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“Cowboy” Bob Ellis
Robert Ellis (born March 15, 1929), is an American retired professional wrestler. He wrestled under the ring name, Cowboy Bob Ellis for over 20 years in various wrestling promotions in the States, Canada and Australia. He was a two-time WWA World Heavyweight Champion in Indianapolis. He is known as the inventor of the bulldog and as of 2024 is the oldest-living former professional wrestler in the world. Early life Ellis played high school football. He went on to attend McMurry College where he again played football. Ellis served three years in the United States Army as a paratrooper, making 53 jumps during the Korean War. In 1954, he briefly was signed to the Philadelphia Eagles. Ellis owned several gyms in San Angelo, Texas. Professional wrestling career Ellis was trained to wrestle by Sandor Szabo. Ellis made his professional wrestling debut in Denver, Colorado in 1957. He initially wrestled as "Bob Elliott" before becoming "Cowboy" Bob Ellis. On November 28, 1958 Elli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Green County, Texas
Tom Green County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 120,003. Its county seat is San Angelo. The county was created in 1874 and organized the following year. It is named for Thomas Green, who was a Confederate soldier and lawyer. Tom Green County is included in the San Angelo metropolitan statistical area; the county is home to Goodfellow Air Force Base, as well as Angelo State University, part of the Texas Tech University System. History The county was established by the state legislature on March 13, 1874, and named after Thomas Green, a Confederate brigadier general. It originally comprised an area over . The original county seat was the town of Ben Ficklin. In 1882, flood waters of the Concho River destroyed the town and drowned 65 people. The county seat was moved to Santa Angela. In 1883, the town's name was officially changed to San Angelo by the United States Post Office. Following c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit Version)
The NWA Detroit United States Heavyweight Championship was a version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship contested in Big Time Wrestling from 1959 until 1980. It was first introduced as the ''Chicago version'' of the championship and contested on shows produced by Fred Kohler Enterprises before moving to Big Time Wrestling in Detroit six years later. While the National Wrestling Alliance recognized only one World Heavyweight Championship, there were multiple NWA United States Heavyweight Championships, as many NWA-affiliated promotions across the U.S. each had its own version of an "American" or "United States" championship. For most such territories—including Detroit—the U.S. Championship was the promotion's primary singles championship. Over its history, the title was held by stars including Bobo Brazil, The Sheik, Wilbur Snyder, Johnny Valentine, and multi-time AWA World Heavyweight Champions Verne Gagne and Dick the Bruiser. Title history See also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baron Von Raschke
James Donald Raschke (born October 17, 1940) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Baron von Raschke. Early life Raschke was a three-year letterman with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Cornhuskers wrestling team in 1960, 1961 and 1962. He is listed in the university's wrestling media guide as Jim Raschke. He also played football for the Cornhuskers as a left tackle in 1959 and 1960. After a successful amateur wrestling career and a stint in the United States Army, Raschke pursued a career in professional wrestling. Professional wrestling career Raschke started in professional wrestling in 1966 in the American Wrestling Association as a referee. He was soon wrestling under his real name, playing off of his amateur wrestling notoriety in the area. He eventually changed his ring name to Baron von Raschke and claimed to be from Germany. He would do a goose-step and then put his finisher known as the "brainclaw", on his oppon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Killer Karl Kox
Herbert Alan Gerwig (April 26, 1931 – November 10, 2011) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Killer Karl Kox. Kox competed in the National Wrestling Alliance as well as international promotions such as All Japan Pro Wrestling, the International Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling during the 1960s and 1970s. Early life Gerwig was born in Baltimore, Maryland, where his father worked for ''The Baltimore Sun''. He attended Forest Park High School. After graduating, Gerwig enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He took part in the Korean War, fighting in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, where he loaded frozen corpses onto a jeep. Gerwig rarely discussed his wartime experience. After leaving the Marine Corps, Gerwig relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked in construction and moonlighted as a softball player. Professional wrestling career Gerwig was trained as a professional wrestler by Fred Bozack and Ralph "Ruffy" Si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skull Murphy
John Joseph Murphy (December 7, 1930 – March 23, 1970) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Skull Murphy. He began his career wrestling in Canada and later worked at Jim Crockett Promotions and Georgia Championship Wrestling in the United States. In the 1960s, he teamed with Brute Bernard in the World Wide Wrestling Federation and won championships in several professional wrestling promotions. In his later career, he worked primarily in Australia. Early life John Joseph Murphy was raised in Hamilton, Ontario. As a child, he developed a disease that prevented him from growing any hair on his body. He attended Hamilton Central Technical School, where he met professional wrestler Chuck Molnar. Molnar convinced Murphy to become a wrestler, and Murphy began training at the Hamilton Jewish YMCA under Jimmy Simms. Author Mordecai Richler states that Murphy told him that he rubbed baby oil on his bald head before matches to reduce irritation from the rin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IWA World Heavyweight Championship (Australia)
The IWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Australian World Championship Wrestling promotion from its founding in 1964 until 1971. Although a part of WCW, the championship carried the IWA initials, for the International Wrestling Alliance. The IWA was WCW's sanctioning body for its championships. WCW joined the National Wrestling Alliance in August 1969, but still recognized this title as its world title. In 1971, the title was abandoned, the NWA Austra-Asian Heavyweight Championship was established as WCW's new top championship, and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship was recognized in WCW as the world title. 24 different men held the championship, combining for 51 individual title reigns. Title history See also *Professional wrestling in Australia *World Championship Wrestling (Australia) *International Wrestling Australia Mark Mercedes is an Australian professional wrestler and promoter, currently ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Killer Kowalski
Wladek Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008) was a Canadian professional wrestler, known by his ring name Killer Kowalski. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, including the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE), and was a known heel. He held numerous championships including the WWWF World Tag Team Championship with Big John Studd billed as the Executioners and managed by Lou Albano. After retiring in 1977, Kowalski started a professional wrestling school in Malden, Massachusetts and trained many professional wrestlers, including Studd, Triple H, Chyna, Eddie Edwards, Frankie Kazarian, Kofi Kingston, Damien Sandow, Fandango, Brittany Brown, April Hunter, John Kronus, Perry Saturn, and Tommaso Ciampa. Early life Wladek Kowalski was born Edward Władysław Spulnik, the son of Polish immigrants Antoni Spulnik and Maria Borowska; he, his older si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WWA World Heavyweight Championship (Los Angeles)
The WWA World Heavyweight Championship, also known simply as the World Heavyweight Championship, was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Los Angeles, California-based Worldwide Wrestling Associates (WWA). The title was established as an offshoot of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when Édouard Carpentier became recognized as world champion in Los Angeles, when the promotion was then known as the North American Wrestling Alliance. The championship was renamed with the promotion in 1961, and was abandoned in 1968 after WWA joined the NWA and was renamed NWA Hollywood Wrestling. There were multiple world titles contested in Indianapolis' World Wrestling Association, the World Wrestling Association in Mexico and in the World Wrestling Association of Korea, which are all omonime promotions of the original WWA and which all consider themselves to be the true WWA or its true heir. Title history See also *List of early world heavyweight champions i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick Beyer
Richard John "Dick" Beyer (July 11, 1930 – March 7, 2019) was an American professional wrestler is best known by his ring names, The Destroyer and Doctor X. Among other places, he worked extensively in Japan and in 2017 he was awarded one of the country's highest honors, the Order of the Rising Sun. Early life As an athlete at Syracuse University, Beyer was a member of the varsity football and wrestling teams. He played in the 1953 Orange Bowl for Syracuse. He graduated with a master's degree in education and was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta's Syracuse Chapter, as well as an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. He was a schoolteacher and swim coach in New York until he began his wrestling career. Beyer worked the first seven years of his mat career near his Western New York home, due in large part to his coaching job and commitment to the U.S. Army Reserve. Beyer was a member of the wrestling team and also served as an assistant to Ben Schwartzwald ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship
The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. Although formally established in 1948, its lineage has been traditionally traced back to the first World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (original version), World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, which traces its lineage to the title first awarded to George Hackenschmidt in 1905. This effectively makes it the oldest surviving wrestling championship in the world. The title began as a governing body's world championship and has been competed for in multiple major promotions around the world, including the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (which seceded from the NWA and became WWE, World Wide Wrestling Federation, now WWE), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Total Nonstop Action Wrestli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Barend
John R. Barend (March 27, 1929 – September 20, 2011), better known as "Handsome" Johnny Barend, was an American professional wrestler. Early life Born in 1929 in Rochester, New York, Barend started wrestling as an amateur at the age of eight. After graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School in Rochester in 1944, he served in the United States Navy during World War II and wrestled while in the service. Professional wrestling career Early career (1949–1962) He was trained to wrestle professionally by Ed Don George and made his professional debut on November 1, 1949, defeating Faro Rinaldi. In 1956, he started teaming with Gene Dubuque, who was wrestling under the name, Magnificent Maurice. Barend's original manager was Ernie Roth, then using the name Mr. Kleen. Roth would gain fame in the WWWF as the Grand Wizard of Wrestling during the 1970s. Barend and Maurice went on to win many tag-team championships. Barend first appeared in Hawaii with 50th State Big Time Wre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddy Rogers (wrestler)
Buddy Rogers (born Herman Gustav Rohde Jr.; February 20, 1921 – June 26, 1992), better known by the ring name "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, was an American professional wrestler who was one of the biggest professional wrestling stars in the beginning of the television era. His performances influenced future professional wrestlers, including "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, who used Rogers's nickname, as well as his look, attitude and finishing hold, the figure-four leglock. He was also known for his rivalry with Lou Thesz, both in and out of the ring. Rogers was a fourteen-time world champion, notably holding the top championship in both the NWA and the World Wide Wrestling Federation (today known as WWE); was the inaugural WWWF World Heavyweight Champion. He is one of four men in history to have held both championships, along with Ric Flair, AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes. Early life Rogers was the son of Herman Gustav Rohde Sr., and Frieda Stech, both German immigrants. He was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
