Ding. Ding. Ding.
The bell rings, the roar of the crowd rises as two men circle each other in the ring. Menacing faces, etched with ill intent. This is the culmination of a blood feud between these two fueled by betrayals and backstabbing. The two men lunge and tie up with each other, the crowd invested in who will win, the two men in the ring they already know who is going win. Their performance is a ballet of throws, flips, punches and kicks. The audience is in on it too, they know it is choreographed, and that the outcome (even if they don’t know what it will be) is predetermined, and yet they cheer on the one they want to win. This is professional wrestling, and it has its roots here in Greeley.
In 1912, an eighteen-year-old by the name of Joseph Raymond “Toots” Mondt, after taking a correspondence course in wrestling from Martin “Farmer” Burns, wrestles his first carnival wrestling match. After, Mondt traveled with the carnival, trying his hand at acrobatics as well as wrestling. During this time, Burns saw Mondt wrestle and decided to take Mondt under his wing. With out the guidance of Burns, Mondt probably would have passed into obscurity, but instead Mondt went on to be an important figure in Northern Colorado sports, and professional wrestling worldwide.
Toots (Left) and Frank (right) Mondt
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By 1919, Burns had introduced Mondt to Ed “Strangler” Lewis. A big name in professional wrestling, he was struggling to get recognition for a championship that he had won recently significantly lowering his drawing power for audiences. There was also a loss in ticket sales due to the nature of wrestling at the time which had become a plodding affair. The ongoing drama with a separate wrestling promotion and fading interest in the sport from fans sparked an idea in Toots’ mind. Mondt decided that with the help of Lewis, and Lewis’s manager, Billy Sandow they would form a syndicate to take control of professional wrestling.
First, Mondt started by integrating himself into the Colorado State Agricultural College’s (now Colorado State University) in Ft. Collins wrestling program by offering his services as a trainer, becoming co-coach with Alfred Westfall (eventual chair of the College’s English department) in 1920, which transitioned to head coach in the same season. This gave him more access to prospects for the business, as well as giving him the clout that he needed to be taken seriously as a promoter and a wrestler. With his connection to the college and Lewis and Sandow, Mondt was ready to embark on his idea to rework the way the professional wrestling industry functioned, and from here in Northern Colorado, Toots began to work a new “program.”
The first thing that Mondt was focused on was the matches themselves. Building up to the 1920s, most wrestling matches were “two out of three falls,” wrestlers would go head to head in a series of up to three matches (usually with 10-15 minutes between the matches), which made for long matches to start out with. Matches could often last for hours. For example, in 1920, New York’s Madison Square Garden held a match between Joe Stecher and Earl Caddock that lasted two and a half hours. The matches themselves were also largely based in grappling holds, and what can be called “mat work,” not the most exciting thing to watch. Toots had something else in mind, a style he called, “Slam Bang Western Style.” This style would combine the grappling of Greco-Roman wrestling, the strikes of boxing, and most importantly the theatrics of a “Finish.” The Finish was the all important idea of leaving the crowd wanting to see more of the match that just finished, by creating screwy ends to the matches like double count outs, no contests, and time limit draws, Toots and the other wrestlers working with him could build excitement for the next match by leaving the fans hanging for a real ending. This was further cemented by Sandow offering wrestlers long term contracts instead of pay per match style agreements, which allowed them to keep wrestlers involved in a story for longer.
The second part in updating the business revolved around Billy Sandow. By signing exclusive contracts with wrestlers, and making sure they were paid on time, Sandow developed a stable of wrestlers that he could use in a regular rotation. He also began to evaluate the wrestlers for more than just their in-ring skill. Their ability to be charismatic was suddenly just as important as their grappling skill. This combination of a rotating cast, and charismatic wrestlers allowed for the three men to begin booking “programs.” Instead of a singular match, several matches between the same wrestlers were booked, finishes would be implemented so that no definitive winner was determined, and a feud could be built. By building this tension, fans were more engaged, and interest began to build in the sport again. Events moved from smokers, dance halls, and burlesque clubs into sporting stadiums. The main draw was the now solidified World Champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis, and by building consistent programs these three men began to dominate wrestling on a national level, which led to them receiving the moniker “The Gold Dust Trio,” in the 1937 book Fall Guys by Marcus Griffin (which was one of the first places that the scripted nature of professional wrestling was exposed to the public).
Pencil portrait drawing of Joseph “Toots” Mondt by Nancy M. Schwarz. An inscription at the bottom says “Joe ‘Toots’ Mondt Who with personality, perseverance and patience put wrestling where it its to-day—- ‘On Top’. Nancy M. Schwarz”
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The Gold Dust Trio was not to last long though. As with most organizations based on big personalities, there was soon a falling out. By 1928, Toots had developed a significant disagreement over the direction of the promotion with Sandow’s brother. Ultimately Toots gave Sandow an ultimatum, “He goes or I go,” Sandow chose his brother (to Toots’s surprise), and Toots moved on to a new promotion. Connecting with Philadelphia promoter Ray Fabiani, Toots began to work in the North East seeing more and more success while Lewis and Sandow faded into the background. The pair of Toots and Fabiani managed to build an impressive promotion around their champion Jim Londos, but in spite of their best efforts, the New York market proved very difficult for them because of the hold a promoter by the name of Jack Curley had on it. When Curley died in 1937, Toots saw his opportunity to move into the New York market. With the help of Rudy Dusek, Jack Pfefer, and Vince McMahon’s Grandfather Jess McMahon he was able to just do that. The moves would lay the framework for the promotion that would come to dominate professional wrestling into the present World Wrestling Entertainment or the WWE.
From a farm boy wrestling in carnivals, to the vanguard of a new way of promoting, scripting and executing the business, Toots Mondt had an enormous impact on the industry. His contributions are in many ways obscured by the past, but his influence is undeniable. In 2017, Joseph “Toots” Mondt was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame alongside his trainer, Martin “Farmer” Burns. The Greeley of the 1920s was a very different place from the Greeley of today, small and agricultural, proving through a man like Toots, that really big things can come from the most unexpected places.
By Gabe Llanas, Historic Site Interpreter