John "Johnny" Garea (born 1949) is a semi-retired

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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 ...

, known by his ring name Johnny Garcia, who competed in

Steve Rickard Sydney Mervin "Merv" Batt (3 September 1929 – 5 April 2015), best known by his ring name Steve Rickard, was a New Zealand professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. As a wrestler, he traveled throughout the world during the 1960s and 1970s, ...

's All Star-Pro Wrestling,

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

and occasionally for the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

during the 1970s and 80s. The youngest pro wrestler in New Zealand at the time of his debut in 1970, he was a regular on the Australian wrestling programme ''Big Time Wrestling'' and its New Zealand counterpart '' On the Mat'' as well as a two-time NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Champion. Garea is the real life brother of four-time WWWF World Tag Team Champion and WWE Road Agent

Tony Garea Anthony Gareljich (born 20 September 1946) is a New Zealand retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tony Garea. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestl ...

Career

Born in

Auckland, New Zealand Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, the son of Croatian-born Ivan Gareljich, Garea began training at the Mt. Roskill gymnasium with "Wild" Don Scott in English-style

catch-as-catch-can wrestling Catch wrestling (originally catch-as-catch-can) is a classical hybrid grappling style and combat sport. It was developed by John Graham Chambers, J. G. Chambers in Britain . It was popularised by wrestlers of travelling funfairs who developed th ...

and made his pro wrestling debut in 1970, a year before his older brother

. At age 21, he was the youngest professional wrestler in the country. Garea's early career was spent in the South Pacific Wrestling Association for Auckland promoter Ernie Pinches and quickly became a regular on the New Zealand circuit. As Tony Garea left for the United States, Johnny Garcia made his way to Australia where he wrestled for Jim Barnett and

. Garea often appeared on WCW's wrestling programme broadcast on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

while in Australia. He was the first New Zealander to appear on ''Big Time Wrestling'', a short-lived Australian programme aired in his home country in 1973, and joined New Zealand promoter

's All Star-Pro Wrestling after Barnett left for the United States the following year. In 1975, he and

The Sheepherders The Bushwhackers are a professional wrestling tag team who competed first as the New Zealand Kiwis and then as The Sheepherders during their 36-year career as a tag team. They wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation, Jim Crockett Promotions, ...

( Butch Miller and Luke Williams) were among the first standout talent of '' On the Mat'' and started touring the country. Garea also wrestled overseas as well visiting such faraway countries as Thailand, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Japan in Asia, the South Pacific islands of Fiji and Tahiti, and in the United States. He was able to get bookings in various

NWA territories Formed in 1948, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was the largest governing body in professional wrestling. Under the control of the NWA Board of Directors (consisting of various prominent, regional promoters), the organization oversaw the NW ...

and, partly due to his connections with his brother Tony, briefly wrestled for the

. Garea would continue to appear on ''On the Mat'' for nearly a decade during which time he faced off against many of the top names not only in Australasia, such as Steve Rickard,

John da Silva John Walter da Silva (11 June 1934 – 8 April 2021) was a New Zealand wrestler and boxer. Biography Da Silva was born on 11 June 1934. He represented New Zealand in wrestling at the 1956 Olympics and at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwe ...

Robert Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...

and

Al Hobman Allan "Al" Hobman (23 April 1925 – 21 September 2008) was a New Zealand professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. Hobman was one of the first homegrown stars to emerge from the Dominion Wrestling Union, and later Steve Rickard's All Star-P ...

, but from around the world including former World Champion

Tiger Jeet Singh Jagjeet Singh Hans (born April 3, 1944) is an Indo-Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He was known for his elaborate ring entrances, and generally performed as a heel. He wrestled in Japan ...

, The Sheik and

Mark Lewin Mark Lewin (born March 16, 1937) is an American retired professional wrestler. Early life Lewin was born in Buffalo, New York. He had two elder brothers, Donn and Ted, both of whom also became professional wrestlers. He attended Lafayette High ...

from 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 Big Bad John,

Rocky Johnson Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles; August 24, 1944 – January 15, 2020) was a Canadian professional wrestler. Among many National Wrestling Alliance titles, he was the first Black Georgia Heavyweight Champion as well as the NWA Televisio ...

Don Muraco Don Muraco (born September 10, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler and podcaster. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1981 to 1988, where he held the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Cha ...

, and

Rick Martel Richard Vigneault (born March 18, 1956) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, trainer, and television presenter, better known by his ring name, Rick Martel. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association, the ...

from the

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing p ...

. Years later, Garea claimed that his toughest opponents were

André the Giant André René Roussimoff (; 19 May 1946 – 28 January 1993), better known by his ring name André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. Roussimoff was known for his great size, which was a result of gigantism caused by exce ...

and "the world's strongest man" Paul Graham, in addition to a brutal series of cage matches with

King Curtis Iaukea Curtis Piehau Iaukea III (September 15, 1937 – December 4, 2010) was an American professional wrestler better known as King Curtis Iaukea. Iaukea won championships in several of the major regional U.S. promotions, both as a single and in vario ...

. By 1981, he had become a main-eventer on the show. After the cancellation of ''On the Mat'' in 1984, Garea remained with All Star-Pro Wrestling and eventually became involved in a near 5-year feud with

Bruno Bekkar Bryan Ashby is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler and trainer, known by his ring name Bruno Bekkar, who competed for Steve Rickard's All Star-Pro Wrestling and for other promoters in New Zealand and Australia from the early 1960s until ...

over the

NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship The NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship is the primary singles title in the NWA-affiliated wrestling promotion NWA New Zealand. It is the first heavyweight championship in New Zealand and one of the oldest in the world. It was first won b ...

during the mid-to late 1980s, winning the title twice, before losing the title back to Bekkar in 1990. Garea went into semi-retirement with All Star-Pro Wrestling closing in 1992 and eventually became a rancher with a sizable

lifestyle block A hobby farm (also called a lifestyle block in New Zealand, or acreage living or rural residential in Australia) is a smallholding or small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income. Some are held merely to ...

in Warkworth. On 24 January 2004, Garea was among the many veteran New Zealand wrestlers who attended a "legends reunion" show at

Petone Petone (Māori: ''Pito-one''), a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. The Māori name means "end of the sand beach". Europeans first settled in Pe ...

. In June 2008, he made a public appearance with his brother Tony, Butch Miller, and

Rip Morgan Michael Morgan (born August 20, 1957) is a former professional wrestler from New Zealand who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling best known as Rip Morgan. Best known as ...

ay a WWE event in New Zealand. He was also interviewed at his Warkworth ranch as part of a documentary on

professional wrestling in New Zealand Professional wrestling in New Zealand has been promoted in the country from the early 20th century. In 1919, Gisborne Katene became the first national heavyweight champion, though the title was not recognized by the National Wrestling Associati ...

, ''A Kiwi Century on the Mat'', in August 2010.

Championships and accomplishments

*All Star-Pro Wrestling **

(2 times)

References

External links

Johnny Garcia at OnlineWorldofWrestling.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garea, John 1949 births Living people New Zealand male professional wrestlers Entertainers from Auckland