Harvey Maurice Evers (June 6, 1930 – December 22, 2012) 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 ...

best 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 ...

, Rip Hawk. He began his wrestling career in the Mid-Western United States before joining

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions, at times branded as Eastern States Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is a Family business, family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United Sta ...

(JCP) in the early 1960s. In the company, he teamed with fellow wrestler Swede Hanson as the " Blond Bombers," and the duo held several championships. In the 1970s, he worked as a booker in JCP.

Early life

Evers was born on June 6, 1930, in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. He was raised in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Hawk made his wrestling debut in 1949. He began as an amateur in Ohio and was discovered by professional boxer

Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. One of the most iconic athl ...

, who convinced him to wrestle professionally. His ring name came from a variety of sources: his sister called him "Rip" as a nickname, while a promoter gave him the last name "Hawk" due to his nose and his movements in the

wrestling ring A wrestling ring, also known as the squared circle, is the stage on which a professional wrestling match usually occurs. It is similarly constructed to a boxing ring and is traditionally square-shaped. In Japan, it is also common to see mixed mart ...

. His nickname, "The Profile", was taken from actor

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen, and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly a ...

. He began wrestling professionally in Ohio around his 18th birthday, and later moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where he trained for a year with Karl Pojello. He also briefly wrestled in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Hawk was soon drafted to serve in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. He joined the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

and continued to wrestle during his service. He was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1954, believing he could make a better living from wrestling. He competed in several territories after returning to the United States, including

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. He later moved to

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, where he competed in St. Joseph and

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. In St. Joseph, he had a scripted

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

with Sonny Myers and

Larry Hamilton Larry Edward "Rocky" Hamilton (April 1, 1931 – July 20, 1996), better known by his ring name the Missouri Mauler, was an American professional wrestler who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance, becoming a mainstay of the latter promoti ...

. He continued to move around and held his first championship, the NWA Rocky Mountain Heavyweight Championship, while wrestling for NWA Western States Sports in 1958.

Jim Crockett Promotions

Hawk moved to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in the early 1960s, where he began competing for

, an organization run by Jim Crockett Sr. that promoted events in

the Carolinas The Carolinas, also known simply as Carolina, are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean ...

. He met fellow wrestler Swede Hanson and approached Crockett about forming 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 ...

with Hanson. Crockett agreed to the idea, and Hawk and Hanson began competing as the " Blond Bombers", named after their matching blond hair and their strength in the ring. While competing in Australia, Hawk met manager

Gary Hart Gary Warren Hart (''né'' Hartpence; born November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1984 and 1988 Democratic presidential nominations, until in 1988, he dropped out amid revelations of ex ...

. He approached Crockett and convinced him to bring Hart to the Carolinas to manage Hawk and Hanson. The team competed as heels (villains) and was unique for wearing suits to their matches, as most wrestlers did not worry about dressing like professionals outside of the ring. They aroused anger from many spectators, some of whom threw acid or threatened the team with knives and guns. They also had a following among some fans, and a fan club was formed for them at one point. During interviews, Hawk spoke for the team while Hanson stood silently; Hawk occasionally insulted Hanson in the interviews, but Hanson did not respond. The team competed in the Carolinas and Virginia, as well as touring overseas 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 ...

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 ...

, and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Hawk wrestled in other territories, including

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, where he held the

NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship The NWA Texas Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today. The title has used a variety ...

and the Texas version of the

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed List of National Wrestling Alliance territories ...

(the latter while teaming with Rock Hunter). Nine of his championships came as a member of the Blond Bombers, however. Hawk and Hanson were booked in an

angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle can refer to a number of concepts relating to the intersection of two straight Line (geometry), lines at a Point (geometry), point. Formally, an angle is a figure lying in a Euclidean plane, plane formed by two R ...

to win their first title together, the

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

version of the

, on August 3, 1965. They combined to hold the NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship on four occasions, which was the center of their feud with Johnny Weaver and George Becker. They were also booked to win the

IWA World Tag Team Championship The IWA World Tag Team Championship is a Tag Team Championship defended in Puerto Rico.The titles were first introduced in the first incarnation of the International Wrestling Association, where they are defended. They also made a brief appearan ...

on a wrestling tour of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. The Blond Bombers were involved in a series of unusual matches in Jim Crockett Promotions; they faced other heel tag teams, which was a rarity at the time because most promoters stuck to good versus evil storylines. They competed against such teams as

Aldo Bogni Aldo Edmundo Bogni (January 29, 1915 – March 10, 1997) was an Argentinian professional wrestler. He was active during the 1950s to the 1970s. Career Bogni was born in Buenos Aires on January 19, 1915. He began wrestling in the 1950s in the No ...

and Bronko Lubich,

Gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

and

Ole Anderson Alan Robert Rogowski (September 22, 1942 – February 26, 2024), better known by the ring name Ole Anderson (), was an American professional wrestler, booker, and promoter. Following a stint in the U.S. Army, Rogowski made his professional ...

