Gary Fletcher, (September 15, 1940 – April 30, 1988) was an American professional wrestler who was best known by his

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 ...

, Man Mountain Mike.

Career

Fletcher was discovered by Al Lovelock, who wrestled as

The Great Bolo Al Lovelock is an American retired professional wrestler best known by the ring name The Great Bolo. Lovelock was active in the 1950s and 1960s and was primarily known for his work in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Lovelock was the first to ...

. Lovelock trained Fletcher as a wrestler, and Fletcher made his wrestling debut in 1967 for

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 ...

. He wrestled as 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

Haystacks Calhoun William Dee Calhoun (August 3, 1934 – December 7, 1989) was an American professional wrestler, who used the professional name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun. Early life Born on August 3, 1934, William Dee Calhoun grew up on a farm i ...

, who also weighed over 600 pounds. Their combined weight was over 1200 pounds in the ring. Mike was wrestling with "Iron" Mike DiBiase on July 2, 1969 in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

, when DiBiase suffered a fatal heart attack in the ring during the match. DiBiase was pronounced dead at the hospital. DiBiase's death was not related to professional wrestling; he died as a result of high cholesterol. Mike later wrestled in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, where he had a series of matches against

Don Leo Jonathan Don Heaton (April 29, 1931 – October 13, 2018), also known as Don Leo Jonathan, was an American-Canadian professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Jonathan, nicknamed "The Mormon Giant" was a second generation star (his father was f ...

in 1970 and 1971. Mike wrestled 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 as ...

in the early 1970s. He participated in many battles royal and, because of his size, was difficult for opponents to throw over the top rope and eliminate. As a result, the

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

billed him as "the acknowledged king of battles royal" and promoted many of these matches as "featuring Man Mountain Mike". On one occasion in 1972, his participation led to a

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...

with Buddy Colt, as Colt caused Mike to be eliminated from a battle royal. While competing for

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 ...

, Mike 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 f ...

with tag team partner Butcher Brannigan on August 31, 1974 at the

Olympic Auditorium The Grand Olympic Auditorium is a former sports venue in southern Downtown Los Angeles, California. The venue was built in 1924 at 1801 South Grand Avenue, now just south of the Santa Monica Freeway. The grand opening of the Olympic Auditorium ...

in Los Angeles, California. At that time, Brannigan was feuding with

Porkchop Cash Bobby Cash (born October 22, 1947) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He competed primarily in promotions operated by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), like the Continental Wrestling Association and Georgia Championship Wres ...

, Cash teamed up with Victor Rivera to face the champions, who dropped the title belts to the challengers. Man Mountain Mike toured Japan as a wrestler in 1975. He had a series of matches against

Antonio Inoki Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born ; February 20, 1943 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name , a homag ...

. Mike was unable to defeat Inoki in singles matches or in tag team competitions. He later wrestled for 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 ...

. He competed in both singles and tag team matches, which included teaming with Crusher Blackwell on February 20, 1976 in a loss to WWWF Tag Team Champions Louis Cerdan and Tony Parisi.

Retirement and death

After retiring from the ring in 1977, Mike opened Man Mountain Mike's Drycleaners, as well as a

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

service; he also drove a

school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus ...

. While working as a bus driver in 1988, because he was a large man, he had to put his seat all the way back, but that day, he banged the back of his leg on the seat track and his leg was cut open. Along with diabetes stemming from his size, he developed a

staph infection A staphylococcal infection or staph infection is an infection caused by members of the ''Staphylococcus'' genus of bacteria. These bacteria commonly inhabit the skin and nose where they are innocuous, but may enter the body through cuts or abrasio ...

in the cut on his leg, causing blood clots, which killed him on April 30 at the age of 47. The ring name Man Mountain Mike was later used in the Canadian

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

Mike Shaw Michael Paul Shaw (May 9, 1957 – September 11, 2010) was an American professional wrestler who was best known for his stint in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Norman the Lunatic, and as Bastion Booger in the World Wrestling Federation (W ...

, who also competed 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 ...

and

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 ...

as Bastion Booger and Norman the Lunatic, respectively.

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 Time) - with Butcher Brannigan :*

NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship The NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship was a secondary professional wrestling singles title defended in Johnny Doyle's NWA Los Angeles NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promoti ...

(

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 ...

)

References

External links

Profile at Online World of Wrestling
{{DEFAULTSORT:Man Mountain Mike American male professional wrestlers 1940 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American male actors 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Champions NWA Americas Tag Team Champions

Career

Retirement and death

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

External links