Orville Brown (March 10, 1908 – January 24, 1981)
/ref> 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 ...

. He is a thirteen-time

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and was recognized as the first NWA World Heavyweight Champion in 1948. Brown's professional wrestling career ended on November 1, 1949, when he suffered severe injuries in an automobile accident.

Early life

Brown was born on March 10, 1908. He grew up on a small farm in

Sharon, Kansas Sharon is a city in Barber County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 147. History Sharon was founded in 1883. Sharon is a Hebrew name meaning "plain". Geography Sharon is located at (37.249992, -98 ...

. Brown worked on the farm during the mornings before walking several miles to school in

Kiowa, Kansas Kiowa is a city in Barber County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 902. It is located 1 mile north of the Kansas / Oklahoma state border. History 19th century Kiowa was founded in 1872. It was na ...

. He only attended one year of school due to financial reasons.

Professional wrestling career

Brown was noticed by Ernest Brown, a former manager of amateur and professional wrestlers, in the late 1920s, who was convinced that he might have a future as a wrestler and agreed to work with Brown at the local high school in Kiowa, Kansas. After training, Brown was undefeated for 71 matches. He gained enough notoriety in western Kansas that the promoter in Wichita put him on the preliminary of the weekly matches there. A well-known wrestler named

Abe Coleman Abe Kelmer / Abba Kelmer (September 20, 1905 – March 28, 2007) was a Polish professional wrestler, promoter and referee, known by the ring names Abe Coleman, Hebrew Hercules, and Jewish Tarzan. At the time of his death, Coleman was believed to ...

saw Brown wrestle and recommended him to the promoter in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Tom Packs. Brown impressed many people with his wrestling skills in matches against former world heavyweight champions

Jim Londos Christos Theofilou ( el, Χρήστος Θεοφίλου; January 2, 1894 – August 19, 1975), better known as "The Golden Greek" Jim Londos (Greek: Τζίμ Λόντος), was a Greek American professional wrestler. Londos was one of the most p ...

and

Ed "Strangler" Lewis Robert Herman Julius Friedrich (June 30, 1891 – August 8, 1966), better known by the ring name Ed "Strangler" Lewis, was an American professional wrestler and trainer. During his wrestling career, which spanned four decades, Lewis was a four-ti ...

. He quickly won the Kansas Heavyweight Championship. Brown went on to become the Kansas-based

Midwest Wrestling Association Heart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska ...

(MWA) World Heavyweight Champion for a record of 11 times from 1940 to 1948. Brown won the title by beating wrestlers such as Bobby Bruns, Lee Wyckoff, Tom Zaharias, Swedish Angel, Roy Graham and Tug Carlson. In 1948, promoter Pinkie George, along with other promoters, recognized Brown as the

World Heavyweight Champion At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, tho ...

in the newly formed

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 ...

(NWA). Brown began the NWA's project of unifying the various world heavyweight championships contested at that time with the NWA version. A significant unification match took place against

Frank Sexton Frank Sexton (1914–February 1990) was an American professional wrestler in the early to mid-twentieth century. Along with Orville Brown, Bill Longson, and Lou Thesz, he was one of the biggest stars of the 1940s. A multiple-time world champio ...

on March 15, 1949. Sexton held the American Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Championship, the second most important championship in the country at that time, which he had previously unified with the Maryland version of the World Heavyweight Championship. Brown held the World Heavyweight Championship until he was forced to retire in November 1949 due to injuries he suffered on November 1, 1949 in a car accident. He was scheduled to participate in a unification match against

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 ...

on November 25, 1949. Thesz was awarded the title as Brown was unable to compete. After retiring, Brown became a promoter in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. He promoted the

(MWA) from the founding of the NWA in 1948 until 1958, when the promotion was taken over by

Bob Geigel Robert Frederick Geigel (October 1, 1924 – October 30, 2014) was an American professional wrestling promoter and professional wrestler. He operated the Kansas City, Missouri-based Heart of America Sports Attractions promotion from 1963 to 1986 ...

Personal life

Brown married Grace Charlotte on October 13, 1927. Their marriage lasted until his death in January of 1981. Their son Richard also became a wrestler.

Championships and accomplishments

Cauliflower Alley Club The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America. Established in 1965 by Mike Mazurki and Art Abram ...

** Posthumous Award (2008) * Midwest Wrestling Association (Ohio) **

MWA World Heavyweight Championship (Ohio version) The MWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling)#World championships, world heavyweight championship in the Kansas City, Kansas-based Heart of America Sports Attractions#Midwest Wrestling As ...

(1 time) *

MWA World Heavyweight Championship The MWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Kansas City, Kansas-based Midwest Wrestling Association (MWA). It was the direct predecessor of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World ...

( 11 times) *

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is in ...

( 1 time, inaugural) *

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum is an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Wichita Falls, Texas currently closed to water leaks. The museum was founded by Tony Vellano in 1999, and was previo ...

** Pioneer Era inductee in 2005 * Other ** Kansas Heavyweight Championship

References

External links