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The Pro Wrestling HOF: A Retired Grappler's Vision to Celebrate the Mat Game

Posted: Sep 24th 2016 By: Ryan Dilbert

Box fans stood erect atop the floor, buzzing. Mannequins lined up throughout the muggy building, adorned in glittery robes, cowboy hats or luchador masks.

A metal sign from the old Dallas Sportatorium—where Ric Flair, Steve Austin and The Von Erichs all once wrestled—hung in the entrance way.

This is the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Wichita Falls, Texas. This is the brick-and-mortar tribute to grapplers as far back as the late 19th century, a salute to the heels and babyfaces of the squared circle, the world champions and forgotten names.

The amount of history packed into the place is overwhelming. And so is the heat.

PWHF owner Johnny Mantell was quick to address the humid air captured between the walls.

"My last piece of the puzzle with this Hall of Fame is my air conditioning," he told Bleacher Report.

Despite there being history on just about every inch of every wall, be it photographs from yesteryear or posters from wrestling cards, the institution remains in transition. The Hall of Fame only moved from New York state in March 2016.

Mantell has slowly filled the museum's new home on 8th Street in downtown Wichita Falls with mementos of the mat world. And there are more to come.

"This is about 75 percent of our stuff that we have out right now," he explained.

He ran out of full-body mannequins, and so he hasn't been able to display all the ring-worn gear that he has in his possession. Paintings are on their way. Wrestlers have promised to dig through their attics and garages at home for relics from their careers to send him.

Mantell's own such items are already on display.

He was a journeyman wrestler who competed in California; Portland, Oregon; and Texas during wrestling's territorial days. Mantell competed under a mask for a time as The Hood. He later adopted a cowboy gimmick, wrestling in boots each night.

Visitors to the PWHF have often approached Mantell about his days in the ring.

"For me, it's been a real humbling experience to work with the guys and have people come in, and not only remember me wrestling, but telling me stories of watching me wrestle," he said.

In his new life, Mantell looks as comfortable as he did between the ropes. He happily walks old wrestling fans through the museum, a giddiness humming in his voice as he recalls the bruisers from the past.

It doesn't hurt that he gets to work alongside his wife.

Katherine K. Downs, a former wrestler in her own right, is in charge of the PWHF website. She helps spread the word about the institution on travel sites and social media. Putting it in wrestling terms, Mantell works in front of the camera, and Downs works behind it.

"I'm the jock; she's the brains," Mantell said.

Mantell is a salesman, much like he had to be as a wrestler. But instead of trying to convince fans to see him take on his next opponent, he is now selling them on this growing institution brimming with artifacts and images of the industry's past.

It's an enterprise that has grown new roots in north Texas.

Wrestling fans who wanted to take in the history of the business used to have to head to Amsterdam, New York. That's where the PWHF stood when Tony Vellano served as the board president.

When Mantell took over that position, he wanted to transport the museum elsewhere.

A number of businesses, hotels included, had shuttered in Amsterdam. When the institution held its annual induction ceremony, it began to do so in a nearby city instead. Some newly welcomed Hall of Famers didn't even get a chance to poke their heads into the museum as a result.

In search of a new home for the Hall, Mantell traveled south: Dallas, San Antonio and Austin, Texas, and Oklahoma City.

Those weren't the right fit. "No place had any floor space," Mantell said.

Wichita Falls did, though.

Mantell explained that he leases the building that houses the PWHF at an extremely low rate. And he has two additional floors to use when he's ready to expand. Plus, the media is more apt to come calling when he has an event.

"I can call the sports director or the news director, and they send someone out with cameras," he said.

If he had gone to Dallas, he would have to compete with the Mavericks, the Cowboys and the Texas Rangers. Wichita Falls' biggest sports attraction is high school football on Friday nights.

Mantell hopes to make the PWHF just as popular, to make it become one of the city's institutions.

So far, city leadership has been happy to have the museum and the tourists it brings.

"The city really rolled out the red carpet," Mantell said. "It's just been so positive."

It's a bonus, too, to be in a state so rich in wrestling tradition.

