• On This Day In Pro Wrestling History (February 19, 2002) – Old School WWF Veteran Passed Away
On this day in 2002, we lost Old School WWF Veteran “Big” Swede Hanson at the age of 68 due to a Sepsis.
Hanson wrestled for the World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation during the 70s & 80s.
During his last 2 years in the WWF (1984 & 1985) he was mainly used as a “Jobber To The Stars” to put over big names like Don Muraco, Bob Orton Jr., Randy Savage, Adrian Adonis, King Kong Bundy, Bret Hart and Jesse Ventura, but also gained a few wins in between over wrestlers like Steve Lombardi, Charlie Fulton and Rene Goulet.
REST IN PEACE SWEDE HANSON!
March 27, 1933 – February 19, 2002
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• Old School Wrestling Veteran Celebrates His Birthday
Old School Wrestling Veteran Uganda aka Giant Kimala II (Real name: Benjamin Peacock) celebrates his birthday today.
After his debut in 1986, Peacock wrestled for various promotions such as All Japan Pro Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Council and World Championship Wrestling, always portraying an almost exact copy of the famous “Kamala” gimmick.
During his career he used several different ring names such as Uganda, Giant Kimala, Mambo Warrior, Botswana Beast, Kimala #2 and Atkie Malumba.
Hardly anyone remembers nowadays, that he was even a ‘Paul Heyman guy’ for one night in Ted Turner’s WCW (1992), where Paul brought him in to wrestle Bill Watts’ son Erik Watts.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIANT KIMALA!
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• On This Day In Pro Wrestling History (February 19, 1968) – Old School Wrestling Legend Passed Away
On this day in 1968, we lost Old School Wrestling Legend “The Russian Lion” George Hackenschmidt at the age of 90 due to a Sepsis.
Born in Estonia, George Hackenschmidt became one of the first big names in professional wrestling history and quite a few historians actually consider him to have been one of the best of all time.
Hackenschmidt became the first ever recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in 1905, a championship that was the official precursor of what later became the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
The famous “hack squat” exercise was actually named after him.
In 2016 he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of their annual Legacy Wing inductions.
REST IN PEACE GEORGE HACKENSCHMIDT
August 1, 1877 – February 19, 1968
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• Old School ECW Veteran Celebrates His Birthday
Old School ECW Veteran Tommy Cairo celebrates his birthday today.
Tommy Cairo is mostly remembered for his time in Tod Gordon’s Philadelphia based NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling promotion, where he won the short-lived ECW Pennsylvania Championship, a title that was retired a few months later.
Shortly after the company withdrew from the National Wrestling Alliance and was renamed “Extreme Championship Wrestling”, he left and returned to working on the independent scene, before he retired from active in ring competition in 2000.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMMY CAIRO!
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