KNOCKED OUT

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1049, 13 August 1930, Page 12

KNOCKED OUT

HOW SYDNEY WRESTLERS TREAT THEIR REFEREES MADNESS AMONG MATMEN j When Ted Thye and Billy Ed- , ward# met in a wrestling bout at the Sydney Stadium on Monday evening, they fought so furiously that the police intervened, stopping the fight in the fifth round. On the previous Monday the same [ wrestlers had figured in a hairraising contest during which the referee was knocked out. The following amusing account of I the earlier bout was written by Graj ham Kent tor the Sydney “Evening News”: I Although the adjective has no reference to the twin hirsute facial adorn- | merits of "William Edwards. 13st. wrestler and cave man, tilings were delight- ! fully woolly at the Stadium last night. ( ; So much so that the bout between i him and Ted Thye. 13.8. caused the | spectators to yell with excitement, and i with laughter, and subsequently to be ! I dumb with amazement. j j The spectators expected stirring ! ! doings, as it was reported that Mr. : Thye had a recipe for taming cave- j j men. But they could hardly have exI pec ted what did happen—that a referee ! should be k.o’d partly through his own exertions and partly through the J playful kicks of the jolly little mat- ; men. I For four rounds the wrestlers had , been romping like happy children. Mr. •f Thye showing a lot of agility, and Mr. Edwards a lot of strength. scissors, headlocks, wristlocks, etc., following in quick succession. Mr. Thye obtained a fall in round . j three with a reverse wristlock and i body press. &nd Mr. Edwards returned j the compliment with a headlock fall. He had. by the way, been throwing Mr. ‘ Thye about the ring by the head for '■ a considerable period. Thus the pair ■ were “all square at the turn.” REFEREE’S ACROBATICS ! Everything was so joyous—for the spectators—that one felt something of a novel kind was sure to happen at any time. It did. Jt is necessary for referees from time to time to cast themselves prone upon their “tummies” to see if the under-dog matman’s shoulders are on the mat. Now no referee is more zealous than Mr. Banner. In his zeal > lie not only threw himself violently on i bis “tummy,” but even rqore violently upon his nose and chin—Bump! He rose, so to speak, “out on his feet,” and the damage was completed I by a kick —accidental, but mule-like, j —from one of the prone matmen. \ Mr. Banner knew something had i happened, but what he had no idea, i He left the ring as one in a dream. On his way to the dressing-room he met a Stadium official. “Who won?” the latter asked. The reply, brief and enigmatical, was: f “Thye was on top.” This reply seems to have been con- ! veyed to Thye in terms which said: “The victory is yours,” for* he also left the ring. Whereupon Mr. Edwards first be- i came restless, and then showed signs j of wanting to kill someone or something, or go over the Gap. He was eventually restrained by various seconds and other henchmen. And then Mr. Thye came back to the ring, having been told about the disappointment of his little play-fellow, to risk his life again. I thought it very brave and kind of him. And with him came a new referee, one Thomas Lurich, a skilful, large and imposing matman from Russia. I liked Mr. Lurich as a referee. Ha must have felt that he had the backing of the mighty Soviet behind him, for he wouldn’t stand any nonsense. Thus, when Mr. Edwards punched Mr. Thye. Mr. Lurich said, “Don’t do dat,” and puhehed Mr. Edwards. The latter was very surprised, but, after a good look at Mr. Lurich. he decided to stay put. Subsequently the new referee joined wholeheartedly in the game. He undid fingers that clenched the ropes in contravention of Act Umpteen, sub-sec-tion something of the rules of wrestling; he removed forearms which pressed on windpipes; once he seized several legs and pulled the wrestlers I back into the ring. Altogether he helped to make things • very swift and jolly, and at the end j he gave it a draw. } Whereas everybody was pleased, including Mr. Edwards, who smiled so pleasantly that one could hardly believe he’d just been trying to annihilate Mr. Thye. \ PRAISE FOR THYE The former world’s champion. , “Strangler” Lewis, enjoyed an exciting first night in Sydney; he was a spectator of last night’s match, adds “The News.” Although it is stated that Referee Banner had tapped Thye as the winner, Lewis says definitely that Edwards was not pinned and that, in his opinion, the referee was in such a distressed state that he did not know- what he was doing. “Considering that Thye was awarded the decision and had left the ring." Lewis told a “News” representative. “I think he acted in a very spotsman- ] like manner in returning to the ring. • “Never in all my experience have I known a wrestler to return to the mat after having been awarded the decision. The incident is probably unique in the history of the same.”