Robert Manoogian Jr. (January 4, 1918 – April 3, 2002) was an American

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 ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

descent who was best known for his work with

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a ...

in the 1940s as Bobby Managoff.

Professional wrestling career

Managoff was trained by his father Robert Manoogian Sr., a professional wrestler billed as "Bob Monograph", who had a match with

Frank Gotch Frank Alvin Gotch (April 27, 1877 – December 17, 1917) was an American professional wrestler. Gotch was the first American professional wrestler to win the world heavyweight free-style championship, and he is credited for popularizing profess ...

in 1916 where Gotch's leg was broken. Bobby started wrestling in 1936 at the age of 18. He started his career in what is now

. He won the Texas Heavyweight Championship in February 1942. On February 17, he lost the title to Juan Humberto in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

. In June 1942, he signed with

National Wrestling Association The National Wrestling Association (NWA) was an early professional wrestling sanctioning body created in 1930 by the National Boxing Association (NBA; now the World Boxing Association, WBA) as an attempt to create a governing body for professional ...

, a subsidiary of

National Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

which was to sanction professional wrestling. He defeated Yvon Robert on November 27, 1942 in Houston, Texas to win the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is ...

. He traveled in several cities of United States and defended his NWA Championship. He lost the title to "Wild" Bill Longson on February 19, 1943 in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1944, he left National Wrestling Association and started wrestling around Texas. He formed a tag team with Otto Kuss. They both won the Texas Tag Team Championship in May 1945. They dropped the titles to Hans Schnable and Marvin Jones on May 14 in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Gal ...

. In 1945, he won his second Texas Heavyweight Championship. He dropped the title to Dale Levin on July 13 in Houston. Afterward, he began feuding with "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers. In the late 1940s, he started traveling around Hawaii. On November 9, 1949, he defeated Jack Claybourne in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

to win the

NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship The NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and is defended in the US state of Hawaii. The title, which is still currently defended, began in 1935. From February ...

Dean Detton Dean Henry Detton (June 27, 1908 – February 23, 1958) was an American professional wrestler and World Heavyweight Champion who was active in the early portion of the twentieth century. Previously he was a proficient University of Utah football ...

defeated him for the title on December 11. Managoff started feuding with

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 ...

between 1950 and 1953. On July 19, 1953, he defeated Hans Schnabel to win his second Hawaii title. He lost it to Ben Sharpe on August 23, 1953. He began a stint in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

where he won the Montreal World Heavyweight Championship on five occasions. In 1966, he retired from professional wrestling.

Personal life

Managoff attended Tuley High School in Illinois. His older sister, Armenuhi Manoogian, known professionally as

Kay Armen Armenuhi Manoogian ( hy, Արմենուհի Մանուկեան); November 2, 1915 – October 3, 2011), better known by her stage name Kay Armen, was an American Armenian singer popular during the 1940s and 1950s. Her career in show business spann ...

, was a popular singer during the 1940s and 1950s. He was married to a woman named Eve. On April 3, 2002, he died of heart failure in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Championships and accomplishments

50th State Big Time Wrestling 50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Ha ...

( 1 time) *

George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame The George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame museum located within the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum's Dan Gable Museum. The hall of fame honors wrestlers with a strong ama ...

** Class of 2000 *Montreal Athletic Commission ** World Heavyweight Championship ''(Montreal version)'' (5 times) *

( 1 time) * Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum **Class of 2020 * Southwest Sports, Inc. ** Texas Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time)¹ ² ** Texas Tag Team Championship ( 1 time)² - with Otto Kuss ¹Records are unclear as to whom he defeated for both of his title reigns.
²His reign with the title occurred before the NWA took control of the championship and, actually, took place before the NWA was created.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Managoff, Bobby 1918 births 2002 deaths American male professional wrestlers American sportspeople of Armenian descent Professional wrestlers from Illinois Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Sportspeople from Chicago Place of birth missing Ethnic Armenian sportspeople 20th-century professional wrestlers