Inductees

Muchnick was born in Ukraine to a Jewish family, but moved to the United States in 1911. He grew up in St. Louis, and his name was changed to Samuel when his father decided that Jeshua (Jesus or Joshua) was an inappropriate name for a Jewish child. In 1926, he joined the sports staff at the St. Louis Times newspaper, where he covered the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team while developing many influential acquaintances (including Babe Ruth, Al Capone, and others). Muchnick also covered professional wrestling, where he formed a friendship with Tom Packs, who was the Midwest’s top sports promoter. In 1932, the Times merged with the rival St. Louis Star, and Muchnick left the paper for a position as Packs’ publicist, where he handled public relations, finances, and even booking duties.

For nine years, Muchnick served as Tom Packs’ right-hand man while learning the ropes under one of the nation’s most powerful promoters. Muchnick promoted his first shows in May 1942 before enlisting in the Air Force during World War II.

In mid-1948, Muchnick was approached by Iowa’s Pinky George and Minnesota’s Tony Stecher about forming a new wrestling union. Up until this time, all pro wrestling regulations had come from the National Wrestling Association, which was made up of various athletic commissions. Their idea was to form a coalition of promoters, which would then share the bookings of the World Champion and top wrestlers, while also splitting the gate draws.  Shortly thereafter, Muchnick became the beneficiary of talent exchanges with various territories that joined the NWA. As a result, he was then able to secure the services of an innovative young heel named “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers.

In 1950, Sam Muchnick was named the new President of the NWA, a position to which he was unanimously re-elected for the next nine years due to the immense trust that he inspired among the various members of the organization. With Muchnick at the helm, the NWA became the dominant governing body in pro wrestling, as nearly every major wrestling territory across the country joined the Alliance in order to gain access to the treasure chest that was the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, who was universally recognized as the industry’s premier star. Under Muchnick’s leadership, the NWA would also donate thousands of dollars to help fund the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team. Then in the late 1950s, Sam Muchnick formed the St. Louis Wrestling Club while producing a new television program titled Wrestling at the Chase on KPLR-TV, which ran from May 23, 1959 to September 10, 1983. There were approximately 1,100 episodes made during that time span. The show would become one of the most popular local productions in St. Louis television history as it turned pro wrestling into a nationally popular entertainment while bringing the many stars of the NWA into the homes of its fans.

By 1960, Sam Muchnick stepped aside as NWA President so that the organization could benefit from new ideas. He served as executive secretary under Frank Tunney, Fred Kohler, and Karl “Doc” Sarpolis, but it became clear that those men were more concerned with their own territories.[citation needed] Consequently, Muchnick was unanimously re-installed as NWA President in 1963 and held the office until 1977, thus contributing a total of 25 years as the industry’s most influential promoter. During his second reign, Muchnick maintained the NWA’s position as wrestling’s top power while he also displayed an uncanny eye for scouting future talent, as his St. Louis territory groomed such eventual champions as Johnny Valentine, Gene Kiniski, Harley Race, Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk, Ric Flair, and many others. Muchnick promoted his last card on January 1, 1982, which was subsequently named “Sam Muchnick Day” in St. Louis by Mayor Vincent Schoemehl. Without Muchnick’s leadership, the NWA’s power base gradually eroded in the 1980s as WWF head Vince McMahon seceded from the group and embarked on a national expansion. Then in 1988, the NWA’s leading promoter Jim Crockett Jr. sold his territories to Ted Turner, who created World Championship Wrestling as a direct national competitor to McMahon’s WWF. At WWF In Your House Badd Blood 1997, he was honored as a St. Louis legend.