Texas' wrestling history makes it great home for WrestleMania
WrestleMania Texas -- aka WrestleMania 32 -- will pack AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday. Fans from all over the world are descending on the Metroplex to witness a pro-wrestling extravaganza for the ages.
However, this Bigger-Than-Texas grappling love affair is not new to the Lone Star State. Pro rasslin' has been a part of the entertainment fabric of Texas since the 1920s.
The history of how some of the biggest power brokers in the wrestling business who happened to reside in Texas is compelling.
Around 1927, the year Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs for the New York Yankees, New York City transplant Morris Siegel, then 28 years old, began promoting boxing and wrestling events in his new hometown of Houston.
This would be the official launch of the genre that would begin to put a headlock on fans throughout the state. Texas would spawn four, separate booking offices, all producing their own syndicated, weekly television broadcasts that would air only in their "territory." Those territory hubs would include Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Amarillo.
The quartet would be akin to one state having four, fully operational WWEs within its borders.
Before the days of the cable TV overlay, no one outside the specific territory saw the other's TV shows, which enabled wrestlers to reside in Texas and work in front of a different audience potentially for years without having to move to another territory in another state. Plus, they could establish roots, school their children in one system and travel by car to all their bookings.
Siegel, with the Texas Boxing and Wrestling Commission "friendly" to him, thrived with the booking of "newspaper made" top stars and unique matches for the day to build a lucrative business, that had no competition in Houston.
In a primarily cash business things can get sticky and greed is always an issue. Hard tickets sold from a roll were to become the promoter's best resource. I learned early on in my career that promoters always got the "first count" and this was where their taxes, payroll and profits were derived.
I was never around any pro wrestling promoter who sold hard tickets -- i.e. roll tickets -- who did not espouse thoroughly to the first-count theory. Back in the day, many vacation homes and other amenities were purchased with "first-count" proceeds.
Siegel's influence and his promotion produced two of the most prominent players in the history of Texas wrestling in Paul Boesch and Ed McLemore.
Boesch took over for Siegel after the Texas wrestling patriarch passed away in 1967. Boesch had been one of Siegel's wrestling stars but due to a serious car accident, had become Siegel's promotional assistants and a broadcaster, an on-air career that spanned 39 years.
Boesch would go on to promote Houston Wrestling events from 1967 until his retirement in 1987. He also had mixed results with Southwest Sports, which was the Dallas territory. Southwest Championship Wrestling (Joe Blanchard's San Antonio-based promotion), Mid South Wrestling, owned by Cowboy Bill Watts, and, finally, a brief association with the WWE.
Each of these business relationships would end in a less than positive manner but by all accounts Boesch had his most lucrative business relationship with Watts, though that relationship to ended in acrimony.
McLemore would buy out the incumbent Dallas wrestling promoter Burt Willoughby in 1940 and promoted weekly wresting at the now-destroyed Sportatorium, famously located at the corner of Industrial and Cadiz in Big D. McLemore, who learned from Morris Siegel, became Burt Willoughby's concessionaire, and then the owner of the Dallas booking office.
After a quarter of a century and all the while working in conjunction with the Houston office, McLemore, in 1966, formed a partnership with wrestler Jack Adkisson -- aka Fritz Von Erich -- and the two boldly separated from the Houston office soon after Siegel passed away. The ambitious and decorated war hero Boesch bought control of the Houston office from Siegel's widow.
In 1969, McLemore passed away at the age of of 64 and Fritz took over full control of the Dallas promotion that would eventually see his sons become the stars of the promotion. After a series of tragedies involving four of the Von Erich brothers and other stars, the promotion finally tapped out in 1990.
While much of the history of Texas wrestling centers on Houston and Dallas, not to be forgotten is the Amarillo Territory, which was controlled by Dory Funk, Sr. and Doc Sarpolis beginning in 1955 until it closed in 1980. This territory focused on West Texas, including Amarillo, Lubbock, Abilene, El Paso, and markets in New Mexico and Colorado.
This territory, arguably, produced more pro wrestling main-event stars than any territory in North America. Amarillo's track record is extraordinary. Amarillo can boast Dory Jr and Terry Funk, Stan Hansen, Dusty Rhodes, Tito Santana, Ted DiBiase, Barry Windham, Tully Blanchard, and Bob Backlund. Each got his start in the West Texas territory and all are now enshrined in the WWE Hall of Fame.
The San Antonio wrestling territory was owned by former collegiate and professional wrestling and football star Blanchard, the father of WWE Hall of Famer Tully Blanchard of the Four Horsemen fame and grandfather of up-and-coming female wrestling star Tessa Blanchard.
Joe Blanchard, after a three-year career with the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL, was trained to become a pro wrestler by the legendary Stu Hart in Calgary and made his debut in Calgary in 1953.
San Antonio was in business from 1978-1986 and in 1982 became the first pro wrestling show to air on the USA Network, the current home of WWE's Monday Night Raw and SmackDown.
The state of Texas has most likely produced more pro wresting stars than any other state. You can't image how hard that is for this native Oklahoman to say that about our rival to the South but it's true. Notwithstanding the many stars previously mentioned, examine these notables, among many Texans:
A who's who
Gorgeous George: The man who is generally credited for "starting all of this" was from Houston.
The Undertaker: Arguably WWE's greatest, tenured superstar is a former college hoopster from Houston and will be a WWE HOFer any time he's considered.
Stone Cold Steve Austin: Fom Edna, became the leader of the WWE Attitude Era and its biggest star during the Monday Night Wars and is a WWE HOFer.
June Byers: From Houston, is one of the most famous, female wrestlers in history and was the recognized champion for over an uninterrupted decade.
The Guerreros from El Paso dominated pro wrestling in Mexico and in the USA, headlined most notably by WWE HOFer Eddie Guerrero.
Shawn Michaels from San Antonio is widely considered the best performer in the modern era and is a WWE HOFer.
Blackjack Mulligan, recruited by Bear Bryant and Bum Phillips to play football at Texas A&M, is from Sweetwater, is a WWE HOFer and is the grandfather of WWE's Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas (There's that Texas thing again ... Dallas)
Booker T (Huffman): A Houston native and WWE HOFer, WWE broadcaster and now a Houston wrestling promoter a la Booker's role model Boesch.
Ivan Putsk: The Polish strongman is an Austin native and a WWE HOFer aka Joe Bednarski. "Joe Bed's" brother Fred was a former kicker at the University of Texas.
Jake "The Snake" Roberts: Origins can be traced back to Gainesville, Texas, where his late father Grizzly Smith was born. Jake is also a WWE HOFer.
John Layfield: From Sweetwater and the current WWE broadcaster and former World Champion is also a former football star at Abilene Christian University.
Mark Henry: former WWE World Champion and two-time Olympian and former World Champion Power Lifter is from Silsbee.
It has been said that everything is bigger in Texas and nothing could be more true when it comes to the number of main event level, hall of fame talents that the Lone Star State has produced.
RINGSIDE with Jim Ross & Friends at the Dallas House of Blues April 2&4. www.ticketmaster.com; Ross Report Podcast available at Podcastone.com and iTunes. Follow JR on Twitter @JRsBBQ