Anthony Gareljich (born 20 September 1946) is a New Zealand retired

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 ...

, better 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 project ...

, Tony Garea. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with 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 ...

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 var ...

in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early life

The son of Croatian-born Ivan Gareljich, Anthony Gareljich was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, New Zealand to parents of Yugoslavian and Irish descent. He was originally an accomplished sprinter and a rugby player.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Garea was trained by Wild Don Scott. He made his

professional wrestling 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 ...

debut in his native New Zealand. He worked in the NWA San Francisco territory where he and Pat Patterson defeated

Don Muraco Don Muraco (born September 10, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler and podcaster. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1981 to 1988, where he held the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Cha ...

and Invader I for the NWA San Francisco Tag Team Championship in May 1976.

World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation

Debut and early tag team championship reigns (1972–1979)

Garea left New Zealand in 1972 and went to the United States where he signed a contract with Vince McMahon, Sr.'s

(WWWF). He made his WWWF debut at a TV taping in the

Philadelphia Arena The Philadelphia Arena was an auditorium used mainly for sporting events located at 46th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia. The address of the building, originally named the Philadelphia Ice Palace and Auditorium, was 4530 Market Street. T ...

on 20 September 1972 as a babyface, defeating Davey O'Hannon. On 30 May 1973, he teamed with Haystacks Calhoun and defeated

Mr. Fuji Harry Masayoshi Fujiwara (May 4, 1934 – August 28, 2016) was an American professional wrestler and manager, known professionally by his ring name Mr. Fuji (or Master Fuji to his protégés). He was famous for often throwing salt in the ey ...

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, o ...

to win his first WWWF World Tag Team Championship. Garea and Calhoun feuded with Fuji and Tanaka for the rest of the summer before losing the titles back to Fuji and Tanaka on 11 September. Garea continued the feud with Fuji and Tanaka with a new partner, Dean Ho. On 14 November, Garea and Ho defeated Fuji and Tanaka for Garea's second and Ho's first WWWF World Tag Team Championship. Garea's second tag team reign was longer and better than his first reign. They held the titles for five and a half months before losing them to the

Valiant Brothers The Valiant Brothers were a professional wrestling tag team of storyline brothers "Handsome" Jimmy Valiant, "Luscious" Johnny Valiant, and "Gentleman" Jerry Valiant. The team wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the World Wide ...

(

Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

and

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varia ...

) on 8 May 1974 episode of ''

All Star Wrestling All Star Wrestling (ASW) is a British professional wrestling promotion operated by Brian Dixon and based in Birkenhead, England. Founded as Wrestling Enterprises of Birkenhead in October 1970, it has also been known over the years as All Star P ...

''. They continued teaming for a while before disbanding their tag team and working on their own. Garea, who had been successful 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 ...

wrestler, began a singles career. Garea continued his singles career for three years before forming a tag team with new partner

Larry Zbyzsko Lawrence Whistler (born December 5, 1951), better known by the ring name Larry Zbyszko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, Bruno Sammartino, during the early 1980s as well as his w ...

in August 1977. They began teaming after entering a tag team tournament for the vacant tag titles, where they were defeated by Mr. Fuji and Toru Tanaka in the finals on 27 September 1977. They continued to challenge for the titles before defeating

The Yukon Lumberjacks The Yukon Lumberjacks was the name of a professional wrestling tag team who worked in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in 1978, consisting of Eric and Pierre. The team was managed by "Captain" Lou Albano and worked as heels (wrestling t ...

( Eric and

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

) for Garea's third and Zbyzsko's first WWWF World Tag Team Championship on edition of 21 November 1978 of '' Championship Wrestling''. They held the titles for four months before losing them to

( Jerry and

) on edition of 24 March 1979 of ''Championship Wrestling''. Later that same month, ''Wide'' was dropped from the promotion's name, renaming the promotion World Wrestling Federation.

Teaming with Rick Martel (1980–1982)

Garea continued to wrestle in the tag team division, with another former WWF Tag Team Champion Rene Goulet. The two participated in a tag team tournament for the titles, where they were defeated by The Wild Samoans (

Afa Afa or AFA may refer to: Mythology and religion *Afa (mythology), in the Polynesian mythology of Samoa * Afá, a West African religion, also known as Ifá in some languages Governmental * Agence française anticorruption, the French Anti-Corrupti ...

and Sika) in the finals on 27 September 1980. Garea formed a tag team with new partner

Rick Martel Richard Vigneault (born March 18, 1956) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, trainer, and television presenter, better known by his ring name, Rick Martel. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association, the ...

