Jack Pfefer (also commonly spelled as "Pfeffer"; December 10, 1894 – September 13, 1974) was an American
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
promoter during the early-to-mid twentieth century. He pioneered an earlier form of
sports entertainment
Sports entertainment is a type of spectacle which presents an ostensibly competition, competitive event using a high level of theatre, theatrical flourish and extravagant presentation, with the purpose of entertainment, entertaining an audience. Un ...
, as he was one of the first promoters to visualize the pro wrestling business in the mold of theater. However, he developed an infamous reputation when he exposed the sport's inner secrets to the mainstream press.
Early life
Jacob Pfefer was born near
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
,
Vistula Land
Vistula Land, also known as Vistula Country (; ), was the name applied to the lands of Congress Poland from 1867, following the defeats of the November Uprising (1830–1831) and January Uprising (1863–1864) as it was increasingly stripped of ...
(modern-day
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
) on December 10, 1894. He grew up under the control of the Russian Empire; and it was during this period when the Czars issued numerous decrees against
Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, resulting in a series of
pogroms that killed thousands amidst increased
anti-Semitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
. He therefore left as part of the era's mass Eastern European emigration following
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, thus escaping the
anti-Semitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
by hiding in the boiler room of a ship to the United States.
[Ellison, Lillian. ''First Goddess of the Squared Circle'', p.57.] He arrived in the United States in 1921 while working as the manager for a touring acting company. With a propensity for theatrical drama, Pfefer subsequently found himself interested in the budding pro wrestling industry; and by 1924, he had begun promoting a band of Eastern European heavyweights as exotic contenders to the American champions (who would always emerge victorious over the foreign challengers in the end). Over the next five years, Pfefer gradually established himself among the region's top booking agents; and then in 1929, he eventually relocated to
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
New York promoter
Upon arriving in the
Big Apple, Jack Pfefer quickly aligned himself with renowned New York promoter
Jack Curley, who then ranked among the most powerful men in the entire wrestling business. Following the break-up of the famed
Gold Dust Trio in the late 1920s, Curley initiated an alliance with several of the East Coast's top bookers, including
Toots Mondt and
Ray Fabiani; and he subsequently formed an industry “Trust” that enabled the various regions to share their elite grappling talent. Pfefer performed as the group's main talent manager, and he was primarily responsible for scouting potential European grapplers while also overseeing the organization's financial books. Over the next few years, the Trust rode its incredibly popular centerpiece superstar,
Jim Londos, to record profits while Pfefer helped lead one of the greatest periods in New York's rich wrestling history. Moreover, as Curley's health began to decline, Pfefer began to position himself among the eventual heirs to the New York wrestling throne.
Exposing the work
In 1932, a contractual dispute caused an eventual rift between Curley and Londos, and the New York territory quickly deteriorated without its top drawing card. Pfefer therefore abandoned Curley in favor of Londos' group in early 1933; but later that November, a peace accord was signed between Curley's East Coast promotion and the
Tom Packs/
Jim Londos alliance that was dominating in the Midwest. The agreement subsequently extended the Trust's influence throughout all of North America, with Curley, Packs, Mondt, Fabiani, Ed White, and
Paul Bowser all agreeing to share the profits evenly. As a result, Jack Pfefer consequently found himself without any allies, as he was stuck on the outside looking in on the industry's powerful new coalition. Ostracized by his fellow wrestling peers, a bitter Pfefer looked to exact revenge, and he therefore arranged an interview with Dan Parker, who was the sports editor for the ''New York Daily Mirror''. Pfefer subsequently took the unprecedented step of revealing most of pro wrestling's secrets and inner workings, freely admitting the sport's "fakery" and theatrics. Although fans had long suspected that pro wrestling was worked, Pfefer had introduced a feeling of cynicism among the mainstream press that they were being used as promotional "chumps" by Curley and his associates; and in a now-famous headline, the November 19, 1934 ''
New York Daily News
The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
'' covered an impending
Jim Londos vs.
Everett Marshall bout by proclaiming, "Londos and Marshall meet at Garden tonight for 26th time. Score - Londos 26, Marshall 0."
Pfefer again plotted against his former partners when he paid
Dick Shikat to shoot on the Trust's new champion
Danno O'Mahoney; and on March 2, 1936, Shikat betrayed Curley en route to "stealing" the championship. The Trust subsequently filed an injunction against Shikat; but before the trial ever got started, Toots Mondt paid Pfefer $17,000 to double-cross Haft and his champion,
Ali Baba, by maneuvering the title onto
Dave Levin on April 24, 1936. Pfefer then sold Levin's contract to Curley and Mondt in order to re-establish his industry ties; however, the Trust ultimately blew up when the other promoters refused to work alongside Pfefer, thus ending the alliance as each territory began promoting its separate titleholders.
Later career
Jack Pfefer never retracted his stance that wrestling was more entertainment than competition; and he therefore distinguished himself from his peers by presenting shows as a form of theater, with exaggerated storylines and bizarre performers. He was renowned for his booking of “freak” characters, most notably including the
French Angel (
Maurice Tillet) and the
Swedish Angel (Nils Filip "Phil" Oloffson
906-1974, whom Pfefer promoted based on their hideous looks. Moreover, Pfefer initiated numerous innovations, including such novelties as feature tag team bouts and midget wrestling. He also possessed a great eye for young talent, as he was instrumental in launching the career of
Buddy Rogers; and he also served as a chief promoter of women's grappling, booking the likes of
Mildred Burke and the
Fabulous Moolah over several decades. It was also Pfefer who helped the legendary
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 commissio ...
promote his first show in 1945; and in subsequent years, he constantly shifted his base of operations, running territories in
Toledo,
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
,
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, and on the West Coast while solidifying his place among the industry's top marketers. However, while working as an agent for promoter
Fred Kohler in the 1960s, Pfefer was largely blamed for ruining the Chicago territory when he booked a number of sound-alike performers like “Bummy Rogers”, “Hobo Brazil,” and "Bruno Sanmartino", thus repelling most of the industry's top-flight talent. Nonetheless, he continued booking matches until 1967. He died on September 13, 1974, while at a
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
nursing home. To this day, he remains one of the business's most controversial figures, yet he is also acknowledged among its most imaginative promoters.
Personal life
Pfefer was close friends with many of the wrestling personalities he worked with and had a habit of sending gifts to their families.
Stu Hart
Stewart Edward Hart (May 3, 1915 – October 16, 2003) was a Canadian sport wrestling, amateur and professional wrestling, professional wrestler, wrestling Booker (professional wrestling), booker, professional wrestling promotion, promoter, and ...
took a great liking to him and asked him to be the
godfather of Hart's tenth child and seventh son,
Ross Hart.
Accomplishments
*
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum (Class of 2007)
References
Further reading
*
External links
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame: Jack PfeferThe Jack Pfefer Wrestling Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfefer, Jack
1894 births
1974 deaths
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
American sports businesspeople
American Jews
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
Professional wrestling promoters
Businesspeople from Warsaw