WATERLOO, Iowa — Making a fairly last-minute decision to head to Waterloo, Iowa, for the Tragos/Thesz Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame induction weekend was the right one.
How else would I have found myself in a basement looking through treasures with the likes of Bruce Prichard, JBL, Jerry Brisco (fresh out of the hospital for exhaustion), podcaster Conrad Thompson and beltmaker legend Dave Millican.
Jim Miller, the Director of the Dan Gable Museum, which houses the Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame, was the leader into the basement to see all that wasn’t on display.
Wow.
It had me thinking of the epic shot in Citizen Kane — paid tribute to at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark — showing a warehouse just full to the brim.
Everywhere you turned, there was something unique that I wanted to pick up and examine.
For every item that we recognized immediately, like Gene Kiniski’s Canada jacket, there was someone where we went “who’s that?” … and then immediately searched for on the Internet.
Even Coach Miller — about as intense and fit as a museum director as could be, working out alongside young wrestlers in the training facility — kept saying. “I didn’t know we had this.”
“Who’s Vernon Breedlove?” we asked Museum Director Jim Miller in the basement of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum, in Waterloo, Iowa, on Saturday, July 22, 2023. Photo by Greg Oliver
See the gallery below for a tour of some of what I photographed.
As much as I appreciated the tour, though, the historian and librarian in me was in great pain. Very little was properly preserved, stored in a manner that would keep it forever. Adding to that lament is the fact that there was a massive flood in 2008, when the Cedar and Waterloo rivers overflowed, and ruined things in the museum’s basement. Was nothing learned from that?
In discussions with Museum Manager Becca Roper, she assured me that it’s on a list of things to do, including a true inventory of what they have. But you know what it’ll take? Time and, more importantly, MONEY. (Here’s where to donate to the museum, which is part of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.)
With the fiasco of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Wichita Falls, Texas, fresh in our memory — essentially the organizers pilfered funds and left everything to rot (whatever they didn’t sell or give away, which they had no right to do) — wrestling fans should be stepping up, especially those with deep pockets. I made my donation after a good day of book sales.
Coming down off my high horse, I take my hat off to the hard-working people at the Dan Gable Museum. The renovation brought everything a more modern feel than the last time I was there. The pro wrestling wing was lovely, and lots of extras were apparently brought out of storage for the occasion. The Steve Johnson & Greg Oliver name plate for our 2008 Melby Award may not be on the wall, but we were in the nifty new electronic touch-screen presentation.
Steve Johnson and Greg Oliver exist electronically at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum, in Waterloo, Iowa, on Saturday, July 22, 2023. Photo by Greg Oliver
Having the museum featured on the Kurt Angle episode of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures can only be a plus, and Coach Miller assured me that Angle loves the place and will continue to support it. Was the publicity for the museum worth the trade of the Team Angle singlet for one from Armageddon? I think it was, but it’s up to fans to make the trek.
The Kurt Angle display — with the traded singlet — at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum, in Waterloo, Iowa, on Saturday, July 22, 2023. Photo by Greg Oliver
Now, I do have to add that the post-tour half-hour was pretty damn awesome.
I was a fly on the wall after the tour as Prichard, JBL and Brisco basically competed to tell the rudest, most ridiculous (unreportable) stories. I will quote Brisco’s burn of Prichard, who had just complained about being tired from his trip into Waterloo. Quote Brisco: “I just got out of the hospital five hours ago.” Big laughs.
The stories, however, related to amateur wrestling, in that the tales mainly revolved around Angle (Class of 2012) and Jack Brisco (Class of 2001). They could have gone on all night, but the museum kicked us all out, so we all could get ready for the induction banquet.
The whole weekend wasn’t as vulgar as those 30 minutes, fortunate for my sensitive ears.
Everyone has their own personal highlights from these events, and I can’t encourage you to go enough. Waterloo is way more intimate that the Cauliflower Alley Club reunions in Las Vegas (but those are great too!).
In no particular order, here are some of my own highlights besides the wonders described above:
- Hanging out with Les Thatcher once again, and his lovely wife, Alice. It had been way too many years.
- Winning the trivia night after more than a few beers with a collection of veterans who had attended many Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame weekends together in Amsterdam, New York — myself, Tom Burke, Wade Collins and Adam Wollenberg. You’d think that Tom, who received the Melby Award for wrestling journalism and history, would be the ringer, but the questions were more recent so it was the rest of us that came through. Go Isotopes!
- The burger at Big Head Burger in downtown Waterloo.
- Finally meeting Joe Dombrowski in person. He can turn off the announcer voice, fortunately.
- Vanessa Anoai’s finger point (not of doom, fortunately). Related, sharing my own memories of Gary Albright in Stampede Wrestling really seemed to please his widow and sister. Few got to see him work in North America, so I am even more thankful for TSN’s airing of the Calgary promotion nationally in the later 1980s.
- Hugs from the Queens, Darla, Pam and Barbara, and the too-sweet for words couple of Gloria and Dennis.
- Dan Gable’s speech on Thursday night at the meet and greet had us all ready to go out and compete.
- Dan Gable Beer. I brought a 12-pack home.
- Tim Dalton’s moving stories on the late, great Brian Hildebrand.
- Making Bill DeMott laugh when I reminded him that I interviewed him back in 2000 when he was Hugh E. Rection.
- Talking CFL with Ross Hart. Arrrgoooos!
- Seeing that Joyce Paustian made her dream come true and published a book of her memories of the AWA, and knowing that I had a tiny part in making it happen by encouraging her along the way.
- Talking baseball with George Schire, and chatting with his wife, Lorraine, who recently came through a health scare.
- Sitting with Bob Roop and Baron Von Raschke as they shared tales of the 1964 AAU wrestling tournament in New York City, which was also the qualifier for the Olympics.
- Being able to write “Buckle up, it’s a wild ride!” on all the copies of The Woman Who Would Be King: The MADUSA Story that flew off my sales table. Thanks to everyone who bought books.
- Thanks to James Runyan for driving down and being good company; some might even call him “Mr. Marvelous.”
I’m already trying to figure out a trip for the 25th induction weekend next summer. Hopefully, I’ll see you there!
DAN GABLE MUSEUM BASEMENT PHOTO GALLERY
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TOP PHOTO: Museum Director Jim Miller wanders through the basement at the Tragos/Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame induction weekend on Saturday, July 22, 2023 in Waterloo, Iowa. Photo by Greg Oliver
RELATED LINKS
- July 22, 2023: Albright family brightens up Tragos/Thesz induction
- July 22, 2023: Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame 2023 induction weekend photo gallery
- July 21, 2023: Gable toasts start of Tragos/Thesz HOF weekend with a Gable
- SlamWrestling.net’s George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame story archive
- Tragos/Thesz Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame website