In the late fifties and early sixties, it was given that on Saturday afternoon, or morning, as it later was, my brother and I blocked an hour out for TV wrestling. We would watch Sputnik, Treach Phillips, the Fields, Baby Blimp, and, our favorite, Billy Wicks. Billy had two daughters, Laurie and Debbie that went to Frayser High School with us. Very pretty girls, but, heck, I wasn't going to ask either out and have to deal with their dad!
It was standard operating procedure for us to watch the show and then go out in the back yard with some neighborhood kids and form tag teams, until someone got a bloody nose and went home crying. I always had to be Billy Wicks or Bobby Fields. I'd make this kid down the street be Rowdy Red Roberts and toss him over a 50 gallon oil drum we had in the backyard. Great fun! I loved it all. For years, I kept clippings in a shoe box under my bed from all the matches, until one day our cat thought it was a littler box, and there went a ton of memories!
I can remember the first time I ever saw one of my hero's up close. My mom and aunt took my brother, my cousins, and I to Atlantic Mills Discount Store on Bellevue Ave. one Saturday afternoon. As we were checking out, a few people in front of us--a huge man, his wife, and young son--were waiting to be checked. The guy turned around and looked back at my brother and I playing grab ass in line, and the scowl on his face was unmistakable. It was Sputnik Monroe! Now, this was probably 1961 or 1962. I was only eleven. To see this guy up close who had had many big matches with my man Wicks was terrifying. He had the trademark bleached patch in the front of this black hair--as did his wife and child! I've had friends ask why I didn't ask him for an autograph, or say hi, or something. No way! I was just hoping to get through the line without him slapping me in the head! Sputnik was larger than life on TV with his loud, gruff voice; that scowl; the tattoos; all of it. But to see him ten feet away was way too much.
He checked out and was in his car before we ever came out of the store. I didn't even mention that I saw him until we got back to our house. My dad asked why I didn't say something, because my mom and aunt were gabbing and hadn't noticed him. I said there was no way I was going to do that because my aunt would have gone up to him and made a big deal and called me over, and I would have fallen out. I was a shy enough kid as it was; I sure couldn't have handled that. It was still cool though. I've remembered that day all of my life. There was only one Sputnik Monroe, just like there was one Jackie Fargo, and one Jerry Lawler.
In my book Sputnik, Midgets and Masked Men: The Early Days of Memphis Wrestling--due for a fall 2009 release--I've included over 300 images of wrestlers from the early fifties to the late seventies when Jerry Jarrett took over the Memphis territory. From Lou Thesz to Tojo, the babyfaces, heels, women, black wrestlers, midgets, masked men, even wrestling bears that made wrestling in Memphis so much fun. Keep and eye out for it and watch this page for previews and other news.
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