Main Cast
Khosrow Vaziri
Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri (Persian: حسین خسرو علی وزیری) better known by his ring name The Iron Sheik, is an Iranian retired professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and actor. He is the only Iranian champion in WWE history, having won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in 1983. His villainous character peaked during the 1980s WWF wrestling boom and his rivalry with Hulk Hogan turned Hogan into one of the greatest television heroes of the decade. He later formed a tag team with Nikolai Volkoff, which won the WWF Tag Team Championship at the inaugural WrestleMania event. In 2005, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. A heel throughout the 1980s, Sheik later gained popularity on Kidd Chris, The Howard Stern Show, and on the internet due to his shoot interviews, vulgar language, and his intense dislike for some of his fellow professional wrestlers, particularly Hulk Hogan.
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Ed Leslie
Edward Harrison Leslie is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in WWE under the ring name Brutus The Barber Beefcake. He later worked for World Championship Wrestling under a variety of names, mainly as "The Disciple" of real-life best friend Hulk Hogan. He is a former WWE World Tag Team Champion. Edward Leslie began his career at the side of Hulk Hogan in the 1976-1977 time frame. At the time, the two were billed as brothers; Ed was known as either Ed Boulder or Dizzy Hogan, to match Terry's Terry Boulder and Hulk Hogan. Leslie entered the WWF as a heel under the ring name Brutus Beefcake in late 1984 with manager "Luscious" Johnny Valiant. Beefcake debuted as a vain individual who dressed in outlandish outfits. As a singles competitor, he feuded with David Sammartino and Hulk Hogan, the latter who sought revenge on Beefcake after he and Valiant injured Hogan's protege Hillbilly Jim. Brutus got some "cheap heat" when he would come uninvited to ringside during Tony Atlas's matches. During the summer of 1985, Beefcake began teaming with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, and became known as "The Dream Team". The Dream Team began challenging The US Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham) for the Tag Team Championship. Initially, the US Express fought off their challengers, but the Dream Team soon gained momentum, and at an August 24, 1985, show at the Philadelphia Spectrum, the Dream Team won the tag team titles from the U.S. Express when Beefcake rubbed Valiant’s lit cigar in Windham’s eye. The Dream Team held the titles for eight months, with their primary challengers being a reformed US Express (with Dan Spivey replacing the departed Windham) and British Bulldogs. At WrestleMania 2 in Rosemont, Illinois, the British Bulldogs defeated the Dream Team to win the tag team titles. The Dream Team failed to regain the titles and soon reverted to mid-card status. Leslie made news headlines on February 8, 2004 for causing an anthrax scare at one of Boston's MBTA stations, Downtown Crossing, where he was working at the time. He had been found to be in possession of a white powder, which turned out to be cocaine. He promptly checked into a drug rehabilitation facility after admitting that the cocaine found at the station was his. As a result, no charges were filed against him. Leslie married Kirsten Georgi on July 1, 1987; the couple divorced in 1991. His second marriage was to Barbara McGondel on October 1, 1994. Together, they have one daughter named Alana. Leslie also worked as a manager at Planet Fitness in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. He became a born again Christian.
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John Wisniski Jr.
John Wisniski, Jr. is an American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine. In the course of his career, which has spanned over four decades, Valentine has held more than 40 championships, including the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Intercontinental Championship. An alumnus of WWE and World Championship Wrestling, he was inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.
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Josip Peruzović
Josip Hrvoje Peruzović better known by his ring name of Nikolai Volkoff, was a Croatian-American professional wrestler who was best known for his performances in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Although the Volkoff character was often portrayed as a villainous Russian, Peruzović originated from Yugoslavia. In the 1970s, he was Bepo of the Mongols tag team, one of the masked Executioners and feuded with Bruno Sammartino over the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship as Volkoff. In the 1980s, he was known for teaming with The Iron Sheik, with whom he won the WWF Tag Team Championship at the inaugural WrestleMania event, and later with Boris Zhukov as The Bolsheviks. In 1990, he turned face and embraced America, briefly feuding with Zhukov and newly-turned Iraqi sympathizer Sgt. Slaughter. In 1994, after a hiatus, he returned as a destitute and desperate character, exploited by Ted DiBiase as the first member of his Million Dollar Corporation.
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Keith Franke
Keith Adonis Franke was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Adrian Adonis. He was best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association and WWE throughout the 1980s.
