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WRESTLING TRUST ISMANAGING ALL BOUTS*St, Louis Writer Finds Good Reasons for Suspecting That All Is Not Right.Whether the ♦wrestling' game le above suspicion is a question that has arisentn connection with the rapid rise of the sport. Frequently it has been Intimated that there was a wrestling trust. That the rumor Is not unfounded is evidenced by the following from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:Imagine a wrestling trust! One finds some difficulty trusting most wrestlers. But there exists a syndicate that has reached out and, in one way Dr another, obtained control of all the wrestlers of consequence in the country. And of some not so fortunate.Now this may be a good thing for the wrestlqr—it insures him regular employment at a fixed salary and enables him to earn a living without Slrnest-Roeberizing the whole sport or riving it a most dissolute appearancefo the public.But it is awfully rough on the sport :overs, as St. Louis must be realizing from the dearth of good shows of the mat variety held in St. Louis.No Rea! Contest.The recent Zbyszko-OIson contest was the first in which out-of-'town wrestlers of note have competed here since the “trust introduced its own Bhow, right under the noses of local promoters. That was when Gotch and jompanv appeared with Jeffries and lis combination, last Christmas.Now nobody for a moment thinks {hat either the exhibitions given by iotch and his troupe or that by Olson tnd Zbyszko had any of the savor of i real contest. So we haven't really seen permitted to get a match hero with red corpuscles in it since the old lays when Charles Haughton was on Barth. Nor Is there much likelihood ,hat we will ever bo able to seo a good ihow unless the heads of the trust »ee fit to come into town and stage ono lere on their own account.Et Tu, Frank Gotch 1For today the syndicate of men headed by George Kennedy and Jot* Coffey, of Chicago, has virtually control of the services of every American wrestler; and it has a pretty good; inderstanding with Frank Gotch.If you think this is drawing it too itrong here is a bona fide reply, In part, written by Kennedy to a St. Louis man who has since offered as high as $12,-00 to bring a certain match here:Here are the men I can get for, four show, who are not hooked up with other dates now: Eugene Trombly, Canada, 135 pounds; Yussif M ah -nout, 200 pounds; Stanislaus Zbyszko, 135 pounds; Jim Essen, 225 pounds; Raoul de Rouen, 230 pounds; Charles Sutler, 220 pounds; Pat Connolly, 103 pounds; Con Kelley, 212 pounds. * ** I will put on Mahmout for 50 per ;ent of the gross receipts, transporta -;ion and a guarantee that the wrestlers themselves get not less than $250 for:hoir share.Modest One.How could you take it for so little! And le'U do just as nicely for any of the other wrestlers, won't you. Fifty per cent guarantee and let the. St. Louis man carry the bag for ail the expenses. Great! •rotch is a little better—it's 60 per cent if rou'd like him. Within the last year pro-, noters have several times tried to bring rominent wrestlers here. But the wires jould not be pulled so that the shows tould be made to break even.Possibility for Evil.Darker practices than mere control oi (ho wrestler's time and dates are hint edit by the enemies of the trust. If the trust is nursing a prospective big match, we aro told, through wire pulling it prerents the affair reaching an ant e-climax tuch as might happen by having the wrestling gentleman being groomed for the the championship occasion beoten before he meets Gotch. All wrestlers aro “pointed’' by the trust, for bouts with 3otch.When Mahmotit came to this country,; t was over a tortuous route that ho worked his way up to Got ch. lie met iverything in sight before* he finally won the privilege of getting beaten—Just as iveryone knew would happen all along. But think of the box office receipts before the Mahmout lemon was entirely iqueezed!Next it was Zbyszko, who was imported md sent around the circuit.. And does it dot look peculiar Inat Gotch could not budge this man in Buffalo long ago, but •ould throw him twice In half on hour at Chicago? The difference between a $5,000 house and a $35,000 gato explains, perhaps.Smart Men, Those Trusty Ginks.There's nothing really illegal In what is actually known of the trust’s methods. But the combination stultifies the game a Mt. It Is perhaps not more to be censured than the theatrical trust.The man who deserves most blame gets iway with least, lie is Frank Gotch. Ho lends his assistance to the plans of the promoters in their “date'' making. Without Gotch the trust would fall of its.own weight.If Gotcn really retires, now is the tirno, fe gentlemen of promoting instincts, who aavo been raving for a chance to re-open Ihe wrestling game iri this and other titles, to step In and guess who Is to bo hext champion, and get him down on a contract.If you do you can get a little pin money for the winter hoard, too.-t ;--—«
Newspaper Details
Spencer News
Spencer, Iowa, US
Tue, Jun 28, 1910
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Joaquin P.
USA 17 Apr 2023
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