2010 Men’s Wrestling Honoree Roger Kirby

NATURE BOY ROGER KIRBY:  A Natural Choice for CAC Honors
By Jeff Sharkey
You’re going to get a range of reactions to the mention of  2010 CAC Men’s Wrestling  honoree Roger Kirby’s name.

ABOVE- Roger Kirby shows off his impressive physique in a 1966 promo shot. (courtesy of Les Thatcher)

“A hell of a worker,” says his former tag team partner and ‘cousin’ Les Thatcher.  “But he was so-o-o laid back out of the ring.”   Kirby’s one-time manager, Percival A. Friend, likes to remember Kirby as “what I call a conditioning athlete.  When he’d walk into the locker room, he’d automatically start working out with a regiment of squats, and those pushups on three chairs where you dip below the seats.  If you think that’s easy, try it!  He was unbelievably strong!”   

Kirby himself recalls his physical conditioning, even prior to his start in wrestling.  “I had boxed as a light-heavyweight at around 180 pounds.  I sort of looked like Buddy Rogers, with my blonde hair, and I was a strong farm kid; I looked like I was carved out of a rock.” 

Wrestling historian ring records have listed him as Rip Kirby and Roger Dolly among his personas, but Kirby became perhaps most well-known by being billed as another “Nature Boy,” familiar to those who followed Buddy Rogers’ path toward in-ring success.   In his own unique way, Kirby demonstrated his pro skills with true artistry.

But his arrival into the wrestling business back in 1959 nearly had him patterning himself after the famed artist Van Gogh.

“There was a match in Indiana between Roy Shire and Ray Shire (Stevens) against Bobby Managoff and Johnny Weaver… and the Shires were using the tag rope illegally.  So I jumped up on the apron and took the tag rope away.  Well, Roy Shire just about kicked my ear off!”

That match was on a Friday night.  Shortly afterward, Kirby learned that his cousin Leona was married to a professional wrestler, Dennis Hall.  This piqued Kirby’s interest.  “By that Sunday morning, I was down at Newcastle Gym, where Dennis and some other guys trained,” said Kirby.  And another career was off and running!

The early days took Kirby through Indianapolis under the promotional eye of Jim Barnett, and Dick the Bruiser later on.  Dennis Hall teamed up with him in those days, and at times played up the fact they were cousins.  Family feuds sold plenty of tickets; over the course of a few years in various territories, Kirby would stand across the ring from other teams boasting family pride, such as the Volkoffs, Ron and Don Carson and The Daltons.

ABOVE- The Wrestling Cousins get top billing opposite hated rivals, The Dalton Brothers on this Baton Rouge, Louisiana card. (courtesy of Les Thatcher)

Les Thatcher was brought in as part of the blonde-haired barrage in late 1966 as Kirby and Hall toured the Georgia towns for booker Leo Garibaldi.  Soon afterward, Thatcher gained full cousin status, and worked some for Lee Fields out of Dothan and into Louisiana, the Daltons trio being one of their marquee matchups (comprised of Frank Dalton, Johnny Long and Don Fargo).  “We lived together for a time in a trailer based in Mobile,”  Thatcher remembers.  “It was a great time, we made a good living, and we got along great.  I don’t think we ever had anything you could term as a real disagreement.  We had our fun; we were like The Three Musketeers.”

Kirby’s tours of duty in both singles and tag team action took him across the country in the early days, working for a variety of promoters including Nick Gulas, Jim Crockett, and even into Mexico for a while for Jim Barnett.  Kirby was eager to learn all aspects of the business that made young talents into moneymaking superstars in the main events.  

The year 1968 is looked back upon as a turbulent time in American history; for Roger Kirby, it was a time when the hard work and dedication began to pay off.  “I went into San Francisco in 1968 to work for Roy Shire,” Kirby said.  “In six months, I learned more in San Francisco than in the first ten years of the business; what a learning experience.”   Kirby remembers telling Shire the tale of their initial meeting on that ring apron back in Indiana a near-decade prior.  “Shire just laughed his ass off about that.”   Before long, Kirby was reunited with other familiar faces from that time period.  “Ray Stevens, Kenji Shibuya, Mitsu Arakawa, Pepper Gomez… they remembered me, and gave me so much help with the psychology of wrestling.”

