Lembrando a Wayne Munn
Wayne “Gran” Munn é un ascenso meteórico na loita libre profesional. Debutando en 1924, Munn “won” o World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship de Ed “Estrangulador” Lewis no inicio 1925. A súa caída foi igual de rápida. Por 1926, Munn estaba xubilado.
Un xogador de fútbol universitario de Nebraska, Munn foi recrutado para a loita libre profesional por Billy Sandow, líder de facto do Gold Dust Trio. The Trio consisted of Sandow, Campión mundial de loita libre de peso pesado Ed “Estrangulador” Lewis and training partner/promotional genius Joe “Toots” Mondt dominated wrestling in the mid-1920s.
Photo of Big Wayne Munn during his wrestling career from 1924 para 1926.
Motivated by a desire to provide a new challenger for Lewis, Sandow doggedly recruited Munn, who had no actual wrestling skills, to join his group and train for wrestling. Munn was an unusual physical specimen for the time. Munn stood 6’05” altura e pesaba 250 libras. Munn would likely be the strongest man in wrestling at the time.
Sandow rightly predicted Munn would be a big star and a big drawing card. Munn proved Sandow correct by frequently drawing 10,000 or more fans to Kansas City, Missouri’s Convention Hall.
Munn’s biggest drawback was his lack of actual wrestling skills. If a skilled wrestler was able to get into the ring with Munn, the wrestler could embarrass Munn and take his title. In one of the biggest double-crosses in wrestling, this scenario played out in Philadelphia three months into Munn’s reign.
After some shenanigans and political maneuvering, Lewis took the title back from Munn on May 30, 1925 even though Munn lost the title a month earlier. The title remained divided until 1928.
Munn quietly retired in early 1926. Munn enjoyed a successful career in the oil business until Bright’s Disease began to take it’s toll in the early 1930s.
En xaneiro de 9, 1931, at only 34 anos de idade, “Gran” Wayne Munn lost his fight with Bright’s Disease. Munn had checked into the hospital 10 days earlier. Doctors described his condition as grave upon admittance. Munn continued to deteriorate.
On January 9th, Munn passed away at Fort Sam Houston Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Munn was survived by his wife Edna and daughter Mary Ann.
Munn is frequently the goat of the tale about the fall of the Gold Dust Trio. Porén, Munn logically saw professional wrestling as a way to parlay his athletic ability into a significant income. Munn wasn’t responsible for the double-cross. The Trio should have known better than to expose him to a wrestler as skilled as Zbyszko.
“Gran” Wayne Munn was an exceptional athlete. He put on good wrestling matches even though he was only a performer. For a short-time, he may have been the biggest box office draw in wrestling particularly in Kansas City. History should be kinder to “Gran” Wayne Munn.
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Source: Grand Island Daily Independent (Grand Island, Nebraska), Xaneiro 9, 1931 edition, p. 7
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