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Chappell:
Of course, most of the folks that frequent
our website know you from your days in Jim
Crockett Promotions, and later in the
Mid-Atlantic area. When did you start working
for Crockett?
Jacobs:
Well, Jim Crockett, Sr. wanted somebody,
and evidently he had been talking to Vince
McMahon, Sr. Crockett asked me if I wanted to
come down here. And I told him, ‘I sure
would like to come down here.’
Chappell:
What time frame are we talking about?
Jacobs:
(pauses) That would be, I believe, April
or May of 1961.
So…I
came on down here. I think about
October/November of the next year, Haystack
Calhoun and I left here, and we went
cross-country and wrestled up and down the
west coast.
Chappell:
So, your first run with Crockett was
relatively short?
Jacobs:
Yeah…a little less than a year and a
half.
Chappell:
Who were you primarily programmed with
during your first stint with Crockett?
Jacobs:
Oh…George Becker and I were partners
then, for a while. But primarily, I was with
Haystack Calhoun then…for probably six,
seven months. Haystack and I had a pretty good
run around here.
Chappell:
Why did you leave Crockett the first time?
Jacobs:
Haystack asked me if I would go with him
to the west coast. I told him I would…I had
never wrestled out there.
Chappell:
What was it like wrestling with someone as
large as Haystack? Nobody would confuse
Haystack with being a smooth amateur trained
wrestler like yourself!
Jacobs:
It was tough. I had to do all the
wrestling…and be in excellent shape. I would
have a bunch of other big partners like
Haystack, because I always kept in good shape.
Chappell:
Who were some of the other large partners
you had when you wrestled for Crockett?
Jacobs:
Let’s see…I had Sailor Art Thomas. You
remember Sailor Art Thomas?
Chappell:
Yes, I do. I recall him being big, but he
was very muscular…unlike Haystack.
Jacobs:
Sailor Art Thomas…they teamed me up with
him and we had a good run here. Sailor was a
big strong guy, but he didn’t do much moving
around.
After
that, they teamed me up with Klondike Bill.
Then, Klondike Bill was about 325-350 pounds.
He was a tough guy, but he didn’t move
around either.
Another
time, they teamed me up with a guy they called
Man Mountain Mike…he was a big guy like
Haystack Calhoun. He wore the same type outfit
that Haystack wore. He was just a big guy.
Chappell:
You’ve named off some of the biggest
guys Crockett ever brought in!
Jacobs:
I knew how to get around big guys, and I
guess that’s why I was teamed up with those
guys!
Chappell:
We’re really talking about tag teams
here. And Crockett’s territory was pretty
much a tag team territory in the 60s and early
70s, wasn’t it?
Jacobs:
It was, then. Yeah, it was.
Chappell:
When you came back to Crockett after your
stint on the west coast, did you continue to
travel much after that?
Jacobs:
Yes, I continued to move around…a lot.
Chappell:
Didn’t you have a good run in Florida in
the 60s between your Crockett shots?
Jacobs:
That’s where I teamed up with Don
Curtis, the guy I used to work out with when I
was an amateur. Don used to make trips out to
New Zealand every year when I was an amateur.
Chappell:
You won a Title in Florida, didn’t you?
Jacobs:
Yeah, we won a version of the NWA World
Tag Team Championships down there in
1964…Don and I did. And then down the road
he got his knee hurt, and that kind of ended
his career.
Chappell:
What other major professional titles did
you hold?
Jacobs:
Way before Don and I won the World Tag
Team Titles, when I was in Detroit and up in
Canada, in North Bay, Canada, I won the North
American Championship…a singles title.
Chappell:
Were holding championship belts important
to you? Did you see them as being significant?
Jacobs:
Well…yea and nay. If you could get in a
good area, where they were drawing money, and
you were in the right position---you could
make a lot of money with a title on you.
Chappell:
I think a lot of people may find it
interesting to hear about all the wrestling
titles you’ve held. Folks that watched you
in the Mid-Atlantic area later in the 1970s,
were never exposed to that side of your
career.
Jacobs:
Well, that’s right. We’ve hit on some
of these earlier. As an amateur, I had the
seven Provincial Titles, the National Amateur
Title and the runner-up Title.
