Fred Kohler (wrestling promoter)

He ran in opposition to local promoters Joe Coffey and Ed White, using wrestlers supplied by Billy Sandow and Al Haft.

Kohler was one of the first men in the business to recognize the positive effects of TV on wrestling attendance, and when WGN-TV went on the air in 1949, a deal was made to broadcast Saturday night cards from the Marigold Gardens arena.

[2] Kohler had been invited to the formation of the National Wrestling Alliance in Iowa in 1948, and while he could not attend that initial meeting, he did agree to its rules and became a member.

He overcame an invasion from Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn who'd secured deals with WBBM-TV and Chicago Stadium owners Arthur M. Wirtz and James D. Norris from 1959 to 1960.

Fred Kohler spent his last few years running a machinery business in suburban Chicago before moving to Arizona, where he died on August 24, 1969.