Professional Wrestling historian & CAC member Tom Burke explains the birth and never ending life of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame located in Schenectady, NY
Pro
Wrestling Hall of Fame,
a dream come true!
There is an old saying,
“Rome was not built in a day.” This adage of
years ago fits the effort of the founding of a
Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame which has a home in
Amsterdam, New York a short walk from the Erie
Canal.
The saga of a shrine to honor the men and women
that have donned trunks, boots, and hoods and
took the bumps is nothing new.
I first recall reading about the efforts of a
retired wrestler, Mighty Jumbo aka Jim Dean,
(Above photo) Mighty Jim aka Jim Dean
Photo credit Tom Burke
wanting to open a
Wrestling Hall of Fame. He had the land as the
owner of the Ocala Caverns in Ocala, Florida.
The effort was recognized by the state of
Florida and a non-profit status was given to the
Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Lew Eskin, the late editor of Wrestling Revue
was a major supporter of Jim Dean’s work. The
backing of the magazine gave Jimmy Dean a media
outlet and several articles appeared in the
pages of the Wrestling Revue.
(Above photo) Promotional item from the Ocala
Wrestling Hall of Fame
Photo credit Tom Burke
Funds were coming in and it looked like the
“dream” would be coming true. I was a young GI
back in 1966 making $72.00 a month and sent in
$5.00 to buy a brick. Then in 1968 the worse
happened the founder and leader of the Hall of
Fame, Mighty Jumbo died. I don’t know what took
place but none of the directors took over the
helm and thus the “dream” was still a “dream.”
There have been other tires to have a Wrestling
Hall of Fame. Some of these are more of a
promotional move by a booking office then a true
Hall of Fame.
Bob Luce, promoter in Chicago had a Wrestling
Hall of Fame at the famed Amphitheatre at 43rd
and Halted in the Windy City. I never saw the
“Hall of Fame” but was told that it had
billboards with photos and posters of stars of
the promotions and legends of the mat.
Slammers’ Wrestling Gym and Museum located in
Studio City, California. Verne Langdon, a CAC
member started Slammers. And in every September
he would hold a “Hall of Fame” inductions which
I attended twice.
(Above photo)
Count Billy Varga speaking at the Legends Award
for Slammers HOF
Photo credit Tom Burke
Verne’s efforts were right up front and he had converted the warehouse when Slammers was located into a fine museum and a place worthy to be called a Hall of Fame.
(Above photo) The collection of Gorgeous
George on display at Slammers.
Photo Credit Tom Burke
He had a display of the late Gorgeous George
with his robes, personal effects, Karl Von Hess
had a display as did the original Intelligent
Sensational Destroyer, Fabulous Moolah and
others. One of the most interesting items in the
collection was the face mask of the late Tor
Johnson aka, "The Super Swedish Angel".
The year 1996 saw the end of the Slammer’s
gym/museum/hall of fame.
The year was 1997 and a lone voice in Iowa came
to the front
and started the International Wrestling Institue
in Newton, Iowa. A pro-wing was added in 1999
under the title of the “George Targos/Lou Thesz
Wing.” The IWI is getting ready to move to
Waterloo, Iowa the hometown of one of the greats
in amateur wrestling, Dan Gable. The IWI has its
limits in
the category inductees in the “pro wing” only
wrestlers with a
solid amateur background make it to the spot of
honor.
Mike Chapman the founder the of the IWI is to be
applauded for his fine efforts and desire to
honor those that have wrestled and worked in the
professional end of the sport.
It must be noted that there is the National
Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma
which was founded in 1976. This is for amateurs
from youngsters to Olympic level wrestlers.
Several pros and CAC members have been honored
by the Oklahoma venue. Danny Hodge and the late
Dick Hutton come to mind and I am sure that
there are others.
The other Hall of Fame for wrestling is located
in a gated
complex off route 95 in Stamford, Ct at Titan
Towers.
Every year the WWE inducts various wrestlers and
associates
into their hall of fame. The event is held the
day before their annual Wrestle Mania event.
The Hall of Fame in the nutmeg state reflects
that of a promotional nod then an open choice
for their shrine.
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Pro Wrestling
Hall of Fame,
The year 2000 was not just the start of the new millennium, but the birth of a dream
It was in late winter of the first year of the new century that I had a call from a Jim Myers (George Steele). He called me to ask me if I would be interested in becoming involved with the formation of a Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. I was very interested and wanted to learn more. He told me that I would be getting a call from a man named Tony Vellano and he would provide me with all the information. The phone rang one spring day and on the other end of a man who introduced himself as Tony Vellano from the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in Schenectady, New York. He invited me to the first ‘kick off” banquet in another month. I accepted the offer and was looking forward to this new venture.
