BIG ATTRACTIONS

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 68, 20 March 1936, Page 16

BIG ATTRACTIONS

BEOWNLNC! AND STEELE

COMING WRESTLING SEASON

WELL-CHOSEN UNION TEAM

[By "Aeneas"]

If events work out according to schedule —and there is nothing to

indicate that they will not—New Zealand has before it the biggest wrestling season on record. Advance reports of the men engaged for the Dominion of New Zealand Union speak of men of a uniform build of about 6ft in height and between 15 and 16 stone in weight, and with records of achievement which place them either in the top flight or very close to it.

At this stage it is necessarily difficult to forecast what will transpire as the months pass, but the writer has been informed by the secretary of the union (Mr. A. G. Washer) that the working forces of' the Dominion organisation will be refreshed at regular intervals by high-class talent, with a special offering to patrons in the persons of Jim Browning and Ray Steele—two men whose names are known in wrestling circles the world over. Returning prosperity:, which lias been made manifest in many directions, is giving people more money to spend in amusement and recreation and, with the unusual attractions in view, there is every indication that past attendance records will be well shattered during the season. Action will be the keynote, and anything savouring of the storm of verbal challenges which marred operations last season will be sternly discouraged. The size of the men who have been booked already can be gathered at a glance from the following table: — Weight. Height, st. lb. ft. in. Pete Mehringer 15 5 6 1 Harry Kent 17 2 6 3 Paul Boesch 16 4 5 Hi Bro. Jonathan 16 6 6 1 Bob Kruse 16 6 5 11 Joe Woods 15 5 5 101 "Cowboy" Bob Russel 15 10 6 0 Mays McLain 16 4 6 0 Jack Forsgren 16 6 ■ 6 2 Earl McCready 17 0 6 2 Glenn Wade 15 10 5 91 "Lofty" Blomfield .. 17 0 6 3 With Browning: and Steclc added to the above list it at once becomes apparent that if McCready is to continue his unbeaten record this season it will be necessary for him to work much harder than he had to last year, and even then he could not lightly regard men such as Wade and Blomfield. ALL-ROUND QUALITY. And this raises an important point in viewing the 1936 season in prospect. As was mentioned by the president of the Otago Association and has been apparent to most followers of the game, there has been a tendency for teams in past" seasons to be lop-sided. Each year an. effort has been made to bring out one or two outstanding wrestlers to serve as major attractions, but it has been shown repeatedly that the public aivrnot attracted by the prospect of merely .seeing a famous wrestler. They want to watch him at work, and fully extended at that. The season before last Dan Koloft packed out the Wellington T.own Hall in his solitary match with George Walker, and last year McCready secured his biggest following after Wade and Blomfield had built up records which made them his "natural" opponents. Taken tout ensemble, the 1936 team gives the impression that every engagement will be a real contest in which both men will have to work to the utmost. Another important aspect of the team is that it has been drawn from a wide field in the United States and Canada. The need for something of the sort has repeatedly been stressed in this paper, which has pointed to the inevitable effect on the public, if not on the wrestlers, of a system under which the season's professionals are drawn from one promoting organisation in the States, brought to New Zealand more or less as a body under a preappointed manager who may or may not have been an active wrestler, and then served up to the public while still retaining the elements of a unit. This year they have been gathered from east and west and from north and south, where they have been working in different circuits. The expected result is that they will display a wide variety of styles and will have healthy rivalry among themselves for the prizes which go to those who prove themselves the outstanding matmen. The season will definitely commence at Wellington on Monday, April 6, and other centres will get under way immediately afterwards. THUMBNAIL SKETCHES. Certain' particulars of the chosen men have already been published, and the following notes have come to hand from Mr. Walter Miller, who acted as the union's special emissary and arrived at Auckland yesterday with the first batch of the men:— Behringer.— Undefeated since he turned professional in 1931, during which time he has wrestled all over America; managed by Toots Mondt. Kent.— An Ail-American tackier; a graduate of the Oregon State University, he now lives at Philadelphia; is one of the outstanding young wrestlers in America today; has been in the game since 1931; managed by Ray Fabiana. Boesch.— Of German-American extraction; was formerly a life-guards-man at Long' Island; graduate of the College of New York; is the leading wrestler in the Middle West; managed by Tom Moscrow, Seattle. Brother Jonathan— A Mormon bishop who is known in the States as the "Wrestling Preacher," and who is a fully-ordained bishop at Salt Lake City a first-class wrestler whose manager, Tom Moscrow, is absolutely fldent that he will make a big hit in New Zealand. Kruse.— National American amateur champion in 1925-26; one of the fastest heavyweights in the game today; managed by Ted Thye, of Portland. Woods.— National American amateur heavyweight boxing champion in 1925; twice beat Don McCorkindale m South Africa in 1930; gave up boxing in favour of wrestling in 1931, and since then has developed into a great heavyweight wrestler; a boy who always puts on a great match and is ready to meet his opponent in any style the latter desires; managed by Toots Mondt. Russel.— A genuine American cowpuncher who learnt his wrestling "bulldogging" steers; often makes his bow to the public in real cowboy gear; managed by Joe Malcewicz, San Uran-

McLain.-Greatest football player ever developed at Haskell Indian College- is one-quarter Cherokee Indian and'three-quarters Scotch; one of the fastest wrestlers in the ring; managed by Jack Curley. For-ren.—From Vancouver; has been "going great guns lately, having won his last eighteen bouts' captured the Canadian professional title atter McCready left for New Zealand. stccle ._One of the five leading wrestlers in the world and an outstanding challenger for the title: managed by Paul Bowser. Boston. Browning;.—Former worlds heavyweight champion; known by rcpula-

lion .to all the wrestling fans in New Zealand. "These men," concludes Mr. Miller, "will make one of the finest bunches of wrestlers who have ever been gathered together. They represent a wide selection of styles, and I wisli you to note that they are not from one group but have been picked from all over America. Ted Thye has the authority and will be able to secure any further men that the union wishes to engage."