Chris Markoff is a Yugoslav-American retired

professional wrestler 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 ...

. He is best known for his appearances with

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

s in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

in the 1960s.

Early life

Markoff was born in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

and raised in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

in the United States.

Professional wrestling career

Markoff began his career in the Minneapolis-based

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

in the mid-1960s. Managed by Professor Steve Druk, he feuded with The Crusher. He became AWA World Tag Team Champion with

Harley Race Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federati ...

in January 1967 after Race's original partner, Larry Hennig, sustained a broken leg. Their reign ended in November 1967 when they were defeated by Pat O'Connor and Wilbur Snyder. In the mid-1960s, Markoff began wrestling for the Indianapolis,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

-based World Wrestling Association, where he formed a

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 ...

with

Angelo Poffo Angelo John Poffo (April 10, 1925 – March 4, 2010) was an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. He ran International Championship Wrestling for a number of years, holding cards in Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas. He was t ...

called "The Devil's Duo". Markoff and Poffo won the WWA World Tag Team Championship in 1966 and again in 1967. In the late-1960s, Markoff began competing for

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to a ...

. He won the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship in 1969 and again in 1972. In 1969, Markoff wrestled for the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

-based promotion NWA Hollywood Wrestling. Over the course of the year, he won the

NWA Americas Tag Team Championship The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling based out of Los Angeles, California. The championship began as the WWA World Tag Team Championship ...

with Bronko Lubich, the NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship, and the NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship ''(Los Angeles version)'' three times. In 1972, Markoff toured Japan with the

Japan Wrestling Association The was the first professional wrestling promotion to be based in Japan. It operated from 1953 to 1973. History JWA under Rikidōzan (1953–1963) Rikidōzan, a former ''rikishi'' ( sumo wrestling practitioner) who had debuted as a Western- ...

, wrestling a series of matches against Apache Bull Ramos. Antagonism between Markoff and Ramos resulted in a legitimate brawl in a restaurant during which Ramos bit off part of Markoff's ear and Markoff bit off the tip of Ramos' finger. In 1978, Markoff wrestled in New Zealand for All Star Pro Wrestling, briefly holding the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship. In the same year, he wrestled in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

for 50th State Big Time Wrestling, holding the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship with Steve Strong. In 1981, Markoff joined the

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

-based

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promo ...

, where he formed a tag team with

Nikolai Volkoff Josip Hrvoje Peruzović (October 14, 1947 – July 29, 2018), better known by his ring name Nikolai Volkoff, was a Yugoslav-American professional wrestler best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Although Volkoff often p ...

called "The Imperial Russians". Managed by

Lord Alfred Hayes Alfred George James Hayes (8 August 1928 – 21 July 2005) was an English professional wrestling, professional wrestler, manager (professional wrestling), manager and Announcer, commentator, best known for his appearances in the United States w ...

, the duo won the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship later that year.

Championships and accomplishments

* 50th State Big Time Wrestling ** NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Steve Strong *

** AWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

** NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bronko Lubich (1 time) and Bobby Shane (1 time) *

** NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

* NWA Big Time Wrestling ** NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bronko Lubich **

NWA Brass Knuckles Championship The NWA Brass Knuckles Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance, contested for in hardcore matches. As it was a professional wrestling championship, it was won not by actual competition, b ...

(1 time) *

NWA Detroit Big Time Wrestling (also known as NWA Detroit) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Detroit, Michigan in the United States. History Professional wrestling debuted in Detroit in the 1920s when Nick Londos began promoting eve ...

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed member promotions to create their own territorial version of the "NWA Worl ...

(1 time) – with Dominic DeNucci * NWA Hollywood Wrestling **

(1 time) – with Bronko Lubich ** NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship ( 1 time) ** NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship ''(Los Angeles version)'' (3 times) *

NWA NWA or Nwa most commonly refers to: * N.W.A ("Niggaz Wit Attitudes"), a hip hop group from Compton, California, US * National Wrestling Alliance, a professional wrestling organization NWA or Nwa may refer to: Music * New Weird America, a subgen ...

New Zealand **

NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship (New Zealand version) The New Zealand version of the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship defended in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Dominion Wrestling Union from 1929 to 1953 and in All Star ...

(1 time) * World Wrestling Association ** WWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Markoff, Chris 1940 births 20th-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Faux Russian professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from Minnesota The Heenan Family members Yugoslav emigrants to the United States Yugoslav professional wrestlers NWA Florida Tag Team Champions NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Champions NWA Americas Tag Team Champions