Episode 43: The 1950s Texas Wrestling War
In Episode 43 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg:
Pays his respects to Ole Anderson, wrestling's favorite grumpy Uncle.
Goes deep into the 1950s Texas Wrestling War, with more than 25 newspaper articles gathered from newspapers.com.
Explores what Jim and Brian got right and what they got wrong from their Guess the Program segments on Cornette's show.
Points out the first attempt by Dallas to gain booking control from Houston and how it led to the second attempt and the Texas war.
Goes through the clips about the May 1, 1953 fire at the Sportatorium and runs down the suspects who had the motive to burn the building down.
Looks at the other fronts in the war, including in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, El Paso and Fort Worth.
Looks at the aftermath of the war in 1954 and 1955 and traces that to 1967 when Dallas finally gets the booking office away from Houston.
Pays tribute to Morris Sigel, Ed McLemore and Doc Sarpolis, who often don't get credit for building Houston, Dallas and Amarillo into big wrestling towns.
Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk is sponsored by Greg and his written work. His newest release is out now, "Sunset Painting & The Sun, Two Plays by Greg Klein" on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Sunset-Painting-Sun-Plays-Klein/dp/1737863510/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Sunset+Painting+and+the+Sun+two+plays+by+Greg+Klein&qid=1706748251&sr=8-1
You can also buy "The King of New Oreans: How the Junkyard Dog Became Pro Wrestling's First Black Superstar" and "The Paper Tigers: The Untold True Story About How Five Guys From the Streets of Philadelphia Became Professional Baseball Players for One Day" on Amazon.