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Frank Tunney
Francis Martin Tunney (November 12, 1912 - May 10, 1983) was a Canadian professional boxing and wrestling promoter, based in Toronto. Biography Early life He was educated in Markham, Ontario, and went to a business college after high school. His first exposure to wrestling came when he answered a classified ad for the Queensbury Athletic Club. The club required a secretary and Tunney was hired by Jack Corcoran to fill that position. It was Corcoran who opened wrestling at Maple Leaf Gardens in November 1931. At Tunney's request, Corcoran hired his older brother, John Tunney, to be matchmaker. John managed the wrestling promotion through most of the Great Depression, while younger brother Frank was the bookkeeper. In 1939, Corcoran was forced to sell his promotion due to illness. John continued to handle matchmaking duties, with assistance from Paul Bowser, Jack Ganson, and Jerry Monahan. Unexpectedly, John died from influenza on January 19, 1940. Frank was now left in charge and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toronto, Ontario
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 anchor of the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration of 9,765,188 people (as of 2021) surrounding the western end of Lake Ontario, while the Greater Toronto Area proper had a 2021 population of 6,712,341. Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts, sports and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world. Indigenous peoples have travelled through and inhabited the Toronto area, located on a broad sloping plateau interspersed with rivers, deep ravines, and urban forest, for more than 10,000 years. After the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase, when the Mississauga surrendered the area to the British Crown, the British established the town of York in 1793 and later desig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Crockett
James Allen Crockett Sr. (June 2, 1909 – April 1, 1973) was a professional wrestling promoter and professional sports franchise owner sometimes known as Jim Crockett Sr., or to people within the business simply as "Big Jim". Early life Crockett was born on June 2, 1909 in Bristol, Virginia, to Charles Sampson Crockett (1878-1960) and Josie E. (Berry) Crockett. As a youth, he became a fan of pro wrestling, which had thrived during the 1920s with such grapplers as Strangler Lewis and Joe Stecher dominating the scene. Career Professional wrestling In the early 1930s, a dispute arose over the bookings of new wrestling sensation Jim Londos, so New York City promoter Jack Curley negotiated an alliance between various regional managers that enabled Londos to travel the country as champion while allowing the promoters to share profits evenly across the regions. As a result of this arrangement, new wrestling "territories" emerged across the U.S., and in 1935, a 25-year-old Crockett, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling company, of which he is still majority owner and wields the majority of voting power. He is also the founder and owner of Alpha Entertainment. Born in Pinehurst, North Carolina, McMahon graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in business in 1968 and began his tenure in professional wrestling as a commentator for the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) for most of the 1970s; McMahon bought the company from his father, Vincent J. McMahon, in 1982 and almost monopolized the industry, which previously operated as separate entities across the United States. This led to the development of the annual WrestleMania, which became one of the most successful professional wrestling eve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Tunney
John "Jack" Tunney Jr. (January 21, 1935 – January 24, 2004) was a Canadian professional wrestling promoter. He was known worldwide for his appearances on World Wrestling Federation television as the promotion's figurehead president. Tunney's tenure was during the company's initial worldwide popularity boom in the 1980s, the peak days of " Hulkamania". Queensbury Athletic Club/Maple Leaf Wrestling Early life In 1930, Jack Corcoran set up Toronto's Queensbury Athletic Club (QAC, later known by the unofficial name of Maple Leaf Wrestling), along with Jack's father, John Tunney Sr., his uncle, Frank Tunney, and Toots Mondt. Working for his uncle In 1952, Jack entered into employment with the promotion, first as a referee and later in the booking office working alongside Frank, Norm Kimber, Frank Ayerst, Ed Noonan, and wrestlers Whipper Billy Watson and Pat Flanagan, as they promoted all over southern Ontario. The offices were in Maple Leaf Gardens for many years. In the mid 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Ward
Freddie Joe Ward (December 30, 1942 – May 8, 2022) was an American actor and producer. Starting with a role in an Italian television movie in 1973, he appeared in such diverse films as '' Escape from Alcatraz'', ''Southern Comfort'', '' The Right Stuff'', '' Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann'', '' Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins'', '' Tremors'' and '' Tremors 2: Aftershocks'', ''Henry & June'', '' The Player'', '' Swing Shift'', ''Short Cuts'', and ''30 Minutes or Less''. Early life Freddie Joe Ward was born in San Diego on December 30, 1942. He was part Cherokee. His father was an alcoholic criminal who was repeatedly imprisoned and his mother left him when Fred was three. He was then raised by his grandmother until his mother had rebuilt her life and remarried a carnival worker. Before acting, Ward spent three years in the United States Air Force. He was also a boxer (breaking his nose three times) and worked as a lumberjack in Alaska, a janitor, and a short-order ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vincent J
