Mark Lewin (born March 16, 1937) is an American retired professional wrestler. He worked for various promotions throughout his 35-year career, including Big Time Wrestling,

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida professional wrestling promotion, wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it close ...

, and the World Wide Wrestling Federation.

Early life

Lewin was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. He had two elder brothers, Donn and Ted, both of whom also became professional wrestlers. He attended Lafayette High School.

Professional wrestling career

Lewin was trained to wrestle by his brother-in-law, Danny McShain. He debuted in 1953 at the age of 16. Lewin had great early success in a matinee-idol babyface tag team with Don Curtis, headlining in major territories like New York and Chicago. The team's brief heel turn was a shock to its many fans. The team split up in the early '60s and Mark embarked on a singles career. In 1963, Mark first tried out the "Maniac"/"Mad" Mark Lewin persona, which he would alternate consistently with his 'normal' babyface persona for the rest of his career. He wrestled in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the 1960s and 1970s with great success, especially in New Zealand where he drew huge crowds during the tours. He frequently formed a tag team in Australia and New Zealand with King Curtis Iaukea. He also spent time in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

working against The Sheik and fellow wildman,

Terry Funk Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely considered one of the most influential and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his car ...

. Lewin also wrestled 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 ...

with

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 ...

, where he feuded with the likes of

Gene Kiniski Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he ...

and "Bulldog" Bob Brown and twice won the Pacific Coast Heavyweight title. He found a lot of success in

World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA), was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by ...

in the late 1970s and early 1980s before going to

Florida Championship Wrestling Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) was a professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion based on the former National Wrestling Alliance member promotion, Championship Wrestling from Florida, which operated from 1961 until ...

, where he joined Kevin Sullivan's "cult" as The Purple Haze, another variation of the 'Maniac' gimmick. Lewin competed at wrestling's first Pay-Per-View event Starrcade 1983; he and Kevin Sullivan won their match. Lewin worked as a booker for Jim Barnett in Australia. He was one of Sabu's frequent opponents in the 1980s. Lewin retired in 1988, but came back mid 2003 to work for Eddie Jr. and Thomas Farhat to start up All World Wrestling League/Big Time Wrestling.

Championships and accomplishments

* All-Star Pro Wrestling ** NWA Australasian Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with

Steve Rickard Sydney Mervin "Merv" Batt (3 September 1929 – 5 April 2015), best known by his ring name Steve Rickard, was a New Zealand professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. As a wrestler, he traveled throughout the world during the 1960s and 1970 ...

(1), Al Perez (1), and

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) * Big Time Wrestling ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Detroit version)'' ( 2 times) *

Capitol Wrestling Corporation 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 ...

** NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Northeast version)'' ( 2 times, inaugural) - with Don Curtis *

** NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 1 time) *

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 International Tag Team Championship ''(Georgia version)'' (1 time) - with Donn Lewin *

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 Tag Team Championship ''(Toronto version)'' ( 1 time) - with Whipper Billy Watson *

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 ...

** NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (''Vancouver version'') (1 time) - with Steven Little Bear ** NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship ''(Vancouver version)'' ( 2 times) *

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 ...

** WWA Americas Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** WWA World Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) * NWA Big Time Wrestling / World Class Championship Wrestling ** NWA American Tag Team Championship ( 2 times) - with The Spoiler ** NWA Brass Knuckles Championship ''(Texas version)'' ( 8 times) ** NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship ( 3 times)* ** NWA Texas Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Dick Steinborn ** NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship ''(Texas version)'' ( 1 time) - with

Killer Tim Brooks Timothy Paul Brooks (December 4, 1946 – June 30, 2020), better known by his ring name "Killer" Tim Brooks, was an American professional wrestler. He competed in North American regional promotions, including the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA ...

One Man Gang George Gray (born February 12, 1960) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name (The) One Man Gang. For three years in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he was Akeem "The Africa ...

*''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

'' **PWI ranked him # 265 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003. *

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum was an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Wichita Falls, Texas; following the postponement of its 19th induction ceremony, planned for May 2020, and an annou ...

**( Class of 2009) - with Don Curtis *

World Championship Wrestling (Australia) World Championship Wrestling was an Australian professional wrestling promotion that ran from 1964 until 1978. History The promotion gained publicity through television programs on the Nine Network, which were presented at noon on Saturdays an ...

** IWA World Heavyweight Championship ( 2 times) ** IWA World Tag Team Championship ( 8 times) - with King Curtis Iaukea (2),

Bearcat Wright Edward M. Wright (January 13, 1932 – August 28, 1982) better known by his ring name "Bearcat" Wright was an American professional wrestler who became popular in the late 1950s and 1960s. Despite racial tension in the United States, he became wi ...

(1),

Dominic DeNucci Domenico A. Nucciarone (January 23, 1932 – August 12, 2021) was an Italian-American professional wrestler and trainer better known by the ring name Dominic DeNucci. He held over a dozen championships around the world in the 1960s and 1970s. H ...

(1),

Mario Milano Mario Bulfone (15 May 1935 – 9 December 2016), better known by his ring name 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 a ...

, (1),

Killer Kowalski Wladek Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008) was a Canadian professional wrestler, known by his ring name Killer Kowalski. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, including the ...

(1) and

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) ** NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with

*''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...

'' **

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to their professions. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Mel ...

(Class of 2017) ¹This World Championship Wrestling was an NWA affiliated promotion based in Australia that operated from the mid-1960s to the early-1990s. It is not the same promotion as the

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 ...

that was once owned by Ted Turner and sold to

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

in 2001.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewin, Mark 1937 births American male professional wrestlers Jewish American sportspeople Jewish professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from Buffalo, New York Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Professional wrestling promoters Stampede Wrestling alumni 21st-century American Jews 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers NWA Southern Heavyweight Champions (Florida version) NWA World Tag Team Champions (Florida version) NWA International Tag Team Champions (Toronto version) NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Champions IWA World Heavyweight Champions (Australia) IWA World Tag Team Champions (Australia) WWWF United States Tag Team Champions WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Champions WCWA World Tag Team Champions NWA Texas Heavyweight Champions

Early life

Professional wrestling career

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

External links