Donald J. Manoukian (June 9, 1934 – September 23, 2014) was an American football guard and professional wrestler of Armenian descent from Reno, Nevada.

American football career

An alumnus of Reno High School and

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

(class of 1957), Manoukian played professional football for the Salinas Packers of the Pacific Football Conference in 1958 and with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

as a member of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

team's inaugural 1960 season.

Professional wrestling career

Determining that professional wrestling would be more lucrative (and in part because of his diminutive stature - estimates of his height ranged from between 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 9 inches), he switched to wrestling and spent nine years touring the United States and Japan, primarily as a

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 ...

. Occasionally wrestling under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Don the Bruiser, he won several championships as both a singles wrestler and a tag team wrestler. He won several titles in

Pacific Northwest Wrestling Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. T ...

, including the Heavyweight Championship in 1964. Previously he won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship twice, once with

Kurt von Poppenheim Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and is ...

in 1959 and two years later with

Shag Thomas Shag Thomas (born James Thomas, August 11, 1924 – July 25, 1982) was an American professional wrestler during the 1950s and 1960s. He was one of the few African-American wrestlers of his day. Football career Thomas was a 1942 graduate of ...

. He also regularly teamed with Dick Beyer, with whom he won both the WWA International Television Tag Team Championship and the Los Angeles version of the NWA International Television Tag Team Championship.

Personal life

By 1967, Manoukian had retired into a life of real estate and business investment. His outgoing and humorous personality made him popular as a master of ceremonies at events throughout the Reno area in his later life. He died September 23, 2014 at the age of 80 following a brief illness. He had at least two wives and three children.

Championships and accomplishments

* Cauliflower Alley Club **Men's honoree (1997) *

** NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) - with Kurt von Poppenheim (1) and

(1) * Worldwide Wrestling Associates ** WWA International Television Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Dick Beyer *Southwest Sports, Inc. ** NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time)*

References

*Ray Hagar and Guy Clifton (September 24, 2014)
Reno's Don Manoukian, ex-Oakland Raider, dies at 80
''Reno Gazette Journal''. Retrieved September 24, 2014. *Associated Press (September 24, 2014)
Ex-Raider, wrestler Manoukian dies in Reno at 80
Retrieved September 24, 2014. *Oliver, Greg (September 7, 2006)

''Slam! Sports''. Retrieved September 24, 2014.

External links

Manoukian's NFL.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manoukian, Don 1934 births 2014 deaths American football offensive guards American male professional wrestlers Oakland Raiders players Stanford Cardinal football players People from Merced, California Sportspeople from Reno, Nevada Players of American football from Nevada American people of Armenian descent Reno High School alumni American Football League players