George Burrell Woodin (July 28, 1934 – November 30, 2002) 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 ...

, 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 ...

s, Mr. Wrestling and Tim Woods.

Collegiate wrestling career

Woodin received a degree in agricultural engineering from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

and a degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

. Before becoming a professional wrestler, Woodin was a successful collegiate wrestler. While wrestling for the Michigan State Spartans, Woodin won two

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

titles in 1958 and 1959. He also finished second in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

tournament in 1958 and 1959. As a junior at Michigan State, Woodin won the 1958 Big Ten 177-pound title by pinning Gary Kurdelmeier of the University of Iowa at 8:21. A couple of weeks later, the two met again in the 177-pound finals of the 1958 NCAAs at the University of Wyoming, where Woodin lost to Kurdelmeier 6-2. As a senior, Woodin defeated Iowa's Gordon Trapp 6–4 in the heavyweight finals to win his second Big Ten title. At the 1959 NCAAs, the Michigan State Spartan competed in the 191-pound class, making it to the finals for the second year in a row, but lost 9-5 to Syracuse's Art Baker. With his two runner-up finishes at the national championships, Woodin was a two-time NCAA All-American.

Professional wrestling career

Woodin began his wrestling career at the age of 28 using the name "Tim Woods". He was then given the name "Mr. Wrestling" by Nebraska promotor Joe Dusek, and subsequently adopted both a white

wrestling mask A wrestling mask is a fabric-based mask that some professional wrestlers wear as part of their in-ring persona or gimmick. Professional wrestlers have been using masks as far back as 1915 and they are still widely used today, especially in Mexi ...

and white singlet to complete the character. Mr. Wrestling became a major superstar in the

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and Mid-Atlantic territories. He wrestled in 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 ...

in the northeast, at the upper end of the preliminary wrestlers. Starting in the Seventies, he would alternate between his masked persona as Mr. Wrestling and wrestling unmasked as Tim Woods, depending on the territory. In 1968, Woodin faced street fighter Arnold Spurlin, a former Golden Gloves champion, in a shoot fight in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...

. After Woodin dominated the match, using non-wrestling moves and blows with his fists, Spurlin bit down on the only thing he could to stop the melee - Woodin’s finger. As Woodin danced around Spurlin in pain and trying to remove his finger from his opponent’s grip, other wrestlers entered the ring and began beating Spurlin. Spurlin’ s friends then joined in with knives in hand to run off the wrestlers. As they did, Spurlin spit Woodin’s finger joint across the ring. The finger was subsequently surgically reattached, but Woodin did not regain full use of it. Later that year, Woodin challenged

NWA World Heavyweight Champion The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...

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 ...

, with the bout being stopped after Woodin's finger began bleeding.

1975 plane crash

Tim Woods with robe and masked as Mr Wrestling 1978

Woodin was involved in the same 1975

plane crash An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Pre ...

which involved pilot Joseph Michael Farkas (he ended up in a coma and died the next year), wrestling legend Johnny Valentine (broke his back and bone fragments impacted into his spinal cord, which ended his career), wrestler Bob Bruggers (broke his back and had a steel rod put in; Bruggers could have made a comeback, but he decided to retire), future legend

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 ...

(broke his back, but recovered and returned to wrestling), and

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 ...

' announcer

David Crockett Colonel David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American politician, militia officer and frontiersman. Often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier", he represented Tennessee in the United States Ho ...

. At the hospital, Woodin gave them his real name (George Burrell Woodin), and told them that he was a promoter. Since Woodin wrestled under the name Tim Woods, a newspaper article in the

Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. It is owned by Chatham Asset ...

listed his name as his real name, George Burrell Woodin, and mentioned that he was a promoter. Woodin was the only fan favorite wrestler on the plane, while the rest wrestled as

villains A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

, and this was back in the days when

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced ) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants. The term has evolved to become a code word ...

was not broken (at the time, Woods was feuding with Flair and Valentine) and heroes and villains were not known to travel together. Eventually, rumors began circulating that Woods was in fact on the plane. Unwilling to risk the exposure of professional wrestling, he got back in the ring two weeks after the crash and was obviously in extreme pain. Flair later said in his book ''To Be the Man'', that he was "more than just Mr. Wrestling that day, but was the man who saved wrestling."

