Bobby Nelson (born ''Charles Karass''; 17 April 1917 – 20 February 2002), was a Canadian-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 ...

and businessman who appeared frequently in the

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 ...

midwest territories beginning in 1936 and continuing through the 1950s.

Professional wrestling career

Prior to his wrestling career, Nelson worked as a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. He initially wrestled using his birth name, but soon began using ring names, most frequently appearing as Bobby Nelson. He was sometimes credited as being the name inspiration for, or the creator of, the Nelson series of wrestling holds, though these terms were in use since the 19th Century, with some historians speculating they were named for

Horatio Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte ( – 21 October 1805) was a Royal Navy officer whose leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French ...

. Nelson appeared as both a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

and

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

. National stars he wrestled include

"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 ...

The Crusher A crusher is a machine designed to reduce large solid chunks of raw material into smaller ones. Crusher or The Crusher may also refer to: People * "Crusher", nickname of Noel Cleal (born 1958), Australian former rugby league footballer * "Crus ...

Yukon Eric Eric Holmback (April 16, 1916 – January 16, 1965) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Yukon Eric. Holmback spent the majority of his career in Southern Ontario, Canada, where he won the NWA Canadian Open Tag ...

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 ...

and

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002), known by the ring name Lou Thesz, was an American professional wrestler and wrestling coach. Considered to be one of the last true shooters (legitimate wrestlers) in professional w ...

. He also engaged in a long-running series of regional grudge matches against The Bat. He occasionally appeared in

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 ...

matches, including in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

with Dutch Hefner.

Bobby Nelson Cheese Shop

Towards the end of his wrestling career, in 1949, Nelson opened Bobby Nelson Cheese Shop on what would become

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Wisconsin, fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with a population of 99,986 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. S ...

near to and competing with the

Mars Cheese Castle Mars Cheese Castle is a specialty food store, delicatessen, and taproom which sells a variety of consumable products in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Located along Interstate 94, the shop is popular among Wisconsin visitors and has been called a "cheese l ...

. The shop sold various Wisconsin cheeses, sausages,

Landjäger Landjäger is a semidried sausage traditionally made in Southern Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Switzerland, and Alsace. It is popular as a snack food during activities such as hiking. It also has a history as soldier's food because it keeps wi ...

and other meat products, and condiments including jams and mustard, as well as German

beer stein A beer stein ( ), or simply stein, is either a traditional beer mug made out of stoneware or specifically an ornamental beer mug sold as a souvenir or collectible. An 1894 article on beer mugs in the American Vogue (magazine), ''Vogue'' magazin ...

s. After Nelson retired in 1978, the shop business was taken over by his daughter and her husband. The cheese shop has been often mentioned on air by Chicago disc jockey

Steve Dahl Steven Robert Dahl (born November 20, 1954) is an American radio personality. He is the owner and operator of the Steve Dahl Network, a Subscription business model, subscription-based podcasting network. Dahl gained a measure of national attention ...

. The shop closed in July 2019 upon the owner's retirement.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Bobby 1917 births 2002 deaths American male professional wrestlers Canadian male professional wrestlers Law enforcement officials from Wisconsin Professional wrestlers from Wisconsin Sportspeople from Kenosha, Wisconsin American municipal police officers 20th-century American businesspeople American businesspeople in retailing Canadian emigrants to the United States 20th-century Canadian sportsmen