Simon Dean made a few appearances for McMahon in the early 1990s. This was an era where there were three major United States promotions in the NWA. Many fans may not know that Rikishi has a twin brother, The Tonga Kid (AKA Sam Fatu). The 37-year-old spent nearly a year in Vince McMahon's company, during which she only competed in four matches on the main roster. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sportlister_com-leader-2','ezslot_5',112,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sportlister_com-leader-2-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sportlister_com-leader-2','ezslot_6',112,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sportlister_com-leader-2-0_1');.leader-2-multi-112{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:7px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:7px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:250px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}. Syndicated series featuring wrestling matches as promoted by the American Wrestling Association (AWA). Only Keith would be given PPV time, competing in the Lethal Lottery alongside Ron Simmons at Battlebowl 1993. The 56-year-old also entered the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015. Being a Luchador, Mascaras has never stepped into the squared circle without a mask.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,50],'sportlister_com-sky-3','ezslot_23',116,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sportlister_com-sky-3-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,50],'sportlister_com-sky-3','ezslot_24',116,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sportlister_com-sky-3-0_1');.sky-3-multi-116{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:7px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:7px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:50px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}. Owner/booker Verne Gagne may have been the face of the AWA, but Nick Bockwinkel wasnt far behind, holding the promotions heavyweight strap four times over his career. Obviously, the gimmick was an unsuccessful one. Most matches started the same, being preceded by a plethora of trash talking. Even an alternative canon of pro-wrestling would have to include Andre The Giant. Although in the year 2020 fans are more likely familiar with Machu Picchu, the GLOW character she inspired, Mountain Fiji was widely considered the heart and soul of the imminently campy Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling TV series that went on to garner a cult following. Giant Baba and Andre the Giant would walk out of the ring victorious after delivering a pulsating match. Many wrestling fans will remember him for his feud with WWEs golden boy, Tito Sammartino. The curious thing was that none of the so-called wrestlers were true athletes. Please consider making a donation to our site. A major star of 'Midget Wrestling' Littlebrook was born in England in 1929. Perfect exemplified the widely reviled heel archetype throughout the decade. He worked everywhere from the AWA and WWWE to Japan and the territories. Members of the renowned Anoia family, the Wild Samoans were not only barbaric and ruthless but also a force to reckon with back in the 70s and 80s. In the early-1990s, The Cole Twins became a tag team to keep an eye on in WCW, competing regularly on shows such as WCW Worldwide and WCW Saturday Night. 10 Things You Should Know About Kevin Nash's Life Outside WWE, 10 Great Women's Wrestlers Who Never Got Their Big Break, 5 Wrestling Valets & Managers That Were Helpful (& 5 That Were Just Eye Candy). Little Bruiser in Chicago, September 1, 1972. Although perhaps better known these days for his bombastic and foul-mouthed twitter rampages, Iron Sheik was a key heel throughout the 80s. Remembered for his hardcore style of wrestling, Terry Funk became an inspiration to many up and coming wrestlers at the time like Mick Foley. Their in-ring attires truly made them memorable, even if you only saw them a few times. Backlund was a collegiate All-American and a former NCAA Champion. He continued wrestling until the late 1980s, when he was enshrined into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. They dropped out of high school and moved to Texas, where they had jobs livestock branding. The Hardcore Legend Terry Funk had memorable matches in the 1980s and 90s, but the 70s might have been his golden age. Professional wrestling in the 1970s was huge! This win at Madison Square would mark the beginning of a 170 days reign before dropping the titles to another promising duo, the Wild Samoans. Honored as the best tag team of 2014 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated, the brothers had a lengthy feud with Luke Harper & Erick Rowan and its safe to say both teams delivered in some incredible matches. A wrestling promoter saw them in El Paso, Texas and convinced them to begin a wrestling training program in Ciudad Jurez, Mexico, lifting weights and running often. Rhodes made some appearances in the WWWF in the 70s, but it was the NWA where he had his biggest success. Little Bruiser in action against Bobo Johnson in Chicago, September 1972. After leaving WWE, Adams joined IMPACT Wrestling, where she became one of the top female wrestlers, winning three Knockouts Championships and one Knockouts Tag Team Championship. Standing at 610 and weighing more than 360 pounds, Big John Studd is one of the greatest 70s wrestlers. While Inoki never accepted nor denied these claims, however, this is just but one of the many incidences that took place back in 70s that fans were never aware of. These guys could keep their fans crowds on the edge of their seats for 30, 45 or 60 minutes with no effort at all. His later years were spent training the up-and-coming legendary children of NXT and his own biological children, Cody and