Dave Devoto - Memoirs of The Godfather of Armwrestling
Preamble
The below interview is a compilation of correspondence between Dave Devoto, one of the people most responsible for exposing organized armwrestling to the world, and Charlie Minell, a former puller and passionate fan of the sport and its history. Emails were exchanged between the two over a period of almost four years. Dave's declining health during the last few years of his life made it difficult for him to sort through memorabilia from 60+ years of involvement in the sport and respond as promptly as he would have liked. Sadly, Dave passed away on September 18th, 2024 at the age of 92. While some of Charlie's questions for him remain unanswered, he thought it was important to share Mr. Devoto's story with the world, as this is what he wanted.
Charlie is the co-founder of the World of Armwrestling website, one of the sport's most respected websites in the early days of the Internet. Because the site is not currently being updated, he reached out to me asking if I would consider hosting the interview on The Armwrestling Archives. I of course said yes and was honoured that Charlie would ask me. The site already has detailed articles on the early days of the World's Wristwrestling Championship and now a more complete picture of Dave's history and his contributions to the sport can be found in a single location.
-Eric Roussin
From Charlie:
"A few years ago when I was communicating with Dave I realized that I'd heard a lot about his achievements but not much about his background and what made him discover and become curious about the sport.
I asked him if he would be interested in doing this interview, and he agreed!
When I reflect on the legendary legacy Dave Devoto has left behind in the world of armwrestling, I am struck by the depth of his contributions. He will not only be remembered as The Godfather of Armwrestling but also as a visionary who, through his humble yet relentless efforts, paved the way for everyone in the sport.
It's been an honor to spend these past years capturing Dave's story.
Dave's willingness to share his life and reflections with such openness was a testament to his character and passion for the sport he loved.
Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Eric Roussin for his hard work and engagement in completing this project, and for publishing the interview on The Armwrestling Archives, for me - the obvious home for Dave's extraordinary story.
This was Dave, in Dave’s own words."
The below interview is a compilation of correspondence between Dave Devoto, one of the people most responsible for exposing organized armwrestling to the world, and Charlie Minell, a former puller and passionate fan of the sport and its history. Emails were exchanged between the two over a period of almost four years. Dave's declining health during the last few years of his life made it difficult for him to sort through memorabilia from 60+ years of involvement in the sport and respond as promptly as he would have liked. Sadly, Dave passed away on September 18th, 2024 at the age of 92. While some of Charlie's questions for him remain unanswered, he thought it was important to share Mr. Devoto's story with the world, as this is what he wanted.
Charlie is the co-founder of the World of Armwrestling website, one of the sport's most respected websites in the early days of the Internet. Because the site is not currently being updated, he reached out to me asking if I would consider hosting the interview on The Armwrestling Archives. I of course said yes and was honoured that Charlie would ask me. The site already has detailed articles on the early days of the World's Wristwrestling Championship and now a more complete picture of Dave's history and his contributions to the sport can be found in a single location.
-Eric Roussin
From Charlie:
"A few years ago when I was communicating with Dave I realized that I'd heard a lot about his achievements but not much about his background and what made him discover and become curious about the sport.
I asked him if he would be interested in doing this interview, and he agreed!
When I reflect on the legendary legacy Dave Devoto has left behind in the world of armwrestling, I am struck by the depth of his contributions. He will not only be remembered as The Godfather of Armwrestling but also as a visionary who, through his humble yet relentless efforts, paved the way for everyone in the sport.
It's been an honor to spend these past years capturing Dave's story.
Dave's willingness to share his life and reflections with such openness was a testament to his character and passion for the sport he loved.
Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Eric Roussin for his hard work and engagement in completing this project, and for publishing the interview on The Armwrestling Archives, for me - the obvious home for Dave's extraordinary story.
This was Dave, in Dave’s own words."
Start of Interview
Dave, could you tell us something about your childhood?
I was born in San Francisco, CA in 1931 in the middle of the “Great Depression”. My family was from nearby Sonoma County (Petaluma, Santa Rosa, etc.) and I was the fourth Dave Devoto from here. I am still not sure why we were in San Francisco for my birth, but I guess these things can come as a surprise. Our first home was in a basement in Santa Rosa, CA. It was a small home of about 500 to 600 square feet. I was an only child and lonely in those early days but not mature enough to know I was. Sixty years later I purchased a brand-new home of 4600 square feet but there wasn’t the same love as there was in that basement.
My mother and father were extremely caring and loving to me in those days and throughout my lifetime. The only time my father ever hit me was when he was driving down the street and saw me on the sidewalk by the house lighting matches. I was escorted into the house and had my one and only hand to butt lesson. I believe I was about six years old at the time. I had seen both my mother and father use matches lighting cigarettes and thought I should try them too. In fact, at about that same age I had a cigarette in my mouth one day and my father asked if I would like to smoke one. This lesson stayed with me all my life. He lit one and told me to take a long drag and hold it in my lungs. You can guess what happened next. I was filled with pain and unable to breath, choking, coughing and rolling on the floor. That was the last time a cigarette would touch my lips. My life has been so much better because of my father’s wisdom. My parents both used cigarettes until very old age. Dad paid for their use as he died from lung cancer at age 74, still smoking. Mom passed at 89 years old.
In those early years I spent most of my time as a lonely, shy child. Most of my time was spent playing on or by the railroad tracks which were behind the house or putting pennies on the tracks to flatten them and then taking them to the candy store. Climbing into the box cars, jumping on top, car to car was a fun and dangerous game. One incident occurred when I was by the tracks and saw the long bamboo growing by the fence of the lumber yard. Taking out my trusty packet knife I cut a spear to protect myself against the conquering marauders. I missed the invaders but did hit an enemy, thou not the one intended. It was a direct hit on a hornet’s nest I hadn’t seen. My mother was a nurse and working so my neighbor took me in and attempted to soothe the 17 stings while I cried thinking my life was over. At least it felt that way.
Life began to change drastically for me at about age 9. Dad physically built a new home outside the city limits of our city, Santa Rosa. It meant a new school and living in the country. A brand-new home, wow, no more leaving the house for the outdoor toilet room and those huge spiders which I was sure were going to attack me at any moment. A garage for dad a real kitchen for mom and my own bedroom. Surely we must be rich now?
Sonoma county had a small airport before the war which supported a small number of biplanes. One day I decided to take a long bicycle ride to the airport to see the planes take off and land. There was a boy there who was washing the biplanes and I asked him if he was paid. He said no, but they took him for rides in exchange for his labor. Needless to say, this hit me like a thunderbolt. In seconds I had rags, soap and water climbing all over the aircraft scrubbing like crazy. This was shortly before the beginning of the second world war and the rides soon ended with the preparedness for war. The experience of soaring over the county on several occasions was a young boys delight filled with excitement and joy. It was about a year later that I told my parents. My mother almost had a heart attack and my father laughed and said it must have been a great experience for a young boy.
The best thing that happened to me after the move was meeting my very first best friend. He and his family moved two houses away and he was my age. He had two older brothers and they had lived in the City of San Francisco. His name was Art Liebscher. Every day we played whatever sport was in season. We played on all the teams in grammar school, track and football in High School, football at Santa Rosa Junior College and football at the University of the Pacific. In high school we were both All League in Football, at Santa Rosa Junior College we were both All Conference in Football and were inducted into the SRJC Athletic Hall of Fame. At the University of the Pacific we were both first string in our very first year.
Every day we would be together riding our bikes to the city swimming pool or our secret swimming hole in the back country. Looking back, it seems like we were always together playing sports or hunting and fishing in the mountains behind our houses. What a great life for two young boys. One of my favorite experiences was the time we were returning home from the swimming pool in downtown Santa Rosa. I believe it was in early 1945 during World War II and halfway home we passed a bunch of workers in an apple orchard picking fruit. The strange thing was there were armed guards supervising the workers. On closer examination we discovered the workers were German prisoners of War. Together, without thinking we both jumped off our bikes raised our arms in a salute and yelled Heil Hitler. Boy did we jump back on our bikes fast and race away without stopping until we arrived home. Our big surprise was that the German POW’s laughed and laughed. We repeated our demonstration several times later in the week and the POW’s seemed happy to see us.
Please mention one of the most significant memories of your childhood.
I was 10 years old on December 12, 1941. But 5 days earlier, on December 7, 1941 a Sunday, I was sweeping the floor of a dance hall my dad successfully promoted on the weekends. An automobile with horn loudly blazing pulled into the parking lot and the driver was screaming "The Japs have bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii." While I didn't understand the full significance of this, I did know that my mom and dad were very upset. After a bit I tried a joke and told mom that I should get my bb gun and go over to my friend Georges house (Japanese) and shoot him. She angrily told me that Georges family were wonderful people and I shouldn't talk that way. I reminded her that "It's just a joke mom". His family had an apple processing business and were always very friendly when I visited. I never saw George again. His full family was moved out to a relocation camp and forever gone. I believe that George might have returned to my county but I am not certain. A few years ago, I ran across an online obit column from an adjoining city known for its dominant apple trees. It stated that George Kamira had passed. My George’s family, as I had mentioned, were in the apple processing business on December 7, 1941 at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I could, however, find no additional information. I like to believe that it was my George and that he had returned to Sonoma county and had lived a rewarding life.
By the way Charlie, my good blood comes from out your way. My grandmother, Villa Henora Tekla Trinks (Marensine Christine Rasmussen, Mette Mikkelsdatter, Mikkel Jorgensen) was born 08 Mar 1892 in Odense, Denmark, and died 29 Jun 1988 in Santa Rosa, California. She married David Benedict Devoto 23 Oct 1907 in San Francisco, California, son of David Devoto and Wilhelmina Guenter. He was born 14 Aug 1886 in San Francisco, California, and died 01 Dec 1966 in Santa Rosa, California.
In your younger years you were a successful football player, and among other things you held a certain scoring record for 50 years and you were also installed into the SRJC Football Hall of Fame, which sounds astounding. Please tell us about this interesting time in your life.
Attached you will find a roughly thrown together synopsis of my personal sport history prior to becoming total enraptured by our real sport.
High School and college sports
Santa Rosa High School
Football first string at age 15
Football first string at age 16 senior year
Captain of the Football Team
Captain of the Track Team
All league first string award
President of Boys Glee
Block SR society Director
Santa Rosa Junior College
(1949)
Football first string at age 17
All conference selection first string
Scored 4 touchdowns in conference championship game (This record stood for exactly 50 years)
Won conference championship
(1950)
Football first string at age 18
All conference selection first string
Won league championship and Northern California Title game
This team was undefeated and rated #1 in the Nation
Selected as best lineman on the best Junior College team in the Nation
Installed into the Santa Rosa Junior College Athletic Hall of Fame
University of the Pacific
(1951)
Appendix removed the first week of football season at College
Starting offensive end in the Sun Bowl game against Texas Tech
Look Magazine
Outstanding offensive end
Oh, I was also starting football end at the Treasure Island Navy Base in 1953.
