The Phantom of the Ring
John Tolos, RIP
He wasn’t the best wrestler in any of the many promotions in which he appeared; there were invariably workers that could tie him in knots in a shoot. He wasn’t the best worker, either; awarding him the “Golden Potato†at the Cauliflower Alley Club’s annual meeting was a tribute to his lack of skill in that very area. He wasn’t even the best promo man; again there were several in the business that could render him speechless.
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But there were only a special few that possessed all three of these skills in significant quantity. And there were fewer still who possessed that indefinable quality called “charisma†that enabled them to communicate these qualities to the fans.
John Tolos was living proof of the absolute requirement of charisma in the world of pro wrestling. He had it in abundance. It made him one of the most fascinating wrestlers to watch either inside or outside the ring. His interviews brought fans in and his antics kept them coming back again and again in the hope that at last he would get what was coming to him. But though battered and bloodied, at the end of the day he would always come back to give the fans what they wanted most: a damn good show for their money.
The only thing that could stop John Tolos was death. And it came calling on May 28, 2009. The finisher was renal failure, after a series of heart attacks and strokes in the preceding years set up his body.
Tolos was born on April 5, 1933, in the industrial town of Hamilton, Ontario. Life in Hamilton during the Depression was certainly no picnic and in between school and work, John began to hang out at the local YMCA along with older brother Chris. Though as a kid he attended some of the pro “rassling†cards held in town, his real passion was amateur wrestling. When brother Chris trained under Wee Willie Davis to become a pro, Chris recommended brother John. Davis looked the younger Tolos over, liked what he saw, and agreed to take him under his wing as well.
His debut came in the Buffalo-Syracuse territory of Ed Don George. Some records list it as 1951, some as 1953. We don’t know. But we do know that as a rookie, Tolos worked mainly curtain-jerkers and his finishing move on many a night consisted of his looking up at the lights while counting to three. But he was learning the business, which was the important thing.
He traveled through Amarillo on his way to the West Coast, where he would team with brother Chris, forming what would become one of the most talented and best- known teams for over 20 years. On October 27, 1953 the Tolos brothers defeated Enrique and Ramon Torres in San Francisco for the Pacific Coast Tag Titles, the first of many belts John was to hold over the his career.
John spent most of 1954 in Southern California, where he tagged frequently with Gene Kiniski. Their team highlight was defeating Bobo Brazil and Wilbur Snyder to take the International TV Tag Titles. He also began a feud with a wrestler with whom his name would be forever linked in wrestling history: Fred Blassie. The year 1955 found him back on the East Coast, working the Northeastern US for George, Toots Mondt, and Vince McMahon. In the Baltimore area he and Blassie continued their feud anew. It would eventually culminate in a boxing match that saw Blassie victorious.
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John and Chris were now an established act and continued to tour the country. The list of titles they won is impressive, including the WWWF US Tag titles (from Killer Kowalski and Gorilla Monsoon), the NWA World (Fl) Tag titles (from Don Curtis and Abe Jacobs) and the NWA World (MI) Tag titles, which they brought from their reign in Florida. John also tagged with other partners and would hold the Canadian Tag Titles seven times from 1966 to 1969, and the LA version of the America’s tag titles four times. John and Chris had one last run as a team in 1972, working as babyfaces in a feud with Black Gordman and Goliath.
Two things happened that changed Tolos: One, his brother’s career began to wind down; two, he was getting older. When he was young and teaming with Chris, interviews were easy because they could play off against one another. John would be lead man on the interviews: They would mention their foes, the town and the details regarding what they would do to their foes in that town, always ending with “Right, Brother Chris?†“Right, Brother, John.†Now that he was working more and more as a single, John realized that, in order to stick around as a top heel, he’d have to develop a character and an interview style that would get the fans back out to see him at least one more time. His athleticism had diminished with the passing of time, even though he kept himself in the pink of condition, so a character and the ability to sell that character to fans who had gone out to watch him more times than they cared to remember was paramount. Otherwise he’d end up back in the prelims or on television selling to the next up and comer while the announcer reminisced about what a great star John Tolos once was. It wasn’t an easy task, but Tolos pulled it off.
He became a raving lunatic that later became known as “Maniac†John Tolos. He also sensed the great popularity of Hispanic babyfaces in the L.A. territory, so he made a habit of being particularly vicious towards them. He also developed a reputation of turning on tag partners. Some of his best feuds were with Killer Kowalski and Don Carson. But his frenzies were never without cause, at least to him. And this is really what got him over with fans. He was the first heel I remember in that guise of a madman who had real reason for being mad. It was always something his opponent, or former partner, did to enrage him. Why did he break Raul Mata’s guitar over his head? Because, Tolos explained, “I hated that thing. He had no idea of how to play it.†Bluto Blutarski would have approved. And when he told us this in his interview time, we had the sense, somehow, that he wasn’t kidding. He had the ability to get that hatred completely over to the fans.
