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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:00:45 GMT -5
Hey guys,
I came up with this idea to showcase the wrestlers who made their mark in wrestling right here in the Atlantic Provinces (Nova Scotia,New Brunswick & PEI).
Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling was what most of us grew up watching on ATV and seeing live in such great places as Berwick,Nova Scotia.
I myself remember seeing one of my favorite wrestlers right in my home town of Yarmouth back in the early 80's as he was coming out of the locker room to face off against Killer Karl Krupp. That wrestler that I met on that night was none other than [red]The Great Malumba[/red] and he made a great impression on me...I just wish that I would have had something for him to autograph for me but,I did not have a pen or a piece of paper.
But,I do remember that The Great Malumba won the match against Killer Karl Krupp and I never cheered as loud as I did that night.
Back when Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling was going strong was when wrestling was more entertaining and the whole family could enjoy it. It's unfortunate that all that the WWE has to offer now is [red]SEX[/red] and [red]VIOLENCE[/red] but,that's what sells the tickets these days and I still long for the days of my youth when Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling would be on Saturday nights on ATV.
So with that said why not take a stroll down memory lane and view the pictures of those who made Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling GREAT!
The Staff of ACWA
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:03:47 GMT -5
[red]Emile Dupree "The Father of Atlantic Grand Prix"[/red] Emile Dupre talks really fast on the phone. He's obviously a busy man. Only a few minutes to talk. Besides being the promoter of the Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling circuit every summer, Dupre, 62, has a variety of business interests around his hometown of Shediac, New Brunswick. Yet in 10 minutes of conversation with Dupre, a lot of ground is covered -- from when he started to the 1999 summer tour. Dupre's summer wrestling circuit has come to be known as one of the best regular training grounds in North America, and is one of the few promotions still running shows every day of the week. Looking back, Dupre has a charming, Maritime way of describing how things progressed - wrestling-wise - to where they are today. He had gotten involved with the promotion in 1964 or 1965, helping out Cowboy Len Hughes, the promoter at that time. Hughes was getting on in age, and needed some help. It snowballed from there. "Geez, I got involved bigger and bigger and bigger and finally I end up with a television show that lasted 17 years," recalled Dupre. "Then I had some of the best wrestlers the world ever produced." Dupre first got involved in wrestling in 1956. He was into weightlifting and trained with Vic Butler and Reggie Richard, who had dabbled in amateur and pro wrestling in Moncton, NB. They said that he had potential, and he gave it a go. He started in the Boston-area, and within a short period of time, had been pretty well across the continent, plus tours to Australia and New Zealand. "I wasn't a real heavy guy," Dupre explained. "I was a slim, slim wrestler with a Lou Thesz, a Verne Gagne type of body." His home base was still New Brunswick, so it was a natural to get involved with the local promotion. Recent grads from the Grand Prix tour who have gone on to bigger things are Edge, Christian, Cyrus/Jackyl and Kurrgan. Dupre claimed that their success did not surprise him. "Nothing surprises me in this business. I don't get surprised any more," he said. "When I see guys that have potential, I say to myself, 'gee, I think if the right guys see them, they're going right to the top.' And that's exactly what happens in many cases." The WWF has sent him wrestlers, like former CFL star Glenn Kulka, to be on the tour. This year, Paul Orndorff came to Halifax to scout talent for WCW. Each spring, Dupre