Donald Vincent Kalt (October 3, 1930 – November 8, 2015), better 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 ...
Don Fargo, was a German-born American professional wrestler. During his career (which spanned from 1952 to 1986), he held over 55 championships including 14 reigns as NWA World Tag Team Champion, most famously with
Jackie Fargo as part of The Fabulous Fargos. He was a mainstay for various territories throughout the United States including
NWA Mid-America
NWA Mid-America was a professional wrestling promotion territory under the umbrella of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that promoted shows in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama from 1940 until 1981. The company was founded in 1940 by Nick Gulas ...
,
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 ...
,
Western States Sports and
Big Time Wrestling (later World Class Championship wrestling). Gulf Coast wrestler Terry Lathan has called Fargo "one of the most colourful, fascinating personalities ever in wrestling".
He was inducted into the
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum (
Class of 2014), the
NWA Wrestling Legends Hall of Heroes (
Class of 2009) and was an Honouree of the
Cauliflower Alley Club in 2004.
Professional wrestling career
Donald Vincent Kalt was born on October 3, 1930, in Germany but was raised in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, where he became involved in bodybuilding, winning the 1952 Mr. Pittsburgh bodybuilding competition.
He began his professional wrestling career in
Al Haft's
Columbus promotion, competing under the ring name "Don Stevens", the
kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced ) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants. The term has evolved to become a code word ...
brother of Ray Stevens. While in Ohio, Kalt met former World Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy"
Buddy Rogers, whom Kalt credits his success to. "He was my idol" Kalt said of Rogers "I mirrored him a little bit. He didn't mind because I was doing such a good job of it".
He had stints under different names, including Don Juan the Magnificent - managed by Bobby Davis, also the manager of Buddy Rogers - before going to form "The Fabulous Fargos" with Jackie Fargo. "(They were) the best in the world. They were just ahead of their time...just way ahead of everybody else"
Cowboy Bob Kelly said of the Fargos in "The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams".
They spent 1956-1960 competing throughout the United States as perhaps the most popular team of their day. Together they won the NWA World Tag Team titles in 1958 and dominated the National Wrestling Alliance during the late 1950s, headlining events throughout the northeast, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Chicago. In 1957
Vincent J. McMahon reopened wrestling in
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
, where the Fargos were booked. On Match 30, 1957, they headlined a
World Tag Team Championship
In professional wrestling, a championship or title is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in predetermined rival ...
bout against Argentina Rocca and Miguel Perez before 20,125 fans
which was the largest crowd drew in the area for over 25 years, dating back to Jim Londos in 1931.
In the 1960s The Fabulous Fargos also embarked on successful singles runs but would reunite occasionally, especially in the
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
, where they had a huge run in Tennessee in 64/65. "When me and Jackie were together, we were the greatest team" Don stated, "that sounds like bragging, but we had a good thing going."
In the early 1960s, Fargo became Jack Dalton and had title reigns as a tag team with Kenny Mack as a biker duo and
Rene Goulet as a foreign legion duo, among others. He is retrospectively known for his many ring names in various promotions. Regardless of name, Fargo could draw money and heat in whichever territory he competed. Bob Kelly later stated that "it didn't matter who Don Kalt was portraying" and that Fargo "had phenomenal ring psychology".
In Texas, Don teamed with Jim Dalton to form The Dirty Daltons. The team had success throughout the South until their breakup in 1965.
In Detroit, Fargo formed a tag team with a young
Greg Valentine. "He was a great worker" Valentine said of Fargo, "I learned a lot from him...he really helped me out a lot".
Valentine would later introduce Don Fargo to the audience as the Fargo Brothers were inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, class of 2014.
In 1969, Fargo formed a new team with Kenny Mack (now known as Frank Dillinger), achieving their greatest success in the
World Wrestling Association
The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ...
, where they became two-time
WWA World Tag Team Champions as "The Chain Gang". The team (and Frank Dillinger career) ended after Frank was shot and injured in a bar fight in Wisconsin.
The pair had been jumped by a real biker gang who had taken offence to the Dillingers; Don Fargo escaped unscathed by jumping into a river.
Fargo's autography, ''The Hard Way'', has been called "required reading from how kayfabe once existed"
due to his commitment to "living the gimmick" and being his wrestling persona at all times in public. "Every gimmick I did, I'm the only guy that lived. I lived it" Fargo said, "I stayed in costume 24 hours a day".
Personal life
In his later years, Fargo lived in rural woodland near
Cantonment, Florida with his wife Margie and their many dogs.
In the year preceding his death he had been battling
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 ...
. He died on November 8, 2015.
Championships and accomplishments
*
Big Time Wrestling ''(Boston)''
**BTW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jackie Fargo
*
Big Time Wrestling ''(Dallas)''
**
NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**
NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Jim Dalton
**
NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Texas version) (3 times) – with Jim Dalton
*
Cauliflower Alley Club
**Gulf Coast/CAC Honoree (2004)
*
Fred Kohler Enterprises
**
NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Chicago version)'' (1 time) – with
Jackie Fargo
*
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 Georgia Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**
NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Georgia version)'' (1 time) – with Jackie Fargo
*
Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling
**NWA Gulf Coast Brass Knuckles Championship (2 times)
**
NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
**
NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jackie Fargo
**
NWA Mississippi Tag Team Championship ''(Gulf Coast version)'' (1 time)
**
NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship ''(Gulf Coast version)'' (1 time) – with Rip Tyler
**
NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Gulf Coast version)'' (5 times) – with Frank Dalton
*
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 ...
**
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Northeast version) (1 time, inaugural) - with Jackie Fargo
*
National Wrestling Federation
**
NWF World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with
Johnny Fargo
*
Mid-South Wrestling
The Universal Wrestling Federation was a 1986 re-branding of wrestler-turned-owner Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Watts' goal was to elevate his promotion from a relatively smaller, regional-level business, to a national-level riv ...
/
NWA Tri-State
**
Mid-South Louisiana Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
**
NWA Brass Knuckles Championship ''(Tri-State version)'' (1 time)
**NWA Louisiana Heavyweight Championship
*NWA Indianapolis
**
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Indianapolis version) (1 time) – with Jackie Fargo
*
NWA Mid-America
NWA Mid-America was a professional wrestling promotion territory under the umbrella of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that promoted shows in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama from 1940 until 1981. The company was founded in 1940 by Nick Gulas ...
**
AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship
The AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship was a major professional wrestling championship (professional wrestling), title in the Continental Wrestling Association during the 1970s and 1980s. The title is part of a long lineage that was started wh ...
(3 times) – with Frank Dalton (1 time) and Jackie Fargo (2 times)
**
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (8 times) – with Jackie Fargo
**
NWA (Mid-America) Southern Tag Team Championship (2 times)
**
NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with
Robert Gibson
**
NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**
NWA World Brass Knuckles Championship (3 times)
*
NWA Wrestling Legends Hall of Heroes
**Inductee (
class of 2009)
*
Pacific Northwest Wrestling
Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. ...
**
NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship – with Jim Dalton
*
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
**Inductee (
class of 2014)
*
Western States Sports
**
NWA Brass Knuckles Championship ''(Amarillo version)'' (1 time)
**
NWA Western States Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Johnny Fargo (1 time) and Hank James (1 time)
*
World Wrestling Association
The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ...
**
WWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Frank Dillinger (1 time), Sgt. Jacques Goulet (1 time), and Jim Dillinger (1 time)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fargo, Don
1930 births
2015 deaths
American male professional wrestlers
German male professional wrestlers
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
German emigrants to the United States
Deaths from cancer in Florida
NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champions
20th-century male professional wrestlers
NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Champions