Vincent ( la, Vincentius) is a male given name derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word (''to conquer''). People with the given name Artists * Vincent Apap (1909–2003), Maltese sculptor *Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), Dutch Post-Impressionist painter * Vincent Munier (born 1976), French wildlife photographer Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), deacon and martyr, patron saint of Lisbon and Valencia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305), martyrs who evangelized in the Pyrenees * Vincent of Digne (died 379), French bishop of Digne * Vincent of Lérins (died 445), Church father, Gallic author of early Christian writings * Vincent Madelgarius (died 677), Benedictine monk who established two monasteries in France * Vincent Ferrer (1350–1419), Valencian Dominican missionary and logician *Vincent de Paul (1581–1660), Catholic priest who served the poor * Vicente Liem de la Paz (Vincent Liem the Nguyen, 1732–1773), Vincent Du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene Kiniski
Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he billed himself for promotional purposes, was born in Edmonton, Alberta.National Wrestling Alliance, The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling, p. 211, Tim Hornbaker, ECW Press, 2007, Like Bronko Nagurski before him, Kiniski was one of the first world champions in professional wrestling to have a previous background in football. He is the father of professional wrestler Kelly Kiniski and international amateur and professional wrestler Nick Kiniski. Early life One of six children of local politician Julia Kiniski (and her husband Nicholas), Gene Kiniski grew up in Edmonton. At the age of seventeen, he was over six feet tall. Kiniski wrestled and played football at St. Joseph's High School. In March 1947, he entere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Muchnick
Samuel Muchnick (born Jeshua Muchnick, August 22, 1905 – December 30, 1998) was an American professional wrestling promoter from St. Louis, Missouri. He is often regarded as wrestling's equivalent of Pete Rozelle (the forward-thinking commissioner who revolutionized the NFL), and he was instrumental in establishing the National Wrestling Alliance, which became the industry's top governing body, in 1948. Muchnick served as the NWA's president from 1950 to 1960 and again from 1963 to 1975. He operated the St. Louis Wrestling Club, one of the primary members of the NWA, based in St. Louis. Early life Muchnick was born in Ukraine to a Jewish family on August 22, 1905, but moved to the United States in 1911. He grew up in St. Louis, and his name was changed to ''Samuel'' when his father decided that ''Jeshua'' ( Jesus or Joshua) was an inappropriate name for a Jewish child. While attending school, he worked various jobs to help out his family before earning his high school ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta in South China. With 7.5 million residents of various nationalities in a territory, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Hong Kong is also a major global financial centre and one of the most developed cities in the world. Hong Kong was established as a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island from Xin'an County at the end of the First Opium War in 1841 then again in 1842.. The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after the Second Opium War and was further extended when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898... British Hong Kong was occupied by Imperial Japan from 1941 to 1945 during World War II; British administration resumed afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promotion emerged as a cornerstone of the National Wrestling Alliance. By the 1980s, Jim Crockett Promotions was, along with the World Wrestling Federation, one of the two largest promotions in the United States. The Crockett family sold a majority interest in the promotion to Turner Broadcasting System, which was acquired by Time Warner (later became WarnerMedia from 2018–2022, now known as Warner Bros. Discovery) in 1996, resulting in the creation of World Championship Wrestling from 1988. History Early history (1935–1952) Jim Crockett (1909–1973) was a promoter of live events including professional wrestling, music concerts, plays, minor league baseball, and ice hockey. In 1935, he founded his own professional wrestling promotion, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Scott (wrestler)
George Scott (August 27, 1929 – January 20, 2014) was a Canadian professional wrestler, booker and promoter. From the 1950s until the 1970s, he and his younger brother Sandy competed as The Flying Scotts in North American regional promotions including the National Wrestling Alliance, particularly the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic territories, as well as successful stints in the American Wrestling Association, Maple Leaf Wrestling and Stampede Wrestling. Scott was also the longtime head booker for the Jim Crockett Promotions working under promoter Jim Crockett, Jr. during the 1970s and with Vince McMahon during the World Wrestling Federation's national expansion during the early 1980s. He helped organize many of the early PPV events such as WrestleMania I and WrestleMania 2 as well as the early cards for the WWF's weekly television shows '' Saturday Night's Main Event'', '' Prime Time Wrestling'' and ''Superstars of Wrestling''. On the Steve Austin Show Unleashed Podcast, Scot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Farhat
Edward George Farhat (June 7, 1926 – January 18, 2003) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name The Sheik (often called The Original Sheik to distinguish him from The Iron Sheik, who debuted in 1972). Farhat is credited as one of the originators of the hardcore wrestling style. He was also the promoter of Big Time Wrestling, and the uncle of ECW wrestler Sabu. Farhat promoted his shows at Cobo Hall in Detroit and was the booker for Frank Tunney's shows at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto from 1971 to 1977. Early life Edward George Farhat was born one of ten children in Lansing, Michigan, on June 7, 1926, to Lebanese immigrants. Unlike most of his older brothers, he did not attend college as myth says. His older brother Edmund did, which is where the confusion usually takes place. Edward quit school in the eighth grade and worked during the depression. He falsified his birth certificate in order to join the Army (possibly using his older brother Edmu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
