Gori Ed Mangotich


    He was called the Toronto Terror at times in the U.K. but around home he was known as the rugged boy from Ryding, his neighborhood to the NW side of Toronto. Best known as Gori/Ed Mangotich, his formative years came on the Southern Ontario CCWA circuit run by Red Garner. For a time, Ed from Ryding was the top heel on the middleweight cards run by Garner in the smaller towns around Toronto. 

Main pic: 1965 Richmond Hill. Mangotich left with Rockey Bowley

Edwin Reid debuted around 1947 as Ed Mangotich. If the dates are right he was 15 or so. The circuit was just getting started. Garner had parlayed a successful amateur career into a fledgling promotion. It was made up of lighter (and younger) wrestlers, some from the amateur scene and others trained by Red near his home in Richvale (Richmond Hill). 

1951 close to home
With a lot of local presence they adopted their locales into their names. The Brampton Bully's, the Hamilton Hood, the Stratford Streak, and the simple Newmarket Boys. Ed became the Ryding Roughneck and was occasionally joined by a brother Doni as the Roughnecks. Soon it was Gori Ed and he added Slavic Sensation to the growing list of nicknames. 

The Garner circuit was known for its fast and high flying action with Mangotich spending years challenging the up and comers. A lot of scientific wrestling, though they imitated the main circuit at times. Masks, blindfold bouts, and other stuff they did back then. Here and in Ottawa notably there had been various times that promoters played it as a New Deal or English Style. Wrestling straight up. Garner tried that too and his guys could keep up. 

The fans were mostly against Gori Ed but he built up a following, known as a tough, down to the gears type. There were a lot of those types in the smaller towns they ran. An undefeated streak was a recurring theme throughout his career and he would help the others climb the ranks. 

Success Overseas

In 1951 another local from Bradford known variously as Wally Sieber, the Pride of Holland Landing,  and Baron Von Sieber, met up with Mangotich and began years of teaming and feuding. Over time Sieber and others from the circuit (McKigney, Scicluna, etc) went on to bigger and better things. Mangotich and the other lighter wrestlers often went out of the country to find work in the off months. Garner had earlier in his career gone to Mexico, and in 1954 Mangotich went to the U.K. 

When Mangitoch returned for the 1955 season they mentioned his return from England and his claims of not losing a bout in over 100 matches. He played it up well with a strong season all around for Garner. In one bout Gori Ed faces Carl Banniman said to be the British Empire Middleweight champion.  

1952

The Great Mangotich

1959
For the 1956 season he becomes The Great Mangotich: 'Ed ‘Gori’ will give a demonstration of modern hypnotic methods as a special added attraction, at no extra charge...' People loved it. He held the Canadian Middleweight Title, the prize of the promotion. A year later he was fined 25$ and banned from the Thornhill Farmers Market for a month for causing a riot. Not as the Hypnotist, but the wrestler. When he came back to Thornhill he and Doni started a fight with Campbellford's Stoney Brooks at the back of the hall prior to their own bout. The other wrestlers had to break it up and they were lucky to not cause another riot. 

In between he returned to the U.K. where he carved out a considerable career alongside many of the stars of the era. Following in Whipper's shoes he appeared in the 1962 promotional documentary The Wrestling Game where he faced Judo Al Hayes, then a top ranked British star. 

In a 1963 British magazine Wrestling Review, it discusses the Toronto Terror and his controversial Claw hold which had already been banned for his frequent partner Dr Death. In the mid 60s they were in the middle of the battles on the fighting British scene. Other nicknames were used, both here and there, including Lumberjack the Rugged Yugoslav, Killer, and Mangler. 

With his success overseas we saw limited action from Mangotich with sporadic appearances into the late 60s. His last in England was in 1970. Have seen his death variously listed as early as 1995 but have been told he is still living.. 

If you can add to Gori Ed's story here in Canada please do. For his British exploits lots of great stuff at the Heritage site listed below. 

