Willem Snip (17 May 1932 – 22 June 2009) 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 ...

, who wrestled under the ring name Billy Red Lyons. He was an active wrestler between 1956 and 1985, and won numerous championships throughout his career. He worked for promotions in both Canada and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, particularly in

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, and Oklahoma. Lyons won numerous tag team championships throughout his career, including with Dick Beyer, who was his real-life brother-in-law, as well as

Fritz Von Erich Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was ...

Bill Watts William F. Watts Jr. (born May 5, 1939), better known under the ring name Bill Watts, is a retired American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, promoter and former American football player. Watts garnered fame under his "Cowboy" Glos ...

, and Ray Gunkel. He also won singles championships, including the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship. Lyons also wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) at various times between 1976 and 1985. After his retirement from in-ring competition, he would work for

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 ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and the World Wrestling Federation.

Professional wrestling career

Snip made his debut in 1956, under the name Billy Lyons, but soon became known as Billy Red Lyons, due to the colour of his hair. During the first years of his career, he wrestle against future world champions, including Buddy Rogers and

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 ...

. During his career, he held several tag team championships with Dick Beyer, who was his real-life brother-in-law, as well as

, and Ray Gunkel. He won his first championship in February 1958, when he teamed with Ray Gunkel to win the NWA International Tag Team Championship. Three years later, he won the

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 ...

with Ilio DiPaolo, by defeating Stan Kowalski and Tiny Mills on January 26, 1961. Lyons and DiPaolo were the last champions, however, as the championships was abandoned and replaced with the Toronto version of the NWA International Tag Team Championship a few months later. Lyons eventually won this championship with Whipper Billy Watson on March 28, 1962, by defeating

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian autho ...

and

John Tolos John Tolos, nicknamed "The Golden Greek", (April 5, 1931 – May 28, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler, and professional wrestling manager. Professional wrestling career Tolos was born on April 5, 1931, in Hamilton, Ontario to G ...

. They lost the championship to Bulldog Brower and Sweet Daddy Siki five days later on April 2. On March 27, 1965, Lyons teamed with Beyer, who was using the ring name The Destroyer, to win the AWA World Tag Team Championship from Don Manoukian and

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country music, country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian. He is best known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "M ...

. On June 3, 1965, they won the All Asia Tag Team Championship in the Japan Wrestling Association from Giant Baba and Toyonobori. They lost the championship to Baba and Tonobori just over a month later on July 15, 1965. While wrestling in the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...

in the 1960s, Lyons was billed as the AWA British Empire Heavyweight Champion. In 1967, Lyons won his first singles championship, by defeating Duke Keomuka by forfeit in the finals of a tournament in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship on November 8. He held the championship for nearly six months, eventually losing it to The Spoiler #1 on March 29, 1968, in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. During this time, he won the NWA American Tag Team Championship with

Fritz von Erich Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was ...

on January 30, 1968, in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, by defeating Gary Hart and Spoiler. Lyons won the

NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Tri-State version) The NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship was a tag team Championship (professional wrestling), title created in 1962, and contested in the National Wrestling Alliance's Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts), Tri-State territory, which was pr ...

with

in January 1971, by defeating Buddy Roberts and

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

. They lost the championship to Karl Von Brauner and

Waldo Von Erich Walter Paul Sieber (October 2, 1933 – July 5, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for performing under the ring name Waldo Von Erich, playing the character of a villainous Prussian Nazi. He was billed as the brother of ...

in March, but Lyons won it back with Tom Jones by defeating The Spoilers (The Spoiler #1 and The Spoiler #2) on May 31. The following year, Lyons again teamed with Jones to win the NWA Mississippi Tag Team Championship in March 1972. Jones later said that Lyons was the "best partner I ever had", and credited Lyons with teaching him the psychology of wrestling. Throughout the late '60s and early '70s, he teamed with

Red Bastien Rolland "Red" Bastien (January 27, 1931 – August 11, 2012) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler best known for his time in Capitol Wrestling Corporation, Capital Wrestling Corporation where he was a three-time WWWF ...

