Nick Kiniski
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Nicholas Kiniski (born August 25, 1961) is a
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 ...
retired
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 ...
. He is best known for his work with WCCW, PNW and AWA and for being one half of the tag team American Force with
Paul Diamond Thomas Boric (born May 11, 1961) is a Croatian-Canadian retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Paul Diamond. He is best known for being one half of the tag team Badd Company with Pat Tanaka and for his time in the Worl ...
in
Texas All-Star Wrestling Texas All-Star Wrestling (TASW) is a professional wrestling promotion that was established by Bob Murphy in Humble, Texas in 1994. It is the oldest independent promotion in the state of Texas and one of two based in the Greater Houston area al ...
. He and his brother, wrestler
Kelly Kiniski Kelly Kiniski (born May 27, 1960) is a Canadian-born American retired professional wrestler. He is the elder son of the legendary wrestler Gene Kiniski and is best known for his work with Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and WCCW. Career E ...
, are the sons of former NWA World Heavyweight Champion
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 ...
.


Career

Nick Kiniski started wrestling in 1980. He was trained by his father, the legendary "Canada's Greatest Athlete" Gene Kiniski. He wrestled four years on the Canadian National Team and he was an alternate on the 1984 Canadian Olympic Team. His pro debut took place in the
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
area on January 22, 1985, when he lost to
Buck Zumhofe Eugene Otto "Buck" Zumhofe (born March 21, 1951) is a convicted sex offender and former American professional wrestler better known as "The King of Rock n' Roll" Buck Zumhofe.https://www.wrestlinginc.com/1732012/infamous-wrestlers-rotting-in-pr ...
by disqualification when Nick's brother, Kelly Kiniski, interfered.


Texas-All Star Wrestling (1985–1986)

He first rose to fame in Fred Barend's
Texas All-Star Wrestling Texas All-Star Wrestling (TASW) is a professional wrestling promotion that was established by Bob Murphy in Humble, Texas in 1994. It is the oldest independent promotion in the state of Texas and one of two based in the Greater Houston area al ...
. He formed a tag team with
Paul Diamond Thomas Boric (born May 11, 1961) is a Croatian-Canadian retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Paul Diamond. He is best known for being one half of the tag team Badd Company with Pat Tanaka and for his time in the Worl ...
called
American Breed The American Breed is an American bovid hybrid of cattle with a small percentage of American Bison blood. It was developed in the 1950s by a New Mexico rancher looking for beef cattle which could survive on poor fodder in the arid Southwest. I ...
. Neither Diamond nor Kiniski were actually American; Diamond was Croatian/Canadian and Kiniski was Canadian, so the team name is quite ironic. The team won the TASW Tag Team Championship from the Maoris (Tudui & Wakahi) on May 25, 1985 and held them until Al Madril and Chavo Guerrero took the titles from them on June 5, 1985. The TASW Tag Team title was vacated later that same month when Chavo Guerrero refused to wrestle in a rematch against Diamond and Kiniski because Chavo’s father
Gory Guerrero Salvador Guerrero Quesada (January 11, 1921 – April 18, 1990), better known as Gory Guerrero, was one of the premier Mexican-American professional wrestlers in the early days of Lucha Libre when most wrestlers were imported from outside Mexi ...
was the special referee chosen for the match. Madril teamed up with Black Gorman instead but lost the match. After the match Madril attacked Chavo Guerrero, splitting the team and forcing the titles to be held up. When Chavo later won the rights to name a new championship partner after defeating Madril in a singles match, he chose to give the titles to the American Breed instead, only now the American Breed consisted of Paul Diamond and a rookie named
Shawn Michaels Shawn Michaels (born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative, and oversees the creative aspects of th ...
. After the formation of the Diamond/Michaels version of American Force, Kiniski left the company in 1986.


Pacific Northwest Wrestling (1986)

Kiniski joined
Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
-based Don Owen's
Pacific Northwest Wrestling Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. ...
in 1986. He debuted at the PNW Superstars Extravaganza supershow, where he defeated Timothy Flowers by disqualification. He started feuding with Rip Oliver for the
NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW), which promoted shows in the U ...
but the feud was unsuccessful for Kiniski. He also had a short-lived feud with Danny Collins before leaving PNW.


World Wrestling Federation (1986)

Kiniski wrestled a few times for the WWF at their frequent Madison Square Garden shows as well as at the Boston Garden, including wins over Steve Lombardi (aka Brooklyn Brawler), Frenchy Martin, Jimmy Jack Funk and Les Thornton in late 1986/early1987. He was featured on WWF's television shows at least once - including a very competitive match against current WWF Intercontinental Champion
Randy Savage Randy Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler and professional baseball player, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation ( ...
which he only narrowly lost, on the December 27th 1986 edition of
WWF Superstars of Wrestling ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'' (later shortened to ''WWF Superstars'' and to ''Sunday Morning Superstars''), also referred to as ''Maple Leaf Wrestling'' in Canada, was an American professional wrestling television program that was produced b ...
. In 2024, Kiniski accused former WWF producer
Terry Garvin Terrence P. Joyal (March 1, 1937 – August 18, 1998), better known by his ring name Terry Garvin, was a Canadians, Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with kayfabe brother Ron Garvin, with whom he won several tag team ch ...
of having propositioned him for sex in the 1980s, and that his refusal led to Kiniski's termination from the company.


American Wrestling Association (1986–1987)

Kiniski joined
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 ...
in late 1986. He formed a heel tag team with Kevin Kelly called The Perfect Tag Team to contend for the
AWA World Tag Team Championship The American Wrestling Association (AWA) World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991. History When the NWA Minneapolis ...
. He and Kelly had actually started wrestling together in the WWF. The duo was managed by
Sherri Martel Sherry Lynn Schrull (née Russell; February 8, 1958 – June 15, 2007) was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by her ring names, Sherri Martel and Sensational Sherri. Martel began her professional wrestling career in t ...
. Martel left the AWA in July 1987 and was replaced by Madusa Miceli as the team's manager. They eventually pursued singles careers as Kiniski left the team.


World Class Championship Wrestling (1987–1990)

The last promotion where Kiniski wrestled was
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 ...
. He started his WCCW stint in 1987 and feuded with the Von Erichs. He used to wrestle
Kevin Kevin is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; ; ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicised from , an Irish diminutive form.''A Dictiona ...
and Kerry for most of his matches but he had few victories over Kevin and Kerry. He retired from professional wrestling when the promotion closed in 1990 and merged with
United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Champions ...
.


Personal life

After retiring, Kiniski moved to the small town of Point Roberts located within an American
exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...
along the Canada-America border. He opened a bar, named Kiniski's reef, and later became a chief in the towns fire department.


Championships and accomplishments

*Texas All-Star Wrestling ** TASW Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with
Paul Diamond Thomas Boric (born May 11, 1961) is a Croatian-Canadian retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Paul Diamond. He is best known for being one half of the tag team Badd Company with Pat Tanaka and for his time in the Worl ...


References


External links


Profile At OWW
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiniski, Nick 1961 births Canadian male professional wrestlers Canadian people of Polish descent Living people People from Blaine, Washington Professional wrestlers from Calgary Professional wrestlers from Washington (state) 20th-century Canadian sportsmen