"The Utica Panther"
Joe Malcewicz was born on March 17, 1897, in
Utica, New York. He had his first recorded professional wrestling bout in 1914 and challenged for the
World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship on several occasions in the 1920s. He retired from professional wrestling at the age of 38 and moved to
promoting. In November 1935, he succeeded Jack Ganson as the leaseholder of San Francisco's
New Dreamland Auditorium, buying out Ganson's interest for $15,000 () after
Paul Bowser and
Toots Mondt convinced him to step aside. He held his first show on November 26, 1935. Malcewicz subsequently entered into an agreement with
Dan Kolov that gave him exclusive rights to promote wrestling events in a dozen towns and cities in
Northern California and
Nevada. In 1950, Malcewicz created the
NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version), the second regional
NWA World Tag Team Championship. Malcewicz built a strong
tag team division, with the top stars including brothers Ben and Mike Sharpe, who held the championship on 18 occasions. In 1951, Malcewicz and
50th State Big Time Wrestling promoter Al Karasick organized the "Shriners" tour of Japan. Malcewicz and Karasick built a strong relationship with
Rikidōzan and his
Japan Wrestling Association, with the promotions trading wrestlers across the Pacific. Malcewicz regularly recruited athletes from other sports in an attempt to create new stars. Crossover athletes appearing with NWA San Francisco during the 1950s included
strongman Doug Hepburn In response to the threat posed by Shire's
Big Time Wrestling promotion, Malcewicz – who had long resisted the emergence of televised wrestling, fearing it would compete with
live events – begun running shows each Monday night on
KTVU in 1961, as well as moving from the Civic Auditorium to the
Kezar Pavilion as a cost-cutting measure. Despite this, Shire prevailed in the short territorial battle, with his roster – built around the flamboyant aerial performer
Ray Stevens – proving more popular than the slower-moving heavyweights who made up Malcewicz's roster, and Malcewicz folded NWA San Francisco in 1961. He died on April 20, 1962, of a heart attack. == Championships ==