How was your life when you were around 20 years old? What interests did you have and what did you work with at that time?
I began college at Santa Rosa Junior College in 1949 and University of the Pacific in 1951. In 1953 it was military service during the Korean war. Finally, back to college in 1955 and graduated from San Francisco State University in 1957. During those years in San Francisco my wife and I lived in military Quonset hut housing on the college campus. Through the GI bill veterans’ programs, we had our housing paid and I worked 5 hours a day for the San Francisco Examiner the leading San Francisco newspaper. My job was to stop at specified auto dealerships and write their advertisements for the next day’s edition. It was a non-toxic time learning about the press and especially auto dealerships of which I would ultimately do a major amount of Insurance business with. Upon arriving home each day after work I would study until about 2:00AM and some nights there were evening classes. There were 4½ of us living in the housing facility. Besides me there was wife Dorothy, son David (1953), son Jim (1954) and soon to be Kathy (1958). Later Victor (1958) and lastly Susan (1963) arrived. As an only child I wanted to be sure that our children didn’t have the loneliness I felt in my early years plus they would always have companions.
What dreams and goals did you have for your life when you graduated?
I was so undecided, conflicted and looking for answers. My dad was a very successful man and self-motivated, His first job that I remember was working at a service station. Shell Oil had promised him so much when he reached a certain level of sales as they were looking for more station managers. When he reached their goals, nothing happened. They seemed to forget their promises. He left and became a bread truck driver and I remember spending some of my young days as a passenger helper. Somehow, he found the dance hall business and he was quite successful working for himself and then a used furniture store owner suggested that he and dad start a new furniture store. Things boomed and in addition to the furniture store they opened a hardware store next door. Around this time dad opened other dance halls in some different cities and even a very popular bar in Santa Rosa. At one point after college he asked me if I wanted to take over his partnership in the furniture business. I had worked weekends at the store for years when in school and just didn’t want to spend my life in that business. I said thank you but no. During my last year in college I had met a young guy named Jim Wayne who was about my age and was one of the leading disc jockeys on a new radio station KOBY. It was the first top 40 station in the San Francisco Bay Area and was killing it. The most listened to radio station in Northern California. Jim and I liked each other and I asked him if he would like to do weekend shows playing top 40 records and make a profit. His answer: Why Not. I suggested that my part would be to find the location, make all arrangements, time the events, get sponsorship or guaranteed income. Jim’s obligation was to publicize the event on air, show up and spend several hours as needed to do a record hop. We would split the income 50/50. Within a week I had contacted and signed four high schools in the bay area. As I recall, we were asking for a $400 fee for the show and would end up with $200 each. That got us all the gigs we could handle for a few months and then I drew upon my dads experience with dance halls. Jim had told me that occasionally he could get record stars for a show. They would play an event for him free. Here we go, drawing on my dad’s experience and my limited experience I rented two dance halls in two different parts of the bay area. We had expenses for the first time of the hall, posters which I blanketed throughout the geographical area. The income was all ours after minimal costs. We thought we had died and gone to hog heaven. This lasted for about a year before radio management decided that it's disc jockeys would no longer have the option to promote their personal appearances.
By the way, I recently spoke to Jim. (11/27/2020) He lives about 6-700 miles south of Santa Rosa in San Diego. One of my very best friends now and always.
What did your life look like after you finished college?
After finishing college, I was able to obtain a job in the phonograph record recording industry. Initially I was selling records for London recordings and the distributor was in San Francisco. They were mostly a classical record company and had just come out with stereophonic recordings and were considered top of the line. I spent over a year with them learning about their catalog and the recording industry. After that I had a much better offer and went to King records who had a much different line of music. I was the sole representative for Northern California and occasionally would have a recording artist visiting in NorCal and I would have a great time taking them to various radio stations to meet the DJ’s. One of the great times I had was when Earl Bostic was appearing in the City. I dropped into one of his shows and got to sit at his personal table which was right in front of the bandstand. Between numbers he introduced me to his other guests, and we were having a great time. After a few numbers he came down again and asked if I minded if he had two more guests sit at the table. The guests were Clint Eastwood and Sheb Wooley. I didn't mind. Clint was playing the role of Rowdy on Rawhide and Sheb played the role of the scout. Sheb also had just recorded his top hit, the “Purple People Eater.” After closing time, we said a thank you and goodbye to Earl Bostic and went looking for a place to purchase a bottle of hard stuff and sure enough we scored at 3:00 am. at a closed liquor store I won’t mention. Clint, Sheb and I ended up at my office in the wee hours of the morning and I was having them select the albums they desired to take home. I was having a great night and ended up getting home at 7:00 am. The kids were the only people pleased to see me.
