Mario Bulfone (15 May 1935 – 9 December 2016), 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 ...

Mario Milano, was a professional wrestler. Milano got his start in wrestling in Venezuela and later competed in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, Mexico and North America.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Bulfone, though born in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, grew up in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and began wrestling in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

at age 18 in 1953. A curfew prohibited anyone under 19 from being out after 9 o'clock, so he had to hide his identity to avoid trouble with the police. He wore a mask and wrestled as Black Diablo. After he turned 20, he wrestled without the mask under his real name.

Tennessee

In 1962, Bulfone moved to the United States to wrestle, originally under the name Mario La Pantera. A promoter felt that Americans would be unable to remember his name, so he gave Bulfone the name Mario Milano, naming him after

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy. He lived in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, where he competed for the

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). With Jackie Fargo, he won his first championship, the Mid-America version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship, on 5 November 1963. After holding the title belts for one month, they dropped them to Tojo Yamamoto and Ivan Malenkov but regained them later in December 1963 when Malenkov left the territory and was a no-show at the title defense. On 2 March 1965, Milano again teamed with Fargo to win the Mid-America version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship. He also teamed with Len Rossi to win the Mid-America version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship six times - in total, he won that title nine times.

Australia

In 1967, Milano was offered a three-month stint wrestling in Australia for promoter Jim Barnett. His stay was then extended, after which he was offered a contract and moved to Australia permanently. Wrestling in the Australian

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

promotion, he teamed with

Red Bastien Rolland "Red" Bastien (January 27, 1931 – August 11, 2012) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler best known for his time in Capitol Wrestling Corporation, Capital Wrestling Corporation where he was a three-time WWWF ...

to win the IWA World Tag Team Championship three times that year. He also had two reigns in 1967 as IWA World Heavyweight Champion after defeating Killer Kowalski and Ripper Collins. He used the Atomic Drop as a finisher, and did an angle where he used it on a 400-pound (180 kg) wrestler. In 2008 Mario appeared on Australian TV for International Wrestling Australia (IWA) on their series Main Event Wrestling on the Aurora Community Channel. He featured in 6 shows in an angle with resident heel champion Mark Mercedes. Milano also appears in Roy Slaven's South Coast News series, set in the NSW South Coast town of Ulladulla, as the proprietor of the Bluebird Cafe and the captain/coach of the local A-Grade

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

team. Milano made a live appearance on Saturday 14 May 2011 for Melbourne-based promotion Professional Championship Wrestling.

WWWF

In 1970 Milano wrestled for the World Wide Wrestling Federation in the Northeast (New York) territory where he was a babyface. Feuding with Eric the Red and Professor Toru Tanaka. He only stayed with the company for a year.

Japan

Bulfone wrestled for

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...

on tours in 1975 to 1985 after

shut down.

Death

Bulfone died on 13 December 2016 at the age of 81.

Personal life

Mario Bulfone was born in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, Italy and later in 1948 moved to Venezuela. He lived in Australia at the time of his death. Bulfone had five children.

Championships and accomplishments

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 ...

** NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' ( 9 times) - with Jackie Fargo (2), Len Rossi (6) and Danny Hodge ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' ( 1 time) - with Jackie Fargo * World Championship Wrestling (Australia) ** IWA World Heavyweight Championship ( 4 times) ** IWA World Tag Team Championship ( 10 times) - with

(3), Billy White Wolf (1),

Antonio Pugliese Antonio Pugliese (January 22, 1941 – August 19, 2000), better known by his ring name, Tony Parisi, was a Canadian professional wrestler. He won tag team championships in several professional wrestling promotions, including the World Wide Wr ...

(1), Dominic DeNucci (1), The Spoiler (1), Waldo Von Erich (1),

Spiros Arion Spiros Arion () born Spyridon Manousakis () (born September 1940) is an Egyptian-born Greek former professional wrestler who had an extensive and successful career, mainly in Australia and the United States. Known as The Golden Greek and The ...

(1) and Mark Lewin (1) ** NWA Austra-Asian Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship ( 2 times) - with Bugsy McGraw (1) and Larry O'Dea (1) ** World Brass Knuckles Championship ( 4 times) * International Wrestling Australia **IWA Hall of Fame

In film

Mario Milano appeared as the Russian muscleman in

Chang Cheh Chang Cheh (; 10 February 1923 – 22 June 2002) was a Chinese people, Chinese filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and producer active in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Chang Cheh directed more than 90 films in Greater China, the majority of them wi ...

's '' The Boxer From Shantung'' in 1972. *'' The Boxer From Shantung'' (1972) - Russian Boxer *''The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe'' (1974) - Joseph *'' Zebra Force'' (1976) - Peter *'' High Rolling'' (1977) - Country Fighter *'' Beyond Evil'' (1980) - Dr. Frank Albanos

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milano, Mario 1935 births 2016 deaths Italian emigrants to Australia Sportspeople from Trieste Professional wrestlers from Melbourne Sportsmen from Victoria (state) Australian male professional wrestlers Italian male professional wrestlers Australian male actors Italian male actors 20th-century male professional wrestlers NWA Austra-Asian Heavyweight Champions NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Champions IWA World Heavyweight Champions (Australia) IWA World Tag Team Champions (Australia) World Brass Knuckles Champions 20th-century Australian sportsmen 20th-century Italian sportsmen