As presented in 'Quick Bits: The Best & Rest of Toronto Wrestling'

-AC

Thanks to the site and boards at the excellent https://www.wrestlingheritage.co.uk/gori-ed-mangotich
See also our  CCWA Title History and Red Garner: The Pride Of Langstaff

Toronto Programs: from Sonnenburg to Hogan


Collecting Toronto Wrestling programs can be tough. There are huge gaps where it appears no programs were made, or have surfaced yet. Let's take a look at the programs issued over the years.

The earliest one was issued in 1929, a generic program for Arena Gardens, where Mickailoff started the weekly cards. That style in 1930 -below. Full program 14 pages with a photo on near every page, rules listing, and a line up card. price 10c


  
Next one is a 1935. This one has other sports content, hockey mostly but still has 6 pages of Wrestler bios, plus the event specific line up center spread. Cost 15c. Frank Ayerst who later worked with Tunney wrote many of the bios.



There are others through the late 1930's and early 1940's that follow the same format as above. Not all of the Wrestling nights had wrestling on the cover either. There are examples with an elephant (Circus) or figure skaters (Ice Capades) for events that were coming up that were the focus rather than the Wrestling card. Still those had the lineup spread in the middle and some other pages devoted to wrestlers.

The next change found is in the late 1940's. They went to a Maple Leaf Sports Magazine. Photo on the front with headliner or close for that night. About 50 pages covering all sports with several on the wrestlers and the 2 page center spread with the lineup sheet. cost 25c

1947 Example



1948




1949



In the 1950's Star writer John Fitzgerald contributed alongside Ayerst who was also penning a weekly wrestling column in the paper. They still used the generic MLG program with wrestling within it, and the lineup card in the center for wrestling. For other sports and events they did the same thing. Mostly it was Leafs on the covers. 

In 1955 they used a different looking insert of 16 pages with a center lineup spread for that nights event. The papers often referred to the local stars as Tunney Thumpers. Not sure how long these lasted, it's only one I have come across. 


Next ones are the early 1960's. A shorter format but wrestling specific. A bi-fold with 2 pages of info, a lineup card and a blank page with a holder for an insert photo with one of the stars. Frank Ayerst wrote a cover piece and then the page inside had a tidbits type column similar to his newspaper pieces, often with inside info or personal type stuff about the wrestlers. Price 25c

This one from '63



That type to at least 1965 and then a gap again.

Then the 1970's, huge cards when the Sheik was on top here, full houses and a revival in wrestling in Toronto - but no programs?

Other than lineups sheets the only 1970's program that has shown up is this 1977 glossy type (below) put together by Stan Obodiac, then Maple Leaf Gardens publicity head. Similar in feel to a Maple Leafs hockey program, professional,  this one is 12 pages and while not event specific (no lineup card) it features the participants from the July 11 1977 card held at Exhibition Stadium. Also has a NWA title history  and a page on Whipper Watson and Lord Layton, both retired from the ring by this time but working on the announcing side. Contributors listed are Norm Kimber (Announcer and Frank's publicity guy at this time) son Eddie and nephew Jack. cost 1.50$.

They did have lineup sheets up to the onset of the M-A affiliation but not for every card and they have been slow to surface so not sure how many were issued.

Summer 1977



Then another gap, a bit of unrest between the Sheik era and the M-A era but nothing in the 78-79 years (beyond occasional lineup sheets) and the beginning of the association with the Crockett stars.

Fan Griff who has hunted down MLW artifacts, still has not found anything previous to Oct 19 1980 which is in the Stranglehold format. The Oct issue is listed as number 5 but unable to locate the earlier ones. Put together by Gary Kamansack under the Arena Magazine and Mancuso Publishing name. They were responsible for the Detroit area programs, also the fabulous Wrestling Exchange magazine, as well as programs for George Cannon's Superstars. Slick feel with good (sometimes local) photos and a card specific lineup sheet as part of it. 75c then1$

This one Nov 16 1980 



A bit of a gap through the end of 1980 and then starting in early 1981 and regular to the end of the NWA era in mid 1984. Mancuso and Arena pulled out in 1981. The format stayed mostly the same though the look wasn't always as good, the colors and cutout photos like the one below from 1983. Still with card specific lineup. cost 1$.


