12 Facts About Tom Packs

Tom Packs was one of the top promoters over the first half of the 20th century and was responsible for building one of the nation's most prestigious wrestling territories in St Louis.

In return for a fee, Tom Packs would instruct his region's "champion" to drop the belt to a grappler from another territory, thus boosting the new champion's credibility with fans while concurrently earning additional revenues for himself.

Regardless, Tom Packs retained control over the title itself, and he was not above stripping the belt from a dishonest competitor who failed to go along with the pre-arranged plan.

However, while Tom Packs' group flourished with Londos selling out arenas across the nation, Mondt was eventually forced to turn to an aging and out of shape Ed Strangler Lewis as his primary talent.

Consequently, the New York territory was crippled following Londos' exit, and Curley was eventually forced to broker an agreement with Tom Packs that established a working "Trust" between the country's various wrestling territories.

However, it was Tom Packs who was responsible for nurturing maybe the greatest champion ever when he recruited a young grappler named Lou Thesz to his territory in 1936.

The top student of renowned "hooker" George Tragos, Thesz was just 20 years old when he first arrived in St Louis, yet Tom Packs immediately recognized his superstar potential; and he subsequently protected his investment by keeping him away from the region's most dangerous opponents while he honed his ring skills.

In 1932, Tom Packs would hire a young sportswriter named Sam Muchnick to serve as his main publicist.

Muchnick had previously worked for the St Louis Times, where he met Tom Packs while covering the area's events.

However, Muchnick took exception when Tom Packs issued him a paltry $200 bonus for the event ; and he consequently left Tom Packs to start a competing promotion.

Nevertheless, Tom Packs used his vast industry connections to prevent Muchnick from securing any of the sport's big names; and with Tom Packs controlling all of the premier superstars, Muchnick was thus forced to enlist aging veterans for his shows.

Meanwhile, Tom Packs continued to stay involved in event promotions as he ran the Thrill Circus throughout the 1950s before he died on October 22,1964.