Adolph Henry Mittlestadt (November 5, 1910 to October 7, 1961), best known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname 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 ...

, "Mr. Murder" Al Mills, was a Canadian

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. He often teamed with his brother

Tiny Mills Henry W. Mittlestadt (December 7, 1912 to June 24, 1987), best known by his ring name, Tiny Mills, was a Canadian professional wrestler. He often teamed with his brother Al Mills as the tag team Murder Incorporated (Murder Inc.). Later on Stan "K ...

as the

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

Murder Incorporated (Murder Inc.). Later on Stan "Krusher" Kowalski would replace him as part of Murder Incorporated.

Professional wrestling career

Mills was trained by Jack Taylor. He started his wrestling career in 1931 in Canada. Mills wrestled under a

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...

as "Black Panther", being unmasked by Bibber McCoy in 1942, and again by Dorv Roche in 1943. He later wrestled under a mask as "Masked Phantom", being unmasked by Swedish Angel in 1947. Teaming with his brother Tiny Mills in 1951, they were billed as "Murder Incorporated." Al and Tiny won Toronto's

NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship The NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship was the top tag team professional wrestling championship (professional wrestling), championship in the Canada, Canadian professional wrestling promotion, promotion Maple Leaf Wrestling from 1952 through ...

in the debut year, defeating the team of Whipper Billy Watson and Yvon Robert. They drew huge houses at Maple Leaf Gardens that year. They traded the NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship with Watson and Hombre Montana as well as Ernie and Emil Dusek in 1954 and won the Championship once more in 1955, which was also the year Al made his final wrestling appearance in Toronto. Mills died on October 7, 1961.

Professional wrestling style and persona

Mills wrestled in a "brawler" style. He was nicknamed "Mr. Murder". His signature moves were the

backbreaker Backbreaker refers to a kind of professional wrestling move which sees a wrestler dropping an opponent so that the opponent's back impacts or is bent backwards against a part of the wrestler's body, usually the knee. The standard version of the ...

and the abdominal stretch.

Championships and accomplishments

* Alex Turk Promotions **Manitoba Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with

Maple Leaf Wrestling Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name of a Canadian professional wrestling promotion owned by Frank Tunney and based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the 1970s and 1980s. Founded in 1930, Maple Leaf was a territory of the National Wrestli ...

( 6 times) – with Tiny Mills (5) and Stan Kowalski (1) *

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 prom ...

NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Calgary version) The Calgary version of the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship was established in 1954 as the original top tag team championship in Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) – with Tiny Mills ** NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship ''(Calgary version)'' ( 5 times)

References

External links

Canadian Pro Wrestling Page of Fame - Al and Tiny Mills
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Al 1910 births 1961 deaths Canadian male professional wrestlers People from Camrose, Alberta Professional wrestlers from Alberta 20th-century male professional wrestlers NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Champions NWA Canadian Tag Team Champions (Calgary version) Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Champions NWA World Tag Team Champions (Minneapolis version) Stampede Wrestling alumni 20th-century Canadian sportsmen