6 Wrestling Screwjobs Other Than THAT One
4. Danno O'Mahoney Vs. Dick Shikat
In 1936, there was a screwjob that exposed the wrestling business so badly that it hurt the sport's appeal at Madison Square Garden for over a decade.
Irish star Danno O'Mahoney was a draw throughout the Northeast US for Paul Bowser (there's a familiar name) and Jack Curley, and was set to collide with tough man Dick Shikat, the favorite of rival promoters Jack Pfeffer and Al Haft.
O'Mahoney was supposed to go over, but Haft and Pfeffer told Shikat to shoot on O'Mahoney instead, and he dismantled the Irishman brutally.
Bowser, much like Sandow during the Wayne Munn debacle, continued to bill O'Mahoney as the champion for an entire year until he dropped the title in Montreal. Shikat, on the other hand, dropped his ill-gotten title after a few short weeks.
Haft and Pfeffer's short-sighted antics exposed the business in New York, and it would take 15 years for wrestling to draw big numbers to MSG again.