John Tolos
| John Tolos | |
|---|---|
| File:John Tolos.jpg | |
| Born | September 18, 1930 Hamilton, Ontario[1] |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.[1] Los Angeles, California[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | John Tolos Coach[2] Golden Greek |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[3] |
| Billed weight | 240 lb (110 kg)[3] |
| Trained by | Willie Davis[2][1] |
John Tolos, nicknamed "The Golden Greek", (September 18, 1930 – May 28, 2009[1]) was a Greek-Canadian professional wrestler, and professional wrestling manager.
Contents
Professional wrestling career
John was born on the 18th of September 1930 in Hamilton, Ontario to Greek parents, Nicolaos and Evangelia (Evangeline) Tolos. During the 1950s and 60s, Tolos was part of the Canadian Wrecking Crew with his brother Chris Tolos. On December 28, 1963, John and Chris captured the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship in Teaneck, New Jersey in two straight falls from Gorilla Monsoon and Killer Kowalski. While both teams were heels at the time, the Tolos Brothers did a television interview prior to the title match, "looking forward" to seeing all of their fans in Teaneck. That night, they were cheered throughout. As a vicious heel known as the "Golden Greek", Tolos also engaged in a long time rivalry with "Classy" Freddie Blassie in the LeBell family's Los Angeles territory, often feuding over the Americas Championship.[4]
Tolos joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) for a brief stint in mid-1991 as Coach (a classic coach, whistle and all), managing The Beverly Brothers and "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, replacing Hennig's former manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, who was then moving into a full-time broadcaster's role.[5] Mr. Perfect lost his Intercontinental Title to Bret Hart at SummerSlam, after which an injury would sideline Hennig from competition for more than a year. With Hennig indefinitely out of action, along with The Beverly Brothers getting a new manager in The Genius, Tolos quietly left the WWF.
Tolos then had a run in Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation, managing Cowboy Bob Orton, Cactus Jack and The Power Twins as well as serving as color commentator on the UWF's Fury Hour program.
Death
Tolos died in Los Angeles, California on May 29, 2009. His death was from kidney failure [6] followed by a series of heart attacks and strokes.[1]
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Corkscrew knuckle grind to the temple A low blow followed by a moss covered three handled family gradenzil was used on special nights[2]
- Wrestlers managed
- Mr. Perfect
- The Beverly Brothers (Beau and Blake)
- Cowboy Bob Orton
- Cactus Jack
- The Power Twins (David and Larry Power)
Championships and accomplishments
- California Pro Wrestling
- CPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[7]
- Cauliflower Alley Club
- Golden Potato Award (2004)[1]
- Heart of America Sports Attractions
- NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Central States version) (1 time) – Baron von Helsinger[9][10]
- Maple Leaf Wrestling
- NWA International Tag Team Championship (Toronto version) (3 times) - with Chris Tolos[11]
- National Wrestling Alliance
- NWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2012)[12]
- NWA All-Star Wrestling
- NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (7 times) - with Tony Borne (2), Chris Tolos (2), Black Terror (1), Dutch Savage (1), and Don Leo Jonathan (1)[13]
- NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time)[14]
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (3 times) - with Tony Borne (1) and Chris Tolos (2)[15]
- NWA Detroit
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version) (1 time) - with Chris Tolos[16]
- NWA Hollywood Wrestling
- NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (10 times)[17]
- NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (6 times) - with Great Kojika (2), