Toots Mondt
Toots Mondt | |
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Birth name | Joseph Raymond Mondt[1] |
Born | [2] Garden Grove, Iowa, U.S.[2] | January 18, 1894
Died | June 11, 1976 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.[2] | (aged 82)
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Toots Mondt |
Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
Billed weight | 260 lb (118 kg) |
Trained by | Martin Burns[3] |
Debut | 1912[3] |
Retired | 1942 |
Part of a series on |
Professional wrestling |
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Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt
Early life
Joseph Raymond Mondt was born in Garden Grove, Iowa, on January 18, 1894.[2] Joseph (Joe) Toots was his professional name. Toots' father, Frank, was a farmer and building contractor. The Mondt family moved to Weld County, Colorado, in 1904.[2][4]
Professional wrestling career
Early wrestling career
Toots Mondt made his wrestling debut in Greeley in 1912 at the age of 18 in a carnival/wrestling style match, a match he would wrestle in for many years.
Gold Dust Trio
Until 1919, wrestling matches were slow-moving exhibitions mainly confined to the mat and lasting on an average 60 minutes. Crowds no longer found this to be suitable entertainment and accordingly, they began to dwindle. Wrestling matches slowly and eventually became pre-determined. Toots Mondt joined the camp of
Toots Mondt's second plan was to promote this new style of wrestling on a much higher scale. Toots convinced Ed Lewis and his manager Billy Sandow of forming their own promotion as opposed to having different promoters controlling them. The team of Mondt, Lewis and Sandow used their connections to convince many other wrestlers to sign up. Under the control of Mondt, Lewis and Sandow, they served as bookers and agents. Toots also instituted time limits as wrestling matches would often go three or four hours. Within six months, the "Gold Dust Trio" controlled the course of professional wrestling in North America. Their product was moved out from venues such as burlesque theaters and back alley halls to the major sports venue in each city. All new talent was tested in Billy Sandow's private ring while routines and finishes were carefully determined by Toots. The Gold Dust Trio later dissolved from a power struggle between Toots Mondt & Billy Sandow's brother Max.
Mondt then formed a partnership with Philadelphia promoter, Ray Fabiani. The new combination wasted little time and found their new title holder in
Bernarr McFadden helped Toots promote in NYC and gain access into Madison Square Garden. In 1948, in the main event of the first card held in MSG for 9 years, Gorgeous George defeated Ernie Dusek. In that same year Toots Mondt was in search for another champion. After several failed attempts, Toots Mondt found Antonino Rocca, who brought in more Latino fans to the matches which financially favored Toots. Mondt, however, was not able to keep Rocca happy and Vincent J. McMahon was brought into the scene by Ray Fabiani.
In 1954, Mondt signed up
Birth of the World Wide Wrestling Federation
In 1963, Toots Mondt and Vincent J. McMahon broke away from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), renaming Capitol Wrestling Corporation to the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Toots Mondt parted ways with NWA President Sam Muchnick on good terms so that the WWWF would not be seen as an enemy. Toots and Vince were also in the middle of fighting off an invasion by Jim Crockett Promotions from promoting in the WWWF territories.
When
Changing times and the rise of television saw Mondt's influence in the sport diminishing. Mondt was an arena booker and was never able to get a handle on television like McMahon. That fact coupled with Mondt's gambling problems allowed his business-minded partner to muscle him out of ownership of the New York territory. Toots sold off his share to McMahon in the mid-60s. McMahon reduced Mondt to salaried employee for Capitol. Mondt died on June 11, 1976, at the age of 82 after a long battle with an illness.[6] Since then, he has been inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2008 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017 as a recipient of its Legacy Award.
Accomplishments
References
- ^ Joe Toots Mondt profile, from WrestlingData.com
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55022-741-3.
- ^ a b Obsessed With Wrestling profile
- ^ a b c "Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame: Joe "Toots" Mondt". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
- ^ Social Security Death Index
- ^ a b Online World of Wrestling: Promoting the Promotors
- ^ a b Wrestling Perspective: The Founding Father
- ^ Wrestling Rabbi loses faith in Toots Mondt
- ^ "Congratulations to the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame Legacy inductees". WWE. March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
Further reading
- Hart, Diana (2001), Under The Mat: Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family (1st ed.), Fenn Publishing Company, ISBN 1-55168-256-7
External links
- Toots Mondt on WWE.com
- Toots Mondt's profile at Cagematch.net
- Toots Mondt at the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame