One of the lesser talked about sports promoters from the New Jersey territory was C. Turc Duncan, who operated at the Wildwood Convention Hall, the Armory in Paterson, and at Columbia Park in North Bergen. His Wildwood promotion lasted from at least 1942 to 1954, but in a 1954 letter to Sam Muchnick, he indicated that he'd been promoting there for 25 years. Duncan's road to wrestling promoter is an interesting story because he began as a vaudeville performer, known as the "Cyclone of Mirth," staging performances as early as 1925. For a long time, he was affiliated with the "A Melange of Mirth and Melody" at theatres throughout the northeast from Massachusetts to New Jersey. Having grown up in Philadelphia and was a boyhood friend of light heavyweight boxing sensation Tommy Loughran, Duncan became his fight trainer around 1934, and edged his way into promotions after that. In 1943, during the war, Turc served in the Coast Guard, and his wife Louise kept the promotion in operation at Hunt's Sports Arena in Wildwood. Looking at the genealogical records, it is difficult to determine Duncan's proper heritage became he never used his real first name. "C" may stand for Charles, and there was a Charles Duncan in the 1920 U.S. Federal Census who was living in the 26th Ward of Philadelphia, near the home of Thomas Loughran. This Charles Duncan was born around 1898 and lived on Cantrell Street. What leads me to believe that he may, in fact, be Turc Duncan is that he worked in a theater in 1920. It may just be a coincidence. If anyone knows for sure, drop me a message. A Charles Duncan, born in 1898, died in Wildwood, NJ in September 1977. Longtime wrestler Billy Darnell (William L. Darnell) was from Camden and was listed in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census as living with his parents, Lester and Marion Darnell. He had an older brother named Robert and his father worked as a fireman on the railroad. Billy was four years old at the time. A controversial Newark match on June 12, 1936 saw Ali Baba lose his claim to the World Heavyweight championship at Meadowbrook Field. Baba was originally scheduled to wrestle Hans Schnabel, but at the last minute, Schnabel was pulled and Dave Levin was inserted in his place. Around the 21-minute mark of the seemingly ordinary match, Baba landed a dropkick. Levin flopped to the mat and it was claimed that Baba had kicked him in the groin. The referee Frank Sinborn and state commission doctor dr. Wolf Emmer acknowledged the foul and disqualified the champion. Levin was the new world heavyweight champion, while Baba was left telling the world how he'd been robbed. The Newark Evening News (6/13/1936) included a quote from Baba: "You bet I'll kick about the decision. And if I ever get that Levin in a ring again, I'll murder him and finish him in a minute." Willie Ratner discussed the entire situation in his column in the Newark Evening News a few days later (6/16/1936), and wrote: "These quick changes in the leadership of the wrestling game only prove to what depths the sport has sunk. Time was when a wrestling champion was good for five or six years." He noted that wrestling had "deteriorated," and that most grapplers' ability was "limited to kicking, performing various rope tricks and the flying tackle." Ratner mentioned that Baba was claiming to be robbed, saying that Baba "probably doesn't know a Japanese arm lock from a lamb chop. All he has is a walrus mustache and an egg-shapped head, yet he thinks he's a champion." He noted that Shikat was washed up when Baba beat him. Ratner wrote: "Ali Baba was champion in New York and Pennsylvania, but since New Jersey doesn't sanction title matches it will be interesting to learn if the athletic authorities in those two states take Levin's decision over Baba seriously. Incidentally, O'Mahoney still rules king of the roost in the New England states. But Rudy Dusek, who defeated O'Mahoney on a decision in Philadelphia, now claims the title. Out in California, Vincent Lopez is considered the real champion, and he's wined and dined like one. One would think that all these champions and claimants would confuse the wrestling fan and drive him to drink. Instead the wrestling bugs seem to thrive on it." Finally, Ratner reported that wrestler George Koverly had been suspended by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission for failing to follow a referee's instructions. He wanted Koverly banned forever because he was the "most repulsive character the sport game in these parts ever has known." Koverly "knows nothing of wrestling," but was great at his "vicious and unnecessarily rough tactics." On December 29, 1936 in Belmar, NJ, sports promoter Frank Mihlon Sr. passed away at the age of 60. He was part owner of the Newark Velodrome. Myer Saul promoted Atlantic City between at least 1935 and 1941 at the Convention Hall. Following the reign of Saul, Al Soifer assumed the promotion in Atlantic City at the Convention Hall, and promoted wrestling and boxing from at least 1947 through 1969. In 1967, he was staging wrestling shows with WWWF talent in a