|
Wrestling Superstars
''Wrestling Superstars'' were the first action figures based on the wrestlers of the WWF. Wrestling action figures were the brainchild of Richard Derwald of Buffalo NY who sold the idea to LJN in the summer of 1984. (Video in references). They were made by the toy and video game company LJN from 1984 to 1989. The figures were made of solid rubber and paint and were very accurate in appearance to their real life counterparts. LJN closed its toy division in 1989, canceling the ''Wrestling Superstars'' line with it. The last six figures produced were only distributed by Grand Toys of Canada making them rarer than most of the other figures. The line was restarted in 2021 by Jazwares, which produced an action figure of Cody Rhodes with LJN branding for All Elite Wrestling. Wrestling Superstars figures for AEW wrestlers Darby Allin and CM Punk have also been announced for 2022. 8" Series The 8" series was the main line in the Wrestling Superstars collection. Each superstar came with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Junkyard Dog
Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as the Junkyard Dog (or JYD), a nickname he received while working in a wrecking yard. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004. Entering the ring with his trademark chain attached to a dog collar, to the music of Queen's " Another One Bites the Dust," JYD often headlined cards that drew large crowds and regularly sold out the Louisiana Superdome and other major venues, becoming "the first black wrestler to be made the undisputed top star of his promotion". WWE author Brian Shields called Junkyard Dog one of the most electrifying and charismatic wrestlers in the country, particularly during his peak in the early 1980s. JYD was most known for his headbutt and upper body strength, the latter of which saw him regularly bodyslam such large wrestlers as the One Man Gan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Davey Boy Smith
David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Lancashire, Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Boy Smith and The British Bulldog. He was trained by Ted Betley in Winwick, England before relocating to Calgary, Alberta, Canada to further his training under Stu Hart. While training with Hart, Smith met Stu and Helen Hart's youngest daughter Diana, whom he married on 7 October 1984. Their son Harry is also an accomplished professional wrestler who wrestled and won tag-team gold in WWE NJPW, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Smith won titles within the WWE in three decades, from the 1980s to the 2000s. He headlined multiple pay-per-view events for the WWF and WCW, which included matches for the WWF and WCW world heavyweight championships. Smith also defeated his real-life brother-in-law Bret Hart for the WWF Intercontinental Championship in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corporal Kirchner
Michael James Penzel (September 7, 1957 – December 22, 2021) was an American professional wrestler and United States Army paratrooper. He was best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Corporal Kirchner in the mid-1980s, as well as his appearances in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, W*ING, International Wrestling Association Japan, and Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling under the ring name Leatherface. Early life Penzel was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 7, 1957. He enlisted in the United States Army as a teenager, becoming a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. He left the Army in his early twenties. Professional wrestling career Early career (1980–1984) While working as a mechanic and bouncer in Minnesota, Penzel met professional wrestler Hulk Hogan in a gym. Hogan introduced him to American Wrestling Association promoter Verne Gagne, who sent him to his professional wrestling school. World Wrestling Federa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freddie Blassie
Frederick Kenneth Blassman (February 8, 1918 – June 2, 2003) was an American professional wrestler and manager, known by the ring name "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Renowned as "The Hollywood Fashion Plate","Classy" Freddie Blassie with Keith Elliot Greenberg, ''Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks'', (WWE Books, 2003). he was a one-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, and was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1994. He is regarded as one of the greatest wrestling heels, or villains, of all time. Early life Blassie was born Frederick Kenneth Blassman in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1918. His parents, Anna (née Sind) and Jacob Blassman, were German immigrants who arrived in the United States prior to World War I. Frederick was an only child, which he claimed was because he weighed 15 pounds when he was born and his mother didn't want to go through childbirth again. His father was abusive and an alcoholic, and Frederick often had to take refuge with his grandparents whenever Jacob w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lou Albano
Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name "Captain" Lou Albano. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969 before becoming a manager until 1995. Over the course of his 42-year career, Albano guided 15 different tag teams and three singles competitors to championship gold. Albano was one of the "Triumvirate of Terror", a threesome of nefarious WWF managers which included The Grand Wizard of Wrestling and Freddie Blassie. The trio was a fixture in the company for a decade until The Grand Wizard's death in 1983. A unique showman, with an elongated beard, rubber band, facial piercings, and loud outfits, Albano was the forefather of the 1980s Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection. Collaborating with Cyndi Lauper, Albano helped usher in wrestling's crossover success with a mainstream audience. Capitalizing on his success, he later ventured into Hollywo ... [...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 headl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis Heenan (November 1, 1944 – September 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestling manager, color commentator, wrestler, and comedian. He performed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Heenan was known for his skill in elevating villainous on-screen talent by drawing negative reactions for himself and his wrestlers from the crowd. He was paired with numerous wrestlers, including Nick Bockwinkel, whom he led to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, and he became an integral figure in the 1980s professional wrestling boom by managing King Kong Bundy and André the Giant in WWF main event matches with Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 2 and WrestleMania III respectively. The wrestlers under his tutelage were collectively known as "The Heenan Family" at various times throughout his career. Known for his quick wit and comed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Orndorff
Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. (October 29, 1949 – July 12, 2021), nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). After seven years working around the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), Orndorff became a star in the 1980s WWF wrestling boom, and featured with manager Bobby Heenan and champion Hulk Hogan extensively, including in the main events of the first WrestleMania and Survivor Series. With an untreated neck injury, he left the WWF for WCW in early 1990, where he won the WCW World Television Championship and the WCW World Tag Team Championship with Paul Roma (as a team called Pretty Wonderful). Arm atrophy from a nagging injury led him to retire in 2000 and he was treated for cancer in 2011. After retiring, he trained aspiring wrestlers. Orndorff was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and the National Wrestli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Kong Bundy
Christopher Alan Pallies (November 7, 1955 – March 5, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, actor and stand-up comedian, better known by his wrestling gimmick and ring name, King Kong Bundy. Under this gimmick, he portrayed a pugnacious, trash-talking villain character. He appeared in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s and wrestled in the main event of WrestleMania 2 in 1986, facing Hulk Hogan in a steel cage match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. He also headlined the inaugural Survivor Series in 1987, as well as the first edition of Extreme Championship Wrestling's flagship event, November to Remember, in 1993. Early life Christopher Alan Pallies was born in Woodbury, New Jersey, on November 7, 1955, to Donald Pallies, a railroad freight agent, and Margret (McCarthy) Pallies, a department store clerk. He attended Washington Township High School in Sewell, New Jersey, graduating in 1973. He had two sisters and three brother ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greg Valentine
Jonathan Anthony Wisniski (born September 20, 1951) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine. Over five decades, Valentine held more than 40 championships, including the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, NWA World Tag Team Championship, and WWF World Tag Team Championship. An alumnus of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2004 and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. Early life Born in Seattle, Washington, Wisniski traveled around Texas in his teens with his father; Johnny Valentine. During a summer vacation, he decided to drop out of college and become a wrestler. His father initially tried to deter him, but eventually ceded to his wishes and sent him to Canada in 1970 to train under Stu Hart in Calgary. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Steele
William James Myers (April 16, 1937 – February 16, 2017), better known by his ring name George "The Animal" Steele, was an American professional wrestler, school teacher, author, and actor. His career lasted from 1967 until 1988, though he made occasional wrestling appearances into the 1990s and 2000s. Steele was known around the world as a professional wrestler for the WWE (then known as the WWF) and portrayed Swedish wrestler and actor Tor Johnson in Tim Burton's film ''Ed Wood. Early life Myers was born in Detroit on April 16, 1937, and was raised in Madison Heights, Michigan. During high school, he found success in track, baseball, basketball, and football. In 1956, Myers entered Michigan State University as a football player for the Michigan State Spartans, but his career as a football player was immediately cut short as a result of knee problems. In 1961, he was with the Grand Rapids Blazers ( UFL). After earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State Universi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
