Wrestling in the late ‘40’s-early ‘50’s

By kiki

 In the late  1940s-early '50s, my buddies and I were closet wrestling fans during my preteen and early teen years. Why? Because we were boxing guys, everybody knew that only little old ladies and Charlie Ortega watched wrestling, and everybody knew that wrestling was fake. We didn't want the older Simons guys to know that we were being taken in by the fakery of la Lucha libre; we were supposed to be too cool for that. But, hey, our youth was no time to be sensible, right!?. 

While living in Simons, my buddies and I would ride our bikes up Maple Ave to Olympic Blvd and Park Ave., just south of Montebello City Park, where there was an appliance store. 

After closing hours, the store owners would leave a TV facing a big window; we would ride there, sit on the sidewalk, and watch Dick "Whoa Nellie" Lane call the wrestling matches from the Olympic Auditorium...Truly, Days of Innocence. Que no?!!

The Lou Thesz/Baron Michele Leone match in 1952 was such a big event that it got too big for the Olympic Auditorium and had to be moved outside to one of the ballparks; I don't remember which one, though.