As
a pro, I’ve mentioned the World Tag Team
Championship with Don Curtis, and the North
American Title I won in North Bay, Canada. I
also held the Western States Tag Team Titles
in Amarillo, when Pez Whatley and I were
partners. And then, Haystack Calhoun and I won
the International Television Tag Team
Championship in Los Angeles…this was with
the WWA.
So…I
held four titles plus the amateur records.
Chappell:
Now, while you were with Crockett in the
60s and early 70s, you wrestled on top for the
most part, but the promotion didn’t slot you
to go after titles. Not like they did with
Becker and Weaver, the Scott’s or even Paul
Jones and Nelson Royal.
It
seemed like Crockett was more comfortable with
you carrying these large fan favorites, like
Haystack, that couldn’t move around the
ring.
Jacobs:
Yes, they had those guys you spoke of, and
nobody was going to get anywhere beyond them.
I liked [Crockett’s] area, but it got
frustrating at times. But that’s the nature
of the beast. I did all right when I was here,
but actually I did very well when I was out of
the country. Like when I was in Europe, South
America and the Far East. And I did great in
South Africa…I got 25 percent of the gate,
plus they had a deal where the gave you a
winner/loser purse there. You couldn’t do
that here…the promoters worked a little
differently here. (laughs)
Chappell:
Did you try to move around every year or
so?
Jacobs:
Yeah, I did that for the most part.
Chappell:
And I guess when you came back into an
area, you were fresh again?
Jacobs:
Well, you were only as fresh or as good as
they wanted to use you, you know?
Chappell:
I was going through some Internet sites
recently, and saw where you wrestled Lou Thesz
for the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Norfolk
in 1965. You also wrestled Buddy Rogers when
he was World Champion.
Tell
us about some of your memories of those
matches. I don’t think a lot of people who
followed you at the end of your career,
remember you wrestling in those types of huge
title bouts.
Jacobs:
Well, at the end of my career, I think a
lot of people looked at me and said,
‘Who’s that guy over there.’ People who
read this will probably be surprised that I
won so many titles!
But,
yeah…I wrestled Buddy Rogers for the (NWA)
World Title. And also I wrestled Pat
O’Connor for the World Championship…as you
know, Pat was a countryman of mine.
Chappell:
Yes, that’s right, he was from New
Zealand as well.
Jacobs:
I also wrestled Dick Hutton when he was
Champion.
Chappell:
I’ve always heard that Hutton was a
legit tough guy.
Jacobs:
He was a great, great wrestler…and a
tough guy.
I
also wrestled Gene Kiniski for the World
Championship.
Chappell:
Oh yes… ‘Big Thunder!’
Jacobs:
Yes.
Chappell:
You know, Abe, I bet very few people who
followed you at the end of your career know
about all of these NWA World Heavyweight
Championship matches you were a part of.
Jacobs:
They probably don’t, probably don’t.
Chappell:
Any other partners, opponents or matches
you had that might surprise folks?
Jacobs:
Well, I teamed up with (Antonio) Rocca for
a while up in New York. You remember the
Graham’s?
Chappell:
Yeah…at that time it would have been
who…Eddie and Dr. Jerry Graham?
Jacobs:
Yes! They were the biggest thing ever up
in New York at the time. And Rocca and I
wrestled them up there.
Chappell:
You really wrestled in Main Events
everywhere you appeared, at one time or
another, didn’t you?
Jacobs:
I guess, everywhere I ever went…I have
wrestled in their Main Events.
Chappell:
Did you have a preference wrestling as a
single or as part of a tag team? Of course,
for Crockett, you were mainly a tag team
worker.
Jacobs:
I really liked the singles matches.
You’re right, David, I did wrestle a lot of
tag team matches. But I’d sooner have the
singles matches.
If
there was a good wrestler, I’d sure like to
go out and wrestle him in a single match. To
me, it was different, and I enjoyed it more.
Chappell:
Did you particularly like going against
great technical wrestlers like yourself…say,
like a Lou Thesz?
Jacobs:
It was great to wrestle those guys!