Kirby had arrived, and knew it when, after one Bay Area bout, Roger returned to the locker room and noticed Shire in a state unlike his noted type-A management style, which often included the promoter’s furious temper.  “Roy, you didn’t yell at me!”  Kirby recalls.  “Roy said ‘that’s because you didn’t do anything wrong’.”

The long and winding road of Kirby’s career continued with stops in Portland for Don Owen with a great title run and feud with Lonnie Mayne… and then in Kansas City, where Kirby captured the Central States strap twice, from Ronnie Etchison and Steven Little Bear in 1970.  Noted feuds with Rufus R. Jones and the Mongolian Stomper followed.   “I had broken some of my ribs in Kansas City, and my wife had relatives in Louisiana, so we stayed there for a while to heal up,”  Kirby states.  “Bill Watts called me down there and asked when I could start (for LeRoy McGuirk).”

In May 1971, Kirby defeated Danny Hodge for the NWA Junior Heavyweight title in New Orleans.  “Hodge was a fantastic guy who liked to show his ability.  Sometimes, it was almost a fight for your life!  But it was a real experience.”  Another opponent Kirby wanted to work with was an old acquaintance, Tom Jones.  “I wanted to work with him in Louisiana and Mississippi, all over…and McGuirk got mad at that!  He and I both wanted to make money… and with Tom, we sold out everything we touched.  Shreveport, Jackson… everywhere.”

The demands of being Junior Heavyweight Champion were tough on Kirby.  “You had to be under 223 pounds… and I just couldn’t do it.  I wanted to be a heavyweight.”  After a few months’ title reign, Kirby dropped the belt to Ramon Torres.

It was back to Kansas City where Kirby met up with new manager Percival A. Friend and Black Angus Campbell as a partner.  Together they triumphed throughout Central States arenas as North American tag team champions.  There was an eventual breakup as Angus was called upon for a strong babyface run, and Kirby had a series of bouts against Angus that Friend recalls as “some of the best matches I ever saw Roger in…they sold out some buildings.” 

The blonde-haired Kirby had established himself as a top hand, and continued to maintain that platinum polish with a professional’s approach to his matches.  “Roger would always be thinking about the match, both the holds and the psychology; I liked that about him,”  Friend said.   “He was a laugh-a-minute, and kept the dressing room in stitches… but once he stepped through the ropes he was all business.”

Kirby’s ability to talk fans into the arenas should not be underestimated, either.  Les Thatcher remembers, “We had one of those reel-to-reel tape recorders, and we’d go back and forth practicing promos on there.”  One noted promo with announcer Bill Kersten stands out in Percival Friend’s memory.  “Kersten mentioned an upcoming match in Mexico, and Kirby excitedly thanked me for getting him this booking, and that he’d have to get his visa and so forth.  Kersten then says, ‘Uh, that’s Mexico, MISSOURI, sir!’ and without missing a beat, Roger says, ‘I’ll bet their airport doesn’t have a runway large enough for my private jet to land on.”

The 1970’s moved Kirby’s name to the upper end of most of the cards he appeared on.  Tag teams continued to be part of his career path as well.  In the Kansas City area, Kirby paired with Rock Hunter, and later was part of a well-known partnership with Lord Alfred Hayes, “A tremendous partner,”  Kirby said.  “I teamed with Harley Race several places; in Kansas City and again later on in Georgia, and then Florida.”  The peach trees of Georgia blossomed in sync with the rise of Kirby’s tag team with Buddy Colt during their tenure in the state.  In Florida, Kirby recounts his tag team success with J.J. Dillon and Rip Hawk.  That blonde hair flowed freely when Kirby and his partners of choice hit the building.

As the decade closed, Roger’s trips consisted of a run with the AWA, where his impressive leg strength was emphasized.  “At one point Kirby went into the Guinness Book of Records for the Leg Press,”  Friend recalls.  Lord Alfred Hayes had begun managing by 1977, but still donned the tights regularly and Kirby was again a frequent ally.  Then, a return to where it all started, in Indiana rings where Dick the Bruiser’s WWA continued to operate, more than 15 years after Kirby’s first tour of duty there.  WWA Tag team title runs with Igor Volkoff and Paul Christy followed a trend: Kirby was working main events and commanded respect as a top talent. 