partnership with veteran Philadelphia promoter Ray Fabiani. Soifer's nickname was "Boomie." Herschel "Heck" Schwartz was a press agent for Willie Gilzenberg in Newark, Jersey City and Trenton. In 1949, Abe J. Greene of the New Jersey Athletic Commission was quoted as saying that: "Television has quickened the public interest in wrestling, and has stimulated the interest of more lady fans." Wrestler Jack Vansky was originally from Kearney, New Jersey and was billed as a Lithuanian from Columbus, Ohio. Vansky was known as the "Neck" because he had a 20" neck. He weighed 230 pounds. He started wrestling at 16 years of age at the American-Lithuanian Athletic Club and was a notable amateur grappler. Jersey City saw the promotion of a widely talked about boxer versus wrestler match-up on Thursday, September 11, 1952 at Roosevelt Stadium. The show, under the auspices of the Bernarr MacFadden Foundation, featured World Junior Heavyweight wrestling champion "Atomic" Marvin Mercer against Cuban Champion boxer Omelio Agramonte. The gate for a Gagne-Schmidt wrestling show at the Newark Armory in late 1953 was $7,700, reportedly seven times as much as any boxing program in Newark in about a year. Hy Goldberg of the Newark Evening News on January 17, 1954 stated that popularity in wrestling comes in cycles, and that it was big 20 years before. "But there was no TV in those days," Goldberg stated. He also mentioned that James Barnett was responsible for wrestling's rise. There were several references in the Department of Justice files to a situation in Paterson around 1953 regarding the NWA helping "Toots" Mondt against the Olympia Booking Office. The Olympia Booking Office reportedly signed Mildred Burke to a match in an opposition show to Mondt, and Mondt complained to Sam Muchnick. Muchnick then called Leroy McGuirk, who was helping Burke with bookings at that point. The pressure got Burke to back out of the Paterson appearance. Later on, in a July 3, 1955 letter to Stanley Disney, Muchnick claimed that he only told Mondt to get in touch with McGuirk, and had nothing more to do with it. The Paterson promoter was Jesse "Doc" Gehman, who was a veteran New Jersey referee. According to DOJ documents, June Byers wrote a letter to all NWA members, dated August 31, 1953, and lambasted Burke for taking on a booking from Gehman, who she'd denied working for in the past because he was "an outlaw to the Wrestling Alliance." On Friday, January 1, 1954 at Laurel Garden in Newark, promoter Willie Gilzenberg received an accidental dropkick from Antonino Rocca. Gilzenberg explained: "This morning, my daughter Holly wanted to play horse with me. I told her I couldn't because I'd been dropkicked. Now even she knows wrestling is on the level." Following the lead of the New York Athletic Commission, the New Jersey Athletic Commission invoked tighter control over professional wrestling. On June 4, 1954, New Jersey State Athletic Commissioner Joseph F. Walker announced that wrestling had "deteriorated to the point of absurdity" and wanted a stop to the "outright burlesque long associated with wrestling exhibitions." Women's wrestling was banned altogether in the state and "dirty" wrestlers were also outlawed. Steep punishment would be dished out for those who broke the new regulations. Duncan in Wildwood wrote a letter to Muchnick on July 26, 1954 and his words were eerily similar to other promoters around the country. He wrote: "I always through that the Alliance was to protect every one in the wrestling business but after reading the note from Pinky George, I am convinced that it is only for the bookers." Duncan admitted that he wasn't the type to complain, but he wanted to know why the level of wrestlers was so bad in his territory. He asked why "Toots" Mondt, his booking agent, "can't get me any of the men [Jim] Barnett has, because he won't give them to me." Duncan wanted to know why he should stay with Mondt. This was the first time in 25 years he'd seen the state of wrestling this bad. If Barnett and Mondt won't give him top names, Duncan wanted to shift to the booking agency of Al Haft. He also indicated that he'd come to St. Louis for the 1954 annual convention there to discuss matters, but wanted to not lose money this season, and needed assistance quickly. Muchnick responded by saying there was nothing he could do "in the way of telling one office, or another office, to supply you talent." He recommended that Duncan write to the NWA Grievance Committee, and that if Haft wanted "to supply you talent, it is strictly up to him. No one is telling him not to do so." In his 1955 interview with the Department of Justice, Benny Ginsberg said that Eddie Quinn and Buddy Rogers "bought Camden from some persons unknown." The "NWA assigned the town to Quinn and Rogers." Reportedly, Mondt tried to cut in on the town, but "Ginsberg believes that he was forced either to stay out or to buy out Quinn," according to the DOJ interview summary. Research by Tim Hornbaker |
New Jersey Wrestling Territory |
Results Wrestlers Television History Promoters Obituaries Willie Gilzenberg |