Regis Siki
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September 29, 1931 - Davenport Daily Times
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This was originally posted in our Facebook Group as part of a series called Grappling With Color for Black History Month.
Reginald "Regis" Siki, born during 1899 in Kansas City, Missouri, as Reginald Berry. Though the true origin of his pro-wrestling entry is not known, but he was active in America in 1923 and possibly before. He was wrestling in Europe at the age of 25 by 1924. From the beginning he was billed as being Abyssinian.
A huge star in Greece, mostly due to the fact that being black was sort of an attraction at the time. Although a major attraction gauging his drawing ability is intriguing. He wrestled on cards that were mainly part of a tournament so numbers really were not recorded. But I do have a few figures:
Versus Dan Koloff on July 7, 1935 (that drew 20,000 spectators).
Versus Dan Koloff on August 25, 1935 (that drew between 25,000 to 30,000 spectators).
Both matches against Koloff were located in Bulgaria. The second bout was the largest gate ever at the time. On July 25, 1937 in Athens he wrestled Joe Campbell on a card headlined by Jim Landos versus Johannes van der Walt. There had been stories he had been wrestling in Europe, but was imprisoned by the Nazis in Paris, France.
In the Chicago Defender (1939) it was said that he joined a Jewish Church. It was said that once the war was over he came back to the states via "Gipsholm" and landed in New York City. Other reports stated he was seen all over Spain. Who really knows. Weirdly enough he converted to Islam and took the name, Kemal Adbul Rahman.
He wrestled into the 1940's here in the USA. He passed away on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1948 at the age of 49 in Los Angeles, California.
A huge star in Greece, mostly due to the fact that being black was sort of an attraction at the time. Although a major attraction gauging his drawing ability is intriguing. He wrestled on cards that were mainly part of a tournament so numbers really were not recorded. But I do have a few figures:
Versus Dan Koloff on July 7, 1935 (that drew 20,000 spectators).
Versus Dan Koloff on August 25, 1935 (that drew between 25,000 to 30,000 spectators).
Both matches against Koloff were located in Bulgaria. The second bout was the largest gate ever at the time. On July 25, 1937 in Athens he wrestled Joe Campbell on a card headlined by Jim Landos versus Johannes van der Walt. There had been stories he had been wrestling in Europe, but was imprisoned by the Nazis in Paris, France.
In the Chicago Defender (1939) it was said that he joined a Jewish Church. It was said that once the war was over he came back to the states via "Gipsholm" and landed in New York City. Other reports stated he was seen all over Spain. Who really knows. Weirdly enough he converted to Islam and took the name, Kemal Adbul Rahman.
He wrestled into the 1940's here in the USA. He passed away on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1948 at the age of 49 in Los Angeles, California.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Biography of Regis Siki.
Author: John Hubert Williams (Dantethescrub_ on InstaGram), with notes from Mark Hewitt.
Published: October 27, 2019.
Biography: #187.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.