Udo Froelich (3 May 1937 – 10 February 2023) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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 ...

who spent most his career in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada for

NWA All-Star Wrestling NWA All Star Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Vancouver) is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. All-Star Wrestling folded in 1989. History Early history Although other wrestling promotions e ...

and

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Professional wrestling career

Froelich was born in West Germany and emigrated to Canada in 1956 to avoid being drafted by the German army. He was gymnast. In 1960, he made his professional wrestling debut in Vancouver after he was trained by Canadian wrestler Rod Fenton. Became a household name for the promotion. In 1966, Froelich made his debut for

and spent many years there. He wrestled barefoot. Froelich's signature move was the nip up, a move that came about when he was laying flat on his back in the ring and would bring his legs up to his stomach and throw himself forward into a standing position. During his career, he worked in many countries in England, Puerto Rico, Japan, Fiji, Hawaii and Australia. On August 12, 1972, Froelich won his first and only singles title when he won

NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship The NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship was a secondary professional wrestling singles title defended in Johnny Doyle's NWA Los Angeles from 1951 to 1959. The title was defended in the same area during the 1960s under promoters Gene and M ...

defeating

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. He dropped the title to

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a month later. In 1977, Froliech teamed with Mr. X and won the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship ''(Vancouver version)''. Froelich retired from wrestling in 1982 due to open heart and lung surgeries, knee and hip replacements.

Personal life and Death

After retiring from wrestling Froelich resided in Vancouver. On February 10, 2023, Froelich died at the age of 85.

Championships and accomplishments

*** NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship ''(Vancouver version)'' ( 1 time) - with Mr. X * NWA Los Angeles **

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 ...

( 1 time) — with

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NWA Americas Tag Team Championship The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling based out of Los Angeles, California. The championship began as the WWA World Tag Team Championship f ...

- with Ruben Juarez *

NWA Hollywood Wrestling 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) *

Western States Sports Western States Sports (also known as the Amarillo Territory) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Amarillo, Texas in the United States. Founded by Dory Detton in 1946, the promotion enjoyed its greatest success in the 1960s and ...

** NWA North American Tag Team Championship ''(Amarillo version)'' - with

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NWA Western States Tag Team Championship The NWA International Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling title, originally created as the NWA Western States Tag Team Championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, Western States Sports. The title w ...

- with Mr. Wrestling

References

General * * * Specific

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Froelich, Eric 1937 births 2023 deaths Canadian male professional wrestlers German male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian sportsmen