He once wrestled Mil Máscaras wearing a mask, much in the style of Pat Patterson in San Francisco. He claimed that if Máscaras could wear a mask, then so could he. But Tolos also a had a load in his mask, which he used against Máscaras. Oh, did that ever enrage the fans. He wrestled a hair vs. hair match against Victor Rivera and lost. After being sheared, he jumped Rivera from behind and demolished him with a chair, thus extending the feud. It was the first time I’d ever seen the defeated heel turn things around after the match was over and totally demolish the babyface. Today in the WWE it’s almost de rigueur, but back then… well, no one ever dared do that.
This behavior led to what is seen by many ring historians as perhaps the greatest angle ever in the annals of matdom. Fred Blassie, the once hated heel, was now the Number One babyface in L.A., thanks to a feud with former tag partner Don Carson. When Tolos came to the territory, Blassie immediately had himself booked with Tolos. They engaged in several bloody matches in 1970. During one match Tolos pulled a python out of a box, scaring both Blassie and the ringside customers. The feud played throughout the year, finally ending on December 18 with a “Blassie Cage Match.” Though the two split in early 1971 to work other programs (Blassie with Doug Gilbert and Tolos with Rey Mendoza over the United Nations title) it was always in the back of the promotion’s mind that they should reignite the feud.
But the promotion had two problems: Fred needed knee surgery, and he was scheduled for a tour of Japan after that. These developments would keep Fred away for a while, just as things were cooking nicely between him and Tolos in the L.A. territory.
Blassie, Jules Strongbow and Mike LeBelle came up with the answer. If done well, it would ensure continuing sellouts. First, Tolos defeated Blassie for the Americas title on May 7, 1971. It was a typical heel victory in that it was seen as a fluke: the ring “collapsed” and knocked Blassie out enough for Tolos to score the victory. The next night, May 8, the promotion was hosting a celebration for the “Wrestler of the Year,” an award that was voted on by the fans. Why it was announced in May instead of being held until December was a slip of logic that could only occur in wrestling. Blassie was to receive a trophy and a check for about $2,500.00, enough to make it look real. All the big shots were there at ringside, including Dr. Bernhard Schwartz, the physician for the State Athletic Commission. As Blassie is doing his interview giving thanks to the fans, Dr. Schwartz is called away for a “medical issue” in the dressing room, but leaves his bag on the corner of the ring. Up in the ring Tolos was pacing back and forth like an enraged bull. He then interjected himself into the interview, demanding to know just why Blassie was getting the award when it was he, Tolos, who just won the belt. When Tolos was told that the award was bestowed on Blassie by the fans because of his popularity, Tolos went ballistic. He grabbed the trophy and busted it over Blassie’s head, which started a riot in the studio. Then Tolos reached into the ring doctor’s bag and took out a fistful of powder, which he then threw into Blassie’s face. Blassie went down, screaming, “My eyes! I can’t see! They’re burning!†Fred was taken by ambulance to South Hoover Hospital, where he was “examined†by Dr. Schwartz. Schwartz dutifully declaimed that Tolos had thrown Monsel’s powder into Blassie’s eyes. Monsel’s powder, Schwartz continued, was used in boxing to stop the bleeding from cuts during a match. If it leaked into the eyes, the results were serious, including blindness. When asked how bad Blassie’s condition was, Schwartz played it to the hilt, saying it was problematic; he may or may not regain his eyesight. Only time would tell. The doc said he advised Blassie to retire, but knowing Fred, he doubted that Blassie would take the advice.
Blassie, of course, had surgery at the hospital, but it was the knee surgery he needed in order to go to Japan. Fred told me at a Cauliflower Alley get-together that he liked the sound of “Monsel’s powder,” as it was something that would stick in people’s minds. But the powder in question that night was simply talc. He shut his eyes and held his breath while Tolos threw it in his face; then went down and played the hell out of it. The only danger he was in, according to him, but “busting my gut laughing on live television.â€
Blassie took a few weeks to recover and then lit out for a tour of Japan and South Korea. Tolos, meanwhile, kept busy. He wrestled Mil Máscaras on the May 21 show, saving his title by showing photographic proof that he had one foot over the rope when pinned. The rematch two weeks later saw Tolos use the mask to head butt Máscaras to defeat. Next was Earl Maynard, who he couldn’t defeat with a head butt because, as Maynard was Black, wrestling lore always insisted that he had a hard head. But Tolos got by Maynard anyway, and repeated the feat against his next challenger, Peter Maivia.
It looked as if things may cool off. Angles are fragile things: out of sight, out of mind. So, in a brainstorm, Don Carson was brought back, but this time as a babyface to “avenge” his former partner’s (Blassie) injury. Carson said that if he didn’t win, he would retire. He won and the America’s Championship was his. Tolos won it back on July 30 in a “Roman Gladiator Death Match,” where, in order to win, one pulled his unconscious opponent around the ring, touching all four posts on the way. After being announced as the winner, the crowd popped as Fred Blassie stormed down to the ring, a patch over his left eye, and swinging a chain. Tolos gave the expression of a lifetime and beat a hasty retreat.