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Louis Albano
Louis Vincent "Captain Lou" Albano was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, manager and actor. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969, then he became a manager, until 1995. Throughout his 42-year career, Albano guided 15 different tag teams and four singles competitors to championship gold. Albano was part of the "Triumvirate of Terror," a threesome of nefarious WWF managers that also included The Grand Wizard of Wrestling and Freddie Blassie. The trio would be fixtures in the company for a decade, until the Grand Wizard's death in 1983. A unique showman, with an elongated beard, rubber band facial piercings, and loud outfits, Albano was the forefather of the 1980s Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection. Collaborating with Cyndi Lauper, Albano helped usher in wrestling's crossover success with a mainstream audience. Capitalizing on his success, he later ventured into Hollywood with various television, film, and music projects. He became well-known to a new generation of fans as the actor and voice of Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! In 1953, Albano married his high school sweetheart, Geraldine Tango. The marriage lasted 56 years, until his death. Albano has been noted by several others for his faithfulness to his wife, a rare characteristic in the on-the-road world of 1970s and 1980s professional wrestling. Albano released his autobiography, Often Imitated, Never Duplicated, on July 20, 2008 through his website. The book includes a foreword by Cyndi Lauper. The other Albano siblings are Vincent, George, Eleanor, and Carl, all of whom became teachers. Albano's brother, Carl, taught health for 32 years at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and was head of the Ridgewood High health department from 1974 until 2001. Carl's students have noted that he used his brother Lou as an example of the difference between crazy and unique. George served as the Principal of Lincoln Elementary School in Mount Vernon, New York and often brought Lou in to delight the school's students during their lunch hour. Vincent was an art teacher and lived part-time in a lake house in Connecticut. Eleanor was a music teacher for preschool students in Connecticut and impacts the lives of countless students through music. Albano's son, Carl Albano, has been a member of the Putnam County Legislature since 2011. During the 1990s, Albano shed 150 pounds (70 kg) following a health scare. In May 2005, Albano suffered a heart attack, but later recovered. Albano was sent home from the hospital and again began watching his health. The song "Captain Lou" by Kimya Dawson is dedicated to him. In 1983 the band NRBQ wrote a song about Albano called "Captain Lou." Albano was featured as a singer on that song as well on another called "Boardin' House Pie." Both of these songs appear on NRBQ's Tap Dancin' Bats compilation, their Lou and Q spoken-word comedy record, as well as their out-of-print, hard-to-find single which Albano used to sell at his wrestling matches. Albano died on October 14, 2009 of a heart attack while residing in hospice care.He was 76 years old.
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Afa Anoa'i
Afa Amituana'i Anoa'i was a retired Samoan professional wrestler and manager, who appeared as one of Kenneth Togaru's henchmen that killed Charles Symington and Ali Ferrand in the episode "By Hooker by Crook" of the series Miami Vice. Anoai got into professional wrestling in the early 1970s, trained by Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia (father and grandfather of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), then made his debut in 1971, and brought in his brother Sika Anoa'i (born 1945) and formed The Wild Samoans, a tag team that won three WWWF (precursor to today's WWE) Tag Team Championships (twice in 1980 and once in 1983), managed by Capt. Lou Albano for all of their reigns. They also held the NWA National Tag Team titles in 1982 and several other regional titles during their career. In 1983 Sika was injured and Afa brought in his son Samu, and would remain a team until 1984. The Wild Samoans broke up soon after, but Afa returned to the WWF as manager of Samu and Afa's nephew Fatu and they formed The Samoan Swat Team (in World Class—WCCW, and the NWA) before moving to the WWF and becoming The Headshrinkers, which won the WWF Tag Team Titles once before Afa retired in 1994. He then trained new pro wrestlers at the Wild Samoans Academy, and in 2007 he and Sika were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Anoa'i's only acting credits besides Vice was in the movies Body Slam and Mr. Nanny. Anoa'i married his wife Lynn in 1970, and have five children; their three sons, Samula "Samu", Afa, Jr. "Manu", and Lloyd "L.A. Smooth", all became pro wrestlers, and two daughters, Monica and Lynn.
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Anthony White
Anthony White better known by his ring name Tony Atlas is an American bodybuilder, powerlifter, and professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his bodybuilding title, "Mr. USA" (a distinction he earned three times), the nom de guerre the "Black Superman", as well as an alter ego named Saba Simba. He returned as an on screen manager for WWE, appearing on its now-defunct ECW brand. He re-signed with WWE in a legends deal in mid-2012.