gets out his wrestling ring and sets up shop in Shediac. "I don't run a wrestling school," said Dupre. "If I talk to you and think you have potential, I'd train you and not charge you. ... Maybe to get a couple of guys with fat bellies hanging out saying 'hey, I want to collect a couple of thousand of dollars from you, show you a couple of dozen holds and send you home', I'm not going to do that." Rene Rougeau, who is on his second tour of duty with Grand Prix, is a recent example of someone trained by Dupre. In return, the trainer/promoter doesn't automatically expect the student to tour with the company. "There's no contract," Dupre said. "If you like it and you want to get on the tour with us, you're welcome. That's how it works with me, anyways." (Rene Rougeau is actually Emile's son. For more on him, see his bio page.) The 1999 tour was dubbed the Legends of Grand Prix 99 and has been very successful, according to Dupre. "The people are thrilled to the bones just to see them one more time," he said. "They figure it's their last kick at the can kind of thing." -- GREG OLIVER, SLAM! Sports May 2005: Emile Dupree will be attempting to resurrect the past by starting his old Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling.. ~~~Dupree is bringing in veteran wrestlers like Buddy Lane, the Cuban Assassin of Calgary fame and evil Eddie Watts.. Sometimes a father has to do what's best for his son. In the case of Emile Dupre, he's giving his oldest son, Jeff Dupre, the chance to wrestle full-time for a few weeks by restarting Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling. "We're going to run a small tour, see how it's going to go. I've got a crew starting up on the 7th of June. We're going to see how it goes," Emile Dupre told SLAM! Wrestling. "If it stands up on its own, we'll keep it going. If not, well, like I did before, I'll put the ring back in the barn where it was." Jeff Dupre is René Dupre's older brother. He's 235 pounds, 6'2", and 24 years old. Thanks to René, he's been invited for a visit to Ohio Valley Wrestling already. "He looks something like René. Maybe not as cut up as him, but he looks the part. What I'm really doing is giving him a little bit of ring exposure. He wrestled before. He's had, maybe 20, 25 matches so far," said papa Emile. It's a real irony that Dupre restarting the promotion makes him the busiest promotion on the continent, running shows seven days a week -- something WWE doesn't even do. The tour is stacked with veterans like Eddie Watts, Cuban Assassin, Todd MacPhee, "Wildman" Gary Williams, Buddy Lane and Kowboy Mike Hughes (though Emile warns that the windowcard was already printed when he called to get booked). Emile hoping some of that ring saavy rubs off on Jeff. "Guys with experience. I'd like him to mingle with guys like that so that he might pick up before he gets there. René had a step up before he got there because he was just a kid, 17, 18 years old, but when they looked at him: 'Where the hell did he come from?'" The chances of René appearing on one of the shows is slim, said Emile. But he has hope. "He'd like to. He was telling me, 'The most fun I ever had was wrestling in the Maritimes with our group,'" Emile said, adding that he's been told that René is a WWE wrestler for the longterm and that he's been purposefully kept off television for a character relaunch. Dupre expects four to five matches a night, and the tour also includes Marco Estrada, Scott Savage, Duke McIsaac, Masked Mystery, and a few other cruiserweights. Dupre has quite established how long the tour will run. The dates he can confirm at this point are: June 7 Souris, PEI June 8 O'Leary, PEI June 9 Sunny Corner, NB June 10 Lamèque, NB June 11 Grand Manan, NB June 12 Petit-Rocher, NB June 13 Cocagne, NB June 14 Petitcodiac, NB June 15 Tagamagouche, NS June 16 Barrington Passage, NS June 17 Bridgewater, NS June 18 Berwick, NS June 19 Borden-Carleton, PEI June 20 Cocagne, NB Possible locations down the road: Florenceville, Nackawic, Springhill, and bigger cities like Halifax, Moncton, Saint John and Sydney.
