Carl Dennis Campbell Sr. (July 28, 1935 – November 12, 1997) 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 ...

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 ...

Luke "Big Boy" Brown. He is most noted for being one-half of a tag team in the 1950s and 1960s known as the Kentuckians, along with

Grizzly Smith Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith (August 1, 1932 – June 12, 2010) was an American professional wrestler. He was the father of professional wrestlers Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Rockin' Robin, and Sam Houston. Smith began wrestling in 1958. After retiri ...

Professional wrestling career

Brown began his professional wrestling career in 1958, traveling with carnivals. Wrestler Frankie Townsend gave him the name "Man Mountain Campbell", which Brown used up until 1961. For a short period during this time he tagged with

Stan Stasiak George Emile Stipich (April 13, 1937 – June 19, 1997) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Stan "the Man" Stasiak. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in the 1970s, ...

, and they were the first tag team to ever hold the

NWA International Tag Team Championship (Toronto version) The Toronto version of the NWA International Tag Team Championship was the top tag team professional wrestling championship in the Canadian promotion Maple Leaf Wrestling from 1961 through 1977. The title replaced the original top tag championshi ...

. They defeated Ivan and Karol Kalmikoff on June 8, 1961 in a tournament to win this title. In 1961, Brown also began teaming with

. The duo became known as The Kentuckians, and they were known for their long beards, dungarees, and cow horn. Brown, as Man Mountain Campbell, had his first

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

match on April 12, 1960 against Hans Schmidt in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. His first match in

Madison Square Gardens 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 and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd streets above Pennsylva ...

took place November 13, 1960 in a

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 ...

match with

Haystacks Calhoun William Dee Calhoun (August 3, 1934 – December 7, 1989) was an American professional wrestler, who used the professional name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun. Early life Born on August 3, 1934, William Dee Calhoun grew up on a farm i ...

against The Kangaroos. He retired from professional wrestling in 1977 after a shoulder injury.

Personal life

Brown was married three times. He was in poor health during his last years of life, including

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

that required him to undergo

dialysis Dialysis may refer to: * Dialysis (chemistry), a process of separating molecules in solution **Electrodialysis, used to transport salt ions from one solution to another through an ion-exchange membrane under the influence of an applied electric po ...

. He died of a stroke in a

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

hospital in 1997. He was buried in

Elkton, Maryland Elkton is a town in and the county seat of Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,776 at the 2020 census, up from 15,443 in 2010. It was formerly called Head of Elk because it sits at the head of navigation on the Elk R ...

Championships and accomplishments

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...

AWA Midwest Tag Team Championship The AWA Midwest Tag Team Championship was a title in the American Wrestling Association from 1967 until 1971. It was for mid-level wrestlers and was mostly defended in the Omaha, Nebraska area. Title history See also *American Wrestling Asso ...

( 1 time) – with Jake Smith *

Central States Wrestling Heart of America Sports Attractions, Inc., operating as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebr ...

**NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Central States version)'' (1 time) ** NWA North American Tag Team Championship ''(Central States version)'' ( 3 times) – with

Tor Kamata McRonald Kamaka (March 9, 1937 – July 23, 2007) was an American-Canadian professional wrestler known by the ring name Tor Kamata. He won several heavyweight and tag team championships, most notably the PWF World Heavyweight Championship in ...

Danny Little Bear Danny Little Bear (September 13, 1937 – May 12, 1991) was an American professional wrestler who competed in North American regional promotions including the National Wrestling Alliance, particularly the Central States and Gulf Coast territor ...

, and

Ox Baker Douglas Baker (April 19, 1934 – October 20, 2014), known professionally as Ox Baker, was an American professional wrestler and actor. He was famous for his distinctive eyebrows and finishing move, the Professional wrestling attacks#Heart punch ...

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 Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Georgia version)'' ( 1 time) – with Jake Smith *

Maple Leaf Wrestling Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name of a Canadian professional wrestling promotion owned by Frank Tunney and based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the 1970s and 1980s. Founded in 1930, Maple Leaf was a territory of the National Wrestli ...

**NWA International Championship ''(Toronto version)'' (1 time) ** NWA International Tag Team Championship ''(Toronto version)'' ( 1 time) – with

NWA Tri-State 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 United States Tag Team Championship ''(Tri-State version)'' ( 5 times) – with

Dutch Savage Frank Stewart (June 9, 1935 – August 3, 2013) was an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter, best known for his time spent competing in Pacific Northwest Wrestling under the ring name Dutch Savage. Career Savage made his pro d ...

(1),

Danny Hodge Dan Allen Hodge (May 13, 1932 – December 24, 2020) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, who also had a brief professional boxing career. He is in both the U.S. amateur wrestling Hall of Fame, for his three NCAA titles and Ol ...

(1), Jake Smith (2), and

Klondike Bill William Soloweyko (December 1, 1931 – October 3, 2000), better known by his ring name Klondike Bill, was a Canadian professional wrestler. He wrestled in various National Wrestling Alliance territories throughout the 1960s and 1970s, before movin ...

(1) *

NWA San Francisco NWA San Francisco was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in San Francisco, California in the United States. Founded in 1935 by "The Utica Panther" Joe Malcewicz (1897–1962), the promotion joined the National Wrestling Alliance in ...

** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(San Francisco version)'' ( 1 time) – with Mr. Kleen *Superstar Championship Wrestling **SCW Western States Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Ray Steele and Eddie Sullivan *

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 ...

WWA World Tag Team Championship The WWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title in the Indianapolis-based World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre ...

(

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 Jake Smith *Wrestling Fans International Association **WFIA Wrestling Award (1968)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Luke 1935 births 1997 deaths American male professional wrestlers 20th-century American male actors 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers NWA Americas Tag Team Champions