The next move was being recruited to work for State Farm Insurance in Petaluma, Ca. This was only 16 miles from my hometown of Santa Rosa and about 40 miles from San Francisco. A few years went by quickly as I learned the insurance business and then my wife and I made a major decision. We would start our own insurance business. She had worked for an auto dealership and handled the issuance of actual insurance policies. We started our business in the master bedroom in our very first home we purchased and stayed there doing our insurance thing for about a year. After a year or so we rented an office in downtown Petaluma and hired a few great people. About a year later we bought an office building in downtown Petaluma as we now had about a dozen employees. My job was to find insurance companies for which we could book and issue policies. Also, my job was to find agents in different cities to use our product. Dorothy was responsible for personnel and running the office which was a major job. It was initially a major balancing act and at the same time I was building an armwrestling empire. Also, for insurance.
Dave, how did you get in touch with wrist wrestling tournaments for the first time?
In the year 1960 I made a fateful move to Petaluma, California which is located about 16 miles from Santa Rosa and went to work for State Farm Insurance. I knew Petaluma well as I played football against the Trojans and had gone out with a Petaluma girl in my youth. The memory foremost in my mind was Armwrestling. When we were released from the military in 1955, we stayed at Dorothy’s parents’ home in Santa Rosa. Sitting in their living room father in law Bob asked: Are you going to compete at Gilardi’s at the wrist wrestling tournament? I said What’s that? Bob worked in Petaluma and was a frequent visitor at Gilardi’s. I guess it’s safe today now after 65 years that Mike Gilardi took bets. Yes, a bookie joint and bar. Bob loved to bet on the horses. A great hangout to booze or bet and wrist wrestle. Dorothy and I went on the appropriate night as I thought I was good at the sport. like most young men, and wanted to give it a try. We walked in and the room was filled with GIANTS. There were no weight divisions and no left-handed events. At that time, I was around 175 pounds, and I am left handed. To say I was intimidated was an understatement. But I was intrigued by the sport and saw every match and talked minimally to the guy who was trying to get the thing going. That’s when I had the opportunity to discuss the sport with Bill Soberanes. I had no idea that Bill and I would be partners in the sport from 1962 until his death in 2003 or that I would ever move to Petaluma.
What was your first impression of Bill Soberanes? Did you start out as friends right away or was that something that developed through out the years?
What led up to the decision for you to become partners?
When I moved to Petaluma in early 1961, my insurance office was right next door to Bill’s newspaper. We would frequent the same coffee shop and began talking right away about our sport and naturally became friends.
Bill was one of the most interesting men I have ever met. His main interests were his amazing wife Jane, his daily newspaper column, wristwrestling and meeting as many famous and infamous people he could. It is said that he had over 40,000 pictures of himself with Kings, Mafia, Movie Stars, Sports Hero’s and Presidents of the USA.
Bill can be described as "a man running at 78 rpm in a 33 1/3 rpm world." Bill's business card read, "Unique Trademark: Columnist Soberanes has been photographed with more famous, infamous, usual and unusual people than anyone in the world. Home base -- Argus-Courier, Petaluma."
How would you describe the first years of collaboration with Bill?
Bill Soberanes and I were almost completely opposites which turned out for the best. Bill’s internal motor was always running at full speed and he was extremely talented and accomplished with personal contacts in the political arena as well as show business celebrities. Bill was the one who set up our meeting with then Governor of the State of California, and the future United States President, Ronald Reagan.
What qualities did you and Bill have that made you complement each other well as working partners?
Bill always handled the newspaper and Northern California television. He would make numerous appearances on news shows with our table and interesting stories. His wife Jane took care of incoming letters and press releases and so much more. The two of them were a great team by themselves.
To what extent would you say you and Bill were making the sport more organized with your World’s Wristwrestling Championships?
I know that I am prejudiced regarding WWC. I whole heartedly believe with all my heart that we (Bill and I) took the sport and organized it for the very first time. Never before were there tournaments with real rules and regulations for an organization which held tournaments each year seeking the greats in our sport. Of course, there have been events which occurred since the beginning of time. Thank heavens there were as they gave us background support. Our organization, WWC, originated the whole system of inviting pullers from other countries to compete for International Honors. We ran different state championships and the National Championship and helped other countries begin their own country associations.
You have earlier told me that you from 1961 to current always used standup tables in the WWC. That made me curious about the development of the armwrestling table and why some organizers took so long to change from sit-down to standing tables. As an example; it took until 1994 before WAF completely switched to standing tables, over 30 years after you and Bill made that decision. What are your thoughts on that? How come you were so early and others so late with the change?
From our initial meetings and discussions about our sport, we envisioned it as a total body sport. We didn’t feel that the seated position offered as much potential for development as that represented in a standup position. We, Bill and I, felt the upright table presented more growth opportunity, both for the athletes and for the spectators viewing.
You have also mentioned your work with the California State Police Olympics. How did you manage to get armwrestling into those games?
It was in 1967 that I received a call from Duke Nyhus in San Diego. Duke was the founder of the newly organized California Police Olympics. He spoke of his brand-new organization and asked if I wanted to be a part of this exciting novel experiment. It sounded like something I would want to be a part of so I asked, what specifically would be my contribution? He said that once a year the California Police Olympics would be held in different cities in California. My job would be to referee our sport and bring all equipment to run a professional event. I said yes. My portion of the Olympics was quite easy as the police were more comfortable with following rules than the contestants in Petaluma at the World’s Wristwrestling Championship. Each year for 20 years I would pack the table in the trunk of my car and travel to the location of that year’s event. More than any other city, San Diego was the most often chosen city for the competition. That’s about a nine-hour drive from Petaluma, CA each way and I would normally spend two nights in the tournament city.