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:05:32 GMT -5
[red]The Great Malumba[/red]
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:09:28 GMT -5
[red]Killer Karl Krupp[/red] Killer Karl Krupp worked for Midland Trucking Company (in the Maritimes) after he retired from active wrestling.. August 1995: Killer Karl Krupp (George Momberg) died in Moncton, NB from hepatits A that he picked up in Japan.. REAL NAME: George Momberg BORN: May 13, 1934 in Holland DIED: August 24, 1995 in Moncton, N.B. AKA/NICKNAMES: Dutch Momberg Dutch Momberg found his gimmick as Killer Karl Krupp, a stereotypical German. He was always grinning, coming to the ring with a riding crop and wearing an eye piece and a bald head or brush cut. Like most German gimmick wrestlers, he used an iron claw to the face as a finisher. Krupp wrestled a lot out on the East Coast of Canada (where he made his home). In southern Ontario he had a big feud with Angelo Mosca. He was also a success in Japan, most often in tag teams with other heels like Fritz von Erich. In Scott Teal's Whatever Happened To... #41 newsletter, Ed 'Moondog' Moretti explained that Krupp had difficulty separating his wrestling character from real life. "Killer Karl Krupp... what a nice guy. I love him to death, but I think he actually believed he was Killer Karl Krupp. He had a partner in the Maritimes named Hans Hermann, who wrestled in Calgary as Butch Moffitt, the Jackal. We were at home and Krupp was telling him ... this is in a German accent now ... 'You cannot go outside. You cannot be seen at the beach with your family. You are a German wrestler and need to live this gimmick twenty-four hours a day if you want to get over." Memories Crazy guy, but terrific. ... Big heart, he had a big heart. ... The only thing I remember about Karl Krupp, we're in Japan and the bus driver stopped to get something from a restaurant, and we're all in the bus. Karl Krupp got behind the wheel and tried to hide the bus. You know in Japan, the streets were no wider than the bus. He got the bus stuck up a street and you couldn't get the doors open on the bus! That's chaos, boy! Geto Mongol (Newt Tattrie) What I remember best about Killer Karl Krupp is from his days wrestling here in Halifax with Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling, and how he would start every interview with Bill McCullach with that great accent he had, "Miisster Mc Cluck Cluck". Eventhough that was probably 15 years ago, whenever I ask someone if they remember Killer Karl Krupp, the first words out of their mouths are "Miisster Mc Cluck Cluck". Brian Habib, Halifax, NS First time I saw him at the Windsor Exhibition Arena, we snuck backstage to see the wrestlers. We opened his door and he flashed the german claw at us. Made us cry and I loved him ever since. mike cross, bedford, ns He was my all time favorite. In Lubbock, Texas in the early 70's he would seem to always jump the opposing wrestler before the bell. He would finish them off in less than a couple of minutes if it was a rookie wrestler and, I must admit, in a very impressive fashion. I used to love to watch him throw his opposition against the ropes and give them them one of his big black boots to the face as they bounced off. He was an imposing figure. I also remember him jumping his hated rivals in front of the camera while they were giving interviews. It was great. I would pay more than good money today to see it again. It was great entertainment. A lot of the WWII veterans in the early 70's had a real hatred for the man. If anyone knows where to find videos on his matches I would dearly like to know where to get them. Falcontex@aol.com I vivid remember going to Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling shows in Amherst, NS with my grandmother. She was a huge wrestling fan as was the entire family. We knew many of the wrestlers and would often get into the action. I remember one Saturday night that Krupp was fighting Joe LeDuc in a No DQ match. LeDuc looked out at us and pointed in at my Grandmother who told us all to move out of the way. We did and in an instant Joe smashed Krupp's head off of the chair I was sitting on. He started to juice and I will never forget my grand mother's response at the top of her lungs with a wink and a smile to me. She yelled, " Oh my God, the blood is all over me!" This received a huge pop from the ringside fans. Now that my grandmother has passed on the most special memories all of