By Lee Davis
Journal sports writer
Let’s be honest, most people don’t think of Mountain Brook as a haven for professional wrestling.
For at least one wrestling legend, however, the City of the Old Mill is home. Sam Tenenbaum–also known as the Great Kaiser–once filled arenas throughout the Southeast as he took on some of the sport’s biggest names. Although he’s not far from his 70th birthday, Tenenbaum looks as if he could still be competitive with men much younger.
“It was a great run,” said Tenenbaum, when contacted last week. “There wasn’t the big money in the sport like there is today, but we had some great times–I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Tenenbaum’s interest in wrestling and bodybuilding was practically forced upon him. He was a skinny teenager attending Shades Valley High School when his parents decided their son needed some toughening up. They sent him to Marion Military Institute, where Tenenbaum received almost an immediate baptism of fire.
“The first day at Marion I was unpacking my bags and a guy came up behind me,” Tenenbaum said. “He told me I was going to have to shine his shoes and make his bed every day. I realized I had two choices: give in to this guy or do something about it right now.”
Tenenbaum punched his tormentor in the face, and knocked him across a bed. “He slowly got up and beat the living you-know-what out of me,” said Tenenbaum. “I learned then that I was going to have to get strong in a hurry if I wanted to survive.”
The young cadet immediately worked diligently to build up his body, gaining 30 pounds of muscle. He also became involved in the Marion boxing and wrestling teams.
Tenenbaum returned to Birmingham his senior year of high school and attended Phillips High School, where he lettered on the wrestling team and earned top grades. Upon graduation, Tenenbaum went to the University of Montevallo, where he discovered yet another skill: singing. He studied voice in college and later sang tenor in productions of Susanna and The Barber of Seville at Birmingham’s old Temple Theatre. Tenenbaum also became a lover of opera.
Wrestling and body building was still his first love. While working out at the downtown YMCA, Tenenbaum made the acquaintance of Joseph (Steel Dawson) Honeycutt, a prominent pro wrestler and promoter. “He thought I’d be a terrific wrestler,” Tenenbaum said.
So, in 1968, Tenenbaum had his first match in a one-time movie theatre in Oneonta. He and his partner, Johnny Davilla, faced the popular tag team of Nick Carter and Tarzan White, a former All-American football player at the University of Alabama. The crowd was not friendly. “Nick Carter was very popular in Oneonta. He was like the mayor,” said Tenenbaum. “We didn’t have much of a chance.”
Tenenbaum and his partner lost badly, but the night wasn’t a total downer for the first-time wrestler. He got himself a “ring” name.
Honeycutt had given Tenenbaum the name “Bob Kaiser” for his match against Carter and White, and later changed it to the “The Great Kaiser.”
Tenenbaum continued to be a journeyman on the wrestling circuit until meeting manager/promoter Dr. Johnny Peebles III. Peeples promoted Tenenbaum as the “Operatic Tenor Who Sings”, and then added another touch shortly thereafter: The Kaiser’s famous mask.
“I met Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was in Birmingham filming the movie Stay Hungry,” said Tenenbaum. “He suggested that I wear the hooded mask – and it worked.”
So armed with the mysterious-looking mask and Peeples’ promotional skills, the Great Kaiser’s career skyrocketed. One of his Tenenbaum’s favorite memories was a match in the 1970s against the popular Bearcat Brown. More than 5,000 fans jammed Birmingham’s Municipal Auditorium to watch the 20-minute match, which ended in a draw.
The crowd gave both wrestlers a standing ovation when the match ended. The only problem was, the match wasn’t supposed to end the way it did.
“I was supposed to lose,” said Tenenbaum, laughing. “Bearcat was supposed to win, but was a total gentleman about it. The promoter of the match wasn’t so happy about it. He really dressed me down when it was over.”
The Great Kaiser’s popularity continued into the 1990s, when he met Bullet Bob Armstrong for the National Wrestling Alliance Southern Heavyweight Championship on a sizzling June afternoon at the Birmingham Race Course.
Both wrestlers punished themselves to the limit – and the Great Kaiser emerged as the champion.
“I reached the top,” said Tenenbaum. “Of course, it had been pre-planned for me to win, but it was a triumph. It also raised my value on the circuit.”
The Kaiser ended his wrestling career in 2003 after a victory over the Destroyer at Boutwell Auditorium. Two years later he was inducted into the National Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame.
Tenenbaum said professional wrestling in his era is far different from the present-day version of the sport.
“There is less pure wrestling today,” he explained. “We used actual holds like the Whole Nelson. The game is much more about acrobatics now. The young fans are looking for soap opera-type entertainment. The wrestlers are like cartoon characters.”
Just because Tenenbaum doesn’t wrestle anymore, don’t think he’s gotten out of shape. He is still a regular at the Levite Jewish Community Center gymnasium. Tenenbaum hasn’t given up on his love of singing either. He regularly participates in services at Temple Emanuel, which is led by his long-time friend Rabbi Jonathan Miller, and sings the national anthem before local sporting events.
“I’ve been very blessed,” said Tenenbaum.
In a career that saw him double as an opera-singer and masked world-class wrestler, you’d have to say that Sam Tenenbaum brought new meaning to the term jack-of-all-trades.