Bruiser Brody and Buddy Roberts battle for the Dallas-based WCCW promotion.

The Funk-run Amarillo territory flourished in the '60s and '70s. Houston featured a bustling wrestling scene that boasted names such as Ted DiBiase and Dusty Rhodes. Dallas was a white-hot territory that saw The Freebirds battle The Von Erichs, one of the industry's most renowned rivalries. And Wichita Falls itself has its own squared circle stories to tell.

"We're finding such great history of pro wrestling in this town," Mantell said.

Item by item, image by image, fans can trace the history of the business at large in Mantell's ever-growing playhouse.

Hall of Famer, promoter and wrestler Fritz Von Erich's appointment calendar from 1981 sits on a desk, allowing one to see how he organized the World Class Championship Wrestling promotion. A ring from the Polo Grounds, built sometime in the 1890s, lies on tile surrounded by memorabilia.

A steamer trunk from 1914 owned by a wrestler named John Kilonis, a turnbuckle that George "The Animal" Steele once tore apart and the program from Andre the Giant's funeral are among the treasures awaiting the curious.

In time, the museum will evolve and grow into a more extensive celebration of pro wrestling.

Mantell talked of creating a video room where digitized matches will be available for viewing. He has a robust amount of material to show when that's set up.

"I know that Vince [McMahon] has bought up a lot of the tapes, but I have about 400 tapes that he doesn't own," he explained. The footage is from Texas, Mississippi and elsewhere.

A small kids' section of the museum will eventually balloon into a space with wrestling video games waiting to be played. Mantell wants to dedicate an area to showcasing current wrestlers on the independent circuit, their photos plastering a wall.

And Mantell plans to construct a room in the PWHF to display the connection between the military and wrestling. Several notable names from the mat game have served in the armed forces.

WWE Hall of Famer Classy Freddie Blassie was a World War II veteran, as was former American Wrestling Association champion Verne Gagne.

Mantell already has a number of pieces dedicated to this subsection of wrestling history, but he wants to add to his collection.

"Those stories need to be told," he said. "We're just trying to add everything we can to it so that everyone knows that this is the place to come see anything wrestling."

It already outclasses WWE's Hall of Fame. The sports entertainment giant doesn't yet have a physical building for its Hall. And many have questioned the integrity of McMahon's institution.

The WWE owner seemingly selects whomever he wants each year, apparently with a mind on whose induction will create the most buzz.

The PWHF goes through a more rigorous selection process. A committee sorts through the candidates each year and sends out a ballot to every living Hall of Famer, plus 30 historians, adding up to around 75 to 100 votes a year.

Credit: Ellen Smith
Hall of Fame plaques adorn the wall.

"There's no favoritism or sleight of hand. That's what makes this the legitimate Hall of Fame," Mantell explained.

Mantell credits Vellano for establishing those checks and balances, just as he credits him for the museum's beginnings, for "giving birth to it, teaching how to crawl, how to walk."

If WWE comes calling, wanting to collaborate, he's open to that.

"I'd love to work with Vince," he noted. "We're no threat to him. We're promoting all wrestling."

In the meantime, he will have Hall of Fame ballots to look over, artifacts to arrange and a growing relationship with Wichita Falls to foster.

"We're part of the community here. We're a nonprofit. We're not trying to get rich," he said.

And although he's often the first face one sees when stepping through the doors, Mantell is not the star of this place; names such as Paul Orndorff, Leilani Kai and Bruiser Brody are. He spent his career being, as he put it, "just a middle-of-the-card guy," and now he's more than happy to have the spotlight shine on those honored in the PWHF, and on wrestling in general.

"Our mission statement for the Hall of Fame is to preserve, protect and induct people into this Hall of Fame," he explained.

The next induction is scheduled for May 2017. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Sgt. Slaughter and others will be welcomed into the Hall. Before and after those wrestlers get their Hall of Fame rings, make their speeches and get their plaques nailed to the wall, Mantell will be striving to improve the building that houses their likenesses.

"I don't think it's done yet," Mantell said. "It will always be a work in progress."