Retirement

Woodin retired from professional wrestling in 1983. After retiring, he ran a heating and air conditioning business.

Personal life

Woodin was an avid collector of motorcycles as well as an accomplished photographer and saxophone player. On November 30, 2002, Woodin died from 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 ...

at his home in Charlotte, North Carolina at the age of 68. Before his death, he was scheduled to be interviewed about the October 1975 plane crash for WWE Confidential.

Championships and accomplishments

Amateur wrestling

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

**AAU National Championship (1955, 1957) *

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

(1958, 1959)

Professional wrestling

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 ...

**Champion Carnival Technique Award (1975) **World's Strongest Tag Determination League Fighting Spirit Award (1979) - with The Masked Strangler *

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 ...

** Nebraska Heavyweight Championship (1 time)Mr. Wrestling
at cagematch.net **AWA Midwest Tag Team Championship (3 time) - with Reggie Parks (1 time) Luke Brown (1 time) Ron Reed (1 time) *Big Time Promotions **Big Time Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

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 ...

**Other honoree (

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

) *

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 ...

NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida and is now the major title in NWA Florida Wrestling Alliance. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by CWF an ...

(

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 ...

) **

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 ...

(

) - with

Hiro Matsuda (July 22, 1937 – November 27, 1999), best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler and trainer. Professional wrestling career Kojima played an active role as an ace pitcher at baseball in Nittai Ebara High School Baseball ...

(1 time) and Big Bad John (1 time) ** NWA Florida Television Championship ( 1 time) ** NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 4 times) * George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame ** Class of 2001 *

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 Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Dino Bravo ** NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Championship ( 1 time) ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Mid-Atlantic version)'' ( 1 time) ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-Atlantic version)'' ( 1 time) - with Dino Bravo * Mid-South Sports/Georgia Championship Wrestling ** NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship ( 3 times) **

NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship The NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship was the top tag team championship (professional wrestling), championship in Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1968 to 1980, when it was replaced with the NWA National Tag Team Championship. The title was r ...

( 6 times) - with Mr. Wrestling II (4 times),

Steve Keirn Stephen Paul Keirn (born September 10, 1951) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in multiple National Wrestling Alliance territories as Steve Keirn as one-half of the tag team The Fabulous Ones, as ...

(1 time) and

Thunderbolt Patterson Claude Patterson (born July 8, 1941) is an American retired professional wrestler, known by his ring name Thunderbolt Patterson. He began his career in 1964 and wrestled primarily in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. During the early 1970s, he ...

(1 time) ** NWA Macon Tag Team Championship (

) - with Mr. Wrestling II **NWA Columbus Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * NWA Big Time Wrestling **

NWA American Tag Team Championship The WCWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally introduced as ...

( 1 time) - with George Scott ** NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time)* *

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 ...

** NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (

) - with Pak Song (1 time) and Dr. Death (1 time) ** NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship ( 1 time) *

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 Heavyweight Championship ''(Memphis version)'' ( 1 time) *''

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 #394 of the top 500 singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wrestling, Mr. 1934 births 2002 deaths 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers American male sport wrestlers AWA World Heavyweight Champions Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni Masked wrestlers Michigan State Spartans wrestlers NWA/WCW World Television Champions NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions Professional wrestlers from New York (state) Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents NWA Florida Heavyweight Champions NWA Florida Tag Team Champions NWA Florida Television Champions NWA Southern Heavyweight Champions (Florida version) WCW World Tag Team Champions NWA Macon Tag Team Champions NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champions NWA Georgia Tag Team Champions NWA Texas Heavyweight Champions WCWA World Tag Team Champions 20th-century American sportsmen