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.
The Oklahoma Kid
Elmer Gearlds was a pro wrestler who began his career in 1965. He competed under several aliases including ‘Ray Gordon’, ‘Mighty Atlas’ and ‘Bob Atlas.’ Gearlds was a big, strapping man that stood over 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighed nearly 300 pounds. while finding some success under those names, it wasn’t until he met with promoter Jim Barnett that Gearlds career really took off. He was put in a cowboy outfit and given the gimmick of ‘The Oklahoma Kid.’ The gimmick was a homage to the very popular TV shows like Bonanza and Gunsmoke at the time.
Elmer Gearlds had never set foot in the state of Oklahoma as he was born and raised in Indiana. Despite that, the gimmick became very popular and soon Gearlds traveled all over the country in various territories like the WWA in Indianapolis and Big Time Wrestling in Detroit working for The Sheik. The Oklahoma Kid’s finishing maneuver was the ‘Running Bulldog.’ Jim Barnett saw big things for Gearlds and his career. He was soon booked for a tour of Australia in August of 1968 to fine tune his wrestling skills.
He competed in a battle royal the first night in Sydney, then defeated Killer Kowalski in less than 90 seconds in Melbourne the next night. He also beat Jonathan Boyd at a TV taping that same day. He was scheduled the next morning for an event with Dominic DeNucci but was a no show. After calls to his hotel room were unanswered, the hotel staff went to his room and discovered Gearlds hunched over the bed deceased and half dressed. A police investigation was launched, as well as an autopsy. The police determined there was no foul play involved in Gearlds death. The autopsy showed that he had died of a heart attack. Years later, his daughter sent his autopsy results to a doctor here in the states and he indeed died of a heart attack that was caused by an undiagnosed kidney condition. Elmer ‘Oklahoma Kid’ Gearlds was just 31 years old at the time of his death.