In 1967, with help from a few like-minded colleagues, Duke founded the California Police Olympics and spent his life nurturing and guiding this concept into today’s United States Police and Fire Championships and World Police and Fire Games. During the last fifty plus years, he has positively touched the lives of hundreds of thousands police officers and firefighters worldwide. In this era, he actively stewarded these great events through both challenging and prosperous times; all the while, he has never let us forget that these Games are by and for police officers and firefighters. Let us not forget him or his message.
In 1968 you signed a contract with ABC’s Wide World of Sports which continued for 16 years. That's one of the most important achievements for our sport, ever. How were you able to accomplish that, and how did it feel when armwrestling suddenly got so much attention?
Charlie, over the years I have written a few “quickie” paragraphs regarding the contacts and contracts with ABC’s Wide World of Sports and when it all came together. It probably came to pass because I loved ABC’s Wide World of Sports! I couldn’t wait each week to see this great sporting program and dreamt of a time when our event could be seen by millions. My first attempt was a simple letter telling them how great our event was and why they should film us. No response. I tried similar attempts a few more times with similar non-responses. My next attempt was to ask the printer to print me a dozen or so letterheads with a background I supplied showing a great action shot of two pullers in heated battle. I then wrote a simple invitation, sent to ABC, CBS and NBC, to bid to film our event. They were invited in the invitation to appear in Petaluma at my offices at a particular date and time and compete for the rights. Ha, no one showed but me. No response. These times were well before ESPN and similar sports networks.
“Long before there was Espn (or ESPN2 or Espnu or Versus or Speed or any of the numerous other channels dedicated to sports) ABC's Wild World of Sports was a pioneer in coverage of niche and emerging athletic events. The venerable anthology series premiered 50 years ago this week, on April 29, 1961, and is perhaps best known for host Jim McKay's iconic opening narration:” "Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."
above written 10 years ago
My attempts were well known by local friends and colleagues and one buddy said that he had the personal home phone number of Curt Gowdy, in Connecticut if I remember correctly. He did! I reached Curt at home and he was a warm and personable guy. Curt said he was aware of the sport and WWC and would make a call for us. He called me back with the name of an ABC program director and arrangements were made for me to fly to New York. After two different trips to New York I signed the contract which changed the way the world would see our sport. Armwrestling was an acknowledged sport which would sweep the world. ABC filmed for the first time in 1969. The film wasn’t shown until 1970 but wasn’t filmed in that year. In 1971 our agreement was renewed and during the filming that October it was announced by ABC’s Bill Flemming that WWC was their highest rated show in history. The World Championship was filmed in Petaluma each October for 14 years. Remember, at that time in 1971 when ABC made that announcement from our stage, they had been filming for about 25 years and it was before some killer programs with Mohammed Ali etc. Still, at that point, the World’s Wristwrestling Championship was the #1 program on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. ABC also filmed the 1973 and 1974 WWC National Championship held at the MGM hotel in Las Vegas.
Curt Gowdy
Curtis Edward Gowdy was an American sportscaster, well known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox and for his coverage of many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC ports and ABC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s. (Wikipedia)
Jim McKay
Before 9/11/01, there was Munich. The 1972 Munich Olympics were supposed to be the showcase of postwar Germany. After the hate-filled, politicized 1936 Olympics, Munich was going to be the best Olympics that were to be. However, that wasn't to be, Why? Because the Munich Olympics were marred by what became known as the "Munich Massacre," when Palestinian terrorists kidnapped Israeli athletes, and later killed them in a botched commando rescue attempt. One man covered that event for sixteen straight hours. That was Jim McKay of ABC Sports, and the host of ABC's Wide World of Sports. Jim McKay, the man who covered the most unusual sports ever.”
He also covered the World’s Wristwrestling Championship. While in Petaluma he made the effort to visit my son Victor in the Petaluma hospital and take a great picture with him
In the 60's big names like Jimmy Payne, Jim Dolcini, Earl Hagerman, the Pollock brothers Jim and Ted, Maurice "Moe" Baker, Duane "Tiny" Benedix and Mickie Novas attended the WWC and contributed to the competitions becoming all the more spectacular. Were there any certain rivalries or matches that come to mind when you hear these names?
Which 2-3 armwrestlers from those years do you remember the most?
Earl Hagerman from Santa Rosa, CA.
Duane Benedix from Livermore, CA.
Jim Dolcini from Petaluma, CA.
It's difficult to attempt to select individual armwrestlers as the very best of the best. You can look at individuals and say they are the very best as they won their weight division at a major tournament. Of course, that night perhaps they were. Injuries can come into play to prevent the favorite from doing his or her best. I have known of many cases where a puller should not have entered the fray, but there was no prior knowledge of their health or injury condition. A big factor is the match maker. I have heard rumors of a match maker who would make sure that their own personal favorite would have easier matches than the second and third favorites, and that number two and number three might meet each other early in the competition. There are many factors which can influence the outcome of a particular tournament.
