Paul Bowser

Paul Forbes Bowser (May 28, 1886 – July 17, 1960) was an American professional wrestler and promoter who was active from the 1920s to the 1950s in the Boston area.

He founded the Boston-based American Wrestling Association and later a member of the National Wrestling Alliance. The careers of eventual world champions Gus Sonnenberg, Ed Don George, Danno O'Mahony and Steve Casey were started under Bowser's direction. Others that Bowser has been credited for giving their first breaks in wrestling were Maurice Vachon and The Fabulous Moolah

Bowser is a member of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum and Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.

Early life Paul Forbes Bowser was born on May 28, 1886 in Kittanning, Pennsylvania to Armstrong County, Pennsylvania teacher, school superintendent and farmer Marlin Bowser and Nancy Arreta "Arreta" (Hawkins) Bowser. The Bowsers grew fruits and vegetables on their farm along with raising standardbred horses, which would become a lifelong hobby and business venture for Paul. Paul studied law at the co-educational Beaver College, leaving in 1907 prior to receiving a degree when the college limited enrollment to female students. While in school, Paul played football at the local YMCA with Hube Wagner.

Professional wrestling career Wrestler

At 18 years old Bowser began amateur wrestling, becoming a professional upon leaving college in 1907. Bowser toured the vaudeville circuit as a middleweight, taking on all comers and offering $25 to any man he couldn't throw within 15 minutes. In 1911 he met women's wrestling champion Cora Livingston when they shared the bill at the Academy Theater in Pittsburgh, He moved to Newark, Ohio in 1912, opening a wrestling school and began to promote wrestling shows, often working as a referee.

On March 10, 1916, Bowser became world middleweight champion, defeating Joe Turner in Newark. In November 1919, he and a co-defendant were successfully sued by Kelton Mitchell, who claimed he had been conned out of $2,300 that was bet on a fixed wrestling match in 1917.

Bowser moved to Boston in 1922, running shows against the area's established promoter, George V. Tuohey. Within a year, Bowser had won the promotional war and Tuohey filed for bankruptcy. In Boston, on January 3, 1922, Bowser again won the middleweight title from Joe Turner in a show promoted at the Grand Opera House. He retired as a wrestler the following year.

Promoter Bowser (right) clowning around with Yukon Eric and Jack Sharkey. As a promoter, Bowser was initially allied with Billy Sandow and Ed "Strangler" Lewis and took on entrenched rival, New York-based Jack Curley. On January 25, 1923, Curley-backed Nat Pendleton was defeated in a real contest by Bowser's John Pesek, taking two falls in under 45 minutes. Curley would get his revenge two years later, paying Stanislaus Zbyszko to go against plans and defeat Sandow/Lewis/Bowser-backed world champion Wayne Munn in Philadelphia. On March 11, 1926, Bowser planned to regain control of the title by having Joe Malcewicz ambush champion Joe Stecher (who had won the title from Zbyszko and was also aligned with Curley)—who was expecting to wrestle a different opponent. But the plan failed when Stecher just walked out of the ring and left before the match started. a name which had been in use in Massachusetts as early as 1919.

Bowser recruited amateur wrestling standout Ed Don George in 1930, who was immediately put in main events and on December 10, 1930 defeated Sonnenberg for the world title in Los Angeles. Lewis, who felt he had been promised that he would be the one to get the title back from Sonnenberg, defeated George for the belt on April 13, 1931, in Los Angeles, against Bowser's wishes. In 1952, as a concession to the NWA, Bowser renamed his world title the Eastern Heavyweight Championship.

In the late 1950s, Bowser left the NWA and formed the Atlantic Athletic Corporation in Boston with Eddie Quinn and Johnny Doyle, the latter handling all booking responsibilities at the Boston wrestling office. The AAC World title was created after Killer Kowalski defeated Edouard Carpentier, who had been recognized in Boston and some NWA areas as world champion. Doyle left to go into partnership with Jim Barnett in 1959 and Quinn started running cards in opposition to Bowser in 1960. Bowser ran what would be his last show on July 15, 1960, at the Boston Garden. He had suffered a heart attack three days earlier and died on July 17 following surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital at age 74. The track and surrounding land would later be purchased by Robert Kraft as leverage to buy the team. Gillette Stadium was later built on the site of the raceway beginning in 2000.

Personal life Bowser married Beryle (or Beryl) Bittner on May 27, 1911 in Monaca, Pennsylvania. He later married women's wrestling champion Cora Livingston in 1913 and were together until her death in 1957.

In his years as a wrestling promoter, the nicknames bestowed on him by newspaper columnists were Oom Paul (Pennsylvania Dutch for Uncle Paul) in addition to the more frequently-used Papa Paul.

Bowser was a resident of Lexington, Massachusetts. He owned a 30 acre estate called Fair Oaks Farm which included race horses, stables and a half-mile trotting track, much of which sold at auction after his death. His brick mansion still stands at 171 Grant Street, while Bowser Road, Saddle Club Road, Todd Road and Oak Park Circle were laid on part of his former land.

Awards and accomplishments Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Class of 2021 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame Class of 2006 New England Harness Writers Hall of Fame Elected 1963 Dominion Grattan, a Bowser-owned horse, was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1976.