Bob Geigel

Robert Frederick Geigel (October 1, 1924 – October 30, 2014) was an American professional wrestling promoter and professional wrestler. He operated the Kansas City, Missouri-based Heart of America Sports Attractions promotion from 1963 to 1986, and served three terms as the president of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1978 to 1980, 1982 to 1985, and 1986 to 1987.

Bob Geigel
Geigel in April 2009
Born	Robert Frederick Geigel October 1, 1924 Algona, Iowa, United States
Died	October 30, 2014 (aged 90) Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Iowa
Occupation	Promoter, professional wrestler, Seabee
Organization	NWA Central States (1963–1986)
Spouse(s)	Vera June Lackender ​ ​ (m. 1947; his death 2014)​ [1]
Children	3[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	A-Bomber[2] Bob Geigel[2]
Billed height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Billed weight	220 lb (100 kg; 16 st)[2]
Billed from	Algona, Iowa
Trained by	Alphonse Bisignano[2]
Debut	1950[2][3]
Retired	1976[2][3]

Early life

Geigel was born on October 1, 1924, in Algona, Iowa[1] to Frederick Samuel and Leota May Geigel. He attended Algona High School, graduating in 1942. After graduating, Geigel enlisted in the United States Navy. He served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of World War II as a Seabee.[4][1]

After leaving the Navy, Geigel began studying in the University of Iowa in 1946. He graduated in 1950 with a degree in physical education. Geigel was a champion amateur wrestler during his college years, coming in third place during the 1948 NCAA Championships in the 191 pounds (87 kg) weight division.[3][4][5]

Professional wrestling career

Geigel was recruited into professional wrestling by Alphonse Bisigniano.[4] He debuted in 1950 in Texas.[3] Wrestling primarily in Pinkie George's Midwest Wrestling Association out of Kansas City, and also in Amarillo, Texas, Geigel generally played the part of the "heel" or antagonist.[4] He became a full-time professional wrestler in 1952.[5] Though he was generally introduced as being from Algona, Iowa, he was billed as "Texas" Bob Geigel.[6] He also wrestled as A-Bomber while working under a mask in Amarillo.

Geigel frequently held tag team championships in his home promotion, holding the NWA Central States World Tag Team Championship four times,[7] and the NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Central States version) nine times.[8][9] Geigel had a long-standing feud with former tag team partner Bob Brown in Kansas City.[3] He officially retired from the ring in 1976, but continued to wrestle sporadically in the 1980s.[6][3]

Promoting career

Geigel became a promoter in 1963, when he took over management of the Kansas City office. Partnering with Gus Karras and Pat O'Connor, he renamed the promotion Heart of America Sports Attractions.[5] He then took his place on the board of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). In that same year, Geigel was cited as a co-defendant in an anti-monopoly case brought against the Central States territory by previous owner Pinkie George. Along with his partners Karras and O'Connor, and fellow co-defendant George Simpson, he refuted the charge, and it was eventually dropped.[4]

In 1978, Geigel became President of the NWA, his first term lasting until 1980. During this term he strongly supported Harley Race, a part-owner of Heart of America, as NWA World Heavyweight Champion.[4] Geigel and Race bought out Sam Muchnick's portion of the St. Louis Wrestling Club,[4] a cornerstone territory of the NWA. Geigel served a second and third term as NWA President from 1982 to 1985 and 1986 to 1987.[5] He retired from promoting wrestling in 1988.[3]

Geigel sold Heart of America Sports Attractions to Jim Crockett Jr. in September 1986. He repurchased the promotion in February 1987 but closed it in 1988.

Personal life

Geigel owned a bar in Kansas City called The Tender Trap.[10] Geigel worked security at a racetrack in Kansas City after retiring from wrestling, until suffering a broken hip in early 2014.[3][10] Geigel met his wife Vera at the University of Iowa, and they were married for more than 65 years.[10] They had three daughters.[5]

Death

He suffered from Alzheimer's disease.[3] Geigel died on October 30, 2014, in a nursing home in Kansas City.[3][10]

Championships and accomplishments

• American Wrestling Association
  • AWA Midwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bob "The Viking" Morse.
  • AWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Hard Boiled Haggerty (1), Otto von Krupp (1), and Stan "Krusher" Kowalski (1)
  • AWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Bill Miller
• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Art Abrams Lifetime Achievement Award (2007)[5]
• Central States Wrestling
  • NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (6 times)
  • NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Central States version) (9 times) – with Bob Brown (5), Bill Miller (1), Bob "The Viking" Morse (1), The Stomper (1), and Rufus R. Jones (1)[8][9]
  • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Central States version) (2 times)
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (Central States version) (4 times) – with Rufus R. Jones (2), Akio Sato (1), and Pat O'Connor (1)[7]
• George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2002
• Western States Sports
  • NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Amarillo version) (1 time)
  • NWA Southwest Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • NWA Southwest Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Dory Funk (2), Mike Gallagher (1), and Boris Kalmikoff (1)

See also

• Heart of America Sports Attractions

References

1. "Robert Geigel". LentzFuneralHome.com. 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
2. "Bob Geigel". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
3. Smith, Tom (October 31, 2014). "Wrestler Bob Geigel was at the heart of the Kansas City wrestling scene". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
4. Tim Hornbaker (2007). National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-55022-741-3.
5. Nation, Ryan (April 19, 2007). "A lifetime of rewards for Bob Geigel". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
6. Kendall, Justin (October 30, 2014). "Bob Geigel, former NWA president and pro wrestler, has died at age 90". The Pitch. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
7. NWA World Tag Team Championship (Central States) at Wrestling-Titles.com
8. Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2006). "(Kansas and Western Missouri) West Missouri: North American Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 253. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
9. "NWA North American Tag Team Title (Central States version)". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
10. Oliver, Greg (October 30, 2014). "Bob Geigel was a man's man". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved November 18, 2014.

External links

• Bob Geigel's profile at Cagematch.net
• Bob Geigel at IMDb