I live in Springfield, Massachusetts and the ride to Schenectady, NY was only an hour and 10 min. Fellow CAC member, Wade Collins, friend Rob Salvas and I went to the affair in central New York. We were welcomed by Tony as if we were long lost cousins coming to a family reunion. I also met up with some fellow CAC'ers – Dr. Bob Bryla and special guest Walter “Killer” Kowalski. The debut banquet was sold out and filled with the power brokers of the city, county and state. The powers to be were behind this project and I could see that Tony Vellano was not the run of the mill wrestling guy. A matter of fact he has no connection with wrestling – more on that later.
The banquet was a feast to say the least. Great food, company and a trio of wrestling stars that shared stories and questions and answers with the people in attendance. George Steele, Walter Kowalski and the Ray Apollo aka Doink the Wrestling Clown. The crowd ate it up. Why Schenectady ? I asked the same question. From a historic point of view Schenectady is right. General Electric had its headquarters in that city and in 1939 they telecasted the first wrestling event to their offices in New York City and Chicago.
The town fathers were all in support of the idea of having a Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame. A 60 mile radius from the city will bring you to other hall of fames – Baseball in Cooperstown, the Boxing Hall fame is located in Canasota, fans of Soccer have a HOF in Oneonta and heading a bit northwest by the way the crow flies will take you to Utica’s International Running Hall of Fame. This was a focus of the governing body of the city to view the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame as a tourist venture.
It was at the Board of Directors meeting at the 2001 Reunion that I gave a presentation of the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and suggested that the club give their endorsement. A debate went on and an exchange of thoughts and words were given and taken. One board member was concerned that Tony Vellano had no wrestling background. My comeback was that is what was needed a person with no ties with the business. He has no alliances or associations with people in the sport. He comes from a business background being the CEO of a construction company that build skyscrapers around the country. Further conversation went on and it was decided that a ‘study’ committee would be established to “check out” the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame. Board member, Al “Spider” Mandell was the lead member. Al a long time member and a person with a vast knowledge of the sport from that of a wrestler, referee and promoter brought his insight to the New York site. Nick Bockwinkle also came to the 2nd banquet. The nod from both Al and Nick came swiftly and the buzz in the air at the 2002 CAC reunion is that we did have a Hall of Fame in the making. Just as things started looking good for the PWHF in Schenectady the bomb was dropped. The owner of 123 Broadway where the Hall of Fame was located sold the property. A new city leadership was not as favorable to the PWHF as the past mayor. The city of Amsterdam heard about the problems that the PWHF was having. The mayor and city council wanted to promote the downtown of Amsterdam and felt that the PWHF would be an ideal magnet to increase tourism in their city. Like any group there are “growing pains” and the PWHF has them as well (the CAC in its 42nd year also sees and feels those growing pains as times and people change.) Growth is a long process, but in the 6 years that the idea was hatched it is amazing what has been done.
Support …. No project of this size can survive without some patrons.
Tony Vellano has registered the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in New York State and gets a annual grant from the state. The CAC has been so impressed with the efforts of the PWHF that the our club is a official supporter with an annual donation. There have been several fundraisers for the PWHF.
Toronto was headed by CAC member Greg Oliver and Buffalo saw it held by the family of Ilio DiPalo also CAC members. Both of these affairs were sell outs and Greg Oliver is looking to run another fundraiser on September 30th in Toronto. However, nothing compares to the efforts of one, John Pantozzi, another CAC member. John has run two PWHF fundraisers in the New York City area. Selling out the events in just a mere two weeks. Who attends ? Well, the event in November 2005 in Staten Island would have the envy of any convention promoter for John held a night titled, “Million Dollar Dinner” on November 5th which was attended by Ted DiBiase, Mick Foley and Bret Hart. This trio of main eventers came to support the the PWHF with no fee attached to their appearance.
It should be mentioned that Ross Hart, CAC member and younger brother of the Hitman had spoken to Bret about the PWHF since he had visited the PWHF when it was in Schenectady with this writer during the summer of 2003. The event was very special for Bret since he was able to meet a man that he only knew by name. Attending the dinner was former wrestler, Tony Cosenza, a longtime friend of his dad. Bret shared the story how it was Tony who introduced his dad to his mother Helen when Stu was wrestling in the NYC area back in the early 40’s. Tears welled in the eyes of both wrestlers and for many attending since it brought together two generations wrestling.
John also held a fundraiser in New Rochelle, NY in 2004 with Ivan Koloff, Captain Lou Albano. Both events in the New York City area were sellouts and filled with both fans and wrestling personalities. John plans to run another Hall of Fundraiser in the autumn of this year. CAC and the PWHF website will provide information when it is released. The hall of fame is located at 10 Madison Street in downtown Amsterdam. It is a three floorbuilding with wrestling memorabilia filling the first two floors.
Former NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion, Angelo Salvodi recently donated a wrestling ring to the hall. This is just one of many donations that have been given to the PWHF. A few years ago there was a movie, “Field of Dreams” and the theme of the movie was if they build it they will come. For us the Dream has come true we have a Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame which honors the men, women, shooters, carpenters, midgets, masked ones, oddities of the sport under one roof. To visit the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame website, CLICK HERE |
