When Wrestling Was King
The Hawaii All-Collectors Show 2005 this weekend is the place to be for 50th State Big Time Wrestling fans
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Del.icio.usWhen Nishimoto was first approached to help out with the show, the promoters asked him to try to find the fight card artist to duplicate the original wrestling posters. So he called his friend Harry Suga, the longtime letter person for Royal Amusement Theaters. “That was me,” said Suga, who offered his talents to support the Alzheimer’s Association fundraising effort.
Curtis “The Bull” Iaukea with Lord “Tally Ho” Blears
Janet Eli, the president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association, Aloha Chapter, says Alzheimer’s currently affects 28,000 people in Hawaii — and the number is growing.
Eli says Alzheimer’s affects one in 10 people over the age of 65, and that nearly 50 percent of people 85 or older suffer from the disease. The Honolulu office at Ward Warehouse helps victims and families with a number of programs which include education, support, free home visits, caregiver workshops, training for healthcare providers and an identification program that can help locate missing family members.
Eli, who admits to watching wrestling with her grandfather in Florida — he preferred women’s wrestling and she’s a sumo afficionado — says the association is holding a Memory Walk fundraiser Sept. 10. You can get involved by calling 591-2771.
A recent meeting between Iaukea and Blears was a reunion of two friends who share experiences few could relate. Iaukea, armed with three bottles of peaches, embraced his friend. A few quiet conversations follow. Words of encouragement between men who’ve been through many battles, the dessert having a very special meaning.
Lord James Ranicar Blears was a radio officer on a merchant ship in World War II. While underway, the ship was hit by Japanese torpedoes and sent to the bottom. After being pulled from the water, the sailors were bound together and the real horror began. The captors began killing the young men, cutting off their heads with swords. Blears, who was an Olympic caliber swimmer, jumped into the water with the man he was tied to and dove as far as he could. Over and over Blears dove under a hail of automatic gun fire until the sub had moved far enough away. Swimming back to the wreckage he found something to cling to and waited for help, which came in the form of a U.S. destroyer. The Americans gave him a can of peaches, his first meal in three days. Each year on the anniversary of that day he enjoys a can of peaches. For Iaukea, it’s more a gift of thanks for his sacrifice and friendship to the man who introduced him to the business almost 50 years ago.
It was a lifestyle that came with a warning.
“He told me, ‘Curtis, you’re going to be a tremendous success in the business side of your life, but be prepared to be a hell of a flop in your personal life and don’t ever blame me for it,’” Iaukea says. Though he hasn’t forgotten his friend’s warning, he wouldn’t change a thing. Wrestling took him from Hawaii to Italy, Japan, India, Australia, France and once on a trip around the world.
For those wanting to take part in the fun, there was one place to go: Timmy’s Gym.
“Timmy Leong’s gym is where most of the wrestlers worked out,” says Blears. “I’d see guys there who wanted to get into wrestling, and I would work them out.” Blears said it was mostly a waste of time with men who had a lot of muscle but little or no skill. In fact, in all his years in wrestling he has only brought four men into the business: Iaukea, Steamboat, with whom Blears traded surf lessons for wrestling moves, Don Muracco and, most recently, 28-year-old Mauna Kea Mossman, who currently works in Japan and Italy.
The crowning jewel for all wrestlers is the finishing move. It gives the audience a focal point to signal the end of the match. For the Masked Executioner it was the claw hold. Chief Billy White Wolf had the Indian Death Lock, while “The Bull’s” Big Splash did more than devastate opponents. “He broke the ring,” Blears says.
“He climbed on to the top rope and dived off and the whole ring caved in.” Destroying rings was not the only gift that Iaukea brought. He was a great mic man — his back to the camera; a championship belt over his shoulder. Yelling, snarling, arms flying, all to the consternation of the fans at home. In fact, it was his gift for loud gab that helped move former Olympic silver medalist Harold Sakata, aka Tosh Togo, into movie history. While in London taping a segment for a show, a producer for the James Bond film Goldfinger
When you meet Iaukea, he looks the part of a former wrestler. Though slowed by age and injuries, the force of personality is still there. The mass of scar tissue on his head bears witness to the brutality of his business. A man full of emotion, his voice rises and falls. Hands wave in the air as he recalls events and travels.
He’s great for company and warmly inviting. And no matter what wrestling fans thought of him during his youth, The Bull’s goals for the future are much different.
“Now the ladies say ‘Oh, you’re so cute.’That’s what I want to be: a cute, fuzzy old man.”
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