Now the promotion milked it for all it was worth. Blassie would often show up on interviews after Tolos had left, his eyes bandaged and using a cane, saying he had just heard Tolos’ voice. Where was he? Every time Blassie came close to Tolos, the cops would show up and hold them apart. Shortly thereafter it was announced that Blassie was so out of control they needed to restrain him with a straitjacket. It was also announced that Blassie had regained enough sight in his damaged eye to go into “secret training,” and the bout was announced for August 27. The heat was incredible: After a card at Bakersfield, Tolos came out to find his car totally trashed. The promotion had to hire extra protection just to make sure Tolos lived to see the inevitable showdown with Blassie.
When they met on August 27, 1971, at the Los Angeles Coliseum, the crowd was reported at 25, 847, with a gate of $142,158.50, the biggest crowd to witness a wrestling event in California. The promotion was taking no chances and loaded up to what amounted to an all-star card, with a Brazil-Sheik bout, a bout with Paul DeMarco, the top heel in the San Francisco area facing newcomer Cowboy Frankie Laine, and a dream match for the Hispanic fans with red hot Raul Mata facing Mexico’s top drawing card, El Solitario. It was also announced that this was a non-title bout. The grudge was the real draw anyway, and if Blassie won, they could extend this into title matches.
They split the first two falls, and then Fred began using his trademark teeth, biting Tolos in the third. Blassie then finished off the heavily bleeding Tolos with a chair shot. Referee Johnny “Red Shoes” Dugan, walked over to Tolos and determined he was no longer in any kind of shape to go on. Dugan raised Blassie’s hand and declared him the winner. The only question now seemed to be how they could top this angle. The answer? You don’t — and LeBelle almost destroyed the rematch by cheating both Blassie and Tolos on the payoff. Blassie told me that both he and Tolos almost walked out that night, and it only strengthened his (Blassie’s) resolve to leave for the WWF as soon as possible.
The rematch, at any rate, was held too soon, on September 10. It drew only 8,000 and ended with Tolos keeping the belt via a screw-job as Black Gordman crowned Blassie with a foreign object. Then . . . suddenly . . . as quick as it arrived, the angle was over. LeBelle decided that rematch didn’t make enough to sustain interest (!). Two weeks later, Máscaras returned to face Tolos and win the America’s Title. Blassie defeated Black Gordman in the other main event. It was a sellout crowd plus turning away people at theaters for the closed-circuit telecast.
Blassie would leave for one more run in the WWF. He then retired and became a manager. Tolos would travel to New York for a one shot at the Garden with Bruno Sammartino. In 1972 he became a babyface in the L.A. promotion, facing such opponents as Killer Kowalski, the Sheik, Superstar Bully Graham and Ernie Ladd, to whom he dropped the America’s belt. In 1973 he faced off against Victor Rivera in an unusual babyface hair vs. hair match. After losing and having his head shaved, Tolos then snapped and turned on Rivera, demolishing his with a chair. He also acquired a new nickname, “Maniac” John Tolos.
His change and feud with Rivera brought business back for a while. Then it was decided he’d have one last run with Blassie, who was now beginning his managing career with Nikolai Volkoff. They brought up the old Monsel’s powder gimmick in interviews, trying to bring back the heat. Blassie won the non-title bout, but then lost a “loser leaves town” match for the title. The slow fade of the LeBelle promotion was accelerated in the mid-70s when an angry viewer complained to the FCC that the show was nothing more than an infomercial. Back in those days, television was more tightly regulated, and the flak from that one complaint eventually led to the English language station canceling the show. This left the Spanish station, but with the flight of non-Hispanic fans and complaints that the show had still too much English in it, the promotion shifted gears and began to bring in more, and cheaper, talent from Mexico.
Tolos left as a regular in early 1976. He worked Hawaii, Japan (IWE), Vancouver, San Francisco, Oklahoma, and Texas before working in the AWA during 1983 as a prelim. Also, the WWF expanded into California in 1983 and instead of flying an entire crew in for their shows, used local wrestlers on the undercard, including Tolos. He also worked indie California programs for Red Bastein and Antone Leone.
Hanging up his tights, he went to work for a car dealer but was then talked back into the game by Herb Abrams as the manager for Cactus Jack and Bob Orton Jr. in Abrams’ UWF promotion. From there he went to the WWF as “the Coach,†the manager of Mr. Perfect, but it was a run that even Tolos wanted to forget. McMahon didn’t have a clue as to how to take advantage of Tolos’ gift of gab and mostly had him blowing a whistle. Tolos returned to the dealership, and, except for a few public appearances, kept out of the limelight.
He is survived by son Chris, daughter Tracy, sister Mary (of Hamilton) and his ex-wife Ingrid. Brother Chris passed before him, in 2005, from cancer.
How do you spell charisma? Very simple: T-O-L-O-S.
– The Phantom of the Ring
You can write to the Phantom care of Karen Belcher
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