the grandchildren have is of her sitting ringside on Saturday's with all of us in toe to see the stars of Grand Prix like, Krupp, LeDuc, Leo Burke, Bob Brown, etc. F. Norman Robitza Myself and my friend consider ourselves Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling historians. Watching the legendary Killer Karl Krupp be it in Windsor Nova Scotia or Sussex New Brunswick the greatest all-time bitter rivalry had to be between Killer Karl Krupp and The Great Mulumba. In classic Krupp interview fashion he would exclaim, "Mr Mc Cluck Cluck I will get that Mulumba Bumba with my claw my German Claw. That dancin disco duck." As European Champion Krupp never surrendered his title and he was a key component in making AGP the greatest Wrestling Federation of all time. Doug Gator Wilson and James Charters Killer Karl Krupp was the all-time wrestler who mostly impressed me. He had that stereotype sadistic German smile, and he was scary, talk about an impact character. I remember around 1979, with my mother's permission staying up late Saturday night to watch AGPW with a match against Stephen Petitpas. Stephen Petitpas was bloodied up but won by disqualification. The Killer Karl Krupp character was a classic if he would of wrestled today, he would be more popular than Stone Cold or The Rock, I guess I sadly miss him almorais@hotmail.com I remember going to see AGP wrestling in Truro with my dad and as a little kid I was terrified of Killer Karl Krupp. One particular night he was wrestling Big John Quinn in a no DQ match that spilled out into the stands. They battled their way right up to where we were sitting and pounded the blood out of each other. My dad still recalls that it was the most realisitic wrestling fight he ever saw and a far cry from the "drag your opponent around the arena matches" of today's stars like Steve Austin. darlene.s@ns.sympatico.ca I remember some of Hercules classic battles with Killer Karl Krupp in the Halifax Forum. Krupp would drop the claw on Herc and then Herc would reverse it and put Krupp into a bearhug at which point someone would enter the ring and all hell would break lose. Boy do I ever miss those battles. Hercules was in my opinion a very good wrestler. At 260 pounds he was very quick and agile and could tangle with the best villains Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling had to offer. I had talked to Emile Dupre this past summer with the hopes that Hercules might make a legends return but he told me he couldn't pull it off. Maybe next year. Terry Wright Krupp (George) was a real sweetheart of a guy. He could do anything in the ring and was always right there for the hot come-back or whatever. I don't believe I ever saw him step on a spot, or blow a finish. But I do believe the one act he did to bring his career to an early end was done in Tulsa, Ok. Krupp and Tommy Gilbert where having a feud in LeRoy McGuirk's territory. This was after the McGuirk / Watts split and the territory had been burned to some degree. The feud was just beginning to heat up when Krupp and Gilbert wrestled a semi-main at the Tulsa Fair Grounds. Tommy was doing the U.S.A. flag gimmick and of course, Krupp was doing the German thing. Tommy hit the ring carrying a flag and Krupp attacked him, knocking the flag from Tommy's hands (a shoot). While Tommy is selling the attack of the Iron Boots of Krupp, Krupp is stomping on the American Flag in front of some 2,500 wrestling fans. The fans got deathly quiet and still. You could hear a pin drop! I know, I was the ref on this match. The dressing rooms emptied and in the aftermath that followed, the match was thrown out and nobody ever heard about Krupp again, at least around the NWA. G. Black
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:11:40 GMT -5
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:13:18 GMT -5
[red]Stephen Petitpas[/red]
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:15:26 GMT -5
