Bert Ruby (born Bertalan Rubinstein, November 29, 1910 - March 9, 1968) was a Hungarian/American

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 ...

, professional wrestling trainer, and

wrestling promoter A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view ...

Early life

Rubinstein was born in the village of

Valea lui Mihai Valea lui Mihai (; hu, Érmihályfalva) is a town in Bihor County, Crișana, Romania. Geography It is located around 66 km north-east of Oradea, 9 km from the Hungarian border in Bihor County, Crișana, Romania. History In 1312, und ...

in the

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

region of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

in 1910, one of 12 children. Following the

dissolution of Austria-Hungary The dissolution of Austria-Hungary was a major geopolitical event that occurred as a result of the growth of internal social contradictions and the separation of different parts of Austria-Hungary. The reason for the collapse of the state was Worl ...

in 1919, Rubinstein lived in Hungary. As a young man, he became known for his greater strength and was reputed to be "the town's toughest Jew". During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, he emigrated from Hungary to

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 ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada on an agricultural worker's permit, working on farms. He broke into professional wrestling in the 1930s after a

filling station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoli ...

owner hired him and several other local young men to put on a wrestling card and he was spotted by a promoter, eventually moving to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

in the United States to pursue a career in professional wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

Ruby wrestled his first recorded match in 1933. Ruby wrestled barefoot for much of his career, earning him the nickname "The Man With the Educated Toes". He used the

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 projecting ...

s "Bert Ruby", "Bert Rubi", and "Magyar Hercules" ("Hungarian Hercules"). Ruby both ran and wrestled for the Michigan-based promotion Wolverine Wrestling. He held the promotion's Michigan Junior Heavyweight Championship in 1950 and again in 1951. Ruby retired in 1955 after suffering 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 ...

during a bout. He went on to promote professional wrestling in Michigan. He was the right-hand man of

Harry Light Harold Lecht, known professionally as Harry Light (September 17, 1898 - October 29, 1971) was a French/American professional wrestling promoter. He is best known for running the Harry Light Wrestling Office in Detroit, Michigan from 1945 to 1959. ...

, helping run the Harry Light Wrestling Office, which dominated professional wrestling in Detroit from the 1940s to the 1960s. As a promoter, Ruby introduced wrestlers including

Abdullah the Butcher Lawrence Robert Shreve (born January 11, 1941), better known by the ring name Abdullah the Butcher, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He has a reputation for being involved in some of the most violent and bloody hardcore wrestling matc ...

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 mad ...

Killer Kowalski Walter Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008), known professionally as Killer Kowalski, was a Polish-Canadian professional wrestler. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, includin ...

, Leaping Larry Chene, and The Sheik. Ruby was also responsible for booking

midget professional wrestlers Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like "dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of ca ...

on behalf of 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 ...

, with promoters from the various NWA territories contacting him to hire popular wrestlers such as Little Beaver, Little Brutus, and

Sky Low Low Marcel Gauthier (July 21, 1928 to November 6, 1998) was a Canadian professional midget wrestler who wrestler under the ring name Sky Low Low (a reference to Sky Hi Lee). Professional wrestling career Known by his midget wrestler persona "Sky Lo ...

Personal life

Ruby and his wife, Irene, had two sons, Allen and Rob, both of whom became prominent lawyers in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. Irene was the bookkeeper for Ruby's promotion while his sons worked as announcers, with Allen himself wrestling for over two years. In 1948, Ruby and his wife adopted his nephew, Emery Grosinger, an orphaned teenage

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

. Ruby was Jewish. Following his relocation to North America he

anglicized Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

his name as Bert Ruby.

Death

Ruby died of a heart attack in 1967 at the age of 57.

Championships and accomplishments

*Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame **Class of 2006 *Wolverine Wrestling **Michigan Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruby, Bert 1910 births 1968 deaths 20th-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Austro-Hungarian professional wrestlers Big Time Wrestling (Detroit) Hungarian emigrants to the United States Hungarian Jews Hungarian professional wrestlers Jewish American sportspeople Jewish professional wrestlers People from Valea lui Mihai Professional wrestlers from Michigan Professional wrestling promoters Professional wrestling trainers