Kenny Jay

Once again, I’ve been given the honor of filling in for Percival while he catches up on some personal things and tries to get his gas tank to E in his new car, which will be nothing like the gas guzzling full size model he previously drove. Nothing has changed with “Percival A. Friend” though, he still rides in style. Rumor has it, when he went in to negotiate on his new wheels, he was seen carrying a briefcase in one hand which was kind of lopsided, and he double-talked the salesman like he was working Gust Karras and came away with a pretty good deal. Take a break, sir!--Dan Roeglin

As a young man growing up in Wisconsin and Illinois, it was AWA territory. All Star Wrestling was not always on at the most convenient times for a growing lad with watchful parents. Our house got cable very early in its day, around 1966, and the show was from Moline at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday nights. Once in awhile, after promising I’d get up for church, I occasionally was able to watch on Saturday nights, but it was usually a lot easier when my folks were out for the night and curfew was abolished. Rockford finally picked up the show on WREX Channel 13, but Sunday mornings at 11 meant more working around church and Sunday School, so, when we went, I was always hoping it would the early service. The biggest news was when my friend Bill, who was a big lad and the 185-pounder on our wrestling team, threw his dad through the plaster of a living room wall while watching Bill Watts wrestle and horsing around. His dad pretty much quit horsing around after that event.

All Star Wrestling was a well produced and very regimented program. It was usually four or five matches with interviews lasting a few minutes in between the matches. It was always amazing how well they could fill that hour and have a new interviews, and you never heard “TV time is about up”. You’d always hope Crusher was on, Mad Dog Vachon could scare the dickens out of you, and Verne Gagne was never going to lose. Rodger Kent made you believe somebody actually had their teeth knocked out and would be eating soup for a week, and you wondered how Marty O’Neil kept his cool and calm demeanor.

Despite the many stars of the AWA, it was always a curiosity as to where they guys came from that the stars wrestled on television. You certainly never read about these guys in wrestling magazines or heard them advertised for upcoming cards, they never got interview time, and you wondered how they were back on TV one week after receiving a tremendous beating the week before. You wondered if George “Scrap Iron” Gadaski was really from Great Falls, Montana, if John the Greek was really Greek, and how Kenny Jay could always be described as the “very capable” when he never won.

That said, I want to spend a little time talking about the “very capable” Mr. Kenny Jay. In 2002, I became aware that Kenny had a fundraiser for Hystiocytosis, a disease his grandson is afflicted with. It was in the lower level of a legion hall, and I thought I’d get to go see Kenny Jay, donate a few things, and buy a few things. Was I shocked when I walked into this tiny legion hall only to see Dr. X, Mad Dog Vachon, Nick Bockwinkel, Larry Hennig, and many other big AWA stars. Had a heckuva good time, and, other then when I was working out of the area, I haven’t missed one. (And the benefit will not be held this year for the same reason many others aren’t going, the economy, but it’s hoped it will be resurrected in the future.) And the best part of attending this, I got to meet Kenny Jay, formerly “very capable”, then “the Sodbuster”, and that guy who got beat on TV all the time. I found out he was one fantastic hard working and good person. We’ve remained in touch, and Kenny was good enough to give me some information for this story.

Kenneth Benkowski was born in Minnesota in the late 1930’s. Upon high school graduation in 1955, he relocated to Milwaukee and got interested in the wrestling business. After being training by Bob Hawkins, he began working around Milwaukee until Uncle Sam booked him on a card that lasted two years. When he finished his military obligation, he returned to Minnesota and began working for Wally Karbo and Verne Gagne, mainly doing Saturday TV tapings and some occasional cards around the circuit. Kenny also got into the landscaping business and, with his work ethic, was able to support his family and still get some wrestling in. While, over the years, he mainly worked television matches, he did have a few big ones, and, no, Kenny wasn’t always on the losing side. He also worked against some of the best in the game, Kenny was a main-eventful even if his matches didn’t take place in an arena.

How much did Kenny work? With thanks to Jim “Clawmaster” Zordani’s outstanding results, I was able to put together a few of Kenny’s years to see how much he worked in addition to his landscaping business. I picked 1966, 1971, and 1976, using five-year gaps, and I was amazed how things never really changed.

In 1966, Kenny wrestled 44 matches, winning three and having one huge draw against established star Wilbur Snyder. And, talk about rough, Kenny wrestled in tag matches against Harley Race and Larry Hennig six times and wrestled Mad Dog Vachon three times and Verne Gagne three times. He also had singles matches against both Hennig and Race. His wins came against Johnny Zenda in St. Cloud, Minnesota and Jose Quintero in Minneapolis and Milwaukee.

In 1971, five years later, records indicate Kenny wrestled in 39 matches, which included five draws. His most frequent opponents were Nick Bockwinkel, whom he worked with five times; Bobby Heenan, whom he worked against four times in matches on the circuit; Kobyashi two times; and five tag matches against Larry Hennig and Lars Anderson (Heineimi). Kenny wrestled Heenan in Denver, Minneapolis and Milwaukee. He also had two draws with another terrific worker in George “Scrap Iron” Gadaski.

In 1976, Kenny wrestled in 37 recorded matches. His most frequent opponent was again Gadaski, whom he worked against six times and recorded two wins and four losses. Kenny worked five times against Bockwinkel just like 1971, three times with Mad Dog Vachon just like 1966, and in six tag matches against Baron Von Raschke and Mad Dog Vachon. I can’t think of too many others that would have wrestled Mad Dog nine times in one year!

And, 1976 also marked one of the shining moments of Kenny’s career, a match against Muhammad Ali in Chicago with Dick the Bruiser in his corner. More on this match and my interview with Kenny in next week’s column.

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