Ronald Doyle "Lonnie" Mayne (September 12, 1944 – August 14, 1978) was an 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 ...

in the 1960s and 1970s who frequently went by the name Moondog Mayne. He wrestled in various

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 ...

territories, as well as 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 ...

in 1973.

Early life

Born in

Fairfax, California Fairfax is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States. Fairfax is located west-northwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of . The population was 7,605 at the 2020 census. History The Coast Miwok Native Americans occupied ...

, one of three sons of Kenny Mayne, Lonnie Mayne grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and graduated from the College of Southern Utah, where he was an All American in Football. Lonnie's father Ken was a professional wrestler, and Lonnie chose to follow in his father's footsteps and become a professional wrestler as well.

Professional wrestling career

Lonnie's famous nickname "Moondog" was acquired from

Vince McMahon Sr. Vincent James McMahon (July 6, 1914 – May 24, 1984), sometimes referred to as Vince McMahon Sr., was an American professional wrestling promoter. He is best known for running the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, which was later renamed WWWF (World ...

, as he supposedly looked like a famed blind musician and poet named Louis Hardin who lived in New York until the early ’70s and was many times seen on the corner of 53rd or 54th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan, in a cloak while wearing a Viking helmet. Lonnie won his first NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(San Francisco version)'' by defeating then-champion Pat Patterson on December 29, 1973, in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. At the time, Lonnie was a villainous "heel" and Patterson was the good guy "face". Although the two had a long-standing feud, both before and after Lonnie defeated Patterson for the heavyweight belt, they eventually teamed to win the

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 subgenr ...

(San Francisco version) tag team title. This occurred on August 8, 1975, in

when they defeated

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invasion ...

. During the 1970s, Mayne allied with Oregon wrestler "Tough" Tony Borne, teaming together in tag-team bouts, and they also wrestled separately. They were initially "bad guys" and later become "good guys," making themselves two of the most popular wrestlers in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. Their first title win was against Pepper Martin and James "Shag" Thomas. During his time in Oregon,

Apache Bull Ramos Manuel Ramos (August 3, 1937 – May 27, 2006) was an American professional wrestler, better known as Apache Bull Ramos. From his debut in 1956 until the 1970s, he primarily worked as a heel and had notable feuds with Bruno Sammartino, Dutch Savag ...

broke Mayne's arm, causing the bone to stick out through the skin. In 1973, Lonnie Mayne challenged

Pedro Morales Pedro Antonio Morales (October 22, 1942 – February 12, 2019) was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with Worldwide Wrestling Associates (WWA) and the World Wide Wrestling Federation ...

for the WWWF title in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

in a losing effort. From 1973 to 1978, Mayne found success in California, winning various singles titles, battling Chavo and

Hector Guerrero In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

, and Black Gordman in

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 world' ...

. In the

Roy Shire Big Time Wrestling – also known as the American Wrestling Alliance (AWA) or National All-Star Wrestling – was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in San Francisco, California in the United States. Founded by "Professor" Roy Shire ...

Northern California area, he feuded with the likes of Pat Patterson and

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 partnered with

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty ...

to sellout crowds. In

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, he had memorable matches with

Mr. Wrestling II John Francis Walker (September 10, 1934June 10, 2020), better known by the ring name Mr. Wrestling II, was an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Championship Wrestling from Florida and Georgia Championship ...

Death

Mayne died on August 14, 1978, succumbing to injuries after his car crossed the Riverside Freeway meridian late on August 13 and collided with an oncoming vehicle. Mayne was scheduled to wrestle at an August 14 taping in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

. News of his death did not reach the promoter, who assumed that Mayne had simply failed to arrive on time. The announcer thus concocted a cover story that Mayne was backstage, but enraged and refusing to come out and wrestle. The taped program did not air until five days later, by which time many fans were aware of Mayne's death almost a week earlier. More awkwardly still, a taped interview with Mayne's scheduled August 19 opponent

Buddy Rose Paul Robert Perschmann (November 27, 1952 – April 28, 2009) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Playboy Buddy Rose. He wrestled primarily for the AWA, WWF, and for promoter Don Owen in Pacific Northwest ...

included Rose's hyperbolic threat that by the end of their match, Mayne would be carried out by pallbearers.

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 ...

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 ...

( 1 time) **

NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship The NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title of 50th State Big Time Wrestling and was defended between 1952 and 1979 when it was phased out. The title was later revived by the current incarnation of NWA Hawaii in 2000. It is ...

(3 times) - with Ripper Collins (2), and Sweet Daddy Siki (1) *

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National W ...

NWA Macon Tag Team Championship The NWA Macon Tag Team Championship was a tag team professional wrestling championship in Georgia Championship Wrestling, defended exclusively on events held at the Macon City Auditorium and Macon Coliseum The Macon Coliseum is a multi-purpose ...

( 1 time) - with Luke Graham * NWA Big Time Wrestling **

NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship The NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today. The title has us ...

( 1 time) *

NWA Hollywood Wrestling NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It ...

NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship The NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship was the top singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Los Angeles territory, known officially as NWA Hollywood Wrestling, from 1968 until the promotion closed in 1982. The title was first es ...

(

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 ...

) **

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 f ...

( 1 time) - with

Ron Bass Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

San Francisco ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(San Francisco version)'' ( 3 times) ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(San Francisco version)'' ( 3 times) - with Pat Patterson (1),

(1), and Dean Ho (1) *

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 ...

NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of ...

( 11 times) **

NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of ...

( 17 times) - with

Tony Borne Anthony Wayne Osborne (July 13, 1926 – August 27, 2010) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Tough" Tony Borne. Professional wrestling career Osborne was an amateur wrestler in both high school and in the Uni ...

(11), Beauregard (1),

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American Singing, singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to hi ...

(1),

Dutch Savage Frank Stewart (June 9, 1935 – August 3, 2013) was an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter, best known for his time spent competing in Pacific Northwest Wrestling under the ring name Dutch Savage. Career Savage made his pro deb ...

(2),

Les Thornton Les Thornton (9 April 1934 – 1 February 2019) was a British professional wrestler who competed in Great Britain, Japan, European and North American regional promotions throughout the 1970s and 1980s including Joint Promotions, Stampede Wrestli ...

(1), and Ron Bass (1) *''Ring Around The Northwest Newsletter'' **Wrestler of the Year (1967–1970) **Tag Team of the Year (1967–1969, 1972, 1977) with Tony Borne, Dutch Savage and Les Thornton

References

External links