I think my favorite match in the early 70’s was the 1971 match between Jim Dolcini and Maurice “Moe” Baker. Jim was of course a Petaluma boy and an exceptional athlete who played football for Humboldt State University in Northern California. Maurice “Moe” Baker was known to be one of the greatest armwrestlers in the USA and all during the night the thousand plus spectators were hoping for the final match to be these two. It was, and I was the referee. The tension in the auditorium was thick and the crowd excited. At that time in the history of the sport the start signal was a ready, go. The time difference between the Ready and Go could be immediate or with up to a 6 second delay. In other words, the count could be an instant ready-go or there could be up to a 6 second wait "after the ready". Most were spaced, and the go was up to a few seconds if the referee so decided. I think to this day that this was a very good rule which prevented illegal fast starts and gave the referee more control. Jim and Moe were one of the easiest matches of the long night to setup. Both were excited and couldn’t wait for the match to begin. I gave them a relatively fast start and they were off. Immediately Moe brought Jim’s arm crashing down with great speed to within two inches of victory. Then as if by some miracle, Jim with a great sweeping motion brought Moe’s arm upright and over to a stunning win. The audience had been chanting for Jim and now went insane with joy and cheering. The crowd gave Jim and Moe a five-minute standing ovation for this memorable display of “raw strength and courage.” The next year Moe was back and took the championship away from Dolcini.
Do you have any particularly memorable events you remember from the 70's?
This is one of those “believe it or not” stories. Perhaps one of the strangest and most shocking experiences I have had in the sport. It’s the story about an incident which occurred at the WWC championship about 1972. Looking back, I would guess that it occurred in the Light-Weight division and involved a man I will call George Q. His name was George and there was a Q in his last name.
He was dressed in a suit and tie and was very dapper. George’s technique was speed off the top and a very fast win. He was winning consistently and was gaining backing of the huge crowd. Back in the seventy’s rules had not fully matured yet and were rather loose to some extent. A good example of this was that long sleeves could cover the arms up to the wrists and therein lies the problem of this story. About halfway through that evening’s events, George was up, and I was having a problem with hand placement with him and his opponent. There was some pushing going on and I grabbed George by the shoulder to pull him back and attempted to get a proper grip between the contestants. And then it happened, as I touched his arm, I felt metal. Under his suit jacket he had flat iron metal running from slightly above his wrist to his elbow and on up to his shoulder. There was a spring mechanism attached to a strap around his body. At the elbow there was a hinge which connected the forearm metal piece to the upper arm metal. At this point, of course, George was finished.
What had to be considered at this point was the volatility of the crowd. Our events were notorious for being extremely loud and boisterous and if the crowd disagreed with a call they would stand and chant and were demanding of a rematch. There were times when we were concerned regarding our physical wellbeing. Rather than expose George to the audience and a possible riot, it was done silently backstage. While he did have some native ability, he chose to attempt to beat the system and take advantage of our hundreds of hard training contestant athletes. George never appeared again and disappeared into the night. Good riddance.
An example of the potential risks was the gentleman who appeared to be inebriated and hogging space at the front of the stage. I use the term gentleman quite loosely. He was yelling obscenities at the refs and just being beyond control. A routine intermission was called and before it was over, he was unconscious on the floor. I did see what happened. A spectator rose from the audience and with one blow the “gentleman” was retired for the evening. We certainly didn’t condone such action but, in some cases, it made things easier.
Wow.. what a story, Dave! I would never have thought this actually happened during a real organized event. Would you say this incident was a contributing factor to the rules being changed so that the arm nowadays needs to be bare up to the middle of the upper arm? Or did that change come later for some other reason?
Yes of course I changed the rules because of this. Each year brought new "problems" for the refs which mandated changes in the rules and regs. It was a long struggle to attempt development of "fair" set of conditions for ALL competitors.
An important step for the sport was when ABC filmed the 1974 and 1975 WWC National Championships. Can you tell us the story behind that?
The story of The National Wristwrestling Championship began when the thought occurred that it was time for a larger more exciting National Tournament. Bill and I had been doing different state championships and thought it was time to jump from our state championships to a National Tournament on a larger scale. I personally loved Las Vegas and I thought I would give that a try. I telephoned several Vegas casinos and got an appointment with the MGM. I made a reservation there for the night of the appointment. Prior to leaving Petaluma I called my main contact at ABC Sports and we talked about the possibility of filming a National Vegas event. While I had no definite commitment there was a glimmer of a possibility. I informed ABC I would be staying at the MGM and if they reached a decision to call me there. Arriving in Las Vegas I checked into the MGM and took a stroll through the casino until it was time for the meeting. The meeting was with the head of the entertainment division and his assistant. With me, was a compilation film of our events with ABC Sports and 8”x10” glossies plus various sales tools. The actual meeting went smoothly. They were aware of the Petaluma ABC filming and I told them that there might be a chance of filming the Nationals at the MGM. Nothing guaranteed. Their response was, “sounds interesting, they will let me know”. After thanking them for the meeting I went to my room and washed the sweat off. Yea, I am not a great salesman, but I am quite tenacious. My briefcase was reorganized, and I was out the door to the Stardust Casino. This was a quick, no appointment walk-in meeting and he said yes before I got out of his office. I was elated but told him I would have to meet with my board of directors and agreements would have to be exchanged before I could get a firm commitment. The truth is that I made these kind of decisions but I wanted time to see if the MGM meeting would prove productive. Then back in my room I had a message that my room and dinner show would be paid for by the MGM. A very good sign. In the gaming industry this is called a Comp., and it was a sign to me that my meeting proposal was being strongly considered. After a great dinner show with a well-known artist (can’t remember his name) I played a few hands at a table and went to bed. The first thing in the morning I received a call from ABC confirming that they would film the event. I then got a message from the MGM entertainment director saying that we had a deal, subject to what we needed from them. I then told him that ABC confirmed the filming. Oh, happy day. We were both quite pleased. It was then time to call Bill and give him the great news. And then, I said, “What the Hell” and stayed another night for enjoyment.
Dave, one of the more significant arm wrestling segments that has been televised was when you were on the Johnny Carson show. The segment made the “Best of Carson” and was shown for over 23 years, which of course was a huge step forward for the sport! How did you make that happen?
It was in early 1974 that I began trying to get recognition for armwrestling on the Carson Show. I did learn a lesson from the Wide World of Sports success but still began in the standard way of just writing a letter asking if I could bring a puller to compete with Johnny. No response. Tried phoning several times but couldn’t really speak to anyone who was capable of making a decision. So, it was time to get creative. At that same time, I was having cards printed which were to be given to pullers who registered to compete at the 1974 World’s Wristwrestling Championship. A membership card. I made out one of the new membership cards to Johnny Carson and then attached it to a letter saying I was flying down to Los Angeles with the current World Champion and he weighed in at 335 pounds and that he had broken several competitors’ arms and guess what, Johnny was next. I get a call from the Carson show asking if there were lighter weight categories? I suggested that a woman champion might fit the bill and said our current champion was only 118 pounds. Donna Myers was to be Johnny’s opposition. She was slightly built and a great competitor. Let the battle begin. June 5, 1974.
At the show I met Donna and we were invited to the “Green Room” where the guests of the day had their libations in preparing for the show. Sitting in the room were various guests and friends sipping their favorite beverage. I left the green room and stepped into the hall where this lovely lady was skipping down the entry. She had her hair up and stopped as we passed and said: Hi I’m Olivia. I said I’m Dave. She gave me a little hug and skipped on her way. I had no idea who she was but found out later in the show. She sang “If You Love Me Let Me Know” and “I Honestly Love You”. Yes, Olivia Newton-John. Truman Capote and Rich Little were also on the show. Truman Capote drinks a lot of Vodka. Rich Little wasn’t in the Green Room, so I have no inside information for you about him.
I must preface the next story by telling you that Johnny is a complete master. I had always been a strong supporter of the Tonight Show but came away a true believer in his amazing talent. The table I brought was placed in the middle of the stage and I set up the competitors in the usual World’s Wristwrestling Championship manner. The first time Donna beat him rather easily which had Johnny rushing to converse with his right-hand man Ed McMahon. When he returned to the table, I asked Johnny if he would like to try the other side of the table as it might be luckier, and he did. While he was with Ed, I told Donna that on the ready, go signal that I would wait until she started to give the “go”. This time, even though we cheated, Johnny appeared to attempt to win as he seemed to put all his energy into the battle. The show was filmed in the afternoon, so I watched it later that night from my Los Angeles hotel. Of course I loved it. Donna was great and our sport had reached a new threshold high.
You were on a long trip to New Zealand in 1975 with a schedule full of armwrestling. Please tell us about your visit there.
Itinerary of Dave Devoto and Bill Soberanes in New Zealand For Armwrestling 1975
February 22/23
Fly in from America to Auckland. Met by Home office NZBC Debriefing.
February 24 at 1NZ
(designation for Home office of New Zealand Broadcasting Company)
Devoto and Soberanes in Auckland at home office of the New Zealand Broadcasting Company 1NZ
February 25
Devoto flies to 2ZC in Napier. Soberanes to 1ZC in Rotorua.
February 26
Devoto flies to 2ZE in Blenheim. Soberanes to 1ZO Tokoroa.
February 27
Devoto flies to 3ZB Christchurch. Soberanes to Christchurch.
February 28
Devoto and Soberanes fly to 4ZA at Dunedin.
March 1st and 2nd
Free days. Fishing, visit Queenstown etc. Jetboat down Shotover river with Trever Gamble.
March 3
Devoto to 4ZA Invercargill. Soberanes to 2ZB Wellington then 2ZD Masterton.
March 4
Devoto to 3ZA Greymouth. Soberanes to 2ZP New Plymouth.
March 5
Devoto fly to Hokitika then to 3ZC Timaru. Soberanes to 1ZD Tauranga.
March 6
Devoto to 2ZA Palmerston North. Soberanes to 1ZN Whangarei.
March 7
Devoto and Soberanes on different flights fly to 1ZH Hamilton
(this is where the 1975 NZ Wristwrestling Championship will be held).
March 8/9
Fly to Auckland then to USA.
Each day both Bill and I, each in different cities, would meet with different athletic clubs, service clubs, civic groups to discuss armwrestling and New Zealand’s affiliation with the World’s Wristwrestling Champion in Petaluma, Ca. USA.
One of my most enjoyable experiences occurred upon landing in Dunedin after the flight from Christchurch. The usual radio and tv people were there for interviews. Bill and I had become used to having tv and radio meet us at all our stops so I walked right up and started talking about our sport of Armwrestling. The color man for the tv looked right at me and said: Who are you? Oops! They had started an interview with Don McLean the American singer and songwriter who released the American Pie album in 1971. His number one hit in 1972 was American Pie. It was also #l in New Zealand. Now I had worked for a record company when I finished college. I was also at this time a part owner of Radio Station KTOB in Petaluma. Later I owned the station 100%. With this background, after Don’s interview, we had a good laugh and a lengthy discussion about the music industry. Nice guy, small world.
