Abe Zvonkin (March 6, 1910 – August 22, 2002) 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 ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete, an all-star and

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

champion Canadian football player and

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 ...

. He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, United States and died in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

Personal life

Abe Zvonkin was born in

, son of Russian immigrants. The family later moved to Canada when Zvonkin was only two years old. He attended the Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where he began playing football. Zvonkin was married for 73 years to Jean Zvokin and together they had three children, one daughter and two sons. After retiring from professional wrestling Zvorkin would travel the United States and Canada competing in

dog shows A dog show is an event where dogs are exhibited. A conformation show, also referred to as a ''breed show'', is a kind of dog show in which a judge, familiar with a specific dog breed, evaluates individual purebred dogs for how well the dogs ' ...

for many years. He died on August 22, 2002, from Cancer.

Athletics

While Zvonkin was born in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, he represented Canada at the 1930 Empire Games. At the games Zvonkin won the bronze medal in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by t ...

event. He finished fourth in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

competition, one place out of medal contention.

Canadian Football

Zvonkin began his football career in 1933 with the

Hamilton Tigers The Hamilton Tigers were a professional ice hockey team based in Hamilton, Ontario. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1920 to 1925. The Tigers were formed by the sale of the Quebec Bulldogs NHL franchise to Hamilton intere ...

of the

Ontario Rugby Football Union The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league comprising teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded on Saturday, January 6, 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt th ...

, but when he attended Queen's University he became an all-star in 1934 with the

Queen's Golden Gaels The Queen's Gaels (also known as the Queen's Golden Gaels) is the Athletics program representing Queen's University at Kingston in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Team colours are blue, red, and gold. The main athletics facilities include Richardson ...

. He returned to the Tigers for 3 more seasons in 1937, ending with his enlistment during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He played two more seasons with the

Hamilton Flying Wildcats The Hamilton Wildcats were a Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario that played in the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) from 1941 to 1947, and in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) from 1948 to 1949. The team was forme ...

, winning the

in 1943, his last season.

Professional wrestling career

After being influenced by

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 ...

, Zvorkin made his professional wrestling debut on March 24, 1944, defeating Al Dunlop. From the beginning Zvonkin played the heel (wrestling term for those who play the "bad guys"), thriving in the role. Over the years Zvonkin wrestled under a number of different identities or

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 projectin ...

s, including masked characters Mr. X and the Purple Phantom. He also worked as "Mr. E" as well as under his real name, playing off his Russian heritage. Zvonkin retired in 1961.

Championships and accomplishments

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the pr ...

Alberta Tag Team Championship In professional wrestling, the Alberta Tag Team Championship was a tag team championship promoted by the Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling in the mid-1950s. History The Alberta Tag Team Champions ...

(1 time) – with Jim Henry

References

External links

obsessedwithwrestling.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zvonkin, Abe 1910 births 2002 deaths American people of Russian descent Canadian people of Russian descent Canadian male discus throwers Canadian male shot putters Canadian male professional wrestlers Athletes (track and field) at the 1930 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Ontario Rugby Football Union players Queen's Golden Gaels football players Hamilton Tigers football players Hamilton Wildcats football players Professional wrestlers from Hamilton, Ontario American emigrants to Canada Stampede Wrestling alumni Athletes from Hamilton, Ontario 20th-century professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from New York City Medallists at the 1930 British Empire Games