[red]"No Class" Bobby Bass[/red] REAL NAME: Dennis Baldock BORN: February 23, 1947 in Dartmouth, N.S. 6'0", 250 pounds AKA: No Class Bobby Bass, Texas Outlaw Bobby Bass, Bobby Kincaid Dennis Baldock can laugh now about his start in professional wrestling. It wasn't ever a dream, his family wasn't made up of wrestlers. Instead, it was a newspaper ad that changed his life. "My father, he's reading the paper ... He said, 'son, there's an advertisement in here for Whipper Billy Watson's School of Wrestling. He lowered the paper and said, 'I think you're big and ugly enough to do that!'" That story tells one a lot about Baldock, who was best known during his career as 'No Class' Bobby Bass. For one, he's got an excellent sense of humour, but he's also comfortable with his place in wrestling lore. Never a big name international superstar even though he competed across North America, plus in Japan, Germany, England and Australia, Baldock made an excellent living travelling from territory to territory, wreaking havoc as a heel wherever he went. Whipper Billy Watson's School of Wrestling was actually run by The Whip's son Phil Watson, aka Whipper Watson Jr. Phil was "an excellent, excellent teacher" said Baldock, who trained with him for about a year. "He said I was ready after six months, but I always wanted to be a bump-taker, a jobber. That's what I wanted to be. But things turned out different," explained Baldock. He debuted in Kentucky in 1969, making $25 a night. It was different than today's wrestling. "You had to love the sport [back then]. Me? I never took a drug in my life. I used to get high just waiting for that bell to go into the ring. How can I put it to you? Man, I loved doing it. I just loved getting in there and being a heel, just having a great time. And there was never no filthy language, no naked chicks running around, no doing the 'suck it' thing and all. We did it with hard, honest work." Yet 'honest' is hardly an adjective that would describe the character of Bobby Bass. Take the nickname 'No Class', given to him by Stampede Wrestling's Ed Whelan after he and Len Denton threw a midget into the air. "Little Louie, I think it was. ... we threw him too high and he hit the light and broke it. [laughing] 'No Class' Bobby Bass has stuck ever since." Besides that pseudonym, Baldock was also Bobby Kincaid and 'Texas Outlaw' Bobby Bass -- pretty funny considering his early years in Nova Scotia, and youth spent in Toronto. Canadian territories have provided the biggest of his career highlights. Wrestling for Frank and Jack Tunney at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto was always a thrill. He was a multi-time tag team champion in Stampede, with partners as diverse as Cuban Assassin, Ripper Collins and Duke Myers. But it was the Martimes that won his heart. "My favourite place of all time is the Maritimes, and that's the honest-to-God truth," he said. "The people are so great. They're really super wrestling fans down there, and they really appreciate good wrestling. They want the action, they don't want you to grab a hold or headlock for 20 minutes. They won't stand for that. They just want the good, up-and-down action." His first Grand Prix Wrestling tour for Emile Dupre was in 1980 and went back each summer until 1990. "I find that very fortunate, because if you know how Emile works, he brings you in once, then he brings another person in a year later. Emile told me he liked what I did. He didn't like my face, he didn't like my voice, but I was at the right place at the right time, and I work hard in the ring." Out east, he got to face the big name Maritime faces like The Beast and Leo Burke. "Leo was good, but I'll tell you who I thought was a lot better than Leo, in my opinion. I thought it was Bobby Kay. I thought Bobby was great," he said of the brother of both The Beast and Burke. "That guy could get in there, boy, and make you work for your money. Leo was no slouch, don't get me wrong." Baldock started winding down in 1990 while on tour in Grand Prix. "I always said that if my body told me it was time to stop, I would stop." One night, he was wrestling in Nova Scotia when "all of a sudden it wasn't there anymore. That's weird, eh? But it wasn't there. I didn't enjoy it no more." So Baldock retired from wrestling, eventually settling in Cobourg, Ontario, where he runs a bulk food store called The Bigger Scoop at 500 Division Street. During the summer, he works in Toronto's movie industry, going to location shoots, and driving movie stars around. This past summer, Timothy Dalton, Charlie Sheen and Holly Hunter were among his big name passengers. The summer of 1999 also marked his return to wrestling, spending two weeks on the Legends of Grand Prix tour. "I really didn't want to do it," he said, but his wife Helen convinced him. Another plus was that he'd get to see the Cuban Assassin, "a guy I idolized in this business." Baldock hasn't ruled out bringing 'No Class' Bobby Bass back out east this summer