Donald J. Manoukian (June 9, 1934 – September 23, 2014) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

guard and

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 ...

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 around the ...

descent from

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

American football career

An alumnus of

Reno High School Reno High School (RHS) is a public secondary school in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is a part of the Washoe County School District. The school's teams are known as the Reno Huskies, and the school colors are red and blue. History Reno High wa ...

and

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

(class of 1957), Manoukian played professional football for the Salinas Packers of the Pacific Football Conference in 1958 and with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

as a member of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

team's inaugural 1960 season.

Professional wrestling career

Determining that professional wrestling would be more lucrative (and in part because of his diminutive stature - estimates of his height ranged from between 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 9 inches), he switched to wrestling and spent nine years touring the United States and Japan, primarily as 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 ...

. Occasionally wrestling under the

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 the Bruiser, he won several championships as both a singles wrestler and a tag team wrestler. He won several titles in

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. ...

, including the Heavyweight Championship in 1964. Previously he won the

NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of O ...

twice, once with Kurt von Poppenheim in 1959 and two years later with Shag Thomas. He also regularly teamed with

Dick Beyer Richard John "Dick" Beyer (July 11, 1930 – March 7, 2019) was an American professional wrestler is best known by his ring names, The Destroyer and Doctor X. Among other places, he worked extensively in Japan and in 2017 he was awarded one ...

, with whom he won both the

WWA International Television Tag Team Championship The WWA International Television Tag Team Championship was the tag team title in the Los Angeles–based Worldwide Wrestling Associates from the title's formation in 1954 (as the NWA International Television Tag Team Championship, renamed as a No ...

and the Los Angeles version of the NWA International Television Tag Team Championship.

Personal life

By 1967, Manoukian had retired into a life of real estate and business investment. His outgoing and humorous personality made him popular as a master of ceremonies at events throughout the Reno area in his later life. He died September 23, 2014, at the age of 80 following a brief illness. He had at least two wives and three children.

Championships and accomplishments

Cauliflower Alley Club The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America. Established in 1965 by Mike Mazurki and Art Ab ...

**Men's honoree (1997) *

NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW), which promoted shows in the U ...

( 1 time) **

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) - with Kurt von Poppenheim (1) and Shag Thomas (1) *

Worldwide Wrestling Associates NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It ...

( 1 time) - with

*Southwest Sports, Inc. **

NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship The NWA Texas Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today. The title has used a variety ...

( 1 time)*

References

*Ray Hagar and Guy Clifton (September 24, 2014)
Reno's Don Manoukian, ex-Oakland Raider, dies at 80
''Reno Gazette Journal''. Retrieved September 24, 2014. *Associated Press (September 24, 2014)
Ex-Raider, wrestler Manoukian dies in Reno at 80
Retrieved September 24, 2014. *Oliver, Greg (September 7, 2006). . ''Slam! Sports''. Retrieved September 24, 2014.

External links