When Jack Tunney switched to using the WWF stars they kept the Stranglehold format for a time as the one below shows. That's where I stop but they did switch to the WWF magazine some time after, a generic type with an inserted lineup sheet

1984


-AC 


Ivan Mickailoff: "The man who made wrestling in Toronto": Gary Will's TWH


Frank Tunney is remembered -- and rightly so -- as Toronto's greatest wrestling promoter, but the man who established Toronto as a wrestling city and paved the way for Tunney has been largely forgotten.

There was a lot of skepticism when Ivan Mickailoff announced in 1929 that he would be running weekly shows at Arena Gardens. While top-name pro wrestlers had made occasional stops in Toronto -- and there was even an effort made to stage the Gotch-Hackenschmidt rematch in the city (more about that another time), no one had ever run regularly-scheduled shows with top wrestling stars. "Wrestling has never been a popular sport in the Queen City," wrote the Globe (see separate story on the first show for the clipping).

Mickailoff -- called "Mike" in Toronto -- was a former wrestler who claimed to have been born in Siberia and spoke English with a thick accent. Many of the biographical details I've come across are suspect. He was said to have been an Olympic champion in 1908, which is false. He was also said to have worked as some kind of secret agent in WWI and to have served in the Russian Imperial Guard for nearly four years, attaining the rank of colonel. He was a tall man who ejoyed cigars and reportedly liked playing card games, particularly pinochle and hearts.

His name occasionally comes up in match results from the 1910s. For example, he opened the 1915 wrestling season in Montreal losing to John (Giovanni) Perelli on November 5 ("there was little excitement," said a report in the Toronto Star). Just over a year later, on November 27, 1916, Mickailoff lost in straight falls to Dr. B.F. Roller in Springfield, Mass.

I don't have any details for the years before he launched his Toronto shows -- he later claimed to have promoted wrestling in Miami -- but somewhere along the line he hooked up with Boston promoter Paul Bowser, who was one of the dominant forces behind pro wrestling at the time. He apparently also had some ties initially to Toots Mondt, who wrestled on four of Mickailoff's first five shows. Mondt would later be allied with Mickailoff's opposition in Toronto and would even own a piece of Jack Corcoran's office.

After a slow start, Mickailoff's shows grew from attracting hundreds to drawing thousands, leading to an appearance in October of Bowser's world champion, Gus Sonnenberg.

"Taking loss after loss without a murmur, he built the game up within a short space of time." -- GLOBE, October 31, 1929
"By staging bouts that were highly satisfactory, matchmaker Michailoff gained a large following for wrestling here." -- GLOBE, January 17, 1930

"When Ivan Mickailoff commenced promoting wrestling shows in Toronto the attendance figures were around the 200 mark. He has built the game to the stage where it is now numbered among Toronto's major sports." -- GLOBE, May 30, 1930

"He came to Toronto a year ago last spring, and astounded an amazed public when he announced that he would stage wrestling shows at Arena Gardens. Old-timers smiled. They had seen this venture tried before, and didn't think that Mickailoff would make headway. It did require considerable time to convince Toronto that here was a sport worth while supporting, and there were lean days, but Mickailoff and his associates shouldered their losses, and refused to be dismayed. The money eventually began to roll in, and now others would emulate Mickailoff." -- GLOBE, October 20, 1930


Mickailoff was soon popular enough to be used as a spokesman for Buckingham Cigarettes from Philip Morris & Co. Ltd. (see ad at right). The ad used a photo of what was said to be Mickailoff in his Russian Guard uniform.

