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NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and is defended in the US state of Hawaii. The title, which is still currently defended, began in 1935. From February 1940 through 1942 the title was known as the Hawaii Junior Heavyweight Championship. Currently, the title is defended in the NWA affiliated promotion, Island Xtreme Wrestling Federation. Previously it was in 50th State Big Time Wrestling and Polynesian Wrestling. Title history See also *National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ... References External linksWrestling-Titles.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Nwa Hawaii Heavyweight Championship 50th State Big Time Wrestling championships National Wrestling Allianc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
50th State Big Time Wrestling
50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Hawaii. The promotion was founded by Al Karasick in 1936 and became a member of the National Wrestling Alliance in 1949. In 1961, Karasick sold the promotion to "Gentleman" Ed Francis. Along with his business partner Lord James Blears, Francis created a "golden age" of professional wrestling in Hawaii that lasted throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, with ''50th State Big Time Wrestling'' becoming one of Hawaii's most-watched programs. The promotion came to an end in 1979 when Francis sold his interest to Steve Rickard. History Mid-Pacific Promotions was founded in 1936 by Russian emigrant Al Karasick. Assisted by booker Bobby Bruns, Karasick staged weekly shows in Honolulu's Civic Auditorium, which he managed. Thanks to Hawaii's tropical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick Hutton
Richard Heron Avis Hutton (October 4, 1923 – November 24, 2003) was an American amateur and professional wrestler. He was a three-time NCAA champion and, as a professional, held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, making him a one-time world champion in professional wrestling. Early life Hutton was born in Amarillo, Texas to Bailey and Gladys Hutton. He had one brother, Jerald Hutton. He moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma where he became a two-time state finalist for Daniel Webster High School. later on Dick joined the army and was a veteran of World War II. He attended Oklahoma A&M. While at Oklahoma A&M he was the NCAA wrestling champion three times, in 1947, 1948 and 1950 (In 1949 he lost in the finals to Verne Gagne, future professional wrestler). Also while at Oklahoma A&M, he went to the 1948 Olympic Games. He came 7th in Freestyle wrestling. Professional wrestling career Hutton made his debut in 1952, in a loss against Bill Longson. Hutton left Tulsa, as it was primaril ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pampero Firpo
Juan Kachmanian (April 6, 1930 – January 9, 2020) was an Argentine-American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Pampero Firpo. Early life Kachmanian was born on April 6, 1930, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His parents were of Armenian descent and born in Turkey. His father was sent to Greece in an orphanage run by the British Red Cross. The Pampero Firpo name was appealing to Kachmanian as his father was a 'real shooter' and was a contender for the Olympics. Firpo's father later moved from Greece to Lebanon and then to Argentina, where he became a local boxing promoter. Professional wrestling career Having been trained by Rudy Dusek, he made his debut in 1953 and wrestled variously as Ervan the Armenian, Ivan the Terrible, The Missing Link, The Great Pampero and the Wild Bull of the Pampas, as well as his most famous alter-ego of Pampero Firpo. Boxing great Jack Dempsey gave him the name "Pampero Firpo." Until then he had been wrestling as Ivan The Terrible. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luke Graham (wrestler)
James Grady Johnson (February 5, 1940 to June 23, 2006) was an American professional wrestler, best known by his ring name, "Crazy" Luke Graham. As Luke Graham, Johnson was part of the Graham family, a stable of wrestlers. All members were billed as kayfabe brothers. He worked extensively for various National Wrestling Alliance territories as well as the World Wide Wrestling Federation, where he was a three-time tag-team champion and the inaugural WWWF World Tag Team Champion (alongside Tarzan Tyler). Professional wrestling career Johnson made his debut in 1961 in National Wrestling Alliance's Mid-America territory. He began his career as the Kayfabe brother of Dr. Jerry Graham after fellow wrestler Frankie Cain (The Great Mephisto) suggested that they resembled each other. They began wrestling together in 1963 in Stampede Wrestling. Starting that summer, Graham would go on to have a series of matches against Chief Big Heart. Beginning in 1964 he started wrestling for the W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Klondike Bill
William Soloweyko (December 1, 1931 – October 3, 2000), better known by his ring name Klondike Bill, was a Canadian professional wrestler. Trained by Stu Hart in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he wrestled in various National Wrestling Alliance territories throughout the 1960s and 1970s, before moving onto World Championship Wrestling. Professional wrestling career Bill was trained by Stu Hart in the famous Hart Dungeon, Dungeon in Calgary. He began his career wrestling as Bill "The Brute" Soloweyko in Hart's local promotion, Stampede Wrestling before moving on to other territories. During his career he formed various tag teams with wrestlers such as Whipper Billy Watson and Skull Murphy. He performed in WWWF in 1964. Under the name Klondike Bill, he was hired by Jim Crockett during the 1970s to build guard rails and rings for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, and was also a road agent for World Championship Wrestling. During the late 1990s, Bill was involved in a storyline that s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch Savage
