| VIEW FROM INSIDE THE RING |
| Copyright © Georgia Wrestling History, Inc. All rights reserved. |
A COFFIN IN THE RING
– Dick Steinborn
July 3, 2008
I’m sure a lot of wrestlers can attest to the fact that through their travels they have seen and heard of odd things in the wrestling
business. When I heard this story years ago, I was lucky enough many years later to actually talk to the promoter, who pulled one of these
odd promotional gimmicks.
In 1951 I turned pro. Four years later, at age 21, I was booked in Amarillo, Texas. The big stars back in the panhandle in those days were
Vern Taft, Alio Lalani, Ace Abbott, and a very young Pepper Gomez and Dory Funk, Sr.
Dory would bring his two kids to the matches. He called them Dink and Durk. The promoter was Dory Detton. Dink wound up being Dory,
Jr., and Durk was Terry. Just nicknames I presume.
I had heard that promoter Doc Sarpolis had come up with an idea some years later when he was booking the territory. It had always
intrigued me why Sarpolis would have dreamed up a gimmick such as a casket in the ring, but it paid off in the long run.
Some years later, I returned to Amarillo after 17 years as a pro. By then, Dory, Sr., owned the territory, and Doc Sarpolis had a percentage.
Matches were held on Thursday night and I now had my opportunity to ask Doc about the coffin in the ring.
He had bought a coffin, and had it delivered to the arena. Four legionnaires, who were the sponsors of the weekly wrestling show, carried
the coffin through the building and slid it under the bottom rope where the coffin remained from 7.15 pm to 8.15pm.
Naturally the popcorn-eating fans must have had hundreds of thoughts on their minds about the casket being in the ring. At bell time, four
legionnaires returned to the ring, pulling the coffin out and sliding it under the ring, behind the ring curtain.
Wow! That must have drilled the imagination of loyal weekly wrestling fans, knowing full well that somebody will be coming from under
the ring that night.
Doc told me that after five matches that night, nothing happened with the box under the ring. The house jumped 60 people the next week.
The Amarillo fans must have been buzzing all week about what they anticipated, or could, and should, and probably would, be happening
the next Thursday night.
Doc repeated the same sequence the following week, again with nothing happening with the casket. Week #3 went by, with no action.
Then week 4, it was the same thing.
Now, the midgets were booked in Amarillo, and on that tremendous card, with a full house to watch, two grudge matches were originated
that night for the next week’s double main event. Again, nothing happened with the casket.
On the sixth week, the casket was no longer a part of the weekly wrestling show. Doc said that he never intended for anyone to come out
of that coffin when it was placed under the ring. In this way, it was only used as a stepping stone, to entice the fans to wake up to solid
wrestling.
– Dick Steinborn
July 3, 2008
I’m sure a lot of wrestlers can attest to the fact that through their travels they have seen and heard of odd things in the wrestling
business. When I heard this story years ago, I was lucky enough many years later to actually talk to the promoter, who pulled one of these
odd promotional gimmicks.
In 1951 I turned pro. Four years later, at age 21, I was booked in Amarillo, Texas. The big stars back in the panhandle in those days were
Vern Taft, Alio Lalani, Ace Abbott, and a very young Pepper Gomez and Dory Funk, Sr.
Dory would bring his two kids to the matches. He called them Dink and Durk. The promoter was Dory Detton. Dink wound up being Dory,
Jr., and Durk was Terry. Just nicknames I presume.
I had heard that promoter Doc Sarpolis had come up with an idea some years later when he was booking the territory. It had always
intrigued me why Sarpolis would have dreamed up a gimmick such as a casket in the ring, but it paid off in the long run.
Some years later, I returned to Amarillo after 17 years as a pro. By then, Dory, Sr., owned the territory, and Doc Sarpolis had a percentage.
Matches were held on Thursday night and I now had my opportunity to ask Doc about the coffin in the ring.
He had bought a coffin, and had it delivered to the arena. Four legionnaires, who were the sponsors of the weekly wrestling show, carried
the coffin through the building and slid it under the bottom rope where the coffin remained from 7.15 pm to 8.15pm.
Naturally the popcorn-eating fans must have had hundreds of thoughts on their minds about the casket being in the ring. At bell time, four
legionnaires returned to the ring, pulling the coffin out and sliding it under the ring, behind the ring curtain.
Wow! That must have drilled the imagination of loyal weekly wrestling fans, knowing full well that somebody will be coming from under
the ring that night.
Doc told me that after five matches that night, nothing happened with the box under the ring. The house jumped 60 people the next week.
The Amarillo fans must have been buzzing all week about what they anticipated, or could, and should, and probably would, be happening
the next Thursday night.
Doc repeated the same sequence the following week, again with nothing happening with the casket. Week #3 went by, with no action.
Then week 4, it was the same thing.
Now, the midgets were booked in Amarillo, and on that tremendous card, with a full house to watch, two grudge matches were originated
that night for the next week’s double main event. Again, nothing happened with the casket.
On the sixth week, the casket was no longer a part of the weekly wrestling show. Doc said that he never intended for anyone to come out
of that coffin when it was placed under the ring. In this way, it was only used as a stepping stone, to entice the fans to wake up to solid
wrestling.