Main events included numerous bouts against the World Champions of the day, too.  “I wrestled all the NWA champions from Lou Thesz to Harley Race, and everyone in-between,” Kirby said.  “Sometimes it was after their run, but I wrestled Dory Funk Junior, Gene Kiniski, Pat O’Connor, so many of them.”  He recalls an early bout against Buddy Rogers, which helped him with his approach to putting forth the best possible effort.  “Buddy asked me beforehand, ‘what one thing can you do?’  And I told him… and he said ‘no problem’.  We went out and had a match he built around that one thing.”

Credit goes to Rogers among the many teachers Kirby studied under.  “Bruiser and Wilbur Snyder told me early on, stay and watch the matches and learn.  And I credit so many of them… Kiniski, Shibuya, Arakawa, Weaver, Dick Steinborn, Fritz Von Erich, The Brunetti’s… a host of people to learn from.  And I tried not to pattern myself after just one guy.  That’s what I would tell the younger guys.”

As the 1980s arrived, Kirby found himself on the opposite end of the learning curve.  He had some of the first matches of young talents of that time.  “Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels in Kansas City… looking back, I could suggest stuff to do with them… and rib ‘em too!  But they wanted to learn.  And it was fun to watch them learn.”

Of the many frequent friends and foes alike, Kirby notes how he enjoyed seeing their children become adults, and in some cases, the next generation of stars.  “Randy Savage and Lanny Poffo, after I’d wrestled Angelo so many times.  Jake the Snake came up, and Mister Perfect… I remember Jake’s dad, and Larry Hennig.”  It started with Peter Maivia and later on, Rocky Johnson.  “I have a son named Dwayne, and Rocky did too later on…I wonder if there was a connection.  The Rock was probably the last in that series for me.  What fun it was to watch ‘em grow up,” said Kirby.

Recently, Kirby joined his longtime running buddies on those road trips, men like Harley Race, Tom Andrews, Bill Kersten and Bob Geigel for a special reunion: an in-depth documentary on the history of wrestling in the Central States, called “K.C. on the Mat”.  While there is a play on words with another famous baseball poem, this Kacey hit a home run; no strikeout in sight.

“Chris Gough of Metro Sports did a fantastic job.  It was done very professionally, and I was proud to be a part of it,”  Kirby said.  “It covers all the way back to the 30s and 40s…the history of Kansas City Wrestling.  We had it in Memorial Hall in KC, where we ran every Thursday night.  Over 500 people came out, and a lot of those fans didn’t forget me!  It had a lot with Harley Race in it, but it really showed that it wasn’t just him, or Geigel, or Percy, or me, or any of us… it was Kansas City that was the star.”

As an ironic segue between careers, following Kirby’s final match in March of 1985, it led to a 21-year affiliation with the Kansas City Star newspaper.  “I worked in their distribution department for a few years, and then in their carpentry shop.  I loved doing that; I’ve never worked a day’s work,”  Roger laughs.

During his second career, there were opportunities to fix the broken remnants of his first job.  “Thanks to the newspaper’s insurance, I replaced both hips, my knee, shoulder…put my nose back in the center of my face instead of under one eye… all paid for.  I made more my first year there than in my last year wrestling.  I lived three miles away, and no road trips,”  Kirby said.

Since retirement from the newspaper in 2006, the focus has been on family, and some fun.  “In Missouri, I have a daughter and two grandkids that I see a lot,”  Kirby said.  I take care of some property I have up in St. Joe, mowing three acres of grass with my huge lawnmower; there’s never a dull moment around here.”  Roger’s love of motorized vehicles extends to what he terms his ‘Boulevard Bike.’ 

“It’s a cut up dune buggy, with a Volkswagen motor- – custom – - seat cab box, two bucket seats, gauges on top… and it’s got some real RPMs.  It’s ready to ride.”

He also maintains a long-standing passion for aquatic life, as he details some of the stock in his backyard pond.  “I have had iridescent sharks, a foot-long goldfish… a whole assortment.  A Calico, a black goldfish…all colors, too; I don’t discriminate,”  Kirby said.

The Wrestling Cousins' calling card. (courtesy of Les Thatcher)

Family comes first, which due to Kirby’s commitments, have had his wrestling brethren hoping to find events like the documentary where they can reunite.  “I last saw him in 2003 in Vegas at CAC when we found out he was getting married there the same weekend,”  Thatcher said.  “I would love to see him again.”   Perhaps seeing Kirby being quoted of late will have more of his contemporaries saying the same.  There are those promo skills coming to the forefront; Roger Kirby’s words are once again getting people wanting to see him.