Those of us who grew up watching local TV in the “baby boomer era” surely remember these names: Jackie and Tojo.
Jackie Fargo was one of our first TV superstars. Yes, we had cowboys, but they were on film and lived far away. We had baseball and football stars, but they rarely set foot in these parts. It was a pleasure then, to tune in “Live Wrestling” Saturday afternoons on Channel 3 or 12, because there was a good chance that Jackie would be trading one-liners with ringleader Harry Thornton.
Early in his career, Jackie (born Henry Faggart in North Carolina) started out as a “heel,” a bad guy. A wrestler named Don Kalt played Jackie’s brother, and as the Fabulous Fargos, they would wreak havoc on the good guys. By the 1960s, Jackie had evidently seen the light, and turned into a good guy with a hint of mischief. His usual opponents were introduced as Japanese or German, and we fans were happy to see Jackie cheat a little to pay them back for World War II. “Don Fargo” later took on another identity, so Jackie’s real brother “Sonny” was pressed into service as his tag-team partner.
Thornton, always the master promoter, knew a goldmine when he saw it. Every year or so, he saw to it that our hero Jackie would have a bitter feud with either the Germans or the Japanese. Quite often, Jackie’s foe was the evil Tojo Yamamoto. Tojo’s real name, by the way, was Harold Watanabe. He was born in Hawaii. But we wanted him to be Japanese, and Thornton told us he was. That was good enough for me.
Tojo Yamamoto
Tojo was a scowling, scheming presence. For several consecutive Saturdays, Jackie would appear on the Chattanooga wrestling show for a friendly interview with Harry to promote an upcoming appearance, or a favorite charity. And then out of nowhere, Tojo would emerge, waging a sneak attack on Jackie with one of his wooden shoes. Jackie, caught by surprise, would wipe away blood (or something that looked like it) and vow revenge. Harry would set up a grudge match between the two, but it would not be shown on TV. No sir, this match was so big, it would have to be staged in front of 5,000 screaming fans at Memorial Auditorium, all of whom were more than willing to cough up five bucks to see how it played out. (Note to younger readers: five bucks was a lot of money back then. Think thirty-five today).
Harry Thornton
Those of us fortunate enough to go, saw a longer version of the weekly TV slugfest. The rest of us would have to depend on newspaper accounts, friends who had attended, or we’d have to wait until the next Saturday when Harry would report the outcome (sadly, there were none of video highlights we take for granted today).
Later, Jackie’s Chattanooga appearances became less frequent. He was in demand in larger cities like Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta and Birmingham. But his fans will always remember his charismatic personality and “The Fargo Strut,” his signature stride after defeating a rival. It was often imitated by adoring 10-year-old fans.
As I got a little older, my big-city friends revealed a shocking secret. After the matches at Memorial Auditorium, they said, Jackie, Tojo, and the other wrestlers would go out to eat. Together, at the same table at the Old South Restaurant. “Impossible,” I would reply. “They hate each other!” No, they would assure me, these guys understood their roles, and how not to seriously hurt each other. They traveled together, they roomed together, they ate together. This finally solved a mystery to me, of how wrestlers could seemingly beat the daylights out of each other every night, while boxers like Muhammad Ali would take several months between matches. I had not been able to understand why boxers got so much attention, when they only fought three or four times a year.
Still, the passion they inspired was fierce. Saturday wrestling was my original Must-See-TV, and I wasn’t alone. Jackie and his fellow grapplers inspired countless kids to roll around on the playground pinning each other in our own little elementary role-playing.
A few years ago, I looked up Jackie in a Google search, and learned that he was living his retirement years in North Carolina, still making a few personal appearances, enjoying his fame and welcoming his fans. North Carolina’s not that far away, I thought. One of these days, I’ll track down his phone number, make a visit and tell him how much I appreciated his style and showmanship. I’d tell him it couldn’t have been easy, choreographed or not, to take those hits, make those falls and flips, and deal with those in-your-face fans. I’d thank him for entertaining folks from 4 to 104, getting their minds off their own problems for an hour or two each week.
And I would tell him how rich someone would be, if they had figured out a way to videotape and re-sell those 1960s wrestling shows decades later. At the time, they had no way of knowing their weekly slugfests would be in demand in the 21st century.
I waited too late. Jackie died in 2013, just before his 83rd birthday. I hope that somewhere, in that big Southern diner in the sky, Jackie, Tojo, Harry and the others are having some laughs as they swap stories about those good times and wild nights in Chattanooga.
thanks for memories David, my first time to wrestle on tv12 I was only 15 years old Tojo was a big help heading me into a 15 year career as a full time wrestler. 51 now nice memories thanks
Jim Powell, the “Dirty White Boy!” Thanks for reading, and for sharing.
Ahhh, Jackie and Tojo! I don’t remember Jackie, but I have lots of memories of Tojo! But my father always told me this one. My dad worked for TVA for 34 years, and in the 60s was working at the old Hales Bar Dam before it closed and Nickajack opened. One night, there came a call for a bad wreck on the old road which follows the river from Tiftonia, past Racoon Mountain down to Halesbar Marina today. A car had driver off the road and down the embankment toward the river. serious injuries, entrapped men. My dad went to assist in the wreck. In the back seat, bleeding and injured, Tojo Yamamoto and the “pretty boy” he had been fighting just that same night in Chattanooga. Apparently they had just had a huge fight at Memorial Auditorium, had gone out to eat together after the show, and four of them were on their way to Nashville to do a sunday wrestling match. Tojo the heel and the pretty boy (who maybe have been Jackie based ont he time frame of the above story) were riding in the back seat together and both got some serious cuts and injuries in the wreck! That’s how my dad knew that wrestling was fake. But my Grand-dad NEVER admitted it was fake and watching it religiously on his TV every Saturday until his death.
Thanks for the memories as the saying goes. My uncle Gerald loved going to the wrestling matches when I was a kid & he would take me with him. I’m 62 now ,don’t remember how old I was then. But I remember Jackie, Tojo& the German’s. Can’t remember their names right now. I am in the mild stages of Alzheimer’s .Wresting was a Saturday thing at our house for my uncle. I lived with my Grandparents so my Aunts & Uncles were more like my older brothers & sisters. I was the oldest of sic children & the oldest of the grandchildren so I had the best of both worlds with the same age difference between myself & my Aunts & Uncles as well as myself & my brothers & sisters. My Uncle Gerald took me to wrestling & my Uncle Charlie would take me to the drive in movie. My aunts would take me on the bus & go downtown to the Rogers or martin theaters to the movies. My Aunt Faye took me to see Sal Mineo & he kissed my cheek. Wow ! have you brought back memories. Thanks !
Nice work DC…back in the day when kayfabe meant something
My brother Mike Darras would imitate the “Fargo Strut” almost everytime he walked in the house when he was a kid…also worked with a girl named Peggy that would buy a new outfit EVERY week to go to wrestling!
Interesting article brings back old memories. Interesting how most everyone knew the matches then (& today) were staged, but the characters were so convincing we watched anyway. I would be interested in seeing some of the old wresting videos out of Chicago in that day which were picked up on channel 12 I believe.
Great memories indeed! I’m old enough to remember when WRCB carried wrestling before it moved to WDEF. Even as a small boy, I knew it wasn’t real. Number one, my mother told me so, plus I did a lot of wrestling with my buddies and I knew that many of those moves were impossible. I also knew Superman wasn’t real, but I loved both him and wrestling.
In my late teens and early twenties, my buddies and I would go to the auditorium to see the shows. It was more fun to watch the audience hoop and holler than to see the matches.
BTW, the charity that Jackie promoted was the 365 Club. When he would finish his interviews with Harry, he would always say,,,”Remember the 365 Club.”
Two of my favorite wrestling moves just came to mind,,,the “step over toe hold,” and the dreaded “abdominal stretch.”
The stretch was an illegal hold and Harry would always point out that it could kill a man.
Do you remember watching in late 1960’s or early 1970’s when Tojo was a bad guyand Jackie was a good guy ?
Jackie Fargo was tag teaming and they were wrestling a team of bad guys. The bad guys cheated and was working Jackie Fargo over pretty good.
Another wrestler came out of the shower from the locker room– yes covered in soap and shampoo- and tried to help but was knocked out too.
All seemed lost and then ALL the sudden Tojo comes out with the wooden shoe and comes to Jackie’s rescue.
After that they were a team and started wrestling together.
Do you remeber that match ??? Any info. would be greatly appreciated.
That has been one of my childhood fondest memory’s.
Chuck Mangino
Tullahoma, Tenn
Chuck, I do remember that. Tojo and Jackie “made up” there for a while. Thanks for reading!
I remember being a 8 yr old and watching Memphis Wrestling and thinking Jackie “the Fabulous One” was just the most wonderful wrestler ever. My dad enjoyed a few guys coming over late at night to play poker couple times a year. I will never forget hearing lots of noise one Friday night/early Sat morn my mom woke me up and said dad had some friends over if I wanted to get up and say hello. I did just that and then just walked right pass Jackie sitting at the table. I got all the way back to my room and it HIT me I came running back out to the room screaming his name……It was a great memory for me at such a young age…..I think dad had a good night also cuz Jackie never came back to a game…..
One time Harry Thornton was giving Tojo some choice words after some dastardly act or other, and the next thing you know, some Japanese-American group that existed then had complained to the station, the newspaper, and the radio. They raised a big stink. Oddly, what they were mad about was that Harry had called Tojo a “punk”. I never could figure out why that upset them so. I was in the fourth grade at East Brainerd Elementary, and my friends and I called each other FAR worse names daily. Anyway, Harry had to get on TV and apologize to the Japanese and everything. This was in 1978.