“Sputnik”
Rock Monroe was a professional wrestler of considerable renown who had gone
through a number of names (“Pretty Boy Rock” “Elvis ‘Rock’ Monroe”) and
territories before finally arriving in Memphis as “Sputnik.” He was prone to
describing himself in a voice several decibels above the normal range as “220
pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal with the body that women love and men
fear.” In looking for a way to distinguish himself that was consonant with both
character and commerciality, Sputnik hit upon race. He was a hero to the black
man, a villain to the white—he liked to boast that he practically desegregated
Memphis’ Ellis Auditorium single-handed, calling up to his colored fans in the
“crow’s nest,” with a seating capacity of less than one hundred, “Let my people
go.” Every time he threw an opponent down, he would raise up his hands to his
fans, and they would just call back, “Sweet man!” When the promoters objected,
he said, “Hey, if their money’s no good, just give it to me, and I’ll give it
back to them,” and gradually “colored” seating capacity was expanded until the
auditorium was de facto integrated. He and Dewey walked a goose down Beale
Street on a leash—“Dewey came up with the goose, I came up with the Chihuahua
collar and the leash. The people would holler and hug me and jump up and down.
I knocked a white guy out on the corner of Third and Beale one time for calling
me a nigger-lover, and a little black guy says, ‘Sputnik Monroe, you a mean
motherfucker when you drinking, and I believe you drinking a little bit all the
damn time.’”
