Meeting Location: St. Louis, Missouri (Claridge Hotel) Meeting Dates: November 25-27, 1949 Paul L. George was re-elected NWA President and Al Haft was named Vice President. Sam Muchnick was the NWA Secretary-Treasurer. Ed "Strangler" Lewis was named the “ambassador of good will” earning a $12,500 annual salary. Al Karasick would be the NWA Commissioner of Hawaii and the Far East Territories. Officers: NWA President: P.L. “Pinkie” George Vice President: Al Haft Secretary-Treasurer: Sam Muchnick Membership Roster: (as of 12/01/49) Paul “Pinkie” George Des Moines, IA Al Haft Columbus, OH Sam Muchnick St. Louis, MO Tony Stecher Minneapolis, MN Harry Light Detroit, MI Paul Christy Kansas City, MO Sam Avey Tulsa, OK Fred Kohler Chicago, IL Morris Sigel Houston, TX Max Clayton Omaha, NE Frank Tunney Toronto, Ontario Paul Bowser Boston, MA Paul Jones Atlanta, GA Joe Malcewicz San Francisco, CA Al Karasick Honolulu, T.H. Johnny Doyle Santa Monica, CA Hugh Nichols Hollywood, CA Roy Welch Dyersburg, TN Jerry Meeker Great Falls, MT Eddie Quinn Montreal, Quebec *Some of the above names being members were contingent on the paying of NWA dues, which some failed to do. Their membership was not official until they actually paid. Others said to be in Attendance: Bobby Bruns, Billy Thom, Lloyd Carter, Gust Karras, Leon Balkin, Ed McLemore, George D. Simpson, Wally Karbo, Bill Atkinson, Les Wolfe, Ted Thye, Martin Thesz, Frankie Talaber, Billy "Whipper" Watson, John Katan, Joe "Toots" Mondt *A notice in the November 9, 1949 edition of Sports Pointers reported that Johny Doyle, Hugh Nichols, Ted Thye, Les Wolfe, and Toots Mondt would be in attendance. The St. Louis Globe Democrat mentioned that Roy Welch, Doyle and Nichols were members of the NWA on November 28, 1949. New Members after this convention were: Tunney, Bowser, Jones, Malcewicz, Karasick, Doyle, Nichols, Welch, Meeker, Eddie Quinn Sam Muchnick agreed to book the winner of the scheduled Orville Brown-Lou Thesz championship match (NWA World Heavyweight Championship) that was to be held in- conjunction with this show, but because of Brown's auto accident, that match was cancelled. Lou Thesz was named the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion during this convention. According to Muchnick's Department of Justice interview, Paul Bowser of Boston "suggested that Thesz be named 'champion,' and the NWA agreed on this." Muchnick booked Thesz following these meetings and received no compensation from the Alliance for doing so. In his July 3, 1955 letter to Stanley Disney of the Department of Justice, Muchnick explained that "at the St. Louis meeting in 1949 and at the Dallas meeting in 1950, I asked to be relieved of teh job of booking the champion and on both occasions they thought I should do this in connection with my job as president." On October 4, 1949, in a letter to NWA members, Muchnick proposed inviting National Wrestling Association President Col. Harry J. Landry to the meeting. He wondered whether or not it was "best for our president to entend (sic) the invitation or for myself, as the promoter, to do so?" It is not known whether Landry attended or not. In October 1949, shortly before the 1949 NWA convention, Leonard Schwartz of Chicago sent a letter to Sam Muchnick inquiring about membership in the Alliance. Muchnick responded back, asking Schwartz to tell him about his promotion, but noted that Chicago already had one member (Fred Kohler). They would take up the issue at the convention. In separate letters to George, Haft and Muchnick, dated November 3, 1949, Sterling "Dizzy" Davis wrote: "Please accept this as a formal request that you recognize me as a member of the National Wrestling Alliance." He agreed to pay the membership dues once he was informed what they were. Davis announced that he had "arenas in Houston, seating 7,200, Dallas, seating 3,500, and San Antonio, seating 6,300." He followed up by saying that he had 18 years of experience in wrestling and personally invested $20,000 in his current promotional endeavor. Davis, at the time, was running opposition to NWA affiliates in Texas, drawing the ire from the likes of Morris Sigel of Houston. Four days later, Muchnick returned a letter to Davis in Almeda, Texas, telling him that his application had been received and would be placed on file until the membership could decide. However, Muchnick explained that the NWA was geared more toward promoters with booking offices, and since Davis hadn't yet promoted any matches, plus the fact that there were already NWA-affiliated promoters in his said towns, he wrote, "I don't know what the decision of the Alliance will be." He did say that every consideration would be made at the NWA convention later in the month. In December 1949, Pinkie George went on a tour of several NWA territories, including Tulsa, Dallas, and Kansas City. While in Dallas, he was going to meet with Sigel and Ed McLemore to discuss the 1950 NWA convention, which was going to be held there. Muchnick notified members on December 22, 1949 that Paul Bowser, Frank Tunney, Eddie Quinn, and Al Karasick still hadn't submitted their initiation fee to become members of the NWA. George sent a bulletin to NWA members, which was likely mailed around February 1950, talking about a fellow booking agent who was trying to become a czar in wrestling. He included a clipping from the Chicago Sun Times, written by Gene Kessler, mentioning that "Toots" Mondt was the "new mat czar." Mondt controlled Primo Carnera, Gene Stanlee, and Antonino Rocca, according to the article, and recently staged the big show at the Chicago Stadium. Kessler believed that Rocca made $300 a week, while Stanlee made $150, each working on a salary basis. He wrote: "Mondt and members of the new 'trust' are supposed to share in the huge profits." George explained that "all the free-lance wrestlers we use should read this. What a pitiful state of affairs is the game coming to when promoters and wrestlers can't bid for each others services? This sort of thing will fail. It must! Stick and act together!" He also noted that Mondt was using "black-jack tactics" against one of their fellow members [Kohler in Chicago]. On March 11, 1950, in a letter to Pinkie George, Muchnick recommended that George appoint a Championship Committee and a Grievance Committee to handle specific organizational issues. Membership Roster: (as of 5/17/50) Pinkie George Al Haft Sam Muchnick Tony Stecher Harry Light Pearl Christy (Orville Brown) Sam Avey Morris Sigel Fred Kohler Max Clayton Paul Bowser Paul Jones Joe Malcewicz Al Karasick Hugh Nichols Johnny Doyle Jerry Meeker Roy Welch Billy Wolfe Ed Don George *Frank Tunney and Eddie Quinn had still not paid their initiation fees to join the organization. Bowser recently paid his fee, but because of his recognition of Frank Sexton as World Heavyweight Champion, had second thoughts about signing the NWA agreement. This topic was going to be discussed at the 1950 annual convention. Around May 1950, there was discussion about the application of Steve McPherson of Bellingham, Washington, and it was determined he was not eligible because he was a promoter, and not a booking agent. However, Ted Thye told Muchnick that he was the booker, not McPherson, and that Muchnick, in a letter dated August 8, 1950, again invited Thye to the NWA convention. The possibility of Thye joining the NWA had been up in the air for months and months by this point. Thye didn't attend the Dallas convention. Research by Tim Hornbaker January 7, 2011 |
| National Wrestling Alliance Convention - 1949 |
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