There’s only one first-time for professional wrestling coming to town.
For Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, it was Monday, May 5, 1930.
The news wasn’t broken too far ahead of the date. In The Sault Star newspaper, on Saturday, April 19, it is noted that “Mr. Thompson has a license to promote these shows through the north country and is confident that they will prove a success.”
Without noting Thompson’s first name it continued: “Mr. Thompson, the promoter, is well known in sporting circles in Northern Ontario. He is secretary of the N.O.H.A., and has always been ready and willing to boost sport of any kind. In this new venture he is animated by the same spirit that has characterized his previous attempts to promote sport in the north country.”
A native of North Bay, W.A. (Bill) Thompson was involved in hockey, as alluded to above. The Northern Ontario Hockey Association, which began in 1919, was a very wide-ranging league, from Sault Ste. Marie in the western corner of the province down to Cochrane and North Bay. Often teams were built around businesses in a town, like the South Porcupine Dome Mines Porkies or the Iroquois Falls Abitibi Eskimos. (Insert Shoresy joke here about “Senior Whale Shit Hockey.”) At the time of this wrestling show, there was not a senior team in the Sault Ste. Marie — affectionately known as “The Soo.” Thompson spent 13 years as the secretary-treasurer of the NOHA, with its office in Haileybury. Under his stewardship, the NOHA grew from 10 clubs when he took office to 33 when he stepped down in 1939.
The hockey connection no doubt helped with Thompson’s plan, as the Soo was but one stop on a mini-tour.
A story in the North Bay Nugget said that he was planning shows in Sudbury — which had held wrestling previously — but no stop in North Bay was scheduled, since “there was no building of sufficient size available at the present time.”
“These matches are being promoted as an experiment, and if successful, it is planned to stage two matches each month and to extend the activity to include Kirkland Lake and Timmins,” hyped the Nugget.
At the time, Sault Ste. Marie was the third largest city in northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay (which was actually two cities at the time, Fort William and Port Arthur). Its important geographical location, connecting Lake Superior to Lake Huron and therefore the other Great Lakes and into the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean, meant that the Soo was an industrial city.
In the Nugget‘s “Sportology” column by the unnamed “Observer,” there was a discussion of “championship displays” in the Soo and Sudbury. “It may not be that the contestants will decide any championship arguments in the Northern zone, but assurance is given that they will perform in real earnest fashion.”
Then, a couple of days before the shows, the “Observer” wrote on April 30: “The promoters have followed in fast with a definite announcement of the inaugural display to be staged in Sault Ste. Marie on Monday night next, with a full quota of these tumbling scrappers. ‘Bill’ Thompson, of N.O.H.A. fame, is the director of ceremonies, and J. Walker, Toronto, is his advance agent and showman. Mr. Walker stationed himself in the Sault on Saturday last, and immediately commenced busying himself at preparing for the introductory show. The arena has been leased for six weeks for as many consecutive shows and special seats are being installed this week to accommodate a large assembly. The Sault, with a district population of nearly 60,000, is looked upon as a fertile field for the sport. And so it should be with that number to call on, a large number of whom are transplanted from countries where the sport is the chief form of entertainment.”
There was some good hype for the matches — John Katan versus George Bowman and Bob Ling versus Jack Windle / Wendell — though spelling consistency was an issue.
The “What’s What in Sport” column by “Chatterbox” in the “Sault Star” noted that “Bob Ling, the Finn who takes part in the preliminary, is an adept at the Greco Roman style of the mat game and was the recognized champion of Europe for a time. He spent some time in Japan mastering jiu jutsu and is able to use a number of the remarkable holds developed by that sport. He is known as one of the fastest men engaging in catch as catch can.” (Catch-as-catch–can was the popular style of the day, a looser version of Greco Roman with more moves permitted.) Ling was known to the town, the Star noted, since he had been “seen here last summer as a circus strong man and his remarkable feats of strength were a constant source of amazement to Sooites.” The same piece also said that Ling was known as Ali Hassan in Europe. Confirming details are tough in this case. If he was the Ali Hassan who succeeded in the 1930s, then that is probably John Ellis, who was of Greek descent.
He was Jack Windle in the first mention, but Jack Wendell more correctly the next. In his hype, it was said that he “hails from Boston and has always given a good account of himself when he appears on Toronto wrestling shows.” Not much can be dug up on Wendell, who perhaps became better known under a different name.
Not much was written about Bowman, but he was Henry Eugene Bowman, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound battler from Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was only 19 at the time of this card, and he died in 1962, just a year after quitting wrestling. During his long career, where he was a champion in Florida (1938) and Iowa (1942) he was also known as Gene Bowman, Black Panther, Dark Secret and the Mysterious Link.
