Bout Ends In Uproar As Police Arrive At Ring

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27709, 13 July 1955, Page 14

Bout Ends In Uproar As Police Arrive At Ring

WRESTLING

Beginning with the prim propriety of a children’s game of charades, a professional wrestling contest in tne Civic Theatre last evening ended in an unseemly uproar, with both contestants, Alo Leilani and Don Beitelman, engaged in a vigorous assault on the referee, Mr Arthur McGregor. The festivities were wound up by the arrival of the police at the ringside, and Mr McGregor thereupon announced that the bout was a draw, although there was still a round untouched. So another strange chapter was added to professional wrestling’s dark history, but this time there was considerable dissatisfaction among the paying guests. It was, in truth, a far from convincing display. The evening began with an earnest conference on the application of the judo chop, the key Leilani has used to turn so many locks this winter. Beitelman was obviously anxious that it be applied to the proper places, if at all. But the first round must rank as the cleanest in recent memory. The patrons, unmoved by the close wrestling, showed by their patience that they knew they had to have bread with their wrestling butter. They sat, strangely silent, while the wrestlers behaved like little gentlemen. There was a vast tangle in the ropes. “Break it Leilani.” said Mr McGregor, a note of warning in his voice. “AU right,' Leilani said, with the affability of a typist being told to stop for tea. The only touch of the spectacular was Leilani’s Japanese stomach throw, with which Beitelman was propelled across the ring with considerable velocity and altitude.

The second round was singularly respectable, although there were a couple of flying tackles, and in the third Leilani won a fall which failed to imEress anyone, not even, presumably, eilani. Beitelman came off the ropes with a show of energy, and was felled by what some misguided souls thought was a slap on the chest. It certainly looked like that, but Beitelman's histrionics indicated that it was, in fact, nothing less than a judo chop on the throat, wrestling’s guillotine. But Beitelman kept his head sufficiently to conduct a spirited post-mortem on the iniquity of the chop. The referee was unimpressed Leilani was never anything but completely phlegmatic—in expression—from first to last. In the fourth round, Beitelman was much less ethical than before, but after one session of roughing up Leilani. he went in for only to find Leilani bridging so effectively that Beitelman. bouncing up and down like an impatient horseman, could not break it. Beitelman dismounted in disgust and stalked off. Leilani rode out another Beitelman

storm at the start of the fifth round, and they shared the applause for the introduction of a new gambit—each in turn was flung by the arm into a corner post with alarming velocity. There were other goings-on, but they were mild enough. In the sixth round, Beitelman slapped Leilani with the fine fury of an outraged spinster, then embarked on a course of throat drops in which, fortunately, the left or non-effective leg appeared to touch down first and take some of the sting out of the treatment. The referee was not happy about Beitelman’s habit of hitting Leilani’s throat before applying the drop, and said so. "All right,” said Beitelman, dragging Leilani into position for a further demonstration. It was rather lik.e a butcher under training undergoing his practical test, with Leilani the unfortunate carcase. After all that, of course, he conceded a fall. In the seventh round it was all Leilani, who gave Beitelman the full treatment. Beitelman twice was tied up in the ropes while Leilani went to work with the elan of Harry Wharton thrashing a Greyfriars cad caught smoking. The referee made strenuous efforts to intervene, and ultimately Beitelman got back on his feet, but they all went into a corner like delegates at an American party convention. It was there that the referee became the. unwilling filling in a large and meaty sandwich; • Beitelman, after taking such fearful punishment, could hardlv have known what he was doing, and Leilani entered into the spirit of the thing. So to the arrival of the police and the departure of the grumbling contestants.

AMATEUR BOUTS Amateur wrestling bouts at the Civic Theatre last evening resulted:—C. Manson (Gst 71b) beat I. Ganda (6st 131 b) by two falls; B. Gardiner (Bst 71b) beat M Bennett (9st) on points, one fall each--7c (Bst 9,b) beat N - Mitchell , ( ® s | ™ b \ by one fall to nil: C. Hand (9st 31b) beat I. McLintock (9st 21b) on points. no falls; R. Harris (10st 81b) beat L. J. Keats (lost 81b) by one fall to nil. ZORRO AND SIMUNOVICH DRAW (New Zealand Press Association) „ AUCKLAND. July 12. Tne Great Zorro and Lucky Simunoyich drew with one fall each in a wrestnight” atCh “ thC Auckland Town Hal! to-