March 23, 1972 Part Three

Things were very heated in Kansas City, Kansas, and the Veterans Memorial was a complete sellout with standing room only signs everywhere. The fans were ready for action as they were every Thursday night. Kansas City was the biggest hotbed of wrestling in the country.

Gust Karras had come by our private dressing room and stated that he had a special guest referee for the Texas Death match that Angus and I were involved in against Rufus R. Jones. He stated that this man would assure the fans that law and order would prevail tonight. I asked him if it was Wyatt Earp coming to take care of things and laughed out loud.

Angus and I had left our room to go to the ring for the match. I was dressed in one of my Green Hornet outfits and had tucked the mask with the white leather face in the waistband of my trunks. I planned to put it on to wrestle in, as I was involved in this first ever handicap Texas Death match.

Rufus was waiting for us in the ring and had shed the flashy yellow sweater that the folks from his fan club had given him. He was dressed in yellow trunks and had new red boots on that night with blue socks sticking out of them. I guess he was trying a takeoff of my outfits with the variety of colors worn.

Announcer Bill Kersten had rung the bell and made the statement that nearly took the top of the building off that the special referee would be ... Texas Bob Geigel. Immediately, I thought to myself, "What kind of chance are we going to have with this guy as a referee? We had been involved in some bloody battles with him."

I grabbed Angus by the arm and told him to grab the timekeeper’s hammer, as it would help him overcome that hard head of Rufus. I told him that I would deal with Geigel myself. I put my mask on and started through the ropes and began to berate Geigel. He just kind of stood there with that stupid look on his face.

Wearing a mask has a mystical way of protecting facial features that would let an opponent read you like a cheap novel. I tried to get Geigel to chase me while Angus and Rufus were tied up in a combination of arm locks. I knew that Angus was a much stronger wrestler and that he would be a master at winning combinations over Rufus.

I began to kick at Rufus while Angus was holding him, and he broke loose from the hold and grabbed me by the protective shirt I had on that was part of my wrestling outfit. He turned to the fans and shouted out, "I GOT YOU NOW, YOU LITTLE WEASEL!" Just then, Angus regained his composure and attacked Rufus from behind with that timer’s hammer.

Geigel saw it and began to get into the face of Angus. The only thing it got him was a hammer between the eyes. Geigel went cross-eyed and then hit the mat with a big thud. Rufus saw what happened, and so did about two dozen fans that were hitting the ring to help out. Most of the extra police on hand, under the supervision of Rod Phillips, stopped the fans from getting much past the retainer ropes around the ring.

Rufus, in the meantime, had let go of me and grabbed the hammer in the hand of Angus and tried to wrestle it from him. I was trying to keep it from him, Angus let go, and the hammer went flying out of the ring and hit Bill Kersten in the shoulder.

By now, referee Dick Moody had hit the ring and began to help Bob Geigel out. I placed a very well placed fist to the side of his head and sent him flying out of the ropes onto the arena floor. As I did, I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Ronnie Etichison hitting the ring. It seemed that all heck was breaking out and that the odds were against Angus and myself.

Ronnie declared himself the referee in charge as Geigel was still out cold on the mat in the corner and Moody was on the floor in a stupor worse that he is during his waking hours. I turned and saw Bill Kersten being attended to by some of the goons hired by Karras to be at ringside during this affair.

As I turned to the match again, Angus had Rufus in a standing surfboard, and this left his head very vulnerable to me. I reached into my tights and brought out a two foot long piece of hemp rope about a half inch thick and threw it over the back of the neck of Rufus. I grabbed the ends and then threw my thumbs into the Carotid artery on each side of his neck and slowly watched him fall into a very deep sleep at my hands.

Ronnie Etchison could not do a thing to stop what I was doing, as it was a Texas Death match, and everything is legal in one. Rufus hit the mat with a huge thump and was given a 10 count. Our hands were raised, and a one-minute rest period was put into effect.

The bell rang, Geigel's eyes opened, and he saw Etchison standing over Rufus counting the fatal 10 count. He started towards Angus but fell to the mat again about a foot short of grabbing us. I yelled at him that he should take up a different business like farming or cooking.

Rufus was counted out, our hands were raised in victory, and the fans were storming the ring. It took a riot squad to get us to the dressing room area that night. The battle was over for Rufus and us; we had won a clear-cut victory over him that night.

Rufus was carried from the ring on a stretcher. Geigel went to the hospital with a concussion. Moody was taken to the dressing rooms and thrown into the shower to regain his composure. Kersten had a shoulder separation, and over 30 people went to jail because of the riot.

Those were the days, when wrestling was King of all sports and I was truly THE EPITOME of MANAGERS.

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers
2004 CAC Honoree