Frank Stewart (June 9, 1935 – August 3, 2013) was an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter, best known for his time spent competing in Pacific Northwest Wrestling under the ring name Dutch Savage. Career Savage made his pro debut in 1962 in Macon, Georgia using the ring name Lonnie Brown, then spent the next few years competing across North America, in Hawaii and in Japan (going by the ring names Mr. X and Dutch Schultz). Savage first began using his most famous ring name during a stint in the Heart of America Sports Attractions, Kansas City territory. He eventually settled in the Pacific Northwest region in 1966, splitting his time between PNW in Portland, Oregon, Portland and NWA All Star Wrestling in Vancouver, British Columbia. Savage also had a brief stint in the AWA territory where he formed a solid tag team with Hard Boiled Haggerty. However, when a trip to Japan was offered, Dutch opted to leave the AWA after only a few months. His most memorable match ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luther Lindsay
Luther Jacob Goodall (December 30, 1924 – February 21, 1972) was an American professional football player and wrestler, known by his ringname Luther Lindsay or Lindsey, who competed throughout the United States with the National Wrestling Alliance as well as international promotions such as All Japan Pro Wrestling, Joint Promotions and Stampede Wrestling. One of the first African American wrestlers to become a major star, he was extremely popular in the Pacific Northwest and Mid-Atlantic territory. A frequent rival and tag team partner of Shag Thomas, he also teamed with Bearcat Wright, Nick Bockwinkel, Pepper Gomez and was involved in feuds with "Iron" Mike DiBiase, Mad Dog Vachon, Beauregarde, Moondog Mayne, Tony Borne and Pat Patterson and The Hangman. For much of the early 1950s and '60s, Lindsay was billed as the U.S. Colored (or Negro) Heavyweight Champion and took part in the first interracial professional wrestling matches held in the United States. Between 195 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene Kiniski
Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he billed himself for promotional purposes, was born in Edmonton, Alberta.National Wrestling Alliance, The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling, p. 211, Tim Hornbaker, ECW Press, 2007, Like Bronko Nagurski before him, Kiniski was one of the first world champions in professional wrestling to have a previous background in football. He is the father of professional wrestler Kelly Kiniski and international amateur and professional wrestler Nick Kiniski. Early life One of six children of local politician Julia Kiniski (and her husband Nicholas), Gene Kiniski grew up in Edmonton. At the age of seventeen, he was over six feet tall. Kiniski wrestled and played football at St. Joseph's High School. In March 1947, he entered the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hard Boiled Haggerty
Don Stansauk (April 2, 1925 – January 27, 2004) was an American professional wrestler and actor, known by his ring name, Hard Boiled Haggerty. He was previously a professional American football player, and became a successful character actor after his wrestling career. Career After attending Pasadena City College and the University of Denver, Stansauk was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the eighteenth round of the National Football League entry draft in 1950. He played defensive tackle and, after a season with the Lions, was traded to the Green Bay Packers. Over the next two seasons, Stansauk played in 15 games and recovered two fumbles. Haggerty served in the U.S. Navy on the battleship the USS ''New Jersey'' during World War II. '' |
Gene LeBell
Ivan “Judo” Gene LeBell (October 9, 1932 – August 9, 2022) was an American martial artist, stunt performer, actor, and professional wrestler. Nicknamed "The Godfather of Grappling", he popularized grappling in professional fighting circles, serving as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. He worked on over 1,000 films and TV shows and authored 12 books. In 2000, the United States Ju-Jitsu Federation (USJJF) promoted LeBell to 9th dan in jujitsu and taihojutsu. On August 7, 2004, the World Martial Arts Masters Association promoted him to 10th degree. In February 2005, the USJJF made him 9th dan in judo. LeBell has been reported as the inspiration for the character of Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) in Quentin Tarantino's ''Once Upon a Time in Hollywood''. However, Tarantino disputes this claim. Early life Ivan Gene LeBell was born in Los Angeles, California. He started training in catch wrestling and boxing from his early childhood, influenced by his mother, "Red Head" Ai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord James Blears
Lord Blears (born James Ranicar Blears, August 13, 1923 – March 3, 2016) was a British-American professional wrestler, ring announcer, promoter, actor, mariner, and surfing personality. Early life Blears was born in Tyldesley, Lancashire, England in the United Kingdom on August 13, 1923. An accomplished swimmer in school, he was selected for the British swimming team for the 1940 Summer Olympics but was unable to compete due to World War II. Merchant navy career Blears enlisted in the Merchant Navy in 1940 during World War II, with his knowledge of Morse code leading to him being made a radio officer. Whilst serving as second wireless operator on board the ''SS Tjisalak'', a Dutch merchant ship, his ship was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine ''I-8'' on March 26, 1944 during a voyage from Melbourne, Australia to Colombo, Ceylon. The survivors were taken prisoner by the Japanese and the majority were summarily executed by beheading. Blears managed to escape by leaping i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Curtis Iaukea
Curtis Piehau Iaukea III (September 15, 1937 – December 4, 2010) was an American professional wrestler better known as King Curtis Iaukea. Iaukea won championships in several of the major regional U.S. promotions, both as a single and in various tag team combinations, during the 1960s. He then competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) where he won the WWF Tag Team Championship with Baron Scicluna. He was also later The Master of the Dungeon of Doom in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Under the name "Iau Kea" he appeared in the film ''The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze'' with Moe Howard declaring "That's not a man! That's a committee!". Early life He was the great grandson of Colonel Curtis P. Iaukea, a royal chamberlain and diplomat to the court of King Kalākaua and Queen Liliuokalani and son of Honolulu Police Department Inspector Curtis Iaukea II. He attended Punahou School and the University of California Berkeley as an economics major where he let ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