either. But perhaps it might just be to help out with TV commentary, should Grand Prix's ATV deal go through. -- By GREG OLIVER, SLAM! Wrestling Memories This actually comes second hand, as I was not at this particular card, but a friend of mine was at one of the Grand Prix shows in '99 and Bobby Bass was wrestling one of the younger guys, maybe Joey Legend or Wildman Austin. This was in Digby NS, I think, and the crowd was rather small, so when someone blurted out "Beat him like you're his daddy, Bob!" everyone there heard. As a testiment to Bobby's sense of humour, he yelled back "Hey, I probably am!" Mark Sampson My earliest memories of Bobby were in the early 1970's when Al Zinck's International Wrestling circuit ruled the Maritimes. There was Bobby Bass, a hippie/flower-child type from Greenwich Village, New York, who I believe never won a match. But when Zinck's days ended and Emile Dupre's Grand Prix promotion took over, Bobby returned, and in my mind one of the best drawing cards in the history of this area's wrestling. The prototypical heel in every sense of the word, the Bass Man didn't even have to open his mouth to rile a crowd. Not only had he become a very skilled and polished wrestler, but Bass possessed mic skills and verbage in his interviews that were second to none in Canadian wrestling. He piled up more than his share of victories and titles, and that made the fans hate him even more. But the Bobby Bass I got to know outside of the ring was the one I enjoyed seeing the most. Going to the old Halifax Forum on Thursday evenings in the summer was a ritual for me, and I'll never forget when I approached Bobby Bass, who was watching a match before his, to tell him how much I enjoyed his work. I introduced myself, and Bobby graciously shook my hand and thanked me for the compliment. That started a friendship that lasted until Bobby retired from Grand Prix in 1990. A lot of fans would come up to his face and say some of the meanest, nastiest things that nobody should have to take, but Bobby took it all in stride. I asked him if he ever got tired of that, and he just patted me on the shoulder and said, "John, these people pay good money to come in here, so they can say whatever they want to". That's the mark of a complete professional. How many of today's "superstars" would say that? Not many, I'd bet. It was great to see Bobby on last year's Grand Prix tour, and I sure hope the rumour of him returning this year is true. If you are reading this, Bobby, I just want to say that I never believed you were "No Class". In my book, whenever I think of Bobby Bass, I just think "All Class". Hope to see you this summer, old buddy! John Greeley, Halifax, Nova Scotia I remember Bobby Bass ar far back as 1980 when I was just a young kid. "All the way from Pampa, Texas, No Class Bobby Bass". Bass was a true showman. Although he never wore the gold other than the tag belt with the Cuban Assasin he played a big part in Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling. I always cheered for the villains and Bass was one of my favourites. He was always very loud and vocal screeming at the fans pissing people off and loving every minute of it. I remember one night in the Halifax Forum when he was managing the Super Destroyer. The main event was the Super Destroyer against guess who (Leo Burke) for the International strap. Up until this point Emile had playing with the fans as to whether or not Destroyers mask would come off. Leo Burke put the Destroyer in the sleeper and proceded to take the mask off when No Class jumped in the ring and put a coat over Destroyer's face. The rumour was that the masked man was the legendary Chief Jay Strongbow. That was propably the only night I hated Bob Bass. A true AGP veteran. Terry Wright I remember watching the wrestling matches with Bobby in the ring at the ATV studio off Collishaw Street in Moncton. I was a teen then. We all used to gather outside and the big doors would be open for spectators. Annette Kinder
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:18:53 GMT -5
[red]Yvon "The Beast" Cormier[/red] The Beast was known early in his career as Pierre LeBelle. Possibly the transformation from Pierre LeBelle into his most famous ring name...The Beast. Yvon is the brother of Leo Burke,Bobby Kay and Rudy Kay.
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:20:40 GMT -5
[red]Bobby Kay[/red] Bobby Kay used the ring name Terry Kay during his career in Toronto,Ontario.