Because they were great wrestlers…you could
do the switches and the sit outs and so forth
that you could never do in most other matches.
It was great…it was like the old days when I
wrestled amateur.
Chappell:
Any other thoughts on wrestling all of
these great NWA Heavyweight Champions?
Jacobs:
Yes, an interesting story on that. One of
the reasons that I was able to immigrate to
the United States, was because I was wrestling
at a World Championship level.
Chappell:
(pauses) How was that?
Jacobs:
When I used to come over to the States, I
had Visas for a while. I had to go out of the
country, come back, and then get another Work
Visa. I couldn’t immigrate here for a time,
because each country had quotas…to come into
the U.S.
Anyways,
the law was changed, and if you were already
in the U.S. here on a Visa, you could apply
for permanent residence and immigrate here,
despite the quota deal. And that’s what I
did.
One
of the things I then had to show the
Immigration and Labor Department, was that I
wasn’t taking any work away from U.S.
citizens.
Chappell:
How were you able to do that?
Jacobs:
I went to the office, and got some big
posters advertising me wrestling Lou Thesz for
the World Title in Miami…and I took those
with me to the Immigration and Labor
Department to show them that I wasn’t taking
work away from anybody else.
So,
that really helped me. Had I not been
wrestling with the world’s best, I
wouldn’t have been able to immigrate!
(smiles)
Chappell:
That’s fascinating!
Jacobs:
You just never know!
Chappell:
Tell us your thoughts about the wrestlers
you were with in Crockett’s area, during the
60s and early 70s when you were headlining
here.
Jacobs:
Yeah…I tell you, David, there were a lot
of guys…
Chappell:
What about Aldo Bogni and Bronco Lubich?
Jacobs:
You know, Bronco Lubich was a guy that
knew wrestling very well. And of course, they
had (General Homer) O’Dell with them.
O’Dell was one of the most hated guys
around. They were great guys to wrestle,
though. When you wrestled them, you always
knew you had a pretty fair house coming up.
Chappell:
Your memories of Rip Hawk and Swede
Hanson?
Jacobs:
Hawk and Hanson were a tough team. I tell
you what…Hanson was a TOUGH guy. Not as an
amateur wrestler, but he was just a tough, big
strong guy.
Chappell:
Didn’t Hanson box earlier in life?
Jacobs:
Hanson was a great boxer…he had a bunch
of fights as a boxer.
Once,
I remember I was on my stomach, and he stomped
me in the back. You know how you lose your
breath if somebody hits you in the solarplexis?
Well, he stomped on my BACK, and he knocked
the wind out of me! (laughing)
He
was just a very big and strong guy.
Chappell:
Tell us about Brute Bernard and Skull
Murphy.
Jacobs:
(laughs) Bernard was a little different.
Chappell:
(laughs) He certainly appeared to be!
Jacobs:
Yes, he was a bit different! Just like in
amateur wrestling, your style would click with
some guys better than others.
You
could get three amateur wrestlers together…I
could beat you, you could beat the third guy
and he could beat me. Because our styles would
all be suited differently.
Chappell:
I would be interested in hearing who you
believed your style meshed with best in Jim
Crockett Promotions…either partner or
opponent.
Jacobs:
Well…Luther Lindsey was a great
partner…
Chappell:
Yes…right!
Jacobs:
And Luther was one hell of a wrestler. He
was a great wrestler. He went to school at
Hampton Institute, just over the water from
Norfolk.
When
he passed away, he had done so great in sports
there that they took his body back up there
and it stayed for about a week before they
brought it back. And when he was in school
there, it was before 1965 so he couldn’t
play against the whites. He was just one heck
of an athlete…and one hell of a tough
wrestler.
Chappell:
Any other partners or opponents come to
mind?
Jacobs:
Don Curtis was one heck of an athlete. Don
Curtis was a good amateur…and I think he
helped train the Olympic team here a couple or
three Olympics ago.
Poor
Don is a little sick now…he has dementia.
It’s sad. But he still goes to the gym, and
works out everyday. He’s still in great
shape, physically. Don was a great wrestler.
PART
FOUR |
