Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
Grappling with Tragedy is a series of articles that deal with unfortunate, tragic incidents that have occurred throughout the history of professional wrestling. It is unlike the ‘Wrestling with Sin’ series that deals more with the seedier side of wrestling like arrests, murders and suicides. Grappling looks more at particular tragic incidents that have in some instances altered pro wrestling in some way.
Karl ‘Doc’ Sarpolis
Karl Sarpolis was born in 1897 in Pennsylvania to Lithuanian immigrants. Sarpolis was a prodigy of sorts, could play several musical instruments. That ability got him a scholarship to the University of Chicago where he also played football. Sarpolis would serve the United States Army in both World War I and II. In between wars, Sarpolis graduated with a medical degree. Instead of using his degree to be utilized in the medical field, he was swayed to become a professional wrestler instead.
Promoters loved that he had a Lithuanian background and used that heritage as a part of his gimmick. He was dubbed the “heavyweight champion of Lithuania” and wrestled the likes of Jim Londos, Lou Thesz, Ernie Dusek and Mike Mazurki. He received the ring nickname of ‘Doc’ because of his medical background. It was that medical knowledge, that helped Sarpolis invent blading in pro wrestling and how to properly draw blood from one’s self using a small razor blade. It was an act heavily popularized by wrestler ‘Dangerous’ Danny McShain, who often incorrectly received credit for it.
Doc Sarpolis would become booker for Ed McLemore in the Texas territory and eventually partnered with Dory Funk Sr to buy the Amarillo, Texas territory. Sarpolis was voted NWA president from 1962 until 1963. He was the first NWA president to not recognize a sitting world champion. Sarpolis felt that his friend and business partner should have been crowned NWA world champion instead of Buddy Rogers. In an act of defiance, Sarpolis recognized Gene Kiniski as the true world champion leading to tension between Rogers and Sarpolis.
On May 28, 1967, Sarpolis went out boating for the day. His boat was involved in an accident that caused Sarpolis to go into cardiac arrest and died. Karl Sarpolis was 69 years old at the time of his death. After Sarpolis’ death, his widow decided to sell his half of the Amarillo territory to Dory Sr’s sons Dory Jr and Terry Funk.