Many stories have been written about the Wrecking Crew from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. John and his brother Chris Tolos began their careers in Canada in the 50's and were an overnight sensation, because they had wiped the mats with any and all competition.

Many great tag teams were in the area at that time. Doc & Mike Gallagher, Guy & Joe Brunnetti, Steve Zold & Johnny Gates, Dick "Mr. Michigan" Garza & Jim Hady, The Bavarian Boys, Skull Murphy & Brute Bernard, The Masked Medics, Louis Martinez & Haystacks Calhoun, and the list could go on for a while, naming a lot of great teams.

The Tolos brothers were a unit that had been combined from birth. Not something that had happened because of a promoter's dream. They were as mean as mean could be. They had fought for their space growing up in the streets of Hamilton. They would often take on six or eight guys their size just to keep in condition and usually beat them within an inch of their lives.

After meeting and beating all the competition that the promoters could throw their way, John wanted to go West to seek his fortune in the PWA (Pacific Wrestling Association), but Chris didn't go for that idea. He wanted to stay closer to home, and, as a result, around 1970, he began a singles career in the Midwest area.

Chris began calling himself "The Golden Greek" and constantly screamed into the microphones that he was the Golden Greek and that he wanted tougher competition. He wiped the mats with just about everybody he faced. He had lost a few battles by being disqualified or counted out.

Chris had beaten all the guys that he faced in Mansfield, Ohio, and had taken on a few fans as well. He was just about out of guys that would sign a contract to meet him and continued to belittle every guy in the territory by claiming that he was the toughest guy in wrestling.

One evening as his semi-final match ended, I happened to be a guest ring announcer for promoter Francis Fleeser and gave him the duke for beating his opponent that night, Gary Fulton. He began his irate barrage of telling everybody in the building that he was the greatest thing since sliced bread and that he wanted tougher competition. He called out names of some of the biggest mat stars that were in the business. The NWA World's Champion, Dory Funk Jr., Fritz Von Erich, The Sheik, Bulldog Brower, Domenic DeNucci, and even Lou Klein, the man with the $1000 Challenge.

When he let me take the microphone back, I asked him if he was against meeting anybody. That was a mistake on my part, as he grabbed the microphone and began another five minutes of ballyhoo about himself. When he calmed down, I asked if he would sign a contract to meet someone I had in mind in Mansfield two weeks from that night. I reminded him that his not showing or trying to get out of the situation would get him a fine and/or suspension from coming to Mansfield.

He grabbed the mike and started again with his hollering about him being the best and that he would sign any contract. I pulled out the contract and had him sign his name to it; then, to make it legal, I had a fan witness his signing.

I then informed him that he had signed for a bout with a man I considered MY BEST FRIEND in the wrestling business. He grabbed me by the tie and said that nobody would want to be my friend because I was a two-faced little punk who couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag. It was then that I let him know that he had signed for a match with the current U.S. Champion, BOBO BRAZIL!

Chris went ballistic on me and began beating the stuffing out of me. I was a pretty fair grappler, but I couldn't keep up with a man in his state of mind.

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers