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Billy Robinson
William Alfred Robinson (18 September 1938 – 3 March 2014) was a British professional wrestler and wrestling instructor. Robinson was one of the few wrestlers who was successful in several continents (Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania), winning titles in promotions nearly everywhere he wrestled. One of the leading practitioners of catch wrestling and a seven-time world champion, Robinson is considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, with legendary champion Lou Thesz once saying he was the greatest ever. Robinson was also well known in Japan where he trained mixed martial artists and professional wrestlers in catch wrestling. Professional wrestling career Early days in Europe Robinson began his amateur wrestling career in Britain in 1955. He was the British National Wrestling Champion in 1957, and in 1958 he was the European Open Wrestling Champion in the light heavyweight class, beating an Olympic bronze medal winner in the finals. Bill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two cities and the surrounding towns form one of the United Kingdom's most populous conurbations, the Greater Manchester Built-up Area, which has a population of 2.87 million. The history of Manchester began with the civilian settlement associated with the Roman fort ('' castra'') of ''Mamucium'' or ''Mancunium'', established in about AD 79 on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell. Historically part of Lancashire, areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated into Manchester in the 20th century, including Wythenshawe in 1931. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a manorial township, but began to expand "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century. Manchest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Thornley
Peter William Thornley (born 19 October 1941) is an English retired professional wrestler who was best known for the ring character Kendo Nagasaki. The character of Nagasaki was a Japanese samurai with a mysterious past and reputed powers of healing and hypnosis. He was one of the biggest draws of all time in British wrestling, especially in the mid-1970s and the turn of the 1980s – 1990s. Thornley wore a mask for most of his career, the one significant exception being several months following a December 1977 televised voluntary unmasking ceremony. He had originally retired in 1978 but returned to competition briefly in 1981 and then again from 1986 to 1993. Thereafter he made sporadic wrestling appearances. Thornley gave occasional interviews as Kendo Nagasaki, usually photographed fully masked or with his face hidden, and often speaking through a representative. The character's voice was never heard in public. His identity as the man behind Kendo Nagasaki was first reveale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Backlund
Robert Louis Backlund (born August 14, 1949) is an American retired amateur and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation from 1976 to 1984 and in the 1990s, where he held the WWWF Championship/WWF Championship on two occasions. His first reign was the second longest in history as recognised by the WWE. (Backlund lost the title to Antonio Inoki in Japan in 1979 but regained the belt within a week, and the WWF never acknowledged the title change in the USA) Backlund was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013. Backlund began his career in amateur wrestling, competing for the North Dakota State University Bison from the late 1960s to early 1970s. He began training as a professional wrestler in 1973 under Eddie Sharkey and competed for the American Wrestling Association. He then wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance and won the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship in 1976. Later that year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDown's Universal Championship. The current champion is Roman Reigns, who is in his fourth reign. As Reigns concurrently holds the Universal Championship, he presently defends the titles together across both brands as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, although both titles retain their individual lineages. The original world championship of the promotion, it was established by the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) on April 25, 1963, as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship, after the promotion seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The inaugural champion was Buddy Rogers. Since its inception, the title has undergone many name changes due to company name changes and title unifications. It is the oldest championsh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dino Bravo
Adolfo Bresciano (; August 6, 1948 – March 10, 1993) was an Italian-Canadian professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Dino Bravo (). After training under Gino Brito, he started his career in Montreal in the 1970s, working for Lutte Internationale. He became one of the top professional wrestling stars of Canada; winning several major titles including the Canadian International Heavyweight Championship six times, the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship ''(Toronto version)'', and the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship. He later signed with the World Wide Wrestling Federation, where as a partner to Dominic DeNucci he won the WWWF World Tag Team Championship. He was also the sole holder of the WWF Canadian Championship before the title was abandoned in 1986. After leaving professional wrestling, Bravo became involved in organized crime, allegedly working for the Cotroni crime family. He was killed in his home by multiple gunshots in March 1993, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as ''Fort Ville-Marie, Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill around which the early city of Ville-Marie is built. The city is centred on the Island of Montreal, which obtained its name from the same origin as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard. The city is east of the national capital Ottawa, and southwest of the provincial capital, Quebec City. As of 2021, the city had a population of 1,762,949, and a Census Metropolitan Area#Census metropolitan areas, metropolitan population of 4,291,732, making it the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest city, and List of cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Asner
Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' and its spin-off series ''Lou Grant'', making him one of the few television actors to portray the same character in both a comedy and a drama. Asner is the most honored male performer in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, having won seven – five for portraying Lou Grant (three as Supporting Actor in a Comedy Television Series on ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' and two as Lead Actor in a Dramatic Television Series on spin-off ''Lou Grant''. His other Emmys were for performances in two television miniseries: '' Rich Man, Poor Man'' (1976), for which he won the Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Performance in a television series award, and ''Roots'' (1977), for which he won the Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wrestler (1974 Film)
''The Wrestler'' is a 1974 independent film directed by Jim Westman, produced by professional wrestler Verne Gagne and W.R. Frank, starring Ed Asner as Frank Bass, a wrestling promoter. Verne Gagne also stars in the film as Mike Bullard, the current wrestling champion of his "league". After a long reign as champion, Bullard is getting older and feeling pressure from all sides, including his wife and wrestling promoters, to pass the championship to Billy Taylor and retire. Bullard's resistance to their requests that he step aside is the central conflict in the film. The film presents professional wrestling as a truly competitive sport, always maintaining the illusion that matches are a result of athletic combat and not pre-determined outcomes decided before the matches. At one point during the film, a number of wrestlers who had either died during a match or as a result of in-ring injuries are mentioned. That list of names was not fictional, but taken from the history of profession ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), becoming an independent territory in 1960. History Early years Anton Stecher, brother and manager of former World heavyweight champion Joe Stecher, was a founding member of the NWA in 1948 and had promoted wrestling in Minneapolis since 1933 through his Minneapolis Boxing and Wrestling Club. In 1952, he sold a one-third interest in the promotion to his son Dennis and Wally Karbo. Stecher died on October 9, 1954, and control of the promotion passed to Karbo and Dennis. Verne Gagne, an amateur wrestling champion, had become a well-known and popular wrestler nationally in the 1950s as a result of his appearances on the DuMont Network. He aspired to become NWA World Champion, but political sentiment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Verne Gagne
Laverne Clarence Gagne (February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer, and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling Association (AWA), the predominant promotion throughout the Midwest and Manitoba for many years. He remained in this position until 1991, when the company folded. As an amateur wrestler, Gagne won two NCAA titles and was an alternate for the U.S freestyle wrestling team at the 1948 Olympic Games before turning professional in 1949. Gagne was an 11-time world champion in major professional wrestling promotions, having held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship ten times and the IWA World Heavyweight Championship once as the IWA World Heavyweight Championship was considered a world championship in Japan. He has also won top professional wrestling promotions World Heavyweight Championships such as the World Heavyweight Championship (Oma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dory Funk Jr
Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American retired professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promoter of the Amarillo, Texas-based Western States Sports promotion. Funk held the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship once. He is the second-longest reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion of all time, holding it for over four years. Only Lou Thesz held it longer. He held the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship once and the CWA World Heavyweight Championship once. He is a 2009 WWE Hall of Fame inductee. He is working for All Japan Pro Wrestling as the Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) chairman and runs the Funking Conservatory, a List of professional wrestling terms#S, professional wrestling school. Overall in major professional wrestling promotions, he is a one-time Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world champion co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is in his first reign. Although formally established in 1948, its lineage has been traditionally traced back to the first World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, which traces its lineage to the title first awarded to George Hackenschmidt in 1905. This effectively makes it the oldest surviving wrestling championship in the world. The title began as a governing body's world championship and has been competed for in multiple major promotions around the world, including Capitol Wrestling Corporation (which seceded from the NWA and became World Wide Wrestling Federation, now WWE), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now Impact Wrestling), Ring of Honor (ROH), Combat Zone Wrestling ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
