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One of my greatest heroes besides Buddy Rogers and Gorgeous George was Wilbur Snyder. He had a in-ring personality that told me that he was a real wrestler and a true gentleman.
In the late 50's, Johnny Doyle and Jim Barnett bought out the old Detroit Territory from Jack Britton and Harry Light. They were the guys that took over Bert Ruby's domain of the Great Lakes area that he had held for over 20 years.
Johnny Doyle was the matchmaker for the duo and brought in guys like Dick The Bruiser, The Brunetti Brothers, Don Leo Jonathon, Mitsu Arakawa, Angelo Poffo (managed by Bronko Lubich), Pepper Gomez and Wilbur Snyder.
They used CKLW-TV in Windsor, Canada for their television tapings, usually on Sundays following the big cards at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. Primarily, they just ran Detroit on a twice monthly basis, and, on the other two weekends, they would run Flint and Saginaw.
The other big cities they would be connected with were Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, as well as Toronto. In the 50’s thru to the mid 60’s, Wilbur Snyder was one of professional wrestling’s biggest drawing cards.
Snyder was the wrestling performer, a tall, muscular, high flying matinee idol, who clicked at the turnstiles with fans all over the world, looking the part and convincing his audience he was the real McCoy, even though his legit wrestling background was very limited. Snyder was dubbed the “California Comet” early in his career and, later, "The World’s Most Scientific Wrestler."
Wilbur Snyder in street clothes
Wilbur Snyder was born September 15, 1929 in Santa Monica, California. He graduated from Van Nuys High School, where he won four letters in football. From there, he headed to the University of Utah, where he joined the wrestling team to keep in shape for football. Two of his teammates were Joe Tangero and Guy Brunetti, who would later become the Brunetti Brothers.
Wilbur was trained for the professional ring by Warren Bockwinkel (father of CAC President and former AWA champ Nick Bockwinkel) and Sandor Szabo, and he made his initial ring debut at the old Hollywood Legion Stadium. In 1952, Snyder went back to his first love, football, and played for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. Two members of his team were Joe Blanchard (Tully Blanchard's father) and Gene Kiniski (future NWA Champion).
In 1954, when they tried to draft Wilbur for another season on the football field, he declined, as he was making three and sometimes four times the money he would have made on the gridiron. Wrestling fans around the world would applaud his decision for many years to come.
In April 1954, Wilbur went to a one-hour draw on CBS television with the then-Champion Lou Thesz. Two years later in Chicago, after beating Bill Longson, The Mighty Atlas and Hans Hermann, he was again matched against Lou Thesz as a replacement for The Original Sheik. They wrestled to another time limit draw that had fans almost climbing in the ring.
Two years later, Wilbur would defeat Verne Gagne for the United States TV title, which had been held by Gagne for five years. He would later lose it to a man that had a huge influence in his life, Dick The Bruiser.
The Bruiser and Snyder drew some amazing gates, particularly in Detroit. In June 1959, they drew 16,500 at the Olympia Stadium, to a gate of $42,700. They drew over 15,000 fans the next year in the same venue.
Over the next 10 years in a partnership that developed, these two men would become millionaires many times over. They would become so close that family members would call them uncle and treat them like they were brothers of the same blood.
Snyder was 6’3" and weighed 250 pounds. He was able to do dropkicks, leapfrogs, flying headscissors, ankle scissors, backdrops over the top rope and other moves usually reserved for the lighter weights. His armdrags were spectacular, as well as his flying hammerlocks. His main hold to win with was the abdominal stretch. It was a variation of the "Cobra Twist" used by Louis Pappineau and others.
For those who are into older wrestling, you might try and check out some of the tapes that are available of Snyder. If you can put yourself in the mindset of the time, I think you’ll be entertained by "The World’s Most Scientific Wrestler." I was.
Wilbur Snyder passed away on Christmas Day 1991, just eight weeks after the Bruiser died. He certainly had an impact on my life and that of a lot of others as well.
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
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