, and Skull Murphy and Brute Bernard. Hawk, along with Johnny Weaver, was also involved in

booking Booking may refer to: * Making an appointment for a meeting or gathering, as part of event planning/ scheduling * The intake or admission process into a prison or psychiatric facility. * ''Booking'' (manhwa), a Korean comics anthology magazine ...

, or scheduling, events in Jim Crockett Promotions, a task he took on in the early 1970s. He also collaborated with Johnny Ringo to design 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 ...

logo. In 1971, Hanson suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

and had to take time off of wrestling. Hawk competed as a singles wrestler and feuded with the Brisco brothers ( Jack and Jerry). During this rivalry, Hawk held the NWA Eastern States Heavyweight Championship four times. He was then paired with

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...

, who was billed as his nephew. On July 4, 1974, Hawk and Flair were booked the

NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship The NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship was a tag team title defended in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Mid-Atlantic territory. The championship was originally created in the summer of 1968 and was originally named the NWA Atlantic Coa ...

. Hanson returned to wrestling but soon became a

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

(fan favorite) and feuded with Hawk. The former partners faced each other in tag team matches in which Hanson teamed with Tiger Conway Jr. and Hawk teamed with Flair. Eventually, the partners were dropped and the two faced each other in a series of singles matches. Hawk left Jim Crockett Promotions permanently in 1975 due to differences with booker George Scott.

Later career

Hawk then took on a new partner, Roger Kirby, with whom he held the

NWA Florida Tag Team Championship The NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in NWA Florida Underground Wrestling. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was ...

twice over the next two years. Hawk and Hanson reunited as a tag team in Texas, where they competed for NWA Western States Sports. In 1976 and 1977, they were booked to win the

NWA Western States Tag Team Championship The NWA International Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling title, originally created as the NWA Western States Tag Team Championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, Western States Sports. The title w ...

three times. After their final title reign, Hanson left to wrestle elsewhere while Hawk continued to wrestle in Texas. Hawk and Hanson were inducted into the NWA Legends Hall of Heroes in 2007. Hawk returned in 2008 to posthumously induct long-time rival and real-life friend Johnny Weaver.

Personal life and death

After retiring from wrestling, he moved to

Hereford, Texas Hereford ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Deaf Smith County, Texas, United States. It is 48 miles southwest of Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo. Its population was 14,972 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is the only incorporated ...

, where he lived with his wife, Kitty. They have 2 daughters. He worked as a

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, providing m ...

and wrestling coach at the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

in Hereford until 2011. Several of his trainees went to the Junior Olympics and received athletic scholarships to college. Evers died on December 22, 2012. He had suffered from cardiac problems prior to his death.

Championships and accomplishments

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 ...

**Men’s Wrestling Award (2010) *

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 ...

(

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 Roger Kirby ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 1 time) - with Swede Hanson *

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling Jim Crockett Promotions, at times branded as Eastern States Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in ...

** NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship ( 4 times) - with Swede Hanson ** NWA Eastern States Heavyweight Championship ( 4 times) **

( 1 time) - with

** NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-Atlantic version)'' ( 1 time) - with Swede Hanson * NWA Western States Sports **NWA Rocky Mountain Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **

( 3 times) - with Swede Hanson * Southwest Sports Inc. **

( 1 time)* **

( 1 time) - with Rock Hunter * St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame ** Class of 2014 *

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 ...

( 1 time) - with Swede Hanson

References

External links

Online World of Wrestling profileRip Hawk And The Fear Of Flying
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawk, Rip 1930 births 2012 deaths 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Anderson family IWA World Tag Team Champions (Australia) NWA Florida Tag Team Champions NWA World Tag Team Champions (Florida version) NWA Texas Heavyweight Champions Professional wrestlers from Indiana People from Hereford, Texas