Paul McManus (April 18, 1933 – August 15, 1991) 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 ...

known as Tank Morgan. He worked for the

World Wide Wrestling Federation 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 ...

from 1966 to 1967.

Professional wrestling career

Morgan would make his professional wrestling debut sometime in the 1950s. He would work in various territories in the States. In 1965, he made his debut for the

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 Minnesota as Bob Morgan. In 1966, he made his debut in New York City for the

as Tank Morgan. He would have a feud with WWWF Champion

Bruno Sammartino Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with the WWE, World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Sammartin ...

in late 1966 and early 1967. On December 12, 1966, Morgan fought Bruno Sammartino to a best of two out of three falls match at

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 ...

. Morgan won the first, while Sammartino won the other two and retained the title. In 1967, Morgan had feuds with

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 ...

, Arman Hussian and Tony Parisi. After leaving the WWWF in 1967, Morgan worked in Hawaii, Florida and the Mid-Atlantic. In 1969, he worked in Japan for

International Wrestling Enterprise was a professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1966 to 1981. Founded by Isao Yoshihara, it was affiliated with the American Wrestling Association in the United States and also had tie-ins with promotions in Canada and Europe. In 1972, it ...

. He wrestled in the promotion's first ever hair vs hair match teaming with

Dory Dixon Dorrel "Dory" Dixon (born February 1, 1934) is a Jamaican retired professional wrestler who worked for the majority of his career in Mexico, where he eventually became a Mexican citizen. He is currently a pastor for the Seventh-day Adventist Churc ...

against

Rusher Kimura was a Japanese professional wrestler, best known by his ring name . He was a five-time IWA World Heavyweight Champion, making him a five-time world champion. Sumo wrestling career He was a sumo wrestler under the ''shikona'' Kinomura, a d ...

and

Thunder Sugiyama was a Japanese amateur and professional wrestler. He competed in the men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight at the 1964 Summer Olympics. After his competitive career, he worked in International Wrestling Enterprise, All Japan Pro Wrestling and ...

. Kimura and Sugiyama won the match foriocng Morgan to shave his head. Later in his career he returned to Hawaii, and worked in Florida and Georgia. On November 12, 1973, he defeated

Dewey Robertson Byron James John "Dewey" Robertson (February 28, 1939 – August 16, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler, known best by his ring name The Missing Link. As The Missing Link, Robertson wore blue and green face paint and shaved portions of hi ...

in a tournament final for the NWA Tri-State North American Championship. This was his only title. He dropped the title to Rip Tyler on February 4, 1974. Later that year he retired.

Death

On August 15, 1991, Morgan was walking his dog when a car went by and shot him in front of a high school in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. A police officer found his body and taken the University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. He was 58 years old. He was believed to have been a victim of mistaken identity.

Championships and accomplishments

Mid-South Wrestling 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 ...

** Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship ''(Tri-State version)'' ( 1 time)

References

External links

* * * 1933 births 1991 deaths American male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century American people 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers American murder victims Deaths by firearm in Nevada 1991 murders in the United States {{US-prowrestling-bio-stub

Professional wrestling career

Death

Championships and accomplishments

References

Further reading

External links