Goldust, remain in the top tier of wrestlings biggest stars to this day. Widely respected for his integrity and personal principles, Sammartino was one of the most popular wrestlers in the 60's and 70's. Born and raised in a small Italian town, Bruno Sammartino's childhood was quite tough. His matches with the original Tiger Mask were light years ahead of what some wrestling companies were doing. Born and raised in a small Italian town, Bruno Sammartinos childhood was quite tough. Bruno Sammartino is one of the most famous and popular faces ever to wrestle for the McMahon machine. Mascaras is one of the best-known Luchadores in Mexico and spent the bulk of his time wowing crowds in the U.S. and Japan during the 1970s. After his stint as a wrestler, Mr Fuji would embark on a new journey as a manager with Yokozuna, Demolitions and Powers of Pain being his clients. Welcome to professional wrestling in the 1970s, where anything goes and grapplers werent participating in sports entertainment. Twin brothers Jimmy and Jey Uso are the sons of former wrestler Rikishi and members of the Anoa'i wrestling family. The World's Most Entertaining Car Website. The company then released her from her contract in November 2007. While the 1970s may seem like a bit of a forgotten time for wrestling, some of the best wrestlers ever performed in this decade. Please logout and login again. Bret Hart Self | WWF Survivor Series You can also support us by signing up to our Mailing List. Their parents bought a farm to increase their physical activity and they ate only 1,000 calories per day but could not stop gaining weight. Years later, the brothers appeared on WWE programming, this time accompanied by fitness freak Simon Dean as Gymini, an offshoot from the mythical Gemini twins. DONATE, Before the money moved in, Kings Cross was a place for born-and-bred locals, clubs and crime, See what really went on during that time in NYC's topless go-go bars, Chris Stein 's photographs of Debbie Harry and friends take us back to a great era of music. Born Wayne Coleman, the bodybuilder with the 22-inch biceps spoke as well as the Christian preacher whose name he used as his own. Used primarily for their looks, these two glamour models -- Brie and Nikki -- often competed as a tag team and even had an onscreen breakup not long ago. museum. A gimmick that kind of worked out but was really cheesy. Billy the Kid with Cowboy Bob Bradley (aka Robert Bradley). Having made appearances in Japan, Mexico and North America, The Headhunters (consisting of twins Manuel and Victor Santiago) are best known for their stints in WWE and ECW. Both flashy and furious, Mil Mscaras is considered one of Mexican wrestlings first international stars. [5], From 1974 to 1978, they participated in several matches in Japan, organized by New Japan Pro-Wrestling, defeating other notable wrestling tag teams including Kantaro Hoshino and Seiji Sakaguchi as well as Osamu Kido and Riki Choshu. Jamaica Kid and Little Beaver backstage at a wrestling arena April 25, 1969. He was also, at the time, one of the best pure wrestlers in the company. Prior to The Model, Rick Martel was one half of Strike Force along with Tito Santana. WWWF Wrestling TV 70's # 3 4WrestlingFans 83.6K subscribers Subscribe 645 Share 89K views 4 years ago WWWF Wrestling TV 70's # 3 Show more Show more Classic AWA Wrestling 1985 #1. Haven't seen this in it's full version so here it is. Fans who started watching professional wrestling in the 1980s never got to see how great the Valiant Brothers really were. Bob Backlund was as different from Bruno as anyone. Unknown wrestler getting flipped by Little Bruiser. However, he was an enormous star in the 70s as well, working almost exclusively in the NWA and its territories. ( 1960) -. 6 6. He was a clever and wily opponent who brought considerable showmanship to the arena. During their reign as tag team champions, the Wild Samoans would go head to head with various teams including Rick Martel & Tony Garea, Tony Atlas & Rocky Johnson, and The Strongbows. [3], Benny died at age 54 on March 26, 2001 of heart failure. Eventually, the character morphed into a deranged barber who cut the hair of his opponents following his decisive victories. His career finally came to an end in the '80s when he worked with his son. I tried my hardest every day to live up to his standard in the ring, he said. Do check the Promotions tab if you cannot find it in the Primary Inbox. Inspired by the legendary Muhamad Ali, Billy Graham would step in front of a microphone and deliver a promo that is full of rhyming words. One of the few men to have been inducted into five separate wrestling Hall of Fames, Harley Race is studied to this day as a technical master so much so that he was often announced as the "The Greatest Wrestler on God's Green Earth." Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan are big stars both in the WWE world and reality TV world. Weve compiled a list of 15 wrestlers whom we believe stood out during the 70s and helped propel the company to greater heights. RCW Tag Team Title: The Wrecking Crew ( Dean Richtor & Shaun Martens) defeat The Voros Twins ( Chris Voros & Patrick Voros) (c) - TITLE CHANGE !!! Competing since the mid-1980s, The Batten Twins have tussled against some of the best in the world, but they never quite got the recognition they wanted. Introducing acrobatic aerial attacks to Japanese audiences, Mscaras is considered an innovator of high-risk antics like the ever-popular tope suicida. