Donald Delbert Jardine (March 24, 1940 – December 16, 2006) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

best known for his masked

gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...

as The Spoiler. Jardine was a major star in various wrestling promotions. He worked in the World Wrestling Federation, first in 1974 and again from 1984 to 1986. But Jardine saw his greatest successes in the

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 ...

affiliated territories of

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 ...

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 ...

and Big Time Wrestling, which would eventually become known as

World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1986–1991) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed ...

, from the early 1960s through the mid 1980s.

Professional wrestling career

Jardine began wrestling in the mid-1950s, making his debut in 1955 at the age of 15. He made his

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

debut in 1959 as "Babyface" Don Jardine, a protégé of

Whipper Billy Watson William John Potts, (June 25, 1915 to February 4, 1990) was a Canadian professional wrestler best known by his ring name "Whipper" Billy Watson. He was a two-time world champion, having held both the National Wrestling Association title and the ...

and wrestled primarily in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

until 1961 and returned briefly in 1964. In 1964, Jardine wrestled

NWA World Heavyweight Champion 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 i ...

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 TV in St. Louis, but did not win the title. Jardine also wrestled as The Butcher in Los Angeles in 1964. Whilst wrestling under "The Butcher" moniker, he teamed with both

Mad Dog Vachon Joseph Maurice Régis Vachon (September 14, 1929 − November 21, 2013) was a Canadian professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Mad Dog Vachon. He was the older brother of wrestlers Paul and Vivian Vachon, and the uncle of wrestle ...

and

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 ...

for a short time. He challenged

Gene Kiniski Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he b ...

for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1966. He became one of the top masked wrestlers in the Southern United States, particularly in Texas, where The Spoiler was created by

Fritz Von Erich Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was a 3-time world champion ...

in 1967. He famously walked the top rope, a move he would teach to Mark Calaway (the future

Undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...

) in the mid-1980s while competing in

. He was unmasked in Texas in 1972 by

Billy Red Lyons Willem Snip (17 May 1932 – 22 June 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler, who wrestled under the ring name Billy Red Lyons. He was an active wrestler between 1956 and 1985, and won numerous championships throughout his career. He worked for ...

and Red Bastein and identified as Don Jardine, still, he continued to wrestle under the mask as "The Spoiler" in Texas and Oklahoma. The Spoiler also wrestled in

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, ...

and

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

during the 1960s and 1970s. He became the Super Destroyer and was brought into the Carolinas by George Scott in 1973 and also used the "Super Destroyer" name during his stint in the

AWA Awa (or variants) may refer to: People * Awa (given name), notable people named Awa or Hawa * Awá (Brazil), an indigenous people of Brazil * Awa-Kwaiker, an indigenous people of Colombia and Ecuador Languages * Awa language (China) or Wa (Va) ...

(1977–78). Jardine was one of the key workers, along with

Johnny Valentine John Theodore Wisniski (September 22, 1928 – April 24, 2001), better known by his ring name Johnny Valentine, was an American professional wrestler with a career spanning almost three decades. He has been inducted into four halls of fame fo ...

, who turned the Mid-Atlantic territory around and established hot singles wrestling programs in what had traditionally been a tag team territory. Jardine challenged

Jack Brisco Freddie Joe "Jack" Brisco (September 21, 1941 – February 1, 2010) was an American amateur wrestling, amateur and Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. As an amateur for Oklahoma State, Brisco was two-time All-American and won the Natio ...

for the

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 ...

as both the Super Destroyer and The Spoiler, and wrestled

Harley Race Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federatio ...

for the NWA Heavyweight title in a main event in Houston, Texas in 1979. He held the Georgia-based

NWA National Heavyweight Championship The NWA National Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the U.S.-based, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The current champion is Cyon, who is in his first reign. The championship was established in January ...

and was briefly billed as NWA National Heavyweight Champion by 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 ...

after it bought out

in July 1984. The Spoiler wrestled (75) matches for the World Wrestling Federation in (1974) before leaving for other promotions. He returned to the (WWF) and had his first match back for a TV-Taping in Poughkeepsie, New York on July 30, 1984 defeating Jeff Lang and wrestled for a few years until his last match in the (WWF) on January 21, 1986 in Los Angeles, California defeating Billy Anderson. The Spoiler, along with

Jake "The Snake" Roberts Aurelian Smith Jr. (born May 30, 1955), better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American professional wrestler and actor currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs as manager to Lance Archer. He is be ...

and the 400-pound

King Kong Bundy Christopher Alan Pallies (November 7, 1955 – March 5, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, actor and stand-up comedian, better known by his wrestling gimmick and ring name, King Kong Bundy. Under this gimmick, he portrayed a pugnacious, ...

, joined forces with a newly emerging tag team,

The Road Warriors The Road Warriors, also known as the Legion of Doom, were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Road Warrior Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) and Road Warrior Animal (Joseph Laurinaitis).. They performed under the name "The Road Warriors" in th ...

, to form the original Legion of Doom. The Spoiler once headlined against

WWF Champion The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDown ...

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 ...

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 ...

, wrestling maskless because, at that time, the arena had a rule barring masked wrestlers from performing. The Spoiler appeared in a historic match against

Mil Mascaras Mil, mil, or MIL may refer to: Places * Mil, Syria, a village in Syria * Mil, Azerbaijan, a municipality in Beylagan Rayon * Mil, Markazi, a village in Markazi Province, Iran * Metropolitan area of Milan ( IATA code: MIL), Italy * Mill Hill Broa ...