Small world category. Upon arriving in Auckland after the exhausting 17-hour trip I told Bill I needed a couple hours sleep to I went into my room and tried to sleep.
Bill said he would go to the bar and have a drink. Within minutes he was pounding on my door yelling that he had met a friend of mine in the bar. So, I dressed and went to meet a man whose son played little league with my son. Can’t remember his name after 46 years but it was a fun experience.
A full New Zealand team competed in Petaluma in 1975.
In the mid 80's you had been organizing the WWC, World’s Wristwrestling Championships, for 25 years. How would you say the championships developed during those years in organizational terms?
By the mid-eighties the WWC had drawn the Petaluma community totally together. It had been a slow job over many years helping the local community understand that wristwrestling/armwrestling was a serious sport and here to stay. Initially it was a fun diversion for the locals. We were manned each year by dozens of Petalumen’s who would bring their typewriters to the arena to register the 400-500 contestants vying for the armwrestling World Championship.
By the eighties our sport had reached audiences and athletes worldwide. It had gained substantial recognition and acceptance in dozens of countries and was an accepted International Sport. Soon the internet would make its debut and change the world and our sport forever.
In the mid 80's you had been organizing the WWC, World’s Wristwrestling Championships, for 25 years. How would you say the championships developed during those years in organizational terms?
By the mid-eighties the WWC had drawn the Petaluma community totally together. It had been a slow job over many years helping the local community understand that wristwrestling/armwrestling was a serious sport and here to stay. Initially it was a fun diversion for the locals. We were manned each year by dozens of Petalumen’s who would bring their typewriters to the arena to register the 400-500 contestants vying for the armwrestling World Championship.
By the eighties our sport had reached audiences and athletes worldwide. It had gained substantial recognition and acceptance in dozens of countries and was an accepted International Sport. Soon the internet would make its debut and change the world and our sport forever.
In 1990 you took the first american team to the Golden Bear tournament in Moscow, and that event was in some ways an eye opener for many armwrestlers around the world, both from east and west. East got to know more about what the legend John Brzenk was capable of, and west got a closer look at what would soon come from the east in terms of hard training high caliber athletes.
In some senses it was the start of something huge and again, there you were, as a key person making it possible. How did you make this happen, Dave?
This was in 1990 the very first trip. This was the only one of the 9 trips that Bill would make. As usual Bill was excited and worked the local press like only, he could do. Numerous articles and tv interviews. He was amazing. This was a different world and each step a new wonderful experience. We arrived at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow exhausted. It was an ominous beginning as we saw the airport guards each with machine guns. This was the first time any of us had seen airport guards to heavily armed. We, Bill, Dave, John Brzenk, Todd DeMasseo, Keith Koenig, Jerry Boudrey and one other I have forgotten. It's not that I have a bad memory but at 90 years some things just don't come to mind easily. Bill and I were picked up by our hosts in a large dark automobile. Two of them showed us guns they had strapped on for our "safety." Needless to say, it was somewhat intimidating up to this point.
Things began to mellow out upon checking into our rooms. Bill and I had rooms right next to each other and met our translator for our time in Russia. We had drinks in the lobby bar with our hosts and then had a great night’s sleep in a bed which was narrow and too short. The surprise came at 6:00AM when all hell broke loose. Suddenly it sounded like a marching band had entered the room. The large speaker on the wall was vibrating to the point of exploding. I don’t know what the music was, but it seemed to be a military march rendition of some kind. I jumped up alarmed and finally understood where I was and what had happened. It seems that this military version of “it’s time to get up” played each workday. I am not sure about the workday part because I discovered a switch on the bottom of the speaker which gave me peace and quiet for the remainder of the stay.
The tournament itself was held in the Moscow Circus. We all had heard of the Moscow Circus and I personally thought it was a Circus in Moscow. Well, that does make sense, doesn’t it? Wrong! It is a very large auditorium which could seat 3,400 or so spectators. Very impressive. Bill and I were seated about halfway up the front of the stadium and enjoying the entertainment shown prior to the beginning of the tournament itself. There was an attractive lady in the row right in front of us with two darling children. One boy and one girl. Now, I had brought a significant amount of candy with me to Russia and I had my pockets stuffed. First time one of the kids looked back I held candy out to them. No takers. Later I tried again but they would smile and say нет Спасибо, no thank you. After many no’s I finally got a nod from Mom and it was ok, the kids accepted, and I kept feeding them through the whole event. Now comes the punch line. These bright and lovely children’s fathers was Igor Akhmedshin the head of Russian Armwrestling. Their mother was Olympic swimmer Irina Akhmedshin. We only became aware of this information when Igor told us much later. Just a coincidence? Hmm.
Our interpreter was a young man just graduated from University. He spoke excellent English and was a great help the entire week. He was from a very small village which still used carts for transportation. They had no automobiles and was very far from Moscow. Every one of the 9 trips I made to Russia I brought a suitcase full of goodies such as sport shoes, candy of course for the children, WWC t-shirts, hats etc. We three were in my room toward the end of the week and I gave him a pair of Nikes’ and he was stunned. He took them out of the box and with tears in his eyes said: “never in my life did I think I would have a fine pair of shoes like these.” Needless to say, we were touched. The last day we did of course, pay him well for his service and friendship although he was also paid by the Russian Organization.
Unfortunately, Dave passed away before he could get a chance to answer more questions about his later years.
Posted in January 2025