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Wrestling Superstars
''Wrestling Superstars'' were the first action figures based on the wrestlers of the World Wrestling Entertainment, WWF. Wrestling action figures were the brainchild of Richard Derwald of Buffalo NY who sold the idea to LJN in the summer of 1984. (Video in references). They were made by the toy and video game company LJN from 1984 to 1989. The figures were made of solid rubber and paint and were very accurate in appearance to their real life counterparts. LJN closed its toy division in 1989, canceling the ''Wrestling Superstars'' line with it. The last six figures produced were only distributed by Grand Toys of Canada making them rarer than most of the other figures. The line was restarted in 2021 by Jazwares, which produced an action figure of Cody Rhodes with LJN branding for All Elite Wrestling. Wrestling Superstars figures for AEW wrestlers Darby Allin and CM Punk have also been announced for 2022. 8" Series The 8" series was the main line in the Wrestling Superstars collect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Junkyard Dog
Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and NCAA football, college football player, best known for his time in Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts), Mid-South Wrestling, where he would serve as a Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship, world heavyweight champion, and the World Wrestling Entertainment, World Wrestling Federation as the Junkyard Dog (or JYD). He was known for entering the ring with his trademark chain attached to a dog collar, headlining cards that drew large crowds and regularly sold out the Louisiana Superdome and other major venues. WWE author Brian Shields called him one of the most electrifying and charismatic wrestlers in the country, particularly during his peak in the early 1980s. JYD was also known for his upper body strength, which saw him regularly bodyslam large wrestlers. The word "thump," which referred to JYD's powerslam, was prominently displayed on his wres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Davey Boy Smith
David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Boy Smith and The British Bulldog. Smith won titles within the WWF in three decades, from the 1980s to the 2000s. Though he was never a world champion, Smith nevertheless headlined multiple pay-per-view events in the WWF and WCW, in which he challenged for the WWF and WCW World Heavyweight championships. He defeated Bret Hart for the WWF Intercontinental Championship in the main event of SummerSlam 1992 at London's original Wembley Stadium; he also has the distinction of being the inaugural and longest reigning WWF European Champion in a total of 206 days, and to have held the title on the sole occasion where a match for that championship headlined a pay-per-view event, at One Night Only in 1997. Prior to finding singles success, Smith achieved stardom as one half of The B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corporal Kirchner
Michael James Penzel (September 7, 1957 – December 22, 2021) was an American professional wrestler and United States Army paratrooper. He was best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Corporal Kirchner in the mid-1980s, as well as his appearances in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, W*ING, International Wrestling Association Japan, and Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling under the ring name Leatherface. Early life Penzel was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 7, 1957. He enlisted in the United States Army as a teenager, becoming a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. He left the Army in his early twenties. Professional wrestling career Early career (1980–1984) While working as a mechanic and bouncer in Minnesota, Penzel met professional wrestler Hulk Hogan in a gym. Hogan introduced him to American Wrestling Association promoter Verne Gagne, who sent him to his professional wrestling school. World Wrestling Fede ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freddie Blassie
Frederick Kenneth Blassie (February 8, 1918 – June 2, 2003) was an American professional wrestler and manager, known by the ring name "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Renowned as "The Hollywood Fashion Plate","Classy" Freddie Blassie with Keith Elliot Greenberg, ''Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks'', (WWE Books, 2003). he was a one-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, and was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1994. He is regarded as one of the greatest wrestling heels, or villains, of all time. Early life Blassie was born Frederick Kenneth Blassie in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1918. His parents, Anna (née Szind) and Jacob Blassie (né Blaszi), were immigrants from Austria-Hungary who arrived in the United States in 1912 via Hamburg, Germany. Frederick was an only child. His father was an abusive alcoholic, prompting Frederick to stay with his grandparents whenever Jacob beat Anna. His parents repeatedly separated, only to reconcile. At the age of 13, after Jacob had beaten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lou Albano
Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name "Captain" Lou Albano. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969, before becoming a manager until 1996. Over the course of his 42-year career, Albano guided 15 different tag teams and three singles competitors to championship gold. Albano was one of the "Triumvirate of Terror", a threesome of nefarious WWF managers which included Ernie Roth, The Grand Wizard of Wrestling and Freddie Blassie. The trio was a fixture in the company for a decade until The Grand Wizard's death in 1983. A unique showman, with an elongated beard, rubber band facial piercings, and loud outfits, Albano was the forefather of the 1980s 1980s professional wrestling boom#Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection, Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection. Working first with NRBQ and later with Cyndi Lauper, Albano helped usher in wrestling's crossover ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with the WWE, World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Sammartino's first reign as WWF World Heavyweight Champion is the longest recognized men's world title reign in wrestling history. Born in Kingdom of Italy, Italy to a family of seven, Sammartino grew up in poverty. As a child, Sammartino survived the German occupation of Italy during World War II. In 1950, he came to the United States with his family, where they would settle in Pittsburgh. Sammartino would later take up bodybuilding before beginning his career as a professional wrestler in 1959. Dubbed "the Italian Strongman” and "the Strongest Man in the World" early in his career, Sammartino later earned the title "the Living Legend". Known for his powerful Professional wrestling holds#Bear hug, bearhug finishing move, Sammartino wrestled for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis Heenan (November 1, 1944 – September 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestling Manager (professional wrestling), manager, color commentator, and wrestler. He performed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Entertainment, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Bobby "the Brain" Heenan. Heenan was known for his skill in elevating Heel (professional wrestling), villainous on-screen talent by drawing heat (professional wrestling), negative reactions for himself and his wrestlers from the crowd. He was paired with numerous wrestlers, including Nick Bockwinkel, whom he led to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, and he became an integral figure in the 1980s professional wrestling boom by managing King Kong Bundy and André the Giant in WWF main event matches with Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 2 and WrestleMania III respectively. The wrestlers under his tutelage were co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Orndorff
Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. (October 29, 1949 – July 12, 2021), nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and football player, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). After seven years working around the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), Orndorff became a star in the 1980s WWF wrestling boom, and featured with manager Bobby Heenan and champion Hulk Hogan extensively, including in the main events of the first WrestleMania and Survivor Series. He left the WWF for WCW in early 1990, where he won the WCW World Television Championship and the WCW World Tag Team Championship with Paul Roma (as a team called Pretty Wonderful). Arm atrophy from a nagging injury led him to retire in 2000. After retiring, he trained aspiring wrestlers. Orndorff was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and the National Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame in 2009. Football career Orndorff played co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Kong Bundy
Christopher Alan Pallies (November 7, 1955 – March 4, 2019) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, stand-up comedian and actor better known by his wrestling gimmick and ring name, King Kong Bundy. Under this gimmick, he portrayed a pugnacious, trash-talking villain character. He appeared in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s and wrestled in the main event of WrestleMania 2 in 1986, facing Hulk Hogan in a Professional wrestling match types#Cages, steel cage match for the WWE Championship, WWF World Heavyweight Championship. He also headlined the inaugural Survivor Series Survivor Series (1987), in 1987, as well as the first edition of Extreme Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling's flagship event, November to Remember, November to Remember (1993), in 1993. Early life Christopher Alan Pallies was born in Woodbury, New Jersey, on November 7, 1955, to Donald Pallies, a railroad freight agent, and Margre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greg Valentine
Jonathan Anthony Wisniski (born September 20, 1951) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "the Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine. Over five decades, Valentine held more than 40 championships, including the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship, WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, NWA World Tag Team Championship, and WWF World Tag Team Championship. An alumnus of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2004 and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. Early life Born in Seattle, Washington, Wisniski traveled around Texas in his teens with his father; Johnny Valentine. During a summer vacation, he decided to drop out of college and become a wrestler. His father initially tried to deter him, but eventually ceded to his wishes and sent him to Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Steele
William James Myers (April 16, 1937 – February 16, 2017), better known by his ring name George "The Animal" Steele, was an American professional wrestler, school teacher, author, and actor. His career lasted from 1967 until 1988, though he made occasional wrestling appearances into the 1990s and 2000s. Steele was known around the world as a professional wrestler for the WWE (then known as the WWF) and portrayed Swedish wrestler and actor Tor Johnson in Tim Burton's film ''Ed Wood. Early life Myers was born in Detroit on April 16, 1937, and was raised in Madison Heights, Michigan. During high school, he found success in track, baseball, basketball, and football. In 1956, Myers entered Michigan State University as a football player for the Michigan State Spartans, but his career as a football player was immediately cut short as a result of knee problems. In 1961, he was with the Grand Rapids Blazers (United Football League (1961–64), UFL). After earning a Bachelor of Scienc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
