Karl Von Hess (born Frank George Faketty; May 18, 1919 – August 12, 2009) 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 ...

Early life

Faketty was born in Michigan in 1919 to Hungarian immigrants, and raised in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. Von Hess was a lifeguard and swimming teacher before entering the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

serving aboard the cruiser in the Underwater Demolition TEAM 5.

Professional wrestling career

After being discharged from the Navy, Faketty worked on the carnival circuit for several years, then worked in various regional wrestling promotions. In 1955, he was inspired by another wrestler,

Kurt Von Poppenheim Kurt is a male given name in Germanic languages. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Konrad/Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. Like Conrad, it can also a surname an ...

(of the

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) who had a local "''

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 ...

''" gimmick, and there Von Hess further developed the gimmick of the villain into the wrestling persona of a Nazi sympathizer there being the first to take the gimmick nationwide. In doing this, Von Hess became one of the most hated wrestlers; and fans flocked to the arenas to boo him. He adopted the name of Karl Von Hess, later changing his name legally. Von Hess was so convincing as a "heel" that some fans tried to stab him, burn him, and even shoot at him. Von Hess quickly rose to fame in Vince McMahon Sr's

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company ...

(WWWF), drawing huge crowds wherever he went. In truth, he was reportedly, not a Nazi sympathizer, but used the gimmick to inspire the position of the villainous "heel". In the early 1960s, Von Hess's gimmick began to wear thin, and he was gradually phased out of the WWWF. He continued to work in various wrestling promotions before quitting the business in the late 1960s.

Later life and death

After wrestling, Von Hess operated trailer parks, including the Karl-Le trailer park on the Black Horse pike in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, and other businesses with his wife Lenore. Von Hess died on August 12, 2009, of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

Championships and accomplishments

World Wide Wrestling Association The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

**WWWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Karl von Hess » Titles
CageMatch. Retrieved March 28, 2023 *

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 ...

**Other honoree (1994)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Von Hess, Karl 1919 births 2009 deaths American male professional wrestlers American people of Hungarian descent Faux German professional wrestlers Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in the United States Professional wrestlers from Michigan United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy sailors 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers