Special collections University of Memphis libraries
Lou Thesz
In this corner, there was Sputnik Monroe. In the far corner, there
was Billy Wicks. That was the scene in 1959 at Russwood Park when
Monroe vs. Wicks set an attendance record in Memphis wrestling history:
More than 13,000 people watched, while thousands more were turned away.
And that’s not all. Inside Ron Hall’s Sputnik, Masked Men, and
Midgets: The Early Days of Memphis Wrestling (Shangri-la Projects),
you’ll learn that the following year, Monroe had a run-in outside the
ring. The charge by Memphis police: disorderly conduct. The scene of
the crime: an establishment at the corner of Beale and Hernando. The
problem: Monroe, who was white, had been seen, according to a newspaper
account, “drinking in a negro [sic] café with negroes
[sic].”
If you’re a Memphian of a certain age or a wrestling fan of any age
and care to look back on the good-bad old days, see here: tons of
black-and-white archival photos of your favorites — including Lou
Thesz, Gorgeous George, Tojo Yamamoto, Jackie Fargo, and Jerry Lawler
(who’s written the introduction to the book). Among the lesser lights
pictured, there’s Farmer Joe (and his ringside pig); the “brown basher”
Bobo Brazil; on the distaff side, Penny Banner, who dated Elvis
Presley; on the small side, the pint-size “mighty mites”; and among the
big boys George “The Baby Blimp” Harris, the Mighty Jumbo, and
Haystacks Calhoun (shown sitting down to a dozen eggs and what looks to
be a fried rat).
Ron Hall supplied the book’s preface, introductions, and photo
captions. Sherman Willmott of Shangri-la Projects performed the
editing. And Tara McKenzie, of the Flyer‘s art department, did
the design. The big draw here, though, from the top to the bottom of
the card: the ‘raslers themselves.