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

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 ...

of Armenian descent who was best known for his work with

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

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, 1878 – December 17, 1917) was an American professional wrestler. Gotch was the first American professional wrestler to win the World Heavyweight Championship in catch wrestling, and he is credited for popularizin ...

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. 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 an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded i ...

which was to sanction professional wrestling. He defeated

Yvon Robert Yvon Robert (October 8, 1914 – July 12, 1971) was a French Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler who was best known to fans as Yvon "The Lion" Robert. Professional wrestling career American Wrestling Association (1932–1 ...

on November 27, 1942 in Houston, Texas to win 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 ...

. 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 Otto Robert "Pat" Kuss (March 12, 1911 – March, 1980) was an American professional wrestler who was best known for his work with Central States Wrestling from 1948 to 1950, and 1952 as well as Stampede Wrestling in 1952. NCAA wrestling Otto ...

. 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 Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

. 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 Buddy Rogers (born Herman Gustav Rohde Jr.; February 20, 1921 – June 26, 1992), better known by the ring name "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, was an American professional wrestler who was one of the biggest professional wrestling stars in the begin ...

. In the late 1940s, he started traveling around Hawaii. On November 9, 1949, he defeated Jack Claybourne in Honolulu to win the

NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship The NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and was defended in the US state of Hawaii. The title, which began in 1935. From February 1940 through 1942 the titl ...

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 – 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 th ...

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 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. He was married to a woman named Eve. On April 3, 2002, he died of heart failure in Chicago, Illinois.

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 Haw ...

( 1 time) *

George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame The George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (TNTHOF) is a professional wrestling hall of fame The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum was an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in ...

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

( 1 time) *

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum was an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Wichita Falls, Texas; following the postponement of its 19th induction ceremony, planned for May 2020, and an annou ...

**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 took place before the NWA was created.

References

External links

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