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Photograph by Thomas Crone
SICW Wrestling at East Carondelet Community Center
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Photograph by Thomas Crone
SICW at East Carondelet Community Center
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Photograph by Thomas Crone
SICW at East Carondelet Community Center
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Photograph by Thomas Crone
SICW at East Carondelet Community Center
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Photograph by Thomas Crone
SICW at East Carondelet Community Center
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Photograph by Thomas Crone
SICW at East Carondelet Community Center
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Photograph by Thomas Crone
SICW at East Carondelet Community Center
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Photograph by Thomas Crone
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Photograph by Thomas Crone
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Photograph by Thomas Crone
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Photograph by Thomas Crone
SICW at East Carondelet Community Center
On Saturday evening, I asked promoter Herb Simmons if I’d be able to score an interview with Ox Baker, a longtime fixture on the professional wrestling scene who was making an appearance at the East Carondelet Community Center that evening. Instead of passing me off to a later date, Simmons simply parted the curtains and lead me into a very rarefied place: the backroom of a wrestling promotion, usually off-limits to anyone but those participating in the card itself. But Simmons runs these shows, glad-handing the fans, conducting interviews and generally keeping the card on track every month. So it’s Simmons who can hand out the golden ticket of a locker-room visit.
He, along with Larry Matysik, a fixture at these East Carondelet shows, dates back to the golden age of St. Louis’ professional wrestling scene. And the thread between that time and today is reflected in their Southern Illinois Wrestling Explosions shows, with retired wrestlers appearing on a near-monthly basis. This month, it was Ox Baker’s turn to take his turn at the SICW promotion, and it was a fine pick: one of the classic villains of his day was brought face-to-face with fans in an intimate, clean, little club. Baker’s certainly a known commodity in St. Louis, thanks to his wrestling appearances here, dating back to the 1980s. He was then known for his featured, signature move, “the dreaded heart punch.” And, of course, his notoriety in St. Louis is given extra shine, thanks to his memorable cameo in a film that’s forever going to be tied to our town, Escape from New York.
In that film, Baker starred as Slag, a fighter who faced off against Kurt Russell’s anti-hero Snake Plissken, in a battle filmed in the then-decimated Union Station. The scene they share was violent, over-the-top, and completely key in that film’s insane retelling of a post-civilized New York City, circa 1997; it’s a movie shot, as any local knows, in the depressed downtown St. Louis of roughly 1980, with Washington Avenue serving as a stand-in for Manhattan.
Sitting backstage at the SICW show, Baker was replete in a checked sport coat and white tennis shoes, his trademarks still in place: a long, black Fu Manchu and wild, upturned eyebrows. Sitting in a room just a few strides away from the wrestlers, pre- and post-match gear, sitting on-and-around the township’s fire engine, Baker was waiting for his turn at the microphone, interviewed at the halfway mark of the show by Simmons. Almost every month, Simmons brings a wrestling star of the past to the promotion, allowing them to makes some dollars from autograph sales, as well as having a chance to meet-and-greet their fans.
Baker, for one, remembers “all the great fans of St. Louis” who used to pack the old Kiel Auditorium, 9,000 at a time, to watch Sam Muchnick’s cards there, his promotions occasionally graduating to the St. Louis Arena for the biggest events. Baker was on a bunch of those cards, and has maintained just the type of appropriate love-hate relationship with fans to keep a memory alive.
On Saturday, his intermission talk with Simmons touched on a variety of topics. Some of his best matches in St. Louis. His relationships with Muchnick and Matysik. He even took time to discuss his authoring of cookbooks, one of which is still coming up and will detail his battle against salt. In telling the stories, he broke into an unexpected blues number, sort of singing/rapping for a few minutes. An odd touch, but he also needled a nearby fan for her weight, so Baker’s still got the ability to get under the skin of his audience.
It was interesting experience, meeting Ox Baker. Maybe as unusual as any meeting with a famous person that I’ve had. I’m not doing it justice here, but feel free to ask me, if we see each other around. Best case: we could talk about it over a Budweiser at one of the bars in nearby Dupo, maybe before or after next month’s match. You know, the one that’ll feature Paul “Mr. Wonderful” Orndorff.
It'll be a good time. Lots of nostalgia, lots of quality people-watching, lots of stories to share.
For more on SICW, check out www.sicw.org.