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sportlister_com-small-rectangle-1','ezslot_28',122,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sportlister_com-small-rectangle-1-0'); Apart from losing his brother and sister, Bruno also watched helplessly as Hitlers troops wreaked havoc in his small home town. Billy and Benny werent exactly the most talented superstars in wrestling history, yet the business was different in their days, which ultimately led them to matches in NJPW and Canadas very own Stampede Wrestling. WWE's Greatest Superstars of the 21st Century 2 Roddy Piper 3,754 votes #5 of 48 Professional Wrestlers with the Best Stage Names #4 of 32 The Best Brawlers In Wrestling History #14 of 49 The Best Wrestling Announcers Of All Time 3 Randy Savage 4,962 votes #138 of 183 The All-Time Greatest Action Stars #206 of 248 The Best Marvel Movie Actors Ever There have often been times where female twins are signed by wrestling companies not because of their in-ring skills, but more so their ability to make the sleazy male demographic drool. Your login session has expired. Ed Farhat, uncle and trainer of Sabu and trainer of Rob Van Dam, held a number of regional titles across the Midwest in the 70s. Although they are famous wrestlers, some WWE Superstars have twin siblings that fans may not know of. They laced up the boots to face tandems like Harlem Heat and The Hollywood Blondes, both sporting mullets and looking like long-lost cousins of Ricky Morton and Dan Spivey. During WWEs first ever Main Event broadcast in 1988, fans in attendance at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis witnessed devastation as Hulk Hogan, the WWE Champion at the time, was forced to surrender his title to Andre The Giant after beating him at WrestleMania 3 a year prior. He died aged 75 on June 24, 2010 in Amarillo, Texas. Pat Patterson was the first man to hold the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Thanks to size and height, Andre the Giant popularity in the United States grew tremendously. There have also been twins who haven't worked together on camera. For great art and culture delivered to your door, visit our shop. [4] In July 1972, at age 26, they made their in-ring debuts in Montreal, defeating John Anson and Kurt Von Hess. Theyve also shared rings with two promising Scottish standouts, Carmel Jacob and Nikki Storm, as well as Japans Tsukasa Fujimoto. The company released Dean from his contract in 2007. In 1955, she began working for Vince McMahon Sr. as Fabulous Moolah. Ephemeral, disposable, they served only one purposeto let someone know "I'm here. Rhodes ended up as a multi-time NWA World Champion and is a WWE Hall of Fame superstar. Matches frequently went up to an hour on a regular basis. The Shane Twins will forever be subject to ridicule in the wrestling world and some of that criticism is unfair. When it comes to pro-wrestling, weve seen twins trick their opponents, help one another out, and dish out the punishment on foes that take their adversaries for granted. While Olsen is best known for his time in Chikara, Delaney is a familiar face to WWE fans, competing in the revamped ECW against the likes of Matt Hardy, Tommy Dreamer, and Mark Henry, to name a few. During the 70s, he spent time in the AWA, All-Japan Pro Wrestling, Stampede Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling where catch wrestling was emphasized. Later, he would join AJPW where he feuded with The Destroyer. Gorgeous George gained epic mainstream popularity, followed in the Second Golden Age in the 1980s and 1990s by the likes of Ric Flair, Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Sting, The Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Kurt Angle, and Triple H. By way of the beginning of television in the 1950s and, subsequently cable television in the 1980s, professional wrestling began appearing in powerful, multiple media outlets. Now retired, Lord Littlebrook resides with his son in Saint Joseph, Missouri. The twins are former CMLL World Tag Team Championship, but wrestling fans will most likely remember them for appearing in the 1996 Royal Rumble Match as The Squat Team. The nature of professional wrestling dramatically changed in order to better suit television audiences. Through the interest in money-making among the three groups, wrestling became a business-oriented entertainment venue, distinguishing itself further and further from its authentic amateur wrestling background.. Blood, barrel chests, and mutton chops. Her appearance as a heart-hardened sensei in the 2000 documentary Gaea Girls showed how she viewed wrestling not as an art form or a sport but as a kind of sacred pursuit. He started the decade as a heel, but in 1974 he turned babyface and shot to the top. [3], They spent three years working at the Circus Circus Las Vegas, then performed their minbike routine for a few months in Los Angeles. Cheerfulness kept creeping in." His over-the-top video packages established him as a kind of miraculous meta-human that, despite or because of their inherent campiness, catalyzed his global superstardom. A pioneer of womens wrestling, Fabulous Moolah had an illustrious wrestling career that saw her become one of the biggest female superstars of all time. With that in mind, weve created an alternate pantheon of both iconic wrestling legends and lesser-known heroes who many would consider underappreciated compared to the more ubiquitous and deeply obvious wrestling celebrities of that decade. One of the greatest mic Workers in WWE, Billy Graham knew how to captivate audiences using his mic exploits and in-ring abilities. During his early years as a professional wrestler, Killer Kowalski managed to land a knee on an opponents head. WWE billed Andre as an undefeated wrestler until his loss to Hulk Hogan, but that was not entirely true. Little Bruiser and Billy the Kid, September 23, 1972. 7. Richter attempted to bring legitimacy to womens wrestling and was actually rather successful, but the world (or, actually, maybe just Vince) simply wasnt ready for what she had to offer. After teaming up with his brother, Dorry Funk Sr., The House of Funk (Hoss of funk) was created. After working for AWA for a few years, Tito Santana eventually attracted the attention of Vince McMahon.