Chicago Lives by The Chicago Tribune

Author:The Chicago Tribune [Janega, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Triumph Books
Published: 2012-09-20T05:00:00+00:00

Sports promoter Ben Bentley’s namesake is the Chicago Bulls mascot Benny the Bull.

Sunday, November 3, 2002

Edward “Moose” Cholak, Seventy-Two; Crowd Favorite on Pro Wrestling Circuit

By Rudolph Bush, Tribune Staff Reporter

In the old Marigold Arena on Chicago’s North Side, the long, low calls would

begin even before Edward Cholak entered the ring.

“Moooose. Moooose,” the crowd called, until Cholak, a giant of a man at 6′4ʺ and nearly 400 pounds, emerged, often with a real moose head propped on his shoulders.

He was known as Moose Cholak throughout a professional wrestling career that spanned four decades and took him across America. He also worked for many years as an engineer for the City of Chicago.

Cholak, seventy-two, of Chicago, died of complications from a stroke Thursday, October 31, in St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Center in Hammond, Indiana.

He was born and raised on Chicago’s Southeast Side, where his parents ran a tavern. Large and strong even as a youth, he was an all-city wrestler at Chicago Vocational High School, and he played football for a year at the University of Wisconsin before leaving to join the navy during the Korean War. Cholak received engineering training while in the service.

When he returned to Chicago in 1952, Cholak was recruited by wrestling promoter Chief Don Eagle to join the pro circuit.

Though a far cry from the outrageous antics that make up televised wrestling today, professional wrestling in those days was a show, and the wrestlers knew they were the players.

“The crowds wouldn’t come just to see somebody wrestle somebody else on the mat,” said Cholak’s wife of forty-five years, Arlene.

And in those early days, Cholak always guaranteed a good time, donning his moose head and giving his moose call before grappling with an opponent.

Though he was well known on the U.S. circuit and went to Japan several times to wrestle, the pay didn’t match his celebrity.

In the mid-1970s, Cholak joined the city’s Streets and Sanitation Department, for which he worked until 1996, overseeing crews involved in street projects.

Until the mid-1980s, Cholak continued to wrestle.

Toward the end of his career, he weighed more than 400 pounds and his knees gave him trouble. Still, he loved the life under the lights and hearing the crowd rumble his name.

“Everybody called it out. He was very, very popular,” his wife said.

Other survivors include a daughter, Kathleen, and a son, Steven.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.