Larry Weil (June 26, 1951 – April 10, 2017) was an Irish-American

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 ...

, manager and trainer better known under his ring name, "Pretty Boy" Larry Sharpe. Sharpe is perhaps most well-known for creating the Monster Factory

professional wrestling school Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...

. He grew up in

Castleisland Castleisland () is a town and commercial centre in County Kerry in south west Ireland. The town is known for the width of its main street. As of the 2016 Census, Castleisland had a population of 2,486. Castleisland was described by one of its ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and was the original trainer of

Kevin Von Erich Kevin Ross Adkisson (born May 15, 1957) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Kevin Von Erich. A member of the Von Erich family, Von Erich is best known for his appearances with his father's World Class Ch ...

, and many other well-known wrestlers.

Professional wrestling career

Larry Sharpe was a successful wrestler at

Paulsboro High School Paulsboro High School is a comprehensive community six-year public high school that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade from Paulsboro, in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the sole secondary school of t ...

in New Jersey. He had a record 13–1–1 and was ranked fourth in the NCAA national rankings. In 1974 he was scouted by Red Berry and

Gorilla Monsoon Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker. Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...

who trained him for a life in professional wrestling and later that year Larry made his pro wrestling debut in the WWWF. Larry then toured Japan and various territories including Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Mid Atlantic. Sharpe then headed to Canada, where he won his first championship while working for

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. Forming 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 Ripper Collins, he won the

Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship The Stampede International Tag Team Championship was the main tag team title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. It was created in 1958 as the NWA International Tag Team Championship (Calgary version). When promote ...

on September 24, 1976. The team held the title for less than one month, dropping it to Ed and Jerry Morrow on October 15. In June 1977, Sharpe returned to the WWWF where he formed a tag team with Dynamite Jack Evans (who was working in the WWWF in preliminary and mid-card matches). The Hollywood Blondes (as they were known) had a successful run winning matches on television and at live events. They impressed Gorilla Monsoon (who owned part of the

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor J ...

) who sent them down to Puerto Rico for their most successful run. On December 17, 1977, they defeated

Carlos Colón Carlos Edwin Colón González Sr. (born July 18, 1948) is a Puerto Rican wrestling promoter and former professional wrestler, better known as Carlitos Colón or simply Carlos Colón. He is, along with Victor Jovica, an owner of the Puerto Rican ...

and

Victor Jovica Victor Jovica (born November 26, 1945) is a Croatian-born Puerto Rican semi-retired professional wrestler, and promoter. Along with Carlos Colón, he is the co-founder and promoter of Capitol Sports Promotions, now known as the World Wrestling Co ...

to win the

WWC North American Tag Team Championship The WWC North American Tag Team Championship was a major tag team championship that was used and defended in Capitol Sports Promotions. It is sometimes referred to as the WWC North American Tag Team Championship, though this isn't entirely accu ...

. The title was declared vacant on April 22 the following year because of a controversial match against Jovica and Chief Thunder Cloud. The teams met for a rematch on May 6, and the Hollywood Blondes regained the championship. Three weeks later, however, they lost the title to Colón and Thunder Cloud. Sharpe's next stop was Hawaii where he quickly became the top contender for the

NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship The NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and is defended in the US state of Hawaii. The title, which is still currently defended, began in 1935. From February ...

. In November 1978 when the previous champion,

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 ...

, won the NWA Pacific International Heavyweight Championship, was forced to vacate the Hawaiian championship, Sharpe was awarded the title, later losing it to

Mando Guerrero Armando Guerrero Llanes (born June 9, 1950), better known as Mando Guerrero, is a retired Mexican American professional wrestler. He also was the trainer for the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, an all-female professional wrestling promotion. He ...

on November 22. After a brief stint in the Mid Atlantic, he returned to the WWF in 1979. He was given a small push by Vince McMahon Sr, but ended up leaving to wrestle independently and open his training school.

The World Famous Monster Factory

The World Famous Monster Factory is a

Paulsboro, New Jersey Paulsboro is a borough in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,196, an increase of 99 (+1.6%) from the 2010 census count of 6,097,

, currently run by Danny Cage. It is considered to be the first publicly available professional wrestling school. Sharpe opened the wrestling school with

"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers Buddy Rogers (born Herman Gustav Rohde Jr.; February 20, 1921 – June 26, 1992), better known by the ring name "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, was an American professional wrestler who was one of the biggest professional wrestling stars in the begi ...

in 1983 and wrestled part-time until retiring in August 1991. Though Sharpe had trained wrestlers prior to officially opening the school that had significant renown, the school's first famous pupil was Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow, whose success brought a lot of attention to the school. In February 2008, the school was threatened by a fire that had started at the building adjacent to the school, ANA Laboratories, and the building was evacuated by the school trainers. The fire was confined to the laboratory until its roof collapsed however, according to Camden County Chief Fire Marshal Paul Hartstein, only a

firewall Firewall may refer to: * Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts * Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...

prevented the fire from reaching the school. The school had been in the middle of drills when the fire broke out although all the students were safely evacuated to the outside parking lot. Sharpe's wrestling students have included: *

Tony Atlas Anthony White (born April 23, 1954) better known by his ring name Tony Atlas is an American bodybuilder, powerlifter, and professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his bodybuilding ti ...