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:22:36 GMT -5
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:24:18 GMT -5
[red]Rotten Ronnie Starr[/red]
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:27:10 GMT -5
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:30:05 GMT -5
[red]The Cuban Assassin[/red] The Cuban Assassins Tag Team. REAL NAME: Angel Acevedo BORN: January 27, 1945 in San Juan, Puerto Rico 5'7", 250 pounds The original Cuban Assassin, Angel Acevedo, tried to retire from wrestling in 1992, but kept getting drawn back in. He kept his training up, and would get invited to shows near his home outside Calgary, reluctantly accepting the invitations. Then one day, he entered the ring and got a big surprise. "Before the people used to boo me, call me names -- oh, every thing in the almanac! When I go now, people stand up," explained 'Cubie' to SLAM! Wrestling. "In New Brunswick, they've got signs, 'Cuban Assassin #1', 'Cuban Assassin is my dad', 'Cuban Assassin the real 3:16'." Acevedo, now 55, attributes part of his popularity to longevity, but also treating people right. "When I'm in the ring, I'm really violent. But when I'm on the street, I'm a real gentleman." He's more than willing to give out autographs, even in restaurants where he really stands out with his wild mane of black hair, and his impressive beard. Born in January 1945 in Puerto Rico to a Cuban father, and Puerto Rican mother, Acevedo and his family moved to Cuba when he was only seven months old. He was an amateur wrestler in school, and knew something of the pro game. But it was boxing that got ahold of him first, and he turned pro. It didn't last. "When I was in boxing, I was 135 pounds. Then I put my weight up when they convinced me I could go in wrestling. I started wrestling when I was 180 pounds. I went to 250, but my weight now is 230," explained Acevedo. He spent three years training for wrestling in Florida, and debuted with Eddie Graham's promotion in the Sunshine State. Why wrestling? "The money was there. When you're in boxing, you're nobody. You fight maybe once a year. You make $7,500 for one fight ... when you're wrestling, and the people like you, the promoters, they have to pay you." Professional wrestling took him around the world, and he's quick to rattle off locations: Japan 17 times, South Korea, Hong Kong, Germany eight times, France, Italy, South America, Tennessee, Calgary. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, he calls The Maritimes his favourite place in the world to wrestle. "The money is steady, it's summer, and I like the place. That was the first place, I came from Cuba to the United States. And the United States to Canada. And the first border that I crossed, I was driving from Boston to St. Stephen, New Brunswick. It was summer, and I never spent a winter there. I love the summer there." He recalled wild battles out east with The Beast and Leo Burke, whom he calls his toughest opponent, hold for hold. And his infamous tag team with Sweet Daddy Siki, which continued later in Kansas City. Atlantic Grand Prix promoter Emile Dupre admitted that he was a little taken aback by the Cuban Assassin's appeal in the Maritimes. "Personally, he didn't impress me right away... somebody had to point it out to me," he explained. "The people just grabbed him and that was it. He was a very favourite guy around here ... for not being a real big guy, he sure got over." His gimmick was unlike anything ever seen in the area, particularly as he debuted during Grand Prix's heyday, when giants like Andre the Giant and Don Leo Jonathan were packing them in. "It was something different for around this part, a Cuban," said Dupre. "His gimmick with the long hair, the fatigues, Castro look. It was something different." The other memorable part of the Cuban Assassin gimmick was that there was often more than one of them. Cuban Assassin #1 would team with Cuban Assassin #2, like there was some factory out in Havana churning out short, stocky, evil heel wrestlers. One of the other Cuban Assassins was David Sierra, who actually made it to the NWA/WCW for a while in the late '80s. Acevedo recalled that Sierra -- who was born in Miami to an American mother and Cuban father -- asked if he could use the same gimmick. The elder Cuban relented, but stipulated that it couldn't be used in Japan. "I don't care who's using my gimmick. You can duplicate it if you want, never will it be the same anyway," he said. This past summer he teamed with a new Cuban Assassin #2 on the Grand Prix circuit -- his 28-year-old son Richie, from a previous marriage. It came as a bit of a surprise to Acevedo that his son wanted to follow him into wrestling. He knew that Richie was into karate, but didn't learn that he had started wrestling until getting some photos of the action in the mail. Acevedo does some construction and handyman work when not wrestling these days, and lives outside Calgary now, with his second wife and their two children. He has two other offspring in West Virginia, including Richie. He's been living in Canada since 