Robert Frederick Geigel (October 1, 1924 – October 30, 2014) was an American

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

promoter and

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. He operated the

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

-based

Heart of America Sports Attractions Heart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska ...

promotion from 1963 to 1986, and served three terms as the president of the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

from 1978 to 1980, 1982 to 1985, and 1986 to 1987.

Early life

Geigel was born on October 1, 1924, in

Algona, Iowa Algona is the county seat of Kossuth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,487 at the 2020 census. Ambrose A. Call State Park is located two miles southwest of the city. History Algona was founded in 1854 and was named after the A ...

to Frederick Samuel and Leota May Geigel. He attended Algona High School, graduating in 1942. After graduating, Geigel enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. He served in the

Asiatic-Pacific Theater The Asiatic-Pacific Theater was the theater of operations of U.S. forces during World War II in the Pacific War during 1941–1945. From mid-1942 until the end of the war in 1945, two U.S. operational commands were in the Pacific. The Pacific O ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a

Seabee United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...

. After leaving the Navy, Geigel began studying in the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

in 1946. He graduated in 1950 with a degree in

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

. Geigel was a champion amateur wrestler during his college years, coming in third place during the 1948 NCAA Championships in the weight division.

Professional wrestling career

Geigel was recruited into professional wrestling by Alphonse Bisigniano. He debuted in 1950 in Texas. Wrestling primarily in Pinkie George's

Midwest Wrestling Association Heart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska ...

out of

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, and also in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

, Geigel generally played the part of the "

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

" or antagonist. He became a full-time professional wrestler in 1952. Though he was generally introduced as being from Algona, Iowa, he was billed as "Texas" Bob Geigel. He also wrestled as A-Bomber while working under a mask in Amarillo. Geigel frequently held tag team championships in his home promotion, holding the NWA Central States World Tag Team Championship four times,NWA World Tag Team Championship (Central States) at Wrestling-Titles.com
/ref> and the

NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Central States version) The Heart of America Sports Attractions, or "NWA Central States" version of the NWA North American Tag Team Championship was a secondary Tag team championship promoted by the Heart of America Sports Attraction promotion, a National Wrestling Allia ...

nine times. Geigel had a long-standing feud with former tag team partner

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasman ...

in Kansas City. He officially retired from the ring in 1976, but continued to wrestle sporadically in the 1980s.

Promoting career

Geigel became a promoter in 1963, when he took over management of the Kansas City office. Partnering with Gus Karras and Pat O'Connor, he renamed the promotion Heart of America Sports Attractions. He then took his place on the board of the

(NWA). In that same year, Geigel was cited as a co-defendant in an anti-monopoly case brought against the Central States territory by previous owner Pinkie George. Along with his partners Karras and O'Connor, and fellow co-defendant George Simpson, he refuted the charge, and it was eventually dropped. In 1978, Geigel became President of the NWA, his first term lasting until 1980. During this term he strongly supported

Harley Race Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federatio ...

, a part-owner of Heart of America, as

NWA World Heavyweight Champion The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is i ...

. Geigel and Race bought out

Sam Muchnick Samuel Muchnick (born Jeshua Muchnick, August 22, 1905 – December 30, 1998) was an American professional wrestling promoter from St. Louis, Missouri. He is often regarded as wrestling's equivalent of Pete Rozelle (the forward-thinking commission ...

's portion of the

St. Louis Wrestling Club The St. Louis Wrestling Club was a professional wrestling promotion based in St. Louis, Missouri. It was owned and operated by Sam Muchnick. The promotion was a flagship member of the National Wrestling Alliance, and promoted primarily in the St. ...

, a cornerstone territory of the NWA. Geigel served a second and third term as NWA President from 1982 to 1985 and 1986 to 1987. He retired from promoting wrestling in 1988. Geigel sold Heart of America Sports Attractions to

Jim Crockett Jr. James Allen Crockett Jr. (August 10, 1944 – March 3, 2021) was an American professional wrestling promoter. From 1973 to 1989, he was part owner of Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), a wrestling company affiliated with the National Wrestling Allian ...

in September 1986. He repurchased the promotion in February 1987 but closed it in 1988.

Personal life

Geigel owned a bar in Kansas City called The Tender Trap. Geigel worked security at The Woodlands racetrack in Kansas City, Kansas after retiring from wrestling, until suffering a broken hip in early 2014. Geigel met his wife Vera at the University of Iowa, and they were married for more than 65 years. They had three daughters.

Death

He suffered from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. Geigel died on October 30, 2014, in a nursing home in Kansas City.

Championships and accomplishments

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

AWA Midwest Tag Team Championship The AWA Midwest Tag Team Championship was a title in the American Wrestling Association from 1967 until 1971. It was for mid-level wrestlers and was mostly defended in the Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of ...

( 1 time) – with Bob "The Viking" Morse. **

AWA World Tag Team Championship The American Wrestling Association (AWA) World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991. History When the NWA Minneapolis ...

( 3 times) – with

Hard Boiled Haggerty Don Stansauk (April 2, 1925 – January 27, 2004) was an American professional wrestler and actor, known by his ring name, Hard Boiled Haggerty. He was previously a professional American football player, and became a successful character actor af ...

(1), Otto von Krupp (1), and Stan "Krusher" Kowalski (1) ** AWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Bill Miller *

Cauliflower Alley Club The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America. Established in 1965 by Mike Mazurki and Art Abram ...

** Art Abrams Lifetime Achievement Award (

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

) * Central States Wrestling **

NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship The NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that served as the main title for the National Wrestling Alliance promotion, NWA Central-States Championship Wrestling. For most of its existence, however, t ...

( 6 times) ** NWA North American Tag Team Championship ''(Central States version)'' ( 9 times) – with

(5), Bill Miller (1), Bob "The Viking" Morse (1), The Stomper (1), and Rufus R. Jones (1) ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Central States version)'' (

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Central States version)'' ( 4 times) – with Rufus R. Jones (2), Akio Sato (1), and Pat O'Connor (1) *

George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame The George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame is a List of professional wrestling halls of fame, professional wrestling hall of fame museum located within the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum's National Wrestling Hall o ...

** Class of 2002 *

Western States Sports Western States Sports (also known as the Amarillo Territory) was a professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion headquartered in Amarillo, Texas in the United States. Founded by Dory Detton in 1946, the promotion enjoyed its ...

** NWA North American Heavyweight Championship ''(Amarillo version)'' ( 1 time) ** NWA Southwest Heavyweight Championship (2 times) ** NWA Southwest Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with

Dory Funk Dorrance Wilhelm Funk (May 4, 1919 – June 3, 1973) was an American professional wrestler. He is the father of wrestlers Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk, and was a promoter of the Amarillo, Texas-based Western States Sports promotion. Early ...

(2), Mike Gallagher (1), and Boris Kalmikoff (1) ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Amarillo version)'' (

) - with Dory Funk

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Geigel, Bob 1924 births 2014 deaths 20th-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers People from Algona, Iowa Professional wrestlers from Iowa Professional wrestling promoters Seabees University of Iowa alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II AWA World Tag Team Champions