he had been a major name on sellouts at places like the Cow Palace and the Olympic Auditorium. He had eliminated all competition that had made names for themselves in the Golden State. Guys like Ray Stevens, Art Neilson, Mr. Moto, Fred Blassie and many others had felt the beatings of the wild man from the pampas of Argentina, and they wanted no more.

As a matter of fact, Freddie Blassie, the flamboyant Hollywood fashion plate, said to promoter Cal Eakins that he had never gotten a beating from three guys the way that Firpo beat up on him. He also went on to say that he felt the pains for days after their encounter at the Olympic before a sellout crowd.

Firpo meant business, and he wanted the gold United States Championship belt that Bobo Brazil wore so proudly. He knew that having that belt would make him lots of money and that it would automatically set him in line for a shot at Dory Funk Jr., the current World Heavyweight Champ of the National Wrestling Alliance.

Suddenly, the doors from the dressing room area burst open, and here came Firpo, dragging promoter Francis Fleser's office assistant … the chief salesman and spokesman for the Body Press Magazine … New York Raymond by the collar, out to the interview area. Ray and Tex were good friends that had traveled to many big cards together.

Ray's glasses, thick coke bottle bottoms, were being tossed off his head as Pampero shouted into the microphone. “OOOOOOOOHHHHH YEAHHHHHHH” came the sound straight from his lower extremities in a guttural chant. "I come here to beat up on somebody today and they give me no one. I am the wild bull of the pampas and they treat me like a grazing cow. I want more than weeds to chew on … I want the tall grass to nourish my body. I need big men to beat so that I will be known world wide as the greatest wrestler of all time.”

It certainly didn't take long for his challenge to be answered as huge men piled out of the dressing room and into the interview area. One by one, they began to feel the wrath of the wild man from Argentina. One by one, they were beaten up before a live running camera, and, one by one, they were left in a huge pile on the floor.

Pampero had made his point well, and it caught the attention of matchmaker Jack Cain, who came into the area and shouted to Firpo to stop the useless beatings that he was giving to some of the top stars of World Wide Sports. For the next two hours, the attending ringside physician was busy fixing up the fallen masses.

Jack Cain had promised Pampero that, on the next open contract that he had for Cobo, his name would be entered for a bout against a top contender. True to his word, Jack signed, the following morning, a match with The Medic against Firpo. The Medic had beaten Jay Strongbow from Oklahoma on the last Cobo card, and Jack envisioned that it would be a good match between the two men.

Cobo Hall was packed to the rafters to see Johnny Valentine face the Sheik in a battle that, too, had been building for some time. There was no love lost between these two men, as they had fought long , bloody battles in most of the Midwest arenas, and they resulted in no clear cut decision.

After a huge undercard that saw just about every kind of match that you might think of, the anticipated pairing between the Medic and Firpo was next. The security team escorted the Medic to the ring and were coming back to the tunnel under the reserved seats to get Firpo when, from the opposite side of the building, came that loud ear splitting sound … “OOOOOOHHH YEAHHHHHH,” and before the announcements were made, Firpo was in the ring and beating the living heck out of the Medic.

He had gotten hold of a wrench that was used to tighten up the turnbuckles and had opened up a huge gash in the Medic's mask, and blood flowed like Niagara Falls from the top of his head.

It was as if the riot squad from the greater Detroit Police force had been called out when the promoter, Francis Fleser, sent 10 of the biggest new men from Lou Klein's Gym to try and break up the beating that Firpo was giving to the hopeless masked man. Each of them should have taken out an insurance policy, because the beating that Firpo laid on them sent six of them to Henry Ford Hospital. This guy Firpo meant business.

Tex McKenzie, watching from the dressing room monitor, had finished his match with Don Fargo earlier on the card and had taken just about enough of this carnage as he could stand and started to the ring. A huge roar went out as Tex jumped onto the ring apron.

The eyes of Firpo suddenly looked up and saw the big man coming for him and let go of the helpless youth that he was beating up on. He grabbed the hand made shirt with the ruffles down the front that Tex had had given to him by a fan and tore it from his chest. They proceeded to rip at each other as no other wrestlers had done in the past.

To be continued…..

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