as The Flying Redheads, and on July 14, 1974, Lyons and Bastien won the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship by defeating Mike York and Frank Monte. They held the championship for three months, but lost it to Chris Colt and Bobby Duncum on October 6, 1972. Bastien later said that he and Lyons "were perfect for each other" as tag team partners. Fellow professional wrestler

Blackjack Mulligan Robert Deroy Windham (November 25, 1942 – April 7, 2016), better known by his ring name Blackjack Mulligan, was an American professional wrestler and American football player. He was the father of wrestlers Barry and Kendall Windham, father- ...

said that Bastien and Lyons "were the greatest team of all time", and that watching them wrestle was watching "pure tag team wrestling at its basic". Following this, he returned to

to compete for

. He began teaming with Dewey Robertson in 1974, as the Crusaders, and they won the Toronto version of the NWA International Tag Team Championship on three occasions. They defeated

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

and Reginald Love for the championship on June 23, 1974, but dropped it to them on September 8. They defeated them for the championship again on December 29, 1974. He also challenged Jack Brisco for the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...

in a 1974

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church and Wellesley, Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was originally constructed in 1931 as an indoor arena to host ice hoc ...

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

. On June 8, 1975, the Crusaders were beaten by the Kelly Twins ( Pat and Mike) for the championship, but they won it back two months later on August 24. They were the final champions, however, as the championship was retired in September 1977. Lyons would make appearances in the WWF in (1976) and have fourteen matches in (1978) followed by only one match in (1979). Lyons returned to the WWF in (1982) and wrestled a few matches a year until his final match in Erie, Pennsylvania on June 20, 1985, against Rene Goulet. After his retirement from active competition in 1985, he settled in Toronto and began working for

as an assistant to promoters Frank and

Jack Tunney John 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 Jack Tunney under the character of the promotion's pr ...

. Shortly after he would become affiliated with the World Wrestling Federation when Jack Tunney allied Maple Leaf Wrestling with the American-based wrestling company. Lyons would serve as a WWF television announcer, interviewer and ring announcer. He became famous for his

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

, "Don't you dare miss it!" Backstage, he remained

's top assistant. Lyons was released in 1995, along with Tunney, due to budget cuts and dissolution of the WWF/Maple Leaf Wrestling association.

Personal life and death

Snip was the real-life brother-in-law of Dick Beyer, with whom he won the All Asia Tag Team Championship. He was also a talented

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player, before he became a professional wrestler. Greg Oliver, the producer of

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's wrestling section, described Snip as having a "sly, cheeky sense of humour", and a man that "never took himself too seriously". He died on June 22, 2009, aged 77, from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, which had spread to his

spine Spine or spinal may refer to: Science Biology * Spinal column, also known as the backbone * Dendritic spine, a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite * Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants * Spine (zoology), ...

Championships and accomplishments

** AWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship ( 2 times) * Big Time Wrestling ''(Detroit)'' ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Detroit version)'' ( 1 time) – with Fred Curry * Japan Wrestling Association ** All Asia Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with The Destroyer *

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades b ...

** NWA International Tag Team Championship ''(Georgia version)'' (1 time) - with Ray Gunkel * Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling ** NWA Mississippi Tag Team Championship (Gulf Coast version) ( 1 time) – with Tom Jones *

( 1 time) – with Ilio DiPaolo ** NWA International Tag Team Championship ''(Toronto version)'' ( 4 times) – with Whipper Billy Watson (1), and Dewey Robertson (3) * NWA Big Time Wrestling ** NWA American Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** NWA American Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with

** NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time)<* ** NWA Texas Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with

* NWA Tri-State ** NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Tri-State version)'' ( 2 times) – with

(1) and Tom Jones (1) * Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame **Class of 2018 - Inducted as part of The Flying Redheads with

References

External links

*
Gary Wills profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Billy Red 1932 births 2009 deaths 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Canadian professional wrestlers Canadian male professional wrestlers Deaths from cancer in Ontario Neurological disease deaths in Ontario Deaths from spinal cancer Professional wrestlers from Hamilton, Ontario Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum All Asia Tag Team Champions NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Champions NWA International Tag Team Champions (Toronto version) NWA Texas Heavyweight Champions WCWA World Heavyweight Champions WCWA World Tag Team Champions NWA World Tag Team Champions (Detroit version) 20th-century Canadian sportsmen