Promoters
Promoter
NWA Capitol Wrestling Affiliate Promoters
Washington, DC -
Joe Turner (1930-1947)
Florence Turner & Gabe Menendez (1947-1952)
Vincent J. McMahon (1952-1982) & Ray Fabiani (after 1957)
New Jersey
Willie Gilzenberg (1932-1978)
Babe Culhan (1932-1962)
Ray Fabiani - Philadelphia-Harrisburg-Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Lancaster=Reading, Boston, Baltimore-DC, Asbury Park-Trenton-NYC, Wilmngton, DE, Chicago, LA CA
Ray Fabiani Sports (1925-1955) (Philadelphia)
Willie Gilzenberg (1932-?) - Newark-South Orange-Jersey City-Paterson-Elizabeth, Harlem-MSG-NYC, Baltimore
Tex Rickard
Roderick Jess McMahon
Jack Curley
Joseph Toots Mondt
Ray Fabiani
Paul Bowser
Fred Koehler
Jack Pfeffer
Vincent J McMahon
Willie Gilzenberg
Phil Zacko
Johnny Doyle
Jess McMahon & Tex Rickard
Toots Mondt & Goldust Trio
NYC Promoters
Ray Fabiani
Gilzenberg
Zacko
Doyle
Kohler
As far back as 1918, we can find traces of 'The Trust", the Northeast Wrestling Syndicate of co-promoters that would one day become the WWWF. In 1918, NYC's Jack Curley linked up with Midwestern promoters Billy Sandow and Tony Stecher, brother of World Champion Joe Stecher. Wrestling was big in the Midwest in places like Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio & Iowa, but hadn't grown popular yet on the greatly populated Eastern Seaboard, so Curley helped introduce wrestling to the entire East Coast, north of Virginia.
Around 1919, Iowa-born Colorado native Toots Mondt created "Slam-Bang Western Style Wrestling" as an alternative to greco-roman wrestling. Mondt linked up with Word Champion Ed Strangler Lewis and manager Billy Sandow to form the Goldust Trio'.. They had a strong reign for a decade, but they were blocked from NYC by Jack Curley. Around 1929, Pittsburgh's Joseph Toots Mondt left the "Gold Dust Trio" over a dispute.
NYC Promoter Jack Curley reformed the strategic alliance known as "The Trust" Curley linked up with Pittsburgh's Toots Mondt & Philadelphias Ray Fabiani in 1929 to share talent and expenses/revenues to grow wrestling by region from Washington, DC to Boston, MA.
In 1932, World Champion Jim Londos caused a split in the New York territory and sided with the Dusek Family & the Johnston Brothers, against "The Trust". After the split, Mondt/Curley/Fabiani brought in NYC's Jack Pfeffer & Rudy Miller. as talent scouts, Miller scouted Bruno Sammartino in 1959 off of a radio broadcast from Pittsburgh.
In 1933, Curley added St. Louis' Tom Packs & Boston's Paul Bowser to "The Trust", as well as Chicago's Ed White, manager of new World Champion, Golden Greek Jim Londos. Londos wouldn't work with Pfeffer, so he was left out of the new arrangement ad was bitter and told the newspapers wrestling was pre-determined, and bouts were fixed, soliciting Federal investigations into sports wagering fraud and State Athletic Commissions for rules violations.
Pfeffer was blackballed but he was welcomed back into the fold by Toots Mondt after screwing over Columbus, OH's MWA promoter Al Haft by pulling a new finish and then signing the new champion's contract over to Mondt/Curley. Other promoter wouldnt work with the blackballed Jackk Pfeffer and they left "The Trust"" in 1936. Business fell off when Jack Curley died in 1937, and 1938 saw the last MSG Wrestling show for 11 years.
Madison Square Garden was owned by Tex Rickard, a boxing promoter who disliked wrestling. The third MSG had been built in 1925, uptown on 50th St, after 2 previous MSG's were built at Madison Square (26th St) in 1879 & 1890. It was replaced in 1968 by today's MSG on 31st St. Original owner PT Barnum sought out investors like JP Morgan, Andrew Carnegie & WW Astor, but after 2 failed attempts, boxing promoter Tex Rickard fundraised 4.75M$ to build the 3rd MSG. He helped found the NY Knicks & Rangers as professional sorts teams, and of course Barnum & Bailey & Ringling Brothers Circus, but Tex viewed wrestling as a carnival sideshow and not a spectator sport capable of drawing large audiences.
Long before Tex Rickard built the 3rd MSG in 1925, his future partner, Roderick Jess McMahon was an established boxing promoter & negro baseball team owner out of Harlem NYC (with brother Ed McMahon), and Roderick promoted the first ever wrestling show on Long Island (Freeport, NY) back in 1916. The McMahons were promoting boxing in Havana, Cuba in 1915 when it was still a US possession. Around 60 years later, McMahon's son Vince would help found Capitol Sports (WWC) in Puerto Rico with Gorilla Monsoon.
Roderick Jess McMahon linked up with Carlos Louis Henriquez, and started booking in Brooklyn (Coney Island, Flatbush & Bushwick), Queens (Jamaica) & The Bronx by 1937. Eventually Jess McMahonn linked up with the Northeast Syndicate and had access to wrestlers in PA, NJ, MD & CT.
Jess McMahon would promote wrestling throughout the Northeast for around 40 years before he died in 1954 in Wilkes-Barre, PA and left his business to his son Vincent J. McMahon who formed Capitol Wrestling Corporation in 1953 and joined the NWA before leaving the NWA in 1963 and founding the WWWF.
in 1932, Newark NJ boxing promoters Willie Gilzenberg & Babe Cullhan began promoting wrestling and tapped into the NYC network of Jack Pfeffer, Toots Mondt & Rudy Dusek. By the 1950's Gilzenberg had expanded into Baltimore & NYC, even booking out of the same St. Nichols arena in Harlem used by Jess McMahon, and soon after his son Vincent J. McMahon. Culhan died in 1962 just before WWWF was formed.
Gilzenberg was very loyal to Vincent McMahon, even threatening to send the mob after Pfeffer to protect McMahon after Bruno Sammartino left with Rudy Miller in 1960. Gilzenberg protected McMahon, Mondt & Zacko when they broke away from the NWA in 1963 over the Buddy Rogers-Lou Thesz Word Title situation, and NWA Capitol Wrestling Corporation became World Wide Wrestling Federation. In 1967, the WWWF lost their NYC TV Outlet and Gilzenberg stepped up with a Newark TV show for the NYC Market. As a token of appreciation, McMahon named Gilzenberg WWWF President until his death in 1978.
____
Joseph Toots Mondt - Wrestling Data
NYC Booking Office - Legacy Of Wrestling
http://www.legacyofwrestling.com/NYBookingOffice.html
Washington DC Booking Office - Legacy Of Wrestling http://www.legacyofwrestling.com/WashingtonOffice.html
Willie Gilzenberg - Legacy Of Wrestling
https://legacyofwrestling.com/GilzenbergBio.html
Origins of WWF Part 1
Tom Packs - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Packs
Paul Bowser - Wikipedia
Johnny Doyle 1909-1969
American Wresting Alliance (NWA Indiana) (Jim Barnett & Johnny Doyle)
https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=ligen&kategorie=8&liga=1522&infos=0
