In 1961, Mondt began using the newly built Pittsburgh Civic Arena to run indoor shows on a monthly basis.
Even the referees such as Paddy Grimes, Izzy Moidel (who claimed to have once beat Rocky Marciano in an amateur boxing match), and Andy DePaul became local celebrities because of the show's huge audience.
An elderly lady named Anna Buckalew, popularly known as Ringside Rosie, who always sat in the front row every Saturday, became well known.
Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer Pie Traynor later became part of the show as a commercial spokesman for the American Heating Company.
The ratings had declined because wrestling had lost popularity in Pittsburgh, with some Civic Arena shows drawing fewer than 3,000 fans.
Previously, Steele (real name: William James Meyers) had wrestled in his native Detroit in a mask as "The Student".
Killer Joe Abbey, real name Joseph Abbenante (who also wrestled as the masked Red Demon) Billy Darnell Jumping Johnny De Fazio Dominic DeNucci Frank "Slip Mahoney" Durso Ace Freeman (real name: Zoltan Friedman) Fred "The Tiger" Geiger Frank "Carnegie Cop" Holtz Bobby "Hurricane" Hunt Zivko Kovacic Tony "The Battman" Marino (wore a full Batman outfit taking off his cape when he wrestled) Chuck Martoni (later became mayor of a Pittsburgh suburb-Swissvale) Ron Mattucci Carlos Milano "Polish" Pat Atlas Bepo Mongol (real name: Josip Perusovic) (Nikolai Volkoff) Geeto Mongol Ron Romano Bruno Sammartino (WWWF champ.