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Hans Schmidt |
The early days of television brought a new and exciting breed of entertainment to the networks. Professional Wrestling had been breaking attendance records at the old Amphitheater on two separate nights a week. Highlighting the cards were seasoned veterans like Mr. Moto, Billy Goelz, Johnny Kace, Angelo Poffo, Carl Engstrom, The Mighty Atlas, Bobby Managoff, Dick Hutton, Pepper Gomez, Buddy Rogers, Chief Joseph War Eagle, and his son, Don Eagle. There were also the mysterious men under masks who wore such handles as The Masked Marvel, Mr. X, The Red Devil, and The Devil's Disciple, just to name a few. There were tag teams like The Bavarian Boys, The Brunetti Brothers, The Great Scotts, Gene & Steve Stanlee, Billy Goelz & Johnny Gilbert, The Kalmikoffs, and The Lisowskis, and that list could go for a ways with great teams that parlayed for the top spot in the Midwest. There were also huge men like Lenny Montana, Sky High Lee, Haystack Muldoon, Don Leo Jonathon, Bobo Brazil, Tiny Tim Hampton, and Sailor Art Thomas, and who could ever forget Big Moose Cholak, who came into the ring wearing a full moose head with shoulder skin attached. What an awesome sight he was coming down the isle. Midgets provided a break in the brutality every once in a while, as Farmer MacGrunder, Pee Wee James, Little Beaver, Sky Lo Lo, Fuzzy Cupid, Tom Thumb, Lord Littlebrook, and many others brought the house down with their antics. They often stole the show and gave the headliners a hard time getting the crowd's interest back to the big men. The Volkoff Brothers, Boris and Nicoli, were two of the toughest men from Russia besides the Kalmikoffs. These men spent many long, cold and windy days in their early years aboard trawlers catching and harvesting Caviar in the Bering Straits just off the West Coast of Alaska. They had come to the Midwest to compete against the toughest men in the sport of kings. They went to huge arenas in vast cities like Milwaukee, Green Bay, Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis, South Bend, Benton Harbor and Chicago. Promoter Fred Kohler had brought the best to Chicago every week on two nights and nearly packed the building with each card he brought in. He often sold out the building with the ring antics of Hans Schmidt. The Second World War had not been over for many years, and there was a big resentment of some of the characters that made their way into the ring. Hans Schmidt was neither a Schmidt nor German, but he sure acted the part and made a lot of folks unhappy about his persona. He was in singles matches most of the time. He once faced and held the NWA Champion Bobby Managoff to a three-fall, 90-minute match that never scored a fall and went the entire 90 minutes. The two men fought so hard in the ring that they had fans jumping in to help Bobby out when the going got rough for him. On this night, he had teamed up with Dick "The Bruiser" Afflis, just off a season with the Green Bay Packers. They faced The Volkoffs in what was billed as the roughest match of the decade to be presented at the Amphitheater. It was almost a donnybrook that had fans involved. Neither team was able to get the better of each other until a well-placed knee by Afflis that was intended for Boris Volkoff, while Schmidt was holding Boris' arms from outside the ropes, missed and hit Schmidt right where he keeps his Sauerbraten. He doubled over and grabbed his midsection while both Boris and Nicoli began beating up on The Bruiser. Suddenly, Schmidt was in the middle of the ruckus and began beating on Afflis as well. The crowd went wild with excitement, as Bruiser was not a well-liked man in Chicago. Bruiser finally broke loose from the three men and began to clean the ring of all the competition. Out went both Volkoff Brothers, and then there were only the two evil men of the mat to face each other. The crowd began to side with Schmidt while he was getting his licks in on Bruiser, praising him for his prowess and strength. Bruiser jumped from the ring with his head busted open from the mighty fists of Schmidt and waited until security could get him away from the ring back to the dressing room. One week later in that same ring, the two fought before a riot-infested crowd with neither gaining a victory. They sure gave the fans what they paid for--"Action, Excitement, and 'Rasslin' from the Amphitheater." Hans Schmidt is retired and living not far from Toronto. He is very reluctant to give interviews and prefers to remain in the background, even though he was a household word for nearly a decade while beating up opponents from coast to coast. William "Dick The Bruiser" Afflis is gone from us only in presence. His ring trademark of "The World's Most Dangerous Wrestler" lives on in infamy and has not been duplicated since. May you rest in peace, my friend. Percival A. Friend, Retired
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