The St. Louis Wrestling Club was a

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

based in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. It was owned and operated by

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 ...

. The promotion was a flagship member 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 ...

, and promoted primarily in the St. Louis area. It was colloquially referred to within the business as the "St. Louis office" of the NWA.

Television

Its weekly

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

program, ''

Wrestling at the Chase ''Wrestling at the Chase'' is a professional wrestling television series of local and national historical importance in the field of television wrestling. The show was recorded in St. Louis, Missouri, for KPLR-TV, Channel 11, and aired from May ...

'' (carried by

KPLR-TV KPLR-TV (channel 11) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, airing programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Fox affiliate KTVI (channel 2). Both stations sh ...

), is considered one of the legendary programs in the history of professional wrestling, and ran from 1959 until 1983, and the St. Louis Wrestling Club lasted two years more until 1985.

History

Sam Muchnick gained a reputation as a fair and honest promoter, which was uncommon in the early days of professional wrestling. His background in sportswriting would also allow wrestling to receive dignified and regular coverage in local media, and also influenced his booking style. In contrast with other territories, Muchnick regularly eschewed outlandish gimmicks, absurd stipulation matches or convoluted finishes to matches. He by and large respected the intelligence of fans and did not push specific babyfaces or heels on them, and in turn he gained a loyal and smart base of fans in St. Louis, who made the promotion one of the most important offices in the United States. In another anomaly, the St. Louis Wrestling Club did not recognize a tag team championship, focusing mainly on singles matches and angles. Muchnick did not operate St. Louis as a territory, preferring to run only his monthly cards at

Kiel Auditorium Kiel Auditorium was an indoor arena located in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the home of the St. Louis University basketball team and hosted the NBA's St. Louis Hawks, from 1955 to 1968. The site was home to Charles H. Turpin's Booker T. Wash ...

and the

St. Louis Arena St. Louis Arena (known as the Checkerdome from 1977 to 1983) was an indoor arena in St. Louis, Missouri. The country's second-largest indoor entertainment venue when it opened in 1929, it was home to the St. Louis Blues and other sports franchis ...

. Popular wrestling stars featured by the St. Louis Wrestling Club included

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

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 ...

(who was also a minority owner of the St. Louis Wrestling Club and Central States Wrestling),

Dick the Bruiser William Fritz Afflis (June 27, 1929 – November 10, 1991) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and former NFL player, better known by his ring name, Dick the Bruiser. During his NFL days he played four seasons with the Green Bay Pac ...

Gene Kiniski Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he b ...

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 ...

and

Ted DiBiase Theodore Marvin DiBiase Sr. (born January 18, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE working in their Legends program. DiBiase achieved championship ...

. Undercard spots were filled by wrestlers from Central States Wrestling, as Muchnick did not maintain a permanent roster. In 1982, Muchnick retired and the St. Louis Wrestling Club was purchased by

Bob Geigel Robert Frederick Geigel (October 1, 1924 – October 30, 2014) was an American professional wrestling promoter and professional wrestler. He operated the Kansas City, Missouri-based Heart of America Sports Attractions promotion from 1963 to 1986 ...

and others. Geigel also owned Central States Wrestling. Geigel found himself in competition with Muchnick's former announcer and general manager Larry Matysik, who felt that Geigel and Race's booking strategy did not fit the town, and ran an opposing promotion. Matysik and KPLR director Ted Koplar would both ink deals with

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...

in 1983, giving the WWF a foothold in the St. Louis area and the traditional "Wrestling At The Chase" timeslot. By 1985, the WWF and Hulk Hogan were gaining huge popularity in the St Louis area, and the organization began to lose profits.St. Louis
/ref> In 1985, the St. Louis office was purchased by

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promot ...

, and was absorbed into what soon became

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

Championships

The St. Louis Wrestling Club was part of the National Wrestling Alliance, who recognized the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship 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 in ...

as their world title, and the champion would frequently tour the St. Louis territory. Outside of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the territory recognized or promoted the following titles at some point in time: *

NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship The NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship was the secondary singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's St. Louis Wrestling Club and Central States Wrestling promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. It was usually dominated by the area's ...

(1972–1985) * NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Central States version)'' (1963–1968) *

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 ...

(1950–1972) The Central States Heavyweight title was the forerunner to the Missouri Heavyweight Championship. The title was created after a controversy on January 28, 1972, where Pat O'Connor defeated Harley Race for the Central States title. When promoters refused to recognize the title change and kept promoting Harley Race as the Central States champion, Muchnick stopped recognizing the Central States title, opting instead to resurrect the inactive Missouri Heavyweight title.

References

External links

Pro-Wrestling Title Histories: St. LouisSt. Louis Wrestling Club Documentary
{{Jim Crockett Promotions Independent professional wrestling promotions based in the Midwestern United States Jim Crockett Promotions National Wrestling Alliance members Entertainment companies established in 1959 Entertainment companies disestablished in 1985 Professional wrestling in St. Louis 1959 establishments in Missouri 1985 disestablishments in Missouri