Kenny Benkowski (born March 27, 1937), better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

, Kenny "Sodbuster" Jay, is an American retired

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 ...

, best known for his appearances with the

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 ...

. Jay primarily performed as a jobber. He was often paired with fellow AWA jobber Jake "The Milkman" Milliman in

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

matches. During his career, he was known for his stiff wrestling style.

Early life

Kenny Jay was born on March 27, 1937 in

Holdingford, Minnesota Holdingford is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 708 at the 2010 census. It claims to be "The Gateway to Lake Wobegon", the fictional central Minnesota town created by author Garrison Keillor. Holdingford ...

. Kenny was a natural athlete in high school, lettering in both

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. When he graduated from high school in 1955, he moved to

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

where he found employment as a factory worker.

Professional wrestling career

Early career; military service

His first match was at the Southside Armory for John Hinds. Before long he was working larger venues at the Marigold Arena in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. His wrestling career took a hiatus when he joined the U.S. Army for a two-year stint.

American Wrestling Association (1962-1985, 1990)

After his military tour, he found employment with the

(AWA), wrestling every Saturday's television taping and then house shows during the week for promoter Wally Karbo. Whenever a new name would come in, they would give them to Jay to make them look good. He used his mat-based scientific wrestling style with the likes of Mad Dog Vachon, The Crusher,

Verne Gagne Laverne Clarence Gagne (February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer, and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling ...

, Jesse The Body Ventura,

Jerry Blackwell Jerry Blackwell (April 26, 1949 – January 22, 1995) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell. Blackwell competed in the 1979 World's Strongest Man contest, but withdrew early in the competit ...

, Bobby Heenan, Mr. Saito, and Bruiser Brody. To help pay the bills, Jay started his own landscape business, which is where he got the "Sodbuster" nickname. He never left the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

, as he was rooted in the area with his landscape business, wife, and three children. Early career highlights included several overseas trips to Japan, beginning in 1972, where he worked 18 matches (including five cage matches), winning most of them. Later in 1976 he took on

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

in a boxer vs wrestler bout that also featured Verne Gagne as the Referee, a match Kenny Jay considers one of the high points of his career. In 1984 The Sodbuster also appeared as a tag-team partner with legendary wrestler

Baron Von Raschke James Donald Raschke (born July 30, 1940) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Baron von Raschke. Early life Raschke was a three-year letterman with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Cornhuskers wrest ...

. In 1985 he retired from wrestling. He came out of retirement in 1990. He continued working for the AWA for nearly thirty years until they went out of business in 1991.

Later career (1990-2012)

Jay later wrestled in North Premier Wrestling with J.B. Trask,

Lenny Lane Lenny or Lennie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Lenny (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lennie (surname), a list of people * Lenny (singer) (born 1993), Czech songwriter Arts and entertainment Music * ''L ...

, Jerry Lynn, "Mr. Everything" Dan Jesser and his enemy the Texas Badman. Jay occasionally wrestled for several promotions in the 1990s and 2000s primarily appearing in the State of Minnesota. He wrestled his last match in 2012 at 75 years old. In 2005 the Cauliflower Alley Club board of directors unanimously chose Kenny Jay to be honored.

Championships and accomplishments

* American Wrestling Association Champion **Other honoree (

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jay, Kenny 1937 births American male professional wrestlers Living people People from Stearns County, Minnesota Professional wrestlers from Minnesota 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers