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Tiger Jeet Singh
Jagjeet Singh Hans (born April 3, 1944) is an Indo-Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He was known for his elaborate ring entrances, and generally performed as a heel. He wrestled in Japan for 22 years and was the first professional wrestler in Japan to defeat sumo wrestler Wajima Hiroshi. He held Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling's World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship and headlined the company's flagship event Anniversary Show in 1992. Professional wrestling career Early career (1965-1972) In the 1960s, Hans began wrestling and emigrated from his hometown in Punjab to Canada, arriving with $6 in his pocket. Hans trained in Toronto under Fred Atkins and eventually signed with Frank Tunney, a Toronto wrestling promoter. Atkins dubbed Hans "Tiger" after witnessing his ferocious style of fighting. Tiger made his Maple Leaf Gardens debut in 1965, wrestling as a heel. His first main event in Toronto was a tag team match ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorling Kindersley
Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including DK Eyewitness travel), history, geography, science, space, nature, sports, gardening, cookery and parenting. The worldwide co-CEOs of DK is Paul Kelly and Rebecca Smart. DK has offices in New York, Melbourne, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto, Madrid, Beijing, and Jiangmen. DK works with licensing partners such as Disney, LEGO, DC Comics, the Royal Horticultural Society, MasterChef, and the Smithsonian Institution. DK has commissioned Mary Berry, Monty Don, Robert Winston, Huw Richards, and Steve Mould for a range of books. History DK was founded in 1974 by Christopher Dorling and Peter Kindersley in London as a bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has since been reconstructed for other uses. Today, Maple Leaf Gardens is a multi-purpose facility, with Loblaws occupying retail space on the lower floors and an arena for Toronto Metropolitan University, known as Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Gardens, occupying the top level. Considered one of the "cathedrals" of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League from 1931 to 1999. The Leafs won the Stanley Cup 11 times from 1932 to 1967 while playing at the Gardens. The first NHL All-Star Game, albeit an unofficial one, was held at the Gardens in 1934 as a benefit for Leafs forward Ace Bailey, who had suffered a career-ending head injury. The first official annual National Hockey League All-Star Game was also he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Farhat
Edward George Farhat (June 7, 1926 – January 18, 2003) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name The Sheik (often called The Original Sheik to distinguish him from The Iron Sheik, who debuted in 1972). Farhat is credited as one of the originators of the hardcore wrestling style. He was also the promoter of Big Time Wrestling, and the uncle of ECW wrestler Sabu. Farhat promoted his shows at Cobo Hall in Detroit and was the booker for Frank Tunney's shows at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto from 1971 to 1977. Early life Edward George Farhat was born one of ten children in Lansing, Michigan, on June 7, 1926, to Lebanese immigrants. Unlike most of his older brothers, he did not attend college as myth says. His older brother Edmund did, which is where the confusion usually takes place. Edward quit school in the eighth grade and worked during the depression. He falsified his birth certificate in order to join the Army (possibly using his older brothe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bull Curry
Fred Thomas Koury Sr. (May 2, 1913 – March 8, 1985) was an American of Lebanon, Lebanese descent who was best known as a Professional wrestling, professional wrestler under the name ”Wild Bull” Curry. He is recognized as the originator of the Hardcore wrestling, hardcore style predating legends such as Ed Farhat, The Sheik, Abdullah the Butcher, and Bruiser Brody. Curry's tumultuous career spanned five decades of in-ring action. Career Early career At the age of sixteen Curry joined the circus in order to help provide for his four brothers and sisters. His job at the circus was that of the “tough man” who took on all comers from the audience in a fight. He had 65 straight wins without anyone going past one 5-minute round. Then, in his twenties, Curry became a policeman in his hometown of Hartford, Connecticut, where he put his “tough man” background to good use in the streets, quickly earning him a reputation for toughness. It has been claimed that on one occasion a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WWE 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 champ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship (WWWF Heavyweight Championship during his second reign) for more than 11 years (4,040 days) across two reigns, the first of which is the longest single reign in the promotion's history at 2,803 days. He is overall a two-time world champion in professional wrestling. Dubbed "The Italian Strongman" and "The Strongest Man in the World" early in his career, Sammartino later earned the title "The Living Legend". Known for his powerful bearhug finishing move, he is widely regarded as the greatest professional wrestler of all time. Sammartino became a vocal critic of the drug use and raunchier storylines that became prevalent in the professional wrestling industry after his retirement but he reconciled with WWE in 2013 and he ... [...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] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Valentine
John Theodore Wisniski (September 22, 1928 – April 24, 2001), better known by his ring name Johnny Valentine, was an American professional wrestler with a career spanning almost three decades. He has been inducted into four halls of fame for his achievements in wrestling. Wisniski is the father of professional wrestler Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He held numerous regional titles, including the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. He had long running rivalries with Bobo Brazil, Pat O'Connor, Buddy Rogers, Antonio Rocca, Lou Thesz, Harley Race, The Sheik, Wahoo McDaniel, Fritz von Erich, Bruno Sammartino, Johnny Powers, Antonio Inoki and Jack & Jerry Brisco. He alternated between being a villain and a hero (babyface) during the Golden Era in the 1940s through 1960s of wrestling. In 1975, he was injured in a plane crash; he suffered a broken back and was forced to retire from wrestling. He worked briefly as a manager before retiring altogether. He suffered from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hans Schmidt (wrestler)
Guy Larose (February 7, 1925 – May 26, 2012), better known by his ring name of Hans Schmidt, was a Canadian professional wrestler famous in the 1950s and 1960s. Wrestling career Larose used a background in amateur wrestling to break into the pro business after World War II, wrestling as a babyface under his own name with modest success early on. Then in 1951 the Boston-area promoter Paul Bowser, who thought the tall, naturally balding Franco- Québécois looked like a German, renamed him Hans Schmidt. Playing the character of an 'evil German', Schmidt became one of the first great heels of televised wrestling in the 1950s, drawing the hatred of fans as he battled their American babyface heroes of the squared circle. In the 1998 A&E documentary '' The Unreal Story of Professional Wrestling'', Hans Schmidt was labeled "the classic foreign villain" - tapping into lingering anti-German sentiment in America following World War II, Schmidt was a forerunner of many other wrestli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
André The Giant
André René Roussimoff (; 19 May 1946 – 28 January 1993), better known by his ring name André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. Roussimoff was known for his great size, which was a result of gigantism caused by excess growth hormone. It also led to him being called "The Eighth Wonder of the World". Beginning his career in 1966, Roussimoff relocated to North America in 1971. From 1973 to the mid-1980s, Roussimoff was booked by World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) promoter Vincent J. McMahon as a roving "special attraction" who wrestled for promotions throughout the United States, as well as in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. During the 1980s wrestling boom, Roussimoff became a mainstay of the WWWF (by then renamed the World Wrestling Federation), being paired with the villainous manager Bobby Heenan and feuding with Hulk Hogan. The two headlined WrestleMania III in 1987, and in 1988, he defeated Hogan to win the WWF Championship, his sole ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whipper Billy Watson
William John Potts, (June 25, 1915 to February 4, 1990) was a Canadian professional wrestler best known by his ring name "Whipper" Billy Watson. He was a two-time world champion, having held both the National Wrestling Association title and the National Wrestling Alliance title. Early life Watson was born in 1915 in East York, Ontario (now part of Toronto) to an English-born father, John Potts and a Canadian-born mother, Alice Mary Wilken. Watson began wrestling in Toronto under his real name. He was a member of the Scarborough Athletic Club in the mid-1930s and was wrestling on what were billed as amateur wrestling shows in Toronto. Professional wrestling career Exposure to wrestling For four years as a teenager, Watson sold the '' Toronto Daily Star'' at the corner of Danforth and Dawes Road. He was convinced by his brother George to play hooky from piano lessons one Saturday to attend a wrestling session at the All Hallows Anglican Church gymnasium. The event changed Wat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
