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Pro-wrestling comeback story draws reader responses

Posted: Aug 30th 2015 By: Jimmie Tramel

On Thursday, a story in the Tulsa World?s Scene section told readers about how former professional wrestler Steve Cox wants to stage old-school pro wrestling bouts every month at an old-school facility, the Expo Square Pavilion.

Newspapers are usually kind of dodgy about pro wrestling stories because they aren?t quite sure what to do with them. Does pro wrestling qualify as sports? Is it entertainment? What is it exactly?

Regardless of how you categorize it, many Tulsa-area folks have fond remembrances of watching local pro wrestling events live or on TV when they were younger because Tulsa was a hot pro wrestling territory.

Here are a couple of reader responses after the story was posted to Facebook:

From Tim Wright: ?I grew up in Tulsa on professional wrestling with my dad. He didn?t watch football, but we watched wrestling on Saturday mornings and went to the live matches from time to time. It was the only time I ever saw him wear anything other than his work uniforms. Cowboy Bill Watts. Dick Murdoch. The Von Erichs. The Junkyard Dog. Skandor Akbar. I remember watching Buck Robley too. Man those were the days.?

From Tommy Thompson: ?I grew up watching Lou Thesz and Gorgeous George on a national level. Locally, I watched Fireman Red McKim, Oni Wiki Wiki, Sputnik Monroe, the Great Bolo, Cowboy Bill Watts, Danny Hodge, Skandor Akbar, Spider Al Galento and Dandy Jack Donovan. Almost every Saturday night at 10:30 ... my grandpa and I would watch. Great memories. We went to the Okmulgee Armory once to watch live. Great Bolo pulled out the object he always slipped into his mask and head-butted, I think, Red McKim. As he was walking to the dressing room, I ran up behind him and threw a wadded-up Coke cup and hit him in the back. He turned around and it scared the (crap) out of me.?