, the Mexican legend, marking the first time a wrestler (Mascaras) ever wore a mask into a ring in New York State. The Spoiler's matches against

Chief Jay Strongbow Luke Joseph Scarpa (October 4, 1928 – April 3, 2012) was an American professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer who was best known by the ring name Chief Jay Strongbow. Much like his contemporary Wahoo McDaniel, he portrayed a Native America ...

and Sonny King were long-lasting feuds that enjoyed successful runs across the WWF circuit. His "Iron Claw" was the first maneuver to be censored from the TV screen by the WWF in a 'reverse psych' move to sell tickets. Jardine promoted some shows in Tampa, Florida in 1993-94 and then retired from wrestling.

Personal life

Jardine spent the later years of his life in

Wetaskiwin Wetaskiwin ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. The city is located south of the provincial capital of Edmonton. The city name comes from the Cree word ''wītaskiwinihk'', meaning "the hills where peace was made". Wetaskiwin is ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada with his wife and son, where he was the manager of a car wash business. Jardine was known to make clay sculptures and carved faces in the bark of cotton wood trees. He also volunteered for the Literacy Program, teaching young children to read. On December 16, 2006, Jardine died due to complications from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

and

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, and was writing a novel based on his professional wrestling career at the time of his death. He had also been battling pneumonia, and went into cardiac arrest followed by a coma he would never recover from. He was 66.

Championships and accomplishments

Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling Grand Prix Wrestling (GPW) is a professional wrestling promotion run and owned by Emile Duprée. Grand Prix Wrestling has recently finished the 2013 Rising Sun In The Maritimes Tour. Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling tours parts of New Brunswick, P ...

AGPW North American Tag Team Championship Grand Prix Wrestling (GPW) is a professional wrestling promotion run and owned by Emile Duprée. Grand Prix Wrestling has recently finished the 2013 Rising Sun In The Maritimes Tour. Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling tours parts of New Brunswick, P ...

(1 time) – with Nikita Kalmikoff * Central States Wrestling **

NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship The NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that served as the main title for the National Wrestling Alliance promotion, NWA Central-States Championship Wrestling. For most of its existence, however, t ...

( 1 time) *

NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida, USA and is now the major title in NWA Florida Wrestling Alliance. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by C ...

( 3 times) ** NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 1 time) *

NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship The NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship was the major title in the Georgia Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion. It started in 1964 and was unified in 1981 with the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. The title was pick ...

( 3 times) **

(

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 ...

) *

Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship Wr ...

** NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship (2 times)NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Title (Gulf Coast) history
at Wrestling-Titles.com *

NWA All-Star Wrestling NWA All Star Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Vancouver) is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. All-Star Wrestling folded in 1989 but returned in 2007 no longer affiliated with the National Wr ...

** NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (''Vancouver version'') ( 1 time) - with Dutch Savage ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Vancouver version)'' (

) – with

* NWA Big Time Wrestling **

NWA American Heavyweight Championship The WCWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally created in ...

( 4 times) **

NWA American Tag Team Championship The WCWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship (professional wrestling), championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The cham ...

( 6 times) – with

Gary Hart Gary Warren Hart (''né'' Hartpence; born November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. ...

(3),

Smasher Sloan Eldon "Eddie" Lee Whittler (July 7, 1935 – January 29, 2001), better known by his ring name Smasher Sloan, was an American professional wrestler. He wrestled for the World Wide Wrestling Federation from the 1960s till early 1970s, where h ...

(2) 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 High ...

(2) ** NWA Brass Knuckles Championship ''(Texas version)'' ( 1 time) **

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 ...

(

)* **

NWA Texas Tag Team Championship The WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area-basedWorld Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally known as the NWA ...

( 1 time) – with

** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Texas version)'' ( 1 time) **

NWA Television Championship The WCW World Television Championship was a professional wrestling television championship owned by the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW) promotion. The title was created in 1974 by Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW) as a s ...

( 3 times) *

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 N ...

**City of Mobile Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **

NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship The NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship was a secondary tag team title promoted as the name indicates mainly in the Tennessee region from 1967 until 1977, first by ''Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling'' and occasionally NWA Mid-America from 1967 to ...

( 1 time) - with Spoiler #2 *

NWA Tri-State The Universal Wrestling Federation was a 1986 re-branding of wrestler-turned-owner Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Watts' goal was to elevate his promotion from a relatively smaller, regional-level business, to a national-level rival ...

** NWA North American Heavyweight Championship ''(Tri-State version)'' ( 3 times) ** NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Tri-State version)'' ( 3 times) – with

Buddy Wolfe Les Wolff (April 11, 1941 – July 11, 2017) was an American football player and professional wrestler, known by his ring name "Beautiful" Buddy Wolfe, who competed in North American regional promotions including the American Wrestling Associati ...

(2) and

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocket ...

(1) *

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 ( 1 time) **

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 ...

( 3 times) – with

Mario Milano Mario Bulfone (15 May 1935 – 9 December 2016), better known by his ring name Mario Milano, was a professional wrestler. Milano got his start in wrestling in Venezuela and later competed in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, Mex ...

(1) and

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 ...

(2)

Luchas de Apuestas record

Notes

References

External links

*
Page of Fame
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spoiler, The 1940 births 2006 deaths Canadian male professional wrestlers Deaths from cancer in Alberta Deaths from leukemia Faux East Asian professional wrestlers Masked wrestlers Professional wrestlers from New Brunswick Professional wrestling trainers Sportspeople from Moncton Stampede Wrestling alumni 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA National Heavyweight Champions NWA Florida Heavyweight Champions NWA Florida Tag Team Champions NWA Southern Heavyweight Champions (Florida version) WCWA Brass Knuckles Champions NWA Americas Tag Team Champions IWA World Heavyweight Champions (Australia) IWA World Tag Team Champions (Australia) NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champions