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Rick Hunter (wrestler)
Charles B. Sprott (March 1, 1936 – February 8, 2022) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring names Ricky Hunter and the masked wrestler The Gladiator. He was best known for his title-winning success in Championship Wrestling from Florida in the late 1960s, and for his stint from the mid-1980s in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE). Sprott was active for over 30 years, mainly performing in a number of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) promotions. He wrestled throughout the United States and Canada, and internationally, including in Australia, Japan, and England. Professional wrestling career Early career (1957–1962) Sprott made his debut on October 16, 1957 in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, wrestling under a variation of his real name, Buddy Sprott. He won his first championship, the Atlas Wrestling Club junior heavyweight title, by defeating Ray Lasko in September 1958 in Lockport, Manitoba. In September 1961 he teamed with Georg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,607 and a metropolitan population of 834,678, making it Canada's List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, sixth-largest city and List of census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada, eighth-largest metropolitan area. The city is named after the nearby Lake Winnipeg; the name comes from the Cree language, Western Cree words for 'muddy water' – . The region was a trading centre for Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous peoples long before the European colonization of the Americas, arrival of Europeans; it is the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe (Ojibway), Ininew (Cree), Oji-Cree, Dene, and Dakota people, Dakota, and is the birthplace of the Métis people in Canada, Métis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Brown (wrestler)
Robert Harold Brown (October 16, 1938 – February 5, 1997) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Bulldog" Bob Brown. Early life Brown was born in Shoal Lake, Manitoba, but grew up in the St. James-Assiniboia area of Winnipeg. He was given the nickname "Bulldog" in grade school and worked as a police officer before becoming a professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Having worked as a policeman in Manitoba, Brown also played hockey. He started wrestling in the late 50s, working in places like Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Alberta. From 1969 to 1974 and in the early 1980s, Brown wrestled for NWA All Star Wrestling in Vancouver and formed tag teams with Gene Kiniski and John Quinn. In Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling in the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Canada in the mid-1970s, he fought the likes of Leo Burke and Stephen Petitpas. He worked as a face for ten years in Kansas City before he turned heel i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of 2024, San Francisco is the List of California cities by population, fourth-most populous city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population, 17th-most populous in the United States. San Francisco has a land area of at the upper end of the San Francisco Peninsula and is the County statistics of the United States, fifth-most densely populated U.S. county. Among U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income and sixth by aggregate income as of 2023. San Francisco anchors the Metropolitan statistical area#United States, 13th-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S., with almost 4.6 million residents in 2023. The larger San Francisco Bay Area ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pat Patterson (wrestler)
Pat Patterson (born Pierre Clermont; January 19, 1941 – December 2, 2020) was a Canadian-American professional wrestler and producer, widely known for his long tenure in the professional wrestling promotion WWE, first as a wrestler, then as a creative consultant and producer, or agent. He is recognized by the company as their first Intercontinental Champion and creator of the Royal Rumble match. He was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame as part of the class of 1996. In 2019, Patterson became the oldest person to win a title in WWE history, after winning the WWE 24/7 Championship at age 78. He was described by journalist Dave Meltzer as "Vince McMahon's right-hand man" and "one of the chief architects of the WWE, playing an integral role in helping it become a global phenomenon". Early life Patterson was born into an impoverished French-speaking family in the Ville-Marie borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada on January 19, 1941. He began training to wrestle at the age ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice Vachon
Joseph Maurice Régis Vachon (September 14, 1929 − November 21, 2013) was a Canadian professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Mad Dog Vachon. He was the older brother of wrestlers Paul and Vivian Vachon, and the uncle of wrestler Luna Vachon. Vachon started his career as an amateur wrestler, participating in the 1948 Summer Olympics and winning a gold medal at the 1950 British Empire Games. He made the switch to professional wrestling and spent time in various promotions in the United States while occasionally teaming with his brother Paul. In Portland, Oregon, he received the name "Mad Dog" Vachon. In the early 1960s, Vachon became a main eventer in the American Wrestling Association. He was one of the promotion's all-time great heels, known for his wild style and intense interviews. He was a five-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion. Starting in the 1970s, Vachon became a fan favourite, particularly in his home province of Quebec. After a stint in the World W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene LeBell
Ivan Gene LeBell (October 9, 1932 – August 9, 2022) was an American actor, judoka, stuntman and professional wrestler. Nicknamed "Judo Gene" and "The Godfather of Grappling", he is credited with popularizing grappling in professional fighting circles, serving as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. He worked on over 1,000 films and TV shows and authored 12 books. Early life Ivan Gene LeBell was born in Los Angeles, California. He started training in catch wrestling and boxing from his early childhood, influenced by his mother, "Red Head" Aileen Eaton, a promoter of both sports who owned the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, Thomas Nilsson, ''A Conversation with "The Toughest Man Alive": "Judo" Gene LeBell Has Seen and Done It All in a 50-Year Martial Arts Career'', Black Belt magazine, February 1999 and who was the first woman to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. LeBell took up catch wrestling under Ed "Strangler" Lewis at age 7, and later moved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city limits , it is the List of United States cities by population, second-most populous in the United States, behind only New York City. Los Angeles has an Ethnic groups in Los Angeles, ethnically and culturally diverse population, and is the principal city of a Metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan area of 12.9 million people (2024). Greater Los Angeles, a combined statistical area that includes the Los Angeles and Riverside–San Bernardino metropolitan areas, is a sprawling metropolis of over 18.5 million residents. The majority of the city proper lies in Los Angeles Basin, a basin in Southern California adjacent to the Pacific Ocean in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Worldwide Wrestling Associates
NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It was founded in 1958 as the North American Wrestling Alliance, a member of the National Wrestling Alliance. It broke away from the NWA in 1959 and was renamed Worldwide Wrestling Associates in 1961. In 1968, it rejoined the NWA and adopted its final name, remaining a member until closing in 1982. History In 1942, Frank Garbutt, vice president of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, hired former California State Athletic Commission inspector Alvah "Cal" Eaton as the promoter of the Grand Olympic Auditorium at the advice of his secretary, Aileen LeBell. Eaton and LeBell married in 1948, and over the following years the couple became major professional wrestling and boxing promoters in Southern California. By the early-1950s, the Eatons, along wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state in the tropics. Hawaii consists of 137 volcanic islands that comprise almost the entire Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian archipelago (the exception, which is outside the state, is Midway Atoll). Spanning , the state is Physical geography, physiographically and Ethnology, ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania. Hawaii's ocean coastline is consequently the List of U.S. states and territories by coastline, fourth-longest in the U.S., at about . The eight main islands, from northwest to southeast, are Niihau, Niihau, Kauai, Kauai, Oahu, Oahu, Molokai, Molokai, Lanai, Lānai, Kahoʻolawe, Kahoolawe, Maui, and Hawaii (island), Hawaii, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Francis
Edmund Charles Francis (June 11, 1926 – November 18, 2016) was an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter in Hawaii in the 1960s. Many wrestlers who came through Hawaii in the 1960s and 1970s were bound to come across the name Ed Francis. However, the glory days of territorial wrestling were coming to an end, and in 1979, he sold the 50th State Big Time Wrestling promotion to "High Chief” Peter Maivia. Personal life Francis raised his children on the windward side of Kailua, Oahu. His two sons, Bill and Russ, also enjoyed a wrestling career for a little while. Russ also had a career in the NFL, playing 13 seasons. Russ won a Super Bowl playing for the San Francisco 49ers (Jan 1985). He later went on to work with the Omaha Beef Arena Football Team. One of the Francis brothers' contemporaries was wrestler Don Muraco; they attended high school together. Along with his two famous sons he also had four other sons and a daughter, Ed "Sonny" Francis, Steven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Northwest Wrestling
Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The first such company (that would later become Portland Wrestling) was founded by Herb Owen in 1925. It was the Northwest territory of the National Wrestling Alliance from the Alliance's inception in 1948 until 1992. The area was brought to its prime by Herb's son, Don Owen, and this version of Pacific Northwest Wrestling saw many of the top names in pro wrestling come through on a regular basis. The Pacific Northwest was considered one of the main pro wrestling territories from the 1960s to the 1980s. Portland Wrestling was forced to close its doors in July 1992. The closure came as a result of a slowdown in professional wrestling during the early 1990s, a declaration of bankruptcy by ''Portland Wrestling's'' main television sponsor, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
