Mario Bulfone (15 May 1935 – 9 December 2016), better known by his ring name Mario Milano, was a

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 o ...

. Milano got his start in wrestling in Venezuela and later competed in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, Mexico and North America.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Bulfone, though born in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, grew up in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and began wrestling in Caracas at age 18 in 1953. A curfew prohibited anyone under 19 from being out after 9 o'clock, so he had to hide his identity to avoid trouble with the police. He wore a mask and wrestled as Black Diablo. After he turned 20, he wrestled without the mask under his real name.

Tennessee

In 1962, Bulfone moved to the United States to wrestle, originally under the name Mario La Pantera. A promoter felt that Americans would be unable to remember his name, so he gave Bulfone the name Mario Milano, naming him after

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy. He lived in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, where he competed for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). With

Jackie Fargo Henry Faggart (June 26, 1930 – June 24, 2013) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jackie Fargo. He competed in Southeastern regional promotions and the National Wrestling Alliance during the 1950s, 1960s and ...

, he won his first championship, the Mid-America version of the

NWA Southern Tag Team Championship The NWA Southern Tag Team Championship is any of a group of professional wrestling tag team championship titles in the National Wrestling Alliance. Specific titles include: * The NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Florida version) * The NWA South ...

, on 5 November 1963. After holding the title belts for one month, they dropped them to

Tojo Yamamoto Harold Watanabe (January 6, 1927 – February 19, 1992) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tojo Yamamoto. Early life Watanabe was born in Hawaii in 1927 to a Japanese father and an American mother. He served ...

and Ivan Malenkov but regained them later in December 1963 when Malenkov left the territory and was a no-show at the title defense. On 2 March 1965, Milano again teamed with Fargo to win the Mid-America version of the

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed member promotions to create their own territorial version of the "NWA World ...

. He also teamed with Len Rossi to win the Mid-America version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship six times - in total, he won that title nine times.

Australia

In 1967, Milano was offered a three-month stint wrestling in Australia for promoter Jim Barnett. His stay was then extended, after which he was offered a contract and moved to Australia permanently. Wrestling in the Australian

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 Nati ...

promotion, he teamed with

Red Bastien Rolland "Red" Bastien (January 27, 1931 – August 11, 2012) was an American professional wrestler best known for his time in Capital Wrestling Corporation where he was a 3 time WWWF United States Tagteam champion with his kayfabe brother, ...

to win the

IWA World Tag Team Championship IWA World Tag Team Championship is a Tag Team Championship defended in Puerto Rico.The titles were first introduced in the first incarnation of the International Wrestling Association, where they are defended. They also made a brief appearance i ...

three times that year. He also had two reigns in 1967 as IWA World Heavyweight Champion after defeating

Killer Kowalski Walter Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008), known professionally as Killer Kowalski, was a Polish-Canadian professional wrestler. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, includin ...

and Ripper Collins. He used the Atomic Drop as a finisher, and did an angle where he used it on a 400-pound (180 kg) wrestler. In 2008 Mario appeared on Australian TV for International Wrestling Australia (IWA) on their series Main Event Wrestling on the Aurora Community Channel. He featured in 6 shows in an angle with resident heel champion Mark Mercedes. Milano also appears in Roy Slaven's South Coast News series, set in the NSW South Coast town of Ulladulla, as the proprietor of the Bluebird Cafe and the captain/coach of the local A-Grade

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

team. Milano made a live appearance on Saturday 14 May 2011 for Melbourne-based promotion Professional Championship Wrestling.

WWWF

In 1970 Milano wrestled for the World Wide Wrestling Federation in the Northeast (New York) territory where he was a babyface. Feuding with Eric the Red and

Professor Toru Tanaka Charles J. Kalani Jr. (January 6, 1930 – August 22, 2000) was an American professional wrestler, professional boxer, college football player, soldier, actor, and martial artist who, in fighting rings, was also known as Professor Toru Tanaka, ...

. He only stayed with the company for a year.

Japan

Bulfone wrestled for

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba ...

on tours in 1975 to 1985 after

shut down.

Death

Bulfone died on 9 December 2016 at the age of 81.

Personal life

Mario Bulfone was born in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

, Italy and later moved to Venezuela. He lived in Australia at the time of his death. Bulfone had five children.

Championships and accomplishments

NWA Mid-America NWA Mid-America was a professional wrestling promotion territory under the umbrella of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that promoted shows in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama from the 1940s until 1981. The company was founded in the 1940s by ...

** NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' ( 9 times) - with

(2), Len Rossi (6) and Danny Hodge ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' ( 1 time) - with

World Championship Wrestling (Australia) World Championship Wrestling was an Australian professional wrestling promotion that ran from 1964 until 1978. History The promotion gained publicity through television programs on the Nine Network, which were presented at noon on Saturdays and ...

** IWA World Heavyweight Championship (

4 times "4 Times" (stylized as "4 TIMES") is the 50th single by pop/ R&B singer Koda Kumi. It was released on August 17, 2011 and debuted at No. 6, remaining on the Oricon charts for nine consecutive weeks. In commemoration of it being the fiftieth singl ...

) **

( 10 times) - with

(3),

Billy White Wolf Adnan bin Abdul Kareem Ahmed Alkaissy El Farthie ( ar, عدنان بن عبدالكريم أحمد القيسي ألفرث; born c. 1 March 1936 or 1939), better known professionally as Adnan Al-Kaissie, is an Iraqi former professional wrestler a ...

(1),

Antonio Pugliese Antonio Pugliese (January 22, 1941 – August 19, 2000), better known by his ring name, Tony Parisi, was a Canadian professional wrestler. He won tag team championships in several promotions, including the World Wide Wrestling Federation ( ...

(1),

Dominic DeNucci Domenico A. Nucciarone (January 23, 1932 – August 12, 2021) was an Italian-American professional wrestler and trainer better known under his ring name of Dominic DeNucci. He held over a dozen championships around the world in the 1960s and 197 ...

(1), The Spoiler (1),

Waldo Von Erich Walter Paul Sieber (October 2, 1933 – July 5, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for performing under the ring name Waldo Von Erich, playing the character of a villainous Prussian Nazi. He was billed as the brother of ...

(1),

Spiros Arion Spiros Arion ( el, Σπύρος Αρίων) born Spyridon Manousakis ( el, Σπυρίδων Μανουσάκης) (born September 1940) is an Egyptian-born Greek former professional wrestler who had an extensive and successful career, mainly in ...

(1) 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 Hi ...

(1) ** NWA Austra-Asian Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) **

NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship The NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship was the top tag team professional wrestling title in the Australian World Championship Wrestling promotion from 1972 through the promotion's 1978 closure. WCW joined the National Wrestling Alliance in ...

( 2 times) - with

Bugsy McGraw Michael Davis (born November 1, 1945), best known as Bugsy McGraw, is a retired American professional wrestler. He also wrestled under the name The Skull. He is not to be confused with the other wrestler named Mike Davis. McGraw is known for hi ...

(1) and

Larry O'Dea Larry Davies (1944 – 30 June 1997) was an Australian professional wrestler best known as Larry O'Dea. He was one half of the tag team known as "The Australians" with Ron Miller. Larry made his professional wrestling debut in the 1960s for ...

(1) ** World Brass Knuckles Championship (

) * International Wrestling Australia **IWA Hall of Fame

In film

Mario Milano appeared as the Russian muscleman in

Chang Cheh Chang Cheh (; 10 February 1923 – 22 June 2002) was a Chinese filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and producer active in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Chang Cheh directed more than 90 films in Greater China, the majority of them with the Shaw Br ...

's '' The Boxer From Shantung'' in 1972. *'' The Boxer From Shantung'' (1972) - Russian Boxer *''The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe'' (1974) - Joseph *''

Zebra Force ''The Zebra Force'' (''Codename: Zebra'', USA title) is a 1976 American film directed by Joe Tornatore. The film is about a group of Vietnam War veterans who declare war on Los Angeles drug dealers and the Mafia. The film is also known as ''Code ...

'' (1976) - Peter *''

High Rolling ''High Rolling'' (also called ''High Rolling in a Hot Corvette'') is an Australian buddy comedy directed by Igor Auzins and written by Forest Redlich. Golden Globe Award winners Joseph Bottoms and Judy Davis are among the cast. The soundtrack fo ...

'' (1977) - Country Fighter *'' Beyond Evil'' (1980) - Dr. Frank Albanos

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milano, Mario 1935 births 2016 deaths Italian emigrants to Australia Sportspeople from Trieste Sportspeople from Melbourne Sportsmen from Victoria (Australia) Australian male professional wrestlers Italian male professional wrestlers Australian male actors Italian male actors 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA Austra-Asian Heavyweight Champions NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Champions IWA World Heavyweight Champions (Australia) IWA World Tag Team Champions (Australia) World Brass Knuckles Champions