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Tom Billington
Thomas Billington, best known by the ring name Dynamite Kid, is a retired British professional wrestler who competed in the World Wrestling Federation, Stampede Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling in the mid- to late-1980s. With his cousin Davey Boy Smith, Billington became best known for being half of the tag team the British Bulldogs. He has had notable feuds with Tiger Mask in Japan and Bret Hart in Canada. He was born in Golborne, Lancashire.
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Freddie Blassie
Frederick Kenneth Blassie, better known as "Classy" Freddie Blassie, was an American professional wrestling villain and manager born in St. Louis, Missouri. Renowned as "The Fashion Plate of Professional Wrestling", He was also a one-time NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion (later known as the NWA Wildside Heavyweight Championship), and a one-time NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion.
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Adolfo Bresciano
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Joe Scarpa
Luke Joseph Scarpa was an American professional wrestler who was best known by the ring name "Chief" Jay Strongbow. Scarpa portrayed a Native American wrestler, who wore a war bonnet to the ring and would "go on the warpath" when the fans started cheering him against an opponent. It has been acknowledged that he was in fact an Italian-American n 1979, he feuded with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, who broke Strongbow's leg. The two wrestled all over the WWE circuit, including an "Indian Strap match" at Madison Square Garden on July 30, 1979. In 1982, Strongbow formed a tag team with his on-screen brother, Jules Strongbow. On June 28, the Strongbows won the tag team championship from the team of Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito in New York City's Madison Square Garden. During the match, special guest referee Ivan Putski counted the winning fall, but did not see Fuji's foot draped over the bottom rope. On the July 13 episode of WWE Championship Wrestling, the Strongbows lost the titles back to Fuji and Saito, but on the October 26 episode of WWE Championship Wrestling, the Strongbows defeated Fuji and Saito for their second WWE Tag Team Championship reign as a team. On the March 8, 1983 episode of Championship Wrestling, the Strongbows lost the titles to The Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika). After failing in regaining the belts, the Strongbows disbanded. Retirement (1985–1994) Strongbow retired in 1985, but would still step back into the ring from time to time, most notably for a legends battle royal in East Rutherford, New Jersey in 1987. In retirement, Strongbow became a WWE road agent and worked in the company's front office. He also participated in a 1994 storyline in which he mentored Tatanka (an actual Native American of the Lumbee tribe). Strongbow was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame class of 1994 by Gorilla Monsoon. Strongbow's last appearance in WWE was a brief appearance on the November 17, 2008 episode of Monday Night Raw when Stephanie McMahon introduced him to the audience in Atlanta. Personal life Strongbow in 2011 His son, Joe Jr. wrestled in the 1980s and early 1990s mainly as Mark Pyle and Mark Young in the WWF from 1986–1990 and Vince Young in WCW. Joe Jr. died in 2016 at the age of 48. He also has a daughter Connie Pacheco of Portland, Oregon. Death Scarpa suffered a fall at his home in late 2011 and was hospitalized. He never recovered and died on April 3, 2012 at the age of 83. He is buried in Griffin, Georgia
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Harry Fujiwara
Harry Fujiwara is an American former professional wrestler and manager, best known by his ring name Mr. Fuji. He was infamous for often throwing salt in the eyes of face wrestlers. Although he was billed as Japanese, he is a Japanese-American born in Hawaii.
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Rick Vigneault
Richard Vigneault is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with WWE between 1980 and 1995 under the ring name Rick Martel. He is also known for his two-year-long reign as AWA World Heavyweight Champion. After retiring from the ring, Martel worked for WCW as a trainer, and as host of the French versions of WCW programming. After the main event of a house show in Quebec City on May 3, 2003, then WWE Champion Brock Lesnar introduced Martel to the ring as a surprise, and shook his hand. Martel, who received a standing ovation from his home fans, said he was honoured to be associated with WWE and thanked the fans. At WWE's Vengeance: Night of Champions pay-per-view in 2007, Martel, along with his former teammate Tony Garea, saved Jimmy Snuka and Sgt. Slaughter from a post-match attack at the hands of Deuce 'n Domino. Martel is a playable character in WWE 2K18 and WWE 2K19, the first video game appearance since 1993's Sega Mega drive/Genesis version of WWE Royal Rumble.
