Sunday, June 12, 2011

The End Of The Terrible Turk

As stated in a much earlier blog, there were varied "Terrible Turks" who appeared in Arizona over the decades and oddly enough, most of them met an unpleasant end. Hessian "Terrible Turk" Muhammad was no exception.

An incredibly tough and powerful wrestler, The Turk was feared by many due to his ability for execution of what he called "shoot or show" performing. In a carnival circuit, he could stage matches as desired and shift the ending to accommodate betting from onlookers, but could also fight for real when desired. More than once, he had left opponents with broken limbs.

In January 28,1929, he was on his way to Phoenix to witness a match between Casey Berger and Pat O' Socker, with the intention of challenging the winner. He never made it. An hour out of his  destination, he was involved in a major car crash and died instantly.

He would not be the first nor sadly the last professional wrestler to be killed in a car crash. Sam Bass, Hercules Cortez, Mars Bennett, Pepe Lopez, Frank Hester, Brute Bernard, Joey Morella (referee), Baron Clements, Moon Dog Mayne and many others would follow in the time to come,  in various parts of the USA. The trend sadly continues still,  with the recent passing of Randy Savage, though speculation has it a fatal heart attack behind the wheel rather than the subsequent crash was what killed him.

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