Turned Pro: 1965
Trained By: Rip Tyler
Hometown: Parts Unknown
Height: 5'9"
Wrestling Weight: 227 pounds
Territories Worked In: All Over The World
Toughest Opponents: Lumberjacks 1&2, Jody Arnold, Bob Yuma, Buddy Rose and Terry Funk
Best Match: 2 hour - 17 min. Arizona Heavyweight Title Match (Lights Out) at Phoenix's Madison Square Garden versus Crybaby Huey.
Favorite Move: Sleeper & Arizona Arch
Titles Held: Arizona Heavyweight Champion, Arizona Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Southwestern Heavyweight Champion, North American Jr. Heavyweight Champion.
Various wrestlers have used the name of Mr Wrestling over the years, including Gordon Nelson, Don Green, and Tim Woods, but Arizona had its own Mr Wrestling too, a charismatic grappler who used this alias, as well as others, both masked and unmasked. He was undoubtedly skilled as a scientific wrestler, but could brawl with the best. Most of his matches started cleanly, but ended in wild brawls.
During a lengthy run, he feuded with Paul Harvey/Crybaby Huey , an announcer, turned promoter, turned wrestler, who had very limited ability, but a great talent for angering the crowd. They packed the Garden for several weeks straight until Harvey left the area for Durango, Colorado.
Mr Wrestling also was married to a Mrs. Wrestling for a time. They were oddly enough, legitimately married in the old Phoenix Madison Square Garden ring, long before the WWF started doing things of this nature. After the wedding, Mr Wrestling defeated the challenge of Maniac Mike Gordon in a cage bout. Gordon filled in for Paul Harvey who as previously noted, was sidetracked in Colorado and never returned to Phoenix to conclude the feud.
Others Mr Wrestling faced in Arizona included The Black Mamba, Marcial Bovee/The Time Traveler, The Lumberjacks, The Detroit Mauler, Jody Arnold, Frankenstein (The Monster from the old Labell promotion in California), CC Starr, Chuck Karbo, Chris Colt, Ron Dupree, Tom Ramirez, Freddy Gomez, Bronco Lazar, Al Seneceros, Tony Hernandez, John Ringer, The Mercenary, Mr. Southern Comfort, Eddie Sullivan, El Mustang, and Ringo Rodriguez.. Some of the Arizona wrestlers he helped to train or trained directly included Danny Snyder, Indio Youngblood, Special Forces, Blackjack Jim, Gorgeous George IV, Hollywood Brown, Mr X (Cecil "Butch" Weaver), and the late referee Bob Sallee.
"Yeah, I remember Mr. Wrestling alright, know he wasn't the only one to use the name and know who he was under the mask," said The Time Traveler. "If he doesn't want to give his real name out for the multitudes then everyone should respect this. All I can say is, while there have been loads of Mr Wrestlings around the USA, especially Tim Woods and others, this Mr. Wrestling was as good as any of them. He had some truly wild bouts in Phoenix and Tucson. I learned a great deal from him. I even wrestled him a few times when bodies were needed on a card and I'll tell you, he was Mr. Wrestling alright to me, when I faced him. The moves he knew were just incredible. He was "extreme" and "hardcore" a decade or more before ECW. He could brawl with the best and he could wrestle cleanly with the best. When I was managing The Lumberjacks and John Ringer, they had some really fantastic bouts with this guy. The crowd always popped for him too. I cannot recall ever seeing him in a bad match, even his matches with me, and as a wrestler...I left a lot to be desired, which is why I stuck to managing. He was a big draw in Arizona and will always be the Mr Wrestling to end all Mr Wrestlings as far as Arizona fans were concerned. Sadly, some of his best bouts here took place before video cameras were commonplace and have been lost to history. Jody Arnold, Ringer, Frankenstein, The Lumberjacks, Billy Anderson, Jt Law, The Black Mamba, they all faced him. They all had memorable bouts with him. If he was a little younger, I could see him in like NWA/TNA or something right now."
