Sam Muchnick

Sam Muchnick (August 22, 1905 - December 30, 1998) was an American professional wrestling promoter from St. Louis, Missouri. He was instrumental in formation of the National Wrestling Alliance, and its president from 1950 to 1960 and from 1963 to 1975. He operated the St. Louis Wrestling Club, one of the primary members of the NWA.

Born in 1905 in the Ukraine to a jewish family, Muchnick moved to the United States in 1911. He was a sportswriter before getting involved with wrestling, including reporting on the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. Muchnick produced the television program Wrestling at the Chase on KPLR-TV, which ran from May 23, 1959 to September 10, 1983. There were approximately 1,100 episodes made during that time span. In addition, Muchnick served as director of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1950 to 1977, then the sport's most powerful body. He is considered by many to be the Pete Rozelle of professional wrestling.


 * Member of the NWA Hall of Fame (inducted in 2005)