After having the city to himself for a year-and-a-half, Mickailoff faced his first competiton when Jack Corcoran and his Queensbury Athletic Club were granted a wrestling license in 1930. They held their first show in November and it was a colossal flop, but Corcoran quickly learned the tricks of the trade and rebounded strongly. After about a year, Corcoran had taken over as the top promoter in town, and that position was cemented when he arranged to be the matchmaker for shows at the new Maple Leaf Gardens, which opened in November 1931.

After competing head-to-head with Corcoran for two years, Mickailoff was put out of business by the Ontario Athletic Commission, which decided not to renew his wrestling promoters license when it lapsed at the end of October 1932. Commission secretary James Fitzgerald told the Star that the decision was made "for the good of the sport." Instead, it granted a license to the Shamrock Athletic Club, which had previously promoted boxing.

Mickailoff immediately made plans to relocate to Winnipeg and booked what was billed as his farewell show for October 26, 1932. It was to feature Bowser's world champion, Henri Deglane defending his title against Bibber McCoy, another of Bowser's boys. The show drew 9,000 fans, but neither of the wrestlers booked in the main event appeared that night.

Deglane claimed that Bowser never told him that the show was on a Wednesday and not Thursday as was the custom in Toronto. McCoy was sent on his way to Toronto at a time that guaranteed that he wouldn't be able to make it for the official weigh-in, and he ended up not getting to town until the show had already started.

There was speculation at the time that Bowser -- for whatever reason -- had deliberately sabotaged Mickailoff's final show.

Mickailoff followed through on his plans to go west and in 1933 promoted shows in Winnipeg, Calgary, Regina, and probably other towns. He wasn't very successful. Mickailoff was said to have lived in the Ivan Apartments on River Ave. in Winnipeg where he shared his apartment with wrestlers who would drive in for shows.

Mickailoff was again turned down for a licence by the Ontario Athletic Commission in 1933, but the following year he reappeared in Toronto as the matchmaker for the Metropolitan Racing Association -- the horse racing people -- which decided that its federal charter enabled it to run wrestling shows without a license from the province (a long story, and one that had significant repercussions, that will have to wait for another time).

The MRA quickly found out that pro wrestling was a dirty business. Unable to book the wrestlers they wanted, they made their first show a free event at the Exhibition Coliseum on December 13, 1934. It drew a reported 10,000 people (see ad at right -- featuring a photo of Mickailoff), but it was the only show they ran. The president of the MRA later said that he learned through this experience not to mess around in other people's areas of business.

Mickailoff did make a comeback in 1935 as the matchmaker for the Arena Athletic Club -- one of three groups awarded a license that year, and the only one that didn't operate out of Maple Leaf Gardens. They ran their first show at the Mutual Street Arena on November 22 with names that were well below the standards being delivered at the Gardens.

It was pretty slow going for Mickailoff until May when he booked the Toronto debut of world title claimant Ali Baba, which drew an impressive 5,000 fans. A similar crowd came to see Baba's next match in June, and Mickailoff was suddenly outdrawing Corcoran's Gardens shows. A main event in October between Baba and new world champion Everett Marshall drew 5,100 to the Mutual Street Arena. It was right around that time that Mickailoff learned that his license was again being threatened.

According to figures provided by Corcoran, the gate receipts from pro wrestling through the 1935-36 season were almost half of that from the previous year: $75,374 vs $144,585. The number of shows declined from 42 to 29 (there were actually more than that, but these are the numbers he provided). He blamed that outcome on the existence of three wrestling promoters in the city.

The OAC decided to renew all three licenses in 1936, but Corcoran threatened to appeal the decision to Ontario premier Mitch Hepburn. Hepburn said he had no interest in hearing an appeal, and Corcoran dropped his complaint. Mickailoff told the Star that the wrestling interests controlled in the U.S. were putting on the pressure to try to force him out of business.

