Billy Leon McCrary (December 7, 1946 – July 14, 1979) and Benny Loyd McCrary (December 7, 1946 – March 26, 2001), known together as The McGuire Twins, were American
professional wrestlers
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
listed in the ''
Guinness Book of World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' as the "World's Heaviest Twins" ( and , respectively).
Stage careers
Born in
Hendersonville, North Carolina
Hendersonville is a city in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. It is south of Asheville and is the county seat of Henderson County. Like the county, the city is named for 19th-century North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leona ...
, the twins began using the
stage name
A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
McGuire, as it was easier for ring announcers to pronounce; they gained popularity as
tag team
Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...
wrestlers
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...
and in
carnival
Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...
stunt shows.
In wrestling
The twins often used a finishing move called the "Tupelo Splash", which involved one of the twins diving belly-first onto a prone opponent; they would follow this with "The Steamroller", where the twin would roll back and forward over the opponent.
Deaths
Billy McCrary died on July 14, 1979, at the age of 32, following a
motorcycle accident in
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...
en route to a ''
Ripley's Believe It or Not!
''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' feat ...
'' museum.
Benny lived for almost 22 more years, until his death at age 54 on March 26, 2001 of
heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
.
Always close, the brothers are buried side by side in a graveyard near
Hendersonville. Their gravestone displays images of two Honda motorcycles and is inscribed "World’s Largest Twins".
See also
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List of the heaviest people
This is a list of the heaviest people who have been weighed and verified, living and dead. The list is organised by the peak weight reached by an individual and is limited to those who are over .
Heaviest people ever recorded
See also
* ...
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List of premature professional wrestling deaths
According to a 2014 study by Eastern Michigan University examining professional wrestlers who were active between 1985 and 2011, mortality rates for professional wrestlers are up to 2.9 times greater than the rate for men in the wider United States ...
*
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...
References
External links
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1946 births
1979 deaths
2001 deaths
American male professional wrestlers
Independent promotions teams and stables
World record holders
New Japan Pro-Wrestling teams and stables
People from Hendersonville, North Carolina
Professional wrestlers from North Carolina
American twins
Stampede Wrestling alumni
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