Billy Darnell (February 25, 1926 – September 7, 2007) was an American professional wrestler and major star of the 1940s and 1950s, with his career spanning over twenty years with championships in the

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 ...

and World Wide Wrestling Federation.

Early life

Darnell was born in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

. At age 16, while working as a lifeguard in Wildwood, New Jersey, he was playfighting with co-workers when a

wrestling promoter A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view ...

spotted him and asked him to help with his roster, as many current ones were seeing action in World War II.

Career

His first match with later rival Buddy Rogers was in February 1944, tagging with him in Philadelphia and Baltimore-Washington. Darnell would himself leave wrestling for World War II service in December 1944, joining the United States Army.

Post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...

Darnell returned to wrestling in Texas, once more with Rogers, who had previously wrestled under his real name Herman Rohde. At the time he was becoming "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, and Darnell was booked as his brother Billy Rogers. This was largely in part to promoter and Rogers' booker Jack Pfefer, though Darnell himself has stated he wasn't sure if the idea for the brother gimmick was Rogers' or Pfefer's. Darnell and Rogers next went to California, with wrestling reaching new popularity thanks to television exposure. For the showmanship of it Rogers donned sequined capes, whereas Darnell first donned the

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

-skin outfit, for which he would become famous. Their careers would become forever intertwined when they began facing each other with Rogers as the

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

champion and Darnell becoming a heavy fan favorite. Promoters nationwide wanted the Rogers-Darnell match, with more than 200 matches occurring between them. Despite their history Rogers still crushed discs in Darnell's neck with a botched piledriver, though he himself accidentally knocked out some of Rogers' teeth. Les Thatcher has even stated that Darnell's matches with Rogers inspired him to enter the wrestling business. Darnell was also known for a well recognized team with Bill Melby, winning the Chicago version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship with him in 1953. In 1954, he worked with

Sam Muchnick Samuel Muchnick (born Jeshua Muchnick, August 22, 1905 – December 30, 1998) was an American professional wrestling promoter from St. Louis, Missouri. He is often regarded as wrestling's equivalent of Pete Rozelle (the forward-thinking commiss ...

in St. Louis and also booked for an Indiana promotion. In a televised match on 20 May 1961, Darnell beat Ali Pasha (Alexander Vieira Fontes) who died of a heart attack after being slammed down. He used his World War II G.I. Bill to attend aviation school and become a pilot, flying himself to his matches. He also ran a nightclub until 1985. Though Darnell retired in 1961, he would wrestle sparsely into the next year, then went to a chiropractic school in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

, finishing in Indiana. He would begin practicing in his home of New Jersey and moved to Florida for a period, getting back in touch with Rogers, before returning to New Jersey. Darnell regularly attended Cauliflower Alley Club reunions and received the Senator Hugh Farley Award from the Amsterdam, New York-based Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Darnell died on September 7, 2007, at his home in Maple Shade Township, New Jersey.

Championships and accomplishments

* Cauliflower Alley Club **Other honoree (

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

) *

**NWA World Tag Team Championship (Chicago & Indianapolis version) (2 times) - with Bill Melby **NWA World Tag Team Championship (Los Angeles version) (1 time) - with Sandor Szabo *Midwest Wrestling Association **Ohio Heavyweight Championship (2 times) **Ohio Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Rocco Columbo * Worldwide Wrestling Associates ** WWA International Television Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Sandor Szabo * Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum **2007 Senator Hugh Farley Award recipient *Other Titles **World Heavyweight Championship ''(Jack Pfeffer version)''

References

External links

Profile
at SLAM! Sports

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darnell, Billy 1926 births 2007 deaths American chiropractors American male professional wrestlers United States Army personnel of World War II Businesspeople from New Jersey Sportspeople from Camden, New Jersey People from Maple Shade Township, New Jersey Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum United States Army soldiers 20th-century American businesspeople