Big Show Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as an in-ring performer, and as a commentator for its web television show, '' AEW Dark: Elevation,'' under ...

Bam Bam Bigelow Scott Charles Bigelow (September 1, 1961 – January 19, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Bam Bam Bigelow. Recognizable by his close to 400-pound frame and the distinctive flame tattoo that spanned most ...

D'Lo Brown Accie Julius Connor (born October 22, 1970), better known by his ring name D'Lo Brown (also formatted as D-Lo Brown), is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling and WWE. Brown is also known for his ...

Chris Candido Christopher Barrett Candito (March 21, 1972 – April 28, 2005) was an American professional wrestler. Candito is best remembered for his tenures with promotions such as World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, New Japan Pro-W ...

Cliff Compton Clifford Treiber (born November 2, 1979) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring names Domino and Cliff Compton. He is known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Before being promoted to the main WWE roster ...

Sonjay Dutt Retesh Bhalla (born April 7, 1982) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a producer and manager. He is best known for his time with Total Nonstop ActionImpact Wrestling under the ring name Sonja ...

Giant Silva Paulo César da Silva (born July 21, 1962) is a Brazilian former national basketball player for the Brazilian national basketball team and later mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Giant Silva. He stands ...

Barry Hardy Barry W. Hardy (born July 5, 1962) is an American professional wrestler and trainer who has competed in North American independent promotions since 1987, including East Coast Wrestling, Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation, the National Wrestling All ...

* Chris Harris *

The Headbangers The Headbangers are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Mosh (Charles Warrington) and Thrasher (Glenn Ruth). As the name of the team implies, their gimmick is that they are a pair of metalheads, complete with heavy metal related T-shi ...

King Kong Bundy Christopher Alan Pallies (November 7, 1955 – March 5, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, actor and stand-up comedian, better known by his wrestling gimmick and ring name, King Kong Bundy. Under this gimmick, he portrayed a pugnacious, ...

Balls Mahoney Jonathan Rechner (April 11, 1972 – April 12, 2016), better known by his ring name Balls Mahoney, was an American professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during the late 199 ...

Ray Odyssey Ray Samalonis (born January 31, 1968) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Surfer" Ray Odyssey. Professional wrestling career Odyssey competes primarily in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions. O ...

The Pitbulls The Pitbulls (sometimes written as The Pit Bulls) were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of "Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe and "Pitbull #2" Anthony Durante. They were best known for their tenure in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where ...

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

*Tony Ricca *

Rocco Rock Theodore James Petty (September 1, 1953 – September 21, 2002) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "Flyboy" Rocco Rock. Rock is best known for his appearances in Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championsh ...

Sheamus Stephen Farrelly (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sheamus. Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on the European indep ...

J. T. Southern J. T. Southern (born January 4, 1964) is an American retired professional wrestler. Though he achieved most notoriety during his 1992 feud with Van Hammer in World Championship Wrestling, Southern also competed for Verne Gagne's American Wrestlin ...

Tony Stetson Anthony Matteo (born March 21, 1959) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Hitman" Tony Stetson. He is best known for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during the 1990s. Stetson was one of ECW's ini ...

Bill Irwin William Mills Irwin (born April 11, 1950) is an American actor, clown, and comedian. He began as a vaudeville-style stage performer and has been noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. He has made a n ...

*Dirty Dennis Allen * Tatanka *

Tank Toland John Michael Toland (born August 31, 1973) is a former American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tank Toland. Toland is best known for his appearances on the independent circuit with promotions such as Ring of Honor, as well ...

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...

Mike Gola Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...

Championships and accomplishments

50th State Big Time Wrestling 50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Ha ...

(1 time) *North American Wrestling Federation **NAWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Northeast Championship Wrestling **NCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Northeast Championship Wrestling (Tom Janette) **NCW Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *

– with Ripper Collins *

(2 times) – with Jack Evans

References

External links

Larry Sharpe at Online World of Wrestling
by Peter Kerr {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpe, Larry 1951 births 2017 deaths American male professional wrestlers Professional wrestling trainers Paulsboro High School alumni People from Paulsboro, New Jersey Professional wrestlers from New Jersey Professional wrestling promoters Sportspeople from Gloucester County, New Jersey Deaths from liver disease Stampede Wrestling alumni Irish emigrants to the United States 20th-century professional wrestlers Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Champions