He remembered the times years earlier when he had helped Corcoran. "I telephoned Boston for permission to let the men work for Corcoran. Now he doesn't want me to have a license."

The 1936-37 season got off to a very slow start, and in December, Mickailoff and Corcoran both only attracted 1,300 fans for their shows.

Corcoran bounced back to become the clear winner in the promotional battles in 1937, but Mickailoff would occasionally draw some stong gates himself, including a reported 8,000 who turned up to see the Masked Marvel take on Strangler Wagner in March 1938, with 6,500 returning to see Marvel wrestle Lou Plummer in April and 6,000 on hand for Marvel against Ed Don George on May 12 (see ad at right).

But that would turn out to be Mickailoff's last show in Toronto. He received a license to operate in 1938, but decided not to run any more shows and asked for the return of his $5,000 license fee from the OAC.

"I'm sorry to see Mike go," said Corcoran to the Globe. "I like competition. While he and I had our differences some years ago I have found him quite ready to cooperate during the past two years."

He was reported to be moving to Florida, but almost ten years later, there was a report in the Globe that Mickailoff was promoting shows in Providence, Rhode Island.

-by Gary Will



Dick Hutton in Toronto

Dick Hutton is an interesting and largely forgotten part of the Toronto wrestling history. 

He arrived in April 1956 just after Whipper had won the World Title and business was booming. From the start he was unbeatable, usually ending the bouts with the Abdominal Stretch or Atomic Drop. His first two bouts here he beat Donn Lewin then brother Mark on the next card. He also ran his $1000 challenge if anyone could beat him in under 20 minutes. In the papers he was pictured with a $1000 bill on his chest or sometimes a handful of bills. To kick off his challenge he beat two wrestlers in a row and the fans were impressed.

Tunney started to throw bigger names at him, a couple vs Pat O'Connor  and a few World Title bouts vs Whipper. Hutton loses to Whip but not in under 20 min so keeps his $$$.  

In early 1957 he came to the ring to aid Gene Kiniski during a battle with Whipper and found himself a like minded tag partner. They started accompanying each other to the ring as 'seconds' and interfering on each others behalf. 

Main pic Tunney office promo 1958

During a  wire fence (early cage bout) match between Whip & Kiniski with special ref Jersey Joe Walcott, Hutton and Kiniski laid a beatdown on the former boxing champ.  

Another bout at the East York Arena (used when MLG was unavailable) saw a full house of 2,500 with 1,000 turned away to see Hutton face Watson again. This time Whipper gets the win in under 20 minutes but Kiniski jumps in and tears up the cheque as it is being presented. What happened to the cash! Hutton & Kiniski proceed to take out their anger on ref Bunny Dunlop which spurs on the packed house to a full out riot.  

A week later at MLG Hutton & Kiniski brawl to a curfew draw with Whipper & Yukon Eric. It's also announced that Kiniski was fined and suspended for four weeks in Ontario by the Athletic Commission for his role in the East York riot. Hutton escaped any punishment. That episode led in to the provincial government here looking into Pro Wrestling. Interesting times, we covered that story for a piece on Slam Wrestling some years back.  

Hutton also teamed with Hard Boiled Haggerty in a team the fans loved to hate and vied for the Canadian Open Tag Titles. He continued to have Kiniski around as a second while Whipper had O'Connor to cover his corner. That feud tore up the Southern Ontario circuit for months.  

In late 1957 they started pushing Hutton. He took on both Tiger Tasker & Al Krusher Korman (both local wrestlers turned refs) under tag rules, one at a time and looked strong winning with the Abdominal Stretch. On the next card he faced tough Fred Atkins & Jan Gotch (Hamilton guy) forcing Gotch to loudly submit to the stretch. They then lined him up against the Kalmikoff's. Both of them. Lucky for them -or maybe Hutton- they no-showed. Hutton flattened sub Korman and kept the money. 


