The man we know as Kenny Jay was born Kenneth Benkowski on March 27, 1937 in Holdingford, Minnesota. Kenny was a natural athlete in high school, lettering in football and throwing the shot put. When he graduated in 1955, he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he worked a factory job.
His wrestling career was soon to follow. He started training at Bob Hawkins' wrestling school in 1957 and had his first pro match in early
1958. "My first match was for John Hinds, at the Southside Armory,” recalls Kenny. "I got friendly with Billy Gills and Johnny Gilbert, who held the tag straps, and they brought me to Chicago and the Marigold Arena." But just as things were starting to happen for Kenny, his Uncle Sam invited him to join the U.S. Army and his mat career was put on hold for two years.
When he returned home from the service, he signed on with legendary AWA promoter Wally Karbo and was put into active duty of another kind. "I was wrestling every Saturday for TV and during the week, too. Verne (Gagne) once told me he was mad ‘cause I got my face on TV more than he did… and he was the champ!," Laughs Kenny. “Whenever a new name would come in they would give them to me to put them over. Crusher, Bruiser, Mad Dog, Verne -- I worked with them all. I even wrestled Terrible Teddy, the bear. I was a heel then and the fans wanted the bear to kill me."
Not one to put all his eggs in one basket, Kenny started a landscaping business, thus his nickname the “Sod Buster" was born. With a wife and family (3 kids) and a successful business, it was not practical for Kenny to try his hand at other territories, so he made his home in the AWA for close to 30 years. (For the record, he still runs his landscaping business, now with his son.)
"Kenny Jay was THE BEST overall talent in wrestling,” said Harley Race, who worked with Kenny countless times in the AWA. “He was what we called a ‘job guy,’ but he could work with any human being and get a good match out of them. He would go in the ring with a big name who really couldn't do much and make him look good, and he could get in there with a Danny Hodge or Verne Gagne and make them look even better than they were. He was just an incredibly talented guy."
His one overseas trip was in 1972 to Japan. Kenny recalls, "I worked 18 matches, including 5 cage matches, and won most of them. It was nice to be one of the top guys for a change. One of my best matches was a six-man with Verne and the Crusher against Harley Race, Larry Hennig and Chris Markoff. I took the fall."
In 1976 Kenny Jay took on Muhammad Ali in a boxer vs. wrestler match which he considers one of the high points of his career.
By the early 1990s, with the end of the AWA, the “Sod Buster” started to slow things down a bit with wrestling, but hardly ground to a complete halt. "I ‘retired’ in 1997 from the ring, but then the phone would ring so I would say ‘why not?’,” he said with a laugh. “I still wrestle once or twice a month. Buck ‘Rock & Roll’ Zumhoff promotes a lot of little shows around Minnesota and uses me pretty often. A few years ago I started telling guys only tags or six mans. I am 67 and can't work as hard anymore."
"I’ve had a great life in wrestling -- got to work with all the best guys that came through the business and had a lot of great matches. It’s really something that, at my age, I still have fans who want my autograph when I wrestle."
It’s little wonder why the CAC board of directors unanimously chose Kenny Jay to be honored in 2005. Kenny said of the event, "I am really looking forward to Vegas and seeing my old friends. Being the first jabroni to be honored by the Cauliflower Alley Club is real exciting. It’s nice to be recognized by the boys."
