Jacob "Jaap" Grobbe (January 28, 1924 – December 15, 2010), better known as Hans Mortier, was a Dutch professional wrestler best known for his stint in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) and his

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 WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino in the 1960s. Hans Mortier was a world-class bodybuilder before he entered the ring and was known by many as "The Great".

Professional wrestling career

Before becoming a professional wrestler, Grobbe worked as a professional

body builder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses o ...

. His first wrestling match was in Tacoma in 1946 against

Abe Yourist Abe Harry Yourist (September 9, 1909 – November 9, 1991) was a Russian-American professional basketball player. He played for the Toledo Jim White Chevrolets in the National Basketball League in one game during the 1941–42 season. In college, ...

. He later wrestled out of Columbus, Ohio, in the late 1940s and early 1950s using under the ring name Dutch Howlett. Grobbe went around the world fighting in New Zealand, Australia as the Great Zorro, South Africa, and France. He at one time held the European Championship. By the early 1960s, Grobbe returned to the United States. In 1963, Grobbe signed a contract with the World Wide Wrestling Federation where he was managed by

Wild Red Berry Ralph L. Berry (November 20, 1906 – July 21, 1973), better known by the ring name "Wild" Red Berry, was an American professional wrestler. Berry was a nine-time NWA World Light Heavyweight Champion and an important smaller wrestler of the 19 ...

. He feuded with Bruno Sammartino for Samamrtino's

WWWF Championship The WWE Championship is a World championship (professional wrestling), world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand di ...

. The feud would go through areas like Boston Gardens, Madison Square Garden, and The Philadelphia Arena. In 1964 he also teamed up with his storyline brother Max Mortier, played first by Gil Voiney and later by Jack Berry. Their feud included a Texas Death match in Philadelphia. In summer 1963, after the Sammartino matches, he lost a Madison Square Garden match in less than a minute to former champion Buddy Rogers. Rogers stunned Mortier with a dropkick from behind, before the bell, and clamped on the figure-4 legvine for the submission. Mortier returned to the WWWF in the mid-1960s, and upset Bobo Brazil in less than a minute in Madison Square Garden with "the guillotene" (full nelson) submission. He again faced Sammartino for the title, ultimately losing. Mortier had excellent matches against Ed Carpentier—often a "draw"—being pinned by Carpentier in Madison Square Garden on his second and final exit from the WWWF in 1968. In 1970, he was known as Lord Charles Montague in NWA Big Time Wrestling in Texas. He would finish his career in the 1970s.

Personal life

After World War II, Grobbe went overseas to the United States to be stationed at a United States Military base. There he learned several languages, including English, French, German, Dutch, and Afrikaans. He also became a police officer for six months in Tacoma, Washington. Mortier died on December 15, 2010, in the Netherlands due to natural causes, he was 85. In 2015 Hans Mortier was posthumously inducted into the Dutch Wrestling Hall Of Fame. The award was accepted by his daughter.

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 Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Johnny Barend *Dutch Pro Wrestling **Dutch Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 2015) *L&G Promotions ** L&G Caribbean Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *International Wrestling Association (Montreal) ** IWA International Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

NWA 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 ...

** NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (

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) *

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 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 Mr. Wrestling

References

External links

Hans Mortier at Cagematch.netHans Mortier at Wrestlingdata.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortier, Hans 1924 births 2010 deaths Dutch male professional wrestlers Sportspeople from Leiden 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA Florida Heavyweight Champions