1976, and met his current love in 1978. But how did the wives feel about the wild hair and beard? "They like me like that," he laughed. "If I shaved, maybe they'd change their minds!" Calgary was a great location for Acevedo to get overseas to wrestle. And, of course, it was home to Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion, for which he wrestled for when he wasn't travelling the globe. Being one of the senior wrestlers on the Stampede circuit meant that Acevedo had to help bring along the youngsters. "Bret Hart's first match was against me in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1977, I think," said the Cuban Assassin. "Chris Benoit, he was like a kid when he started in the business." To this day, he still helps out young wrestlers at the shows. Helping a youngster along is fine line between giving them confidence and dashing their dreams. "I tried not to get too rough with them, tried not to let them get too nervous," said Acevedo. "Then after the match finished, if I've got time to go around to the dressing room, I go. And I tell 'you're doing great, kid. Don't get excited, don't get nervous. Think what you're doing there.'" Cubie is a multi-time tag team champ in the Stampede promotion, including stints with Franciso Flores and Honky Tonk Man Wayne Ferris. But to him, the best partner was Gerry Morrow. "I'm from Cuba. He's from Martinique, 60-70 miles away. He speaks French, but he speaks Spanish and he speaks Japanese, and he speaks broken English like me." The duo, at one point dubbed the Cuban Commandos, worked well together. "If I was in trouble in the ring, I give him a signal. If he was in trouble, he give me a signal. But don't say that to the people -- they're going to find out!" he said while laughing. Of all the places that the Cuban Assassin travelled, and all the wrestling moments, he said that going to Germany was the most wonderful of them all. "Everybody's telling me how bad Germany was, how bad the people were. I went there, and I've got hundreds and hundreds of fans. I can't believe it. I learned the language, a little bit to get by. Now I've got nothing but German friends. They have to be one of the best peoples in the world." -- By GREG OLIVER, SLAM! Wrestling Memories Watching Stampede Wrestling when I was growing up, my favorite moment was when Ed Whelan introduced the Cuban Assassin and his hair by Mixmaster. Ed always did have a way with words. Hans Rasmussen, hans@sbsfor.com In The summer at Grand Prix Wrestling The Cuban Assassin was always there. I went everyweek at the North Sydney forum and always loved to see the Cuban Assassin come out! I remember him always fighting The Beast! And he used to have that little white weapon that he would hide in his boot! And I can say that I can't wait to see The Cuban come to North Sydney again for another Grand Prix tour! Danny Long from North Sydney, NS I have a great story to tell you. Back in 1988, when it was in its prime, Stampede Wrestling came to my hometown Nanaimo, BC. At the time Bad News Allen was the champ, and the evil duo of Honky Tonk Wayne and the Cuban Assassin were the tag champs. That night Chris Benoit and his partner Ben Bassarab had a shot at the tag titles. It never surprised me when Honky Tonk got to "The Show" because that night he proved to me he was the ultimate heel. At the show, me and 3 of my best friends had ringside seats. The whole match between the 4 was rather uneventful, except for the fact that Honky Tonk kept yelling expletives at us and we got on our chairs and fingered him and screamed right back at him. The match ended when the Cuban Assassin pulled out a taped-up metal object and suckered Benoit in the throat with it. The Assassin rolled Benoit up with the pin. The exciting part was still to come. After the match, Honky Tonk continued swearing at us as he was leaving the ring. Once he stopped and was leaving the arena with the Assassin, my friend and I snuck up behind them and kicked them in the ass. Playing along, Honky Tonk and the Assassin proceeded to chase us around the arena waving their tag titles at us!!! I had never been so scared in my life! After a brief chase I ended up diving head first into the penalty box (the boards for hockey were still up). When I mustered up enough courage, I peaked out and the evil duo had left the arena. To this day, my proudest moment is the time I kicked "The Greatest Intercontinental Champion Ever" right in the ass!! Chris Richards
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:32:17 GMT -5
[red]The Cuban Assassin #2[/red] Richie Acevedo is the real life son of the original Cuban Assassin (Angel Acevedo) and Yvonne Faye Tompkins.. 1989: Richie Acevedo headed to Canada where he was trained by his father, the Cuban Assassin, to be a professional wrestler.. 1990: Richie Acevedo appeared on Eastern Canadian circuit as The Cuban Assassin #2 in Emile Dupre's Grand Prix Wrestling..
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Post by ACWA Incorporated on Feb 15, 2006 11:34:16 GMT -5
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