Now for the true main eventer, who was incredibly important – and overlooked — in the history of Canadian pro wrestling: John Katan.
At the time of the shows in the Soo and Sudbury, Katan had only been wrestling a couple of years. The 6-foot-1, 240-pounder originally from the Ukraine was destined for so much more.
He traveled the world, finding success from Canada to New Zealand and Australia. Steve Ogilvie, a historian in New Zealand, said that Katan made three tours to the country in the 1940s.
“His first visit, in 1940 was his most memorable,” wrote Ogilvie in an email, continuing:
Earl McCready was the biggest name in the country, and remained British Empire champion as the season began, undefeated for that title since 1935. Lofty Blomfield was the biggest homegrown star and New Zealand heavyweight champion. Katan was quickly positioned as their equal, leading to a three-way battle as to who would end the season as the most successful wrestler in the minds of the public.
Unlike any other visiting wrestler who had wrestled their way into title contention, Katan was able to lift the Empire title from McCready for the first time in five seasons, on July 8 in Wellington. The result was a large resurgence in interest from press and fans alike. Wrestling bouts were broadcast on radio and regularly given lots of column inches in the newspapers and magazines. Katan’s success was seemingly short-lived, Blomfield finally winning the Empire title for the first time by defeating Katan on August 7 in Wellington.
Katan’s place was cemented; the man who both beat McCready for the title, and who gave Blomfield the chance to win his first crown. On September 9 in Auckland, Katan regained the Empire title in Auckland. This season had been unlike any other with the title switching between the three big guns, and McCready finally got his belt back on September 24 in Dunedin. In and around these title switches were many other championship bouts, usually ending in draws. Katan only lost four bouts in the 1940 season, the others won or drawn.
Katan returned briefly at the end of 1941, on his way home as the War began to limit the wrestling schedules in the South Pacific. He was here again in 1946, receiving Empire title chances at McCready but unable to win back the championship. Forever after, Katan’s name was often mentioned in numerous articles on McCready, as being one of the few men to say they’d beaten him here in New Zealand.
After the Second World War, Katan ended up as a promoter in southern Ontario, primarily based in Hamilton, working in partnership with Frank Tunney in Toronto.
Monday, May 5, 1930
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario * Arena Rink
John Katan beat George Bowman in two out of three falls
Bob Ling beat Jack Wendell
Attendance: 400
Promoter: N. A. Thompson, of North Bay, Ontario
Referee: Bill Bonny
In its post-show report, the Star reported that “upwards of 400 wildly cheering fans” watched the debut, adding that “Those who attended were changed from a group of ordinary people, to a mob of wildly howling maniacs before the main bout was finished.”
Since it was the first pro show, the paper made a comparison: “Sault fans, who have been accustomed to the style of wrestling dished up by exponents of the Greco Roman system, found a welcome change in the rougher, faster, catch as catch can.”
Before the show itself, Ling did feats of strength for the crowd. “He showed almost uncanny muscular control by twitching some of his arm and chest muscles,” began the recap. He then bent an iron bar around his wrist, broke a heavy chain in his hands, and drove a four-inch spike through a two-inch blank.
The “Chatterbox” weighed in as well: “The professional wrestling started with a bang last night and if things keep up it should prove an unqualified success in the Sault. It is well worth watching. Those who stayed away last night missed worlds of action. Satisfied customers speaks well for a performance. Everyone was satisfied.”
Thompson’s hometown paper put him over, too. The “Observer” wrote that “the wrestling bug has smitten the sport-loving citizens” of the Soo on May 10. Another line almost makes an excuse for the crowd of only about 400: “No endeavor was made to pack ’em in, the promoters being content to show their stuff before commencing the money-pulling ballyhoo.”
The distance between towns — 307 kilometers/190 miles — meant that the Sudbury show was on the Wednesday night, and featured the exact same results.
Wednesday, May 7, 1930
Sudbury, Ontario * Palace Rink
John Katan beat George Bowman in two out of three falls
Bob Ling beat Jack Wendell
Promoter: N. A. Thompson, of North Bay, Ontario
Attendance: 500
True to his word, Thompson returned to both the Soo and Sudbury, though reversed the order this time, the Palace Rink show on Saturday, May 24, and the Arena Rink card on Monday, May 26, 1930. Both shows featured Stanley Stasiak versus John Katan, and Jack Taylor versus Bob Ling.
But that would be it for the Soo, with no shows in town again until July 26, 1932, when Toronto promoter Jack Corcoran came to town, with Katan once again as the headliner.
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