Wrestling’s impact on the prairies

COLLEEN MARTYN
Sports Writer

When thinking of professional wrestling, images of loudmouth individuals with low IQs come to mind and wrestlers are often deemed no better than bad actors who abuse steroids.

Wrestling just does not get the respect it deserves, which is why from Sept. 25 to Nov. 5, the Link Gallery at the University of Saskatchewan hosted the wrestling exhibit Ring-a-Ding-Dong-Dandy: Glimpses of Wrestling History.

The name of the display was taken from a signature quote by Ed Whalen, the host of the weekly television program Stampede Wrestling. The show was popular in the prairies and aired in Saskatchewan from 1957-1989 when wrestling was an impressive spectacle and not like mainstream televised wrestling today.

Ring-a-Ding-Dong-Dandy came together largely due to the contributions of Neil Richards, a retired member of the U of S library’s special collections department. Richards, an avid collector of pre-1970s wrestling memorabilia, donated much of his own collection to the exhibit in hopes of drawing attention to the historical impact wrestling has had on the prairies.

Richards began his collection about six years ago when he purchased a photograph of wrestler Dory Funk Jr. from Stampede Wrestling photographer Bob Leonard. After retiring from the library, Richards was given his own space to catalogue his growing collection, which consists of nearly 1,200 photos.

The Ring-a-Ding-Dong-Dandy gallery of wrestling photography by Leonard and Tony Lanza are the highlights of the exhibit. Newspaper clippings, photographs, various programs, posters, books and fan magazines are also displayed alongside memorabilia. There is memorabilia from every decade, spanning from the 1930s to the 1970s and included the golden age of wrestling in the ’50s and ’60s.

The exhibit isn’t just for hard-core wrestling fans ­— plenty of interest has been shown by the University of Saskatchewan’s Drama Department. The department put on the play Trafford Tanzi, the story of a female pro wrestler, that ran from Oct. 8 to 17. Amateur wrestlers were also featured in the display “Huskie Wrestling: Grappling at the University of Saskatchewan” until Oct. 30 in the Physical Activity Complex on campus.

Canadian historians Vance Nevada and Nathan Hatton presented their own contributions for the exhibit as well. Nevada, a wrestler and historian, launched his book Wrestling in the Canadian West on Oct. 28. As a competitor on the Stampede Wrestling circuit, Nevada enjoyed many matches in Saskatoon during his career.

On the more academic end of the exhibit, sports historian Nathan Hatton presented his master’s thesis Thrashing Seasons: Roughness, Respectability and Professional Wrestling on the Canadian Prairies Before 1930. Hatton is now at the University of Waterloo, focusing on wrestling, ethnicity, class and masculinity in western Canada.

Ring-a-Ding-Dong-Dandy allows the average person with no knowledge of what wrestling is to truly appreciate the sport. The many passionate pictures provide context to the stories of the growth and development of wrestling on the prairies and the athletes involved.