  In Nov 1957 Hutton beats Thesz at MLG to capture the World Title. Hutton had put up twice the usual money $2,000 and kept the cash & the title. But no belt. Dick Bourne looked at Hutton 'the champ without a belt' in his great Crown Jewel book. The papers said Hutton had been a last minute replacement for Whipper who was injured but it wasn't the case. Maybe making it seem like a fluke win after a sub.  


    He returns with the title to defend 9 times including four against Whipper. In one bout it appeared Whip had regained the title when he pinned Hutton. The ref ruled that Hutton's foot was on the ropes and it re-started. Whipper was incensed (he was pretty nasty at times) and threw Hutton hard over the ropes to the floor. Hutton was stretchered out. Not a good look for a champ. 

In an early 1958 defense vs Watson there were 2 special refs assigned. The popular Kangaroos Costello & Heffernan were set to handle the duties. Even the papers thought it was a strange idea, a tag team reffing a World Title bout. They drew at the 11pm curfew with Hutton using heel tactics throughout. Star sports guy Jim Proudfoot wasn't impressed. 'It’s the first time in recorded history that a National Wrestling Alliance titleholder has gone through a whole bout without wrestling.'  

Stretchered out Jan 1958

Former World champ Bill Longson also earned a shot at Hutton by beating Lord Layton. He too fell to the stretch in a 15 minute bout in Longson's last World Title challenge here. That one drew only 4,500 fans to MLG, one of the lowest houses in years. A bout vs Thesz (usually a great draw) only brought in 6,000. They went again with Wilbur Snyder as ref and didn't do much better.

In the recap for a Nov 1958 defense vs Hombre Montana (Whipper vs Fritz VE was the main) Steve York in the Globe wrote 'Dear Santa: Please ask Sam Muchnick, National Wrestling Alliance president, to make Lou Thesz champion again.'  When Pat O'Connor took the title and returned here as champ York wrote 'Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. How else can you account for O’Connor replacing Dick Hutton as NWA champion?  O’Connor bounces around, has more color and is more expressive than the phlegmatic, stolid Hutton, who does everything deliberately.  Besides which Pat is as good a wrestler as Hutton.'

Hutton faced champ O'Connor in his last challenge here losing by count out. He and Kiniski continued to rack up the fines for their various misdeeds and later Hutton faced Whipper in a bout to decide the number one challenger. They drew. Hutton also put up his money against the other unbeatable type Don Leo Jonathon and lost, but after 20 minutes. He kept the cash but Don Leo was given the title shot vs O'Connor. 

As Challenger to World Title (Toronto only, there were title defenses on the circuit too)  

56/07/05        Whipper Billy Watson WCOR Dick Hutton      
56/07/26        Whipper Billy Watson WCOR Dick Hutton
57/11/14        Dick Hutton W Lou Thesz, to win the title
59/03/05        Pat O'Connor WCOR Dick Hutton  

As World Champion (Toronto only, there were title defenses on the circuit too)

57/12/05        Dick Hutton W Yukon Eric      
58/01/16        Dick Hutton WDQ Whipper Billy Watson      
58/01/30        Dick Hutton D Whipper Billy Watson      
58/06/26        Dick Hutton W Wild Bill Longson      
58/08/14        Dick Hutton WDQ Lou Thesz      
58/08/21        Dick Hutton D Lou Thesz      
58/09/11        Dick Hutton D Whipper Billy Watson      
58/10/30        Dick Hutton WDQ Whipper Billy Watson      
58/11/27        Dick Hutton WCOR Hombre Montana  

-AC

Nostalgia mapleleafwrestling.com collection
While he was in Toronto there was an incident with our tough ref Bunny Dunlop, that story at Bunny Dunlop-Gary Will's TWH
More info on Crown Jewel at The Mid Atlantic Gateway
We looked at the 1957 incident for Slam Wrestling: 1957 Queens Park vs Pro ...  (external link opens in new window)