, which was Garea's most successful and most popular tag team. They defeated Wild Samoans on 8 November for Garea's fourth and Martel's first WWF Tag Team Championship. Garea and Martel continued to feud with the former champions for the rest of the year. After Wild Samoans left WWF, the champions began feuding with The Moondogs (

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

and Rex). They dropped the titles to Moondogs on edition of 17 March 1981 of ''Championship Wrestling''. Martel and Garea continued to feud with Moondogs, trying to regain the titles. On 8 June, Garea beat a young rookie named Man Mountain Canyon in

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 Pennsylv ...

, who returned to WWF four years later as

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, ...

. On edition of 21 July of ''Championship Wrestling'', Martel and Garea defeated Moondogs in a rematch to win their second WWF Tag Team Championship as a team, though, it was Garea's fifth and final individual reign. Garea's final run as a tag team champion ended on edition of 17 October of ''Championship Wrestling'' after Garea and Martel were defeated by

and Mr. Saito for the tag titles. Garea and Martel continued to feud with Fuji and Saito, trying to regain the titles but failed to do so. Martel left WWF in 1982 while Garea went on his own. Garea teamed with newcomers to the WWF such as Eddie Gilbert and

B. Brian Blair Brian Leslie Blair (born January 12, 1957) is an American retired professional wrestler and politician. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name B. Brian Blair as one half of the tag tea ...

in 1983 and 1984, but was unable to recapture the success he previously enjoyed as a tag-team champion. He moved to the

jobber to the stars In professional wrestling slang, a job is a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect information related to kayfabe from being revealed. The term can be used a numbe ...

status, jobbing to rising newcomers before retiring in 1986.

Retirement (1986-present)

He thereafter worked as a road agent for the WWF until leaving the Company in 2014. He appeared with former tag team partner

at Vengeance: Night of Champions in June 2007. They came to the aid of the team of Sgt. Slaughter and

Jimmy Snuka James Reiher Snuka (born James Wiley Smith; May 18, 1943 – January 15, 2017) was a Fijian American professional wrestler. He is better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Snuka wrestled for several promotions from the 1970s to 2010 ...

, who were being attacked following their losing to

Deuce 'n Domino Deuce 'n Domino is an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Deuce Shade and Dice Domino, who were managed for the majority of their run by Cherry Pie and briefly by Maryse. The pair teamed together in World Wrestling Entertain ...

. When WWE came to New Zealand on 11 June 2008 in Auckland, Garea was a guest on the first international V.I.P Lounge along with Bushwacker Butch. The segment's host,

Montel Vontavious Porter Hassan Hamin Assad (born Alvin Antonio Burke Jr.; October 28, 1973) is an American professional wrestler and manager currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name MVP (standing for Montel Vontavious Porter) a ...

(MVP) announced him as Bushwhacker Luke but then apologized. Eventually, MVP attacked Butch and Garea with the microphone. Butch and Garea recovered and fought off MVP, then celebrated with the Bushwhacker walk. On 3 March 2009 he was featured on WWE.com exclusive segment ''Top-rope Theater'' posing as "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. On 29 March 2010 episode of ''

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show ...

'' Garea appeared as a lumberjack in the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

vs.

Ted DiBiase Theodore Marvin DiBiase Sr. (born January 18, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE working in their Legends program. DiBiase achieved championship ...

lumberjack match. Towards the end of the match, Garea brawled with other legends that were serving as lumberjacks.

Championships and accomplishments

* Big Time Wrestling ''(San Francisco)'' ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(San Francisco version)'' ( 1 time) – with Pat Patterson * ''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' ** PWI Rookie of the Year (1973) tied with

Bob Orton, Jr. Robert Keith Orton Jr. (born November 10, 1950), better known by the ring name "Cowboy" Bob Orton, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is the son of professional wrestler Bob Orton Sr., the brother of professional wrestler Bar ...

**PWI ranked him #236 of the top 500 best singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003 **PWI ranked him #74 of the top 100 tag teams with Rick Martel during the PWI Years in 2003 *

Universal Wrestling Association The Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) was a Mexican ''Lucha Libre'' or professional wrestling promotion based in Naucalpan, Mexico State that operated from 1975 until 1995. The name of the actual promotion was Lucha Libre Internacional (LLI) ...

**UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation ** WWWF/WWF World Tag Team Championship ( 5 times) – with Haystacks Calhoun (1 time), Dean Ho (1 time),

Larry Zbyszko Lawrence Whistler (born December 5, 1951), better known by the ring name Larry Zbyszko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, Bruno Sammartino, during the early 1980s as well as his w ...

(1 time), and

(2 times)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garea, Tony 1946 births Living people New Zealand male professional wrestlers New Zealand people of Croatian descent Professional wrestling executives Sportspeople from Auckland 20th-century New Zealand people 21st-century New Zealand people 20th-century professional wrestlers