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Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler, and is often referred to as the archetypal wrestling magnate. McMahon currently serves as the Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the professional wrestling promotion WWE and is the majority shareholder of the company, holding approximately 88% of the total voting power and 59% of the outstanding shares within WWE. Upon acquiring World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), McMahon's WWE became the sole remaining major American professional wrestling promotion until the national expansion of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Ring of Honor. As an on-camera character, he can appear on all WWE brands (though the majority of the time, he appears on Raw). McMahon plays a character known by the ring name Mr. McMahon, based on himself. In the world of WWE, he is a two-time world champion, having won the WWF Championship and ECW World Championship. He was also the winner of the 1999 Royal Rumble. Vince is the husband of Linda McMahon, with whom he ran WWE from its establishment in 1980 until she resigned as CEO in September 2009.
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Bob Marella
Robert James Marella better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker. Monsoon is famous for his run as a super-heavyweight main eventer, and later as the voice of WWE, as commentator and backstage manager during the 1980s and 1990s. He also portrayed the on-screen role of WWE President from 1995 to 1997. In professional wrestling, the staging area just behind the entrance curtain at an event, a position which Marella established and where he could often be found during WWE shows late in his career, is named the "Gorilla Position" in his honor. Although remembered fondly by many viewers, Monsoon was voted Worst Television Announcer a record six times by readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in the publication's annual awards poll. Marella was married to his wife, Maureen, for more than 40 years and had three children: Sharon (born 1960), Joey (adopted, 1963–1994), and Valerie (born 1966). Victor Quinones (1959-2006) was listed in Gorilla's obituary as his son as well. This was never confirmed officially by Gorilla but the Marella family has acknowledged this after Gorilla's death. Along with Linda McMahon, Marella was considered as a possible replacement for Vince McMahon as the owner of WWE if McMahon had been found guilty during his 1994 legal trial for illegal steroid use in the company. On July 4, 1994, his adopted son, Joey Marella, fell asleep at the wheel and died in a car accident on the New Jersey Turnpike, while returning from refereeing a WWE event in Ocean City, Maryland. He was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. For years, Marella had a custom New Jersey license plate which read "kayfabe Death and legacy Marella died on October 6, 1999, of heart failure brought on by complications of diabetes, at his home in Willingboro Township, New Jersey. He was 62 years old. In a tribute that aired on October 11, 1999, on an episode of Raw Is War from the Georgia Dome, McMahon described Marella as "one of the greatest men I have ever known." He is interred next to his son, Joey Marella, at Lakeview Memorial Park in Cinnaminson, New Jersey. WCW commentator Tony Schiavone acknowledged Marella's death on the October 11, 1999, episode of WCW Monday Nitro. Bobby Heenan insisted on doing a tribute to Marella, even though Marella never worked for WCW. Heenan said on-air: "Gorilla will be sadly missed. Now he was one big tough man. He was a decent honest man. And we're all gonna miss him very much. And you know the pearly gates in heaven? It's now gonna be called 'the Gorilla position.' Goodbye, my friend." Robert Marella was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, class of 1994, on June 9. When Heenan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004, he ended his acceptance speech with a very emotional, "There's only one thing missing, I wish Monsoon was here." In 2007, when Anthony Carelli made his debut with WWE, as a tribute to Marella, he was given the ring name "Santino Marella".
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Gene Okerlund
Eugene "Mean Gene" Okerlund was a semi-retired American professional wrestling interviewer and announcer. He was best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 by Hulk Hogan.
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Mike Rotunda
Lawrence Michael Rotunda is a former American professional wrestler, perhaps best known under the name Irwin R. Schyster or I.R.S. for short, a play on the abbreviation of the Internal Revenue Service. He works with the WWE as a road agent and makes occasional appearances on WWE shows as Irwin R. Schyster. Rotunda (as Mike Rotunda) joined All Japan Pro Wrestling in the summer of 2000, shortly after the Pro Wrestling Noah exodus. He reunited the Varsity Club, this time with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. The team won the 2000 World's Strongest Tag Determination League[13] and also challenged for the World Tag Team Championship, against Taiyō Kea and Johnny Smith on February 24, 2001, but lost. In late 2001, Rotunda returned to Team 2000 as part of the All Japan branch and returned to New Japan for one match, on October 28, teaming with Chono to defeat Tencozy. Rotunda finished the year teaming with Williams in the 2001 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, which they finished in 5th place with 6 points. Rotunda retired from wrestling to run a security company with his wife in 2004. Rotunda was rehired by WWE as a road agent in 2006, and has made guest appearances as Irwin R. Schyster. One such appearance was on the August 6, 2007 edition of WWE Raw; Mr. McMahon was discussing his IRS troubles with Jonathan Coachman, and when the conversation ended, Rotunda lowered the paper covering his face (Financial Times) and revealed himself. Rotunda appeared as I.R.S. on the December 10, 2007 15th Anniversary edition of Raw, winning a 15-man Battle Royal, only to be paid by his former tag team partner Ted DiBiase to eliminate himself and I.R.S. appeared on the September 7, 2009 edition of "Raw," of which Bob Barker was the guest host. Rotunda was a contestant in a pricing game (similar to the "One Bid" qualifying segment of The Price Is Right) along with Santino Marella, Jillian Hall, and Chris Jericho, bidding on a "Best of SmackDown" DVD. Rotunda overbid $50.00 (including tax); the DVD's actual retail price was $18.99. Chris Jericho won the pricing game with a bid of $1.00 (as erroneously proclaimed by Bob Barker). I.R.S was, later that night, one of the contestants during the second round of the pricing game. A. J. Pierzynski of the Chicago White Sox filled in the vacated spot Chris Jericho held. This time the bid was for a travel package to WrestleMania XXVI in Glendale, Arizona. Rotunda bid $2,000.00 for the package. The actual retail price was $1,247.00, making Santino the winner after a bid of $1,200.00 Rotunda appeared on an episode of Monday Night Raw as a lumberjack in the "'80s Legend Lumberjack Match", in which Christian defeated Ted DiBiase Rotunda is married to Stephanie Rotunda (née Windham), the daughter of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan, and sister of wrestlers Barry and Kendall Windham. They have two sons, Windham and Taylor, who are professional wrestlers working for WWE under the ring names Bray Wyatt (former WWE Champion, former SmackDown Tag Team Champion with The Wyatt Family which at the time included Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Randy Orton, and former Raw Tag Team Champion with Matt Hardy) and Bo Dallas (former NXT Champion and former Raw Tag Team Champion with Curtis Axel). The couple also has a daughter named Mika and two granddaughters named Cadyn and Kendyl
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Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship (WWWF Heavyweight Championship during his second reign) for more than 11 years (4,040 days) across two reigns, the first of which is the longest single reign in the promotion's history at 2,803 days. He is overall a two-time world champion in professional wrestling. Dubbed "The Italian Strongman" and "The Strongest Man in the World" early in his career, Sammartino later earned the title "The Living Legend". Known for his powerful bearhug finishing move, he is widely regarded as the greatest professional wrestler of all time. Sammartino became a vocal critic of the drug use and raunchier storylines that became prevalent in the professional wrestling industry after his retirement but he reconciled with WWE in 2013 and headlined their Hall of Fame ceremony that year. Terry Funk commented that Sammartino "was bigger than wrestling itself"
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David Smith
David "Davey Boy" Smith was a British professional wrestler, also known as The British Bulldog. He found success as both a singles and tag competitor, holding every major title in the WWF except the WWF Championship. Although never a world champion, he headlined multiple pay-per-view events in the WWF and WCW.
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Merced Solis
Merced Solis, better known by the ring name Tito Santana, is an American professional wrestler and middle school teacher. Santana has stayed a babyface his entire career and he is best known for his appearances with WWE between 1979 and 1993 (missing part of 1980 and returning in 1983) where he was twice the WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion and twice held the WWE Tag Team Championship. He also won the 1989 King of the Ring tournament, and wrestled at all of the first nine WrestleMania events, as well as helping bridge the gap between the 1980s "Rock 'n Wrestling Connection" era to the 1990s "New Generation" era. Santana was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004. During his time in WWE, Santana, despite being born and raised in Texas, was billed from "Tocula, Mexico", which may be a misspelled reference to the city of Toluca. Santana still appears on the independent circuit.
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Professor Toru Tanaka
Was an American professional wrestler, professional boxer, college football player, soldier, actor, and martial artist who, in fighting rings, was also known as Professor Toru Tanaka, or simply Professor Tanaka. He also taught martial arts in Dallas,Texas. His skills were taught to young men with potential for football greatness. He was located directly across from Southern Methodist University. His students included many All American football players including David Randle. Randle’s training began on his 5th birthday. Randle went on to become one of the most awarded high school football players in Texas history. After high school he played at SMU for one season in 1981. He then transferred to UCLA, where he was part of 2 Rose Bowl victories in 1983 and 1984. Randle always honored Professor Tanaka with the most important influence in the football techniques he used his entire life. (Wikipedia)
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James Fanning
James Harold Fanning is a former professional wrestler and author better known as "The Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant. Fanning started wrestling in 1964 as "Big Jim Vallen". He went to the WWWF in the 1970s as "Handsome Jimmy Valiant" and formed a team with Johnny Valiant that would dominate the tag team scene for a while as WWWF Tag Team champions. In the later 1960s in the WWA, they were managed by Bobby Heenan. Valiant had entered the WWWF in 1971 as a babyface, originally known as "Gentleman Jim Valiant," but quickly switched to heel.[4] He had title matches against champion Pedro Morales in secondary arenas, such as Philadelphia, and feuded with short-term tag partner Chief Jay Strongbow. Jimmy and his kayfabe brother Johnny held the tag belts from 1974 to 1975 and main evented Madison Square Garden against Chief Jay Strongbow and Bruno Sammartino. During the late 1970s – early 1980s, Valiant was a central player in the Memphis, Tennessee wrestling scene. He feuded regularly with Jerry Lawler and teamed with Bill Dundee to dominate the tag team matches of that time. Despite the Memphis promotion desperately wanting to keep him in Memphis full-time, even offering to buy him a house in Memphis according to Jerry Lawler's biography, Valiant decided to move on after holding the AWA Southern Heavyweight title for roughly a year. In the early 1980s, Valiant returned as a babyface to NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions. January 1984, Valiant was attacked by Paul Jones and The Assassins. They tied him to the wrestling ring ropes so that Jones could cut his beard off. This led to a grudge match with hyped supershow called 'Boogie Man Jam '84' in Greensboro, North Carolina. For this match, Dusty Rhodes was in Valiant's corner and tied by a rope to Paul Jones. Valiant defeated Assassin II, who was unmasked and revealed as Hercules Hernandez. Due to the beard cutting attack, he feuded heavily with Paul Jones and his army of wrestlers, from 1984 through to late 1986. This army of wrestlers included The Barbarian, Baron von Raschke, Teijo Khan, and The Assassins. During this three-year feud, Valiant received help from Héctor Guerrero and Manny Fernandez. Although Jimmy Valiant would lose a Loser Leaves Town Tuxedo Street Fight to Paul Jones at Starrcade 1984 in Greensboro, North Carolina the feud with many from the Paul Jones stable continued, which would come to include Abdullah The Butcher. In 1985, Valiant and Ragin' Bull Manny Fernandez formed a team called B and B Connection. During The Great American Bash 1986 summer shows, Paul Jones adopted a military style look in his long feud with Valiant and labeled his stable of wrestlers The Army. Valiant would beat Shaska Whatley in a hair vs hair match, but with outside interference lost a hair vs hair match to Paul Jones only weeks later. In the fall of 1986, The Ragin Bull Manny Fernandez, Valiant's best friend accepted Jones' money and turned on Valiant, starting a feud between the two. Paul Jones at this point shortened his army to his newly acquired tag team of Ragin Bull and Rick Rude. The war between Valiant and Paul Jones climaxed at Starrcade 1986 with Valiant putting up the hair of his valet Big Mama against the hair of Paul Jones in a No DQ Match which Valiant won.
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Jesse Ventura
Jesse "The Body" Ventura (born James George Janos) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in WWE, he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003. He was elected governor with the Reform Party and is the party's only candidate to win a major government office. Ventura was a member of the United States Navy Underwater Demolition Team during the Vietnam War. After leaving the military, he embarked on a professional wrestling career as a heel from 1975 to 1986, taking the ring name "Jesse 'the Body' Ventura." He had a lengthy tenure in WWE as a performer and color commentator and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004. In addition to wrestling, Ventura pursued an acting career, appearing in films such as Predator and The Running Man. Ventura entered politics in 1991 when he was elected mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, a position he held until 1995. He was the Reform Party candidate in the 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election, running a low-budget campaign centered on grassroots events and unusual advertising that urged citizens not to "vote for politics as usual". In a major upset, Ventura defeated both the Democratic and Republican nominees. Amid internal fights for control over the party, Ventura left the Reform Party a year after taking office and served the remainder of his term as a member of the Independence Party of Minnesota. Since holding public office, Ventura has referred to himself as a "statesman" instead of a politician. As governor, Ventura oversaw reforms of Minnesota's property tax as well as the state's first sales tax rebate. Other initiatives he took included construction of the METRO Blue Line light rail in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area and income tax cuts. Ventura did not run for reelection. After leaving office in 2003, he became a visiting fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has since hosted a number of political television shows on RT America and Ora TV, and written several books. Ventura has been a prominent figure in third-party politics, having repeatedly floated the idea of running for President of the United States as an independent candidate. In late April 2020, Ventura endorsed the Green Party in the 2020 presidential election and showed interest in running for its nomination. He officially joined the Green Party of Minnesota on May 2. On May 7, he confirmed he would not run. The Alaskan division of the Green Party nominated Ventura without his involvement, causing the national party to disown it for abandoning its nominee, Howie Hawkins. Early life
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Larry Whistler
Lawrence "Larry" Whistler is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino during the early 1980s. Zbyszko's ring name has in the past been misspelled Zbysko or Zybysko. The correct spelling of the name, Zbyszko, is derived from the name of Polish wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko.
Known For
Barry Windham
Barry Clinton Windham is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and the son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan. He is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In NWA/WCW, he was a one-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, a one-time United States Heavyweight Champion, a one-time Television Champion, a one-time Western States Heritage Champion, a four-time NWA (Mid Atlantic)/WCW World Tag Team Champion and a one-time NWA United States Tag Team Champion with Ron Garvin. In WWF, he was a two-time World Tag Team Champion with his brother-in-law, Mike Rotunda. On March 31, 2012, Windham was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the Four Horsemen. In his last World Championship Wrestling run, Barry Windham was originally brought back to WCW by Eric Bischoff who had him turn on Ric Flair. Barry was then loosely associated with Bischoff's nWo Hollywood for a while before forming a tag team with Curt Hennig. At SuperBrawl IX, Hennig and Windham defeated Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko in the finals of a tag team tournament to win the vacant WCW World Tag Team Championship. Barry reinjured his knee during this period but would return as part of "The West Texas Rednecks" in mid-1999. They were supposed to be a heel group to feud with rapper Master P's "No Limit Soldiers" but the southern fans of WCW cheered the Rednecks, going against what WCW management and booking had hoped for, and the angle was eventually dropped. The group consisted of his brother Kendall Windham, Curt Hennig, and Bobby Duncum Jr.; Duncum was replaced by Curly Bill after he was injured and shortly before the group was disbanded and the Rednecks storyline was dropped. On August 23, 1999 edition of Nitro, the Windham brothers defeated Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) to win their final WCW World Tag Team Championship, before losing the titles back to Harlem Heat at Fall Brawl 1999. Both Barry and Kendall were shortly after released by WCW. By the end of 1999, they all had left WCW and Barry worked for Ted DiBiase's promotion WXO and World Wrestling Council (WWC), where he won the latter's World Tag Team Championship in Puerto Rico with brother Kendall. Windham worked as a producer for WWE. In 2007, he appeared on the Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen DVD. Barry was also seen during the 2007 WWE Hall of Fame broadcast, sitting next to former partner John "Bradshaw" Layfield. In June 2007, Windham did the introduction of SuperBrawl Windham has a son named Callan and a daughter named Abigail with his ex-wife, Kebra. He is also the maternal uncle of present-day WWE wrestlers Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas. On October 26, 2011, it was reported that he was hospitalized for either a very serious stroke or a massive heart attack and was in an ICU unit. He was found at his ranch by his brother-in-law Mike Rotunda.His family confirmed that Windham suffered a heart attack. His father Blackjack Mulligan posted a message to Facebook saying "I have a son near death". He was later moved to a facility in Orlando, Florida for a MRI on his neck due to the fall he took from the heart attack.
Known For
John L. Sullivan
John L. Sullivan (born Thomas Sullivan) was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name, Johnny Valiant. He competed in The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which became the World Wrestling Federation during his time with the promotion. He won the WWE World Tag Team Championship two times. The first run (which lasted over a year) was with his first and most famous storyline brother Jimmy Valiant over Tony Garea and Dean Ho on May 8, 1974; his second title run was with his second storyline brother Jerry Valiant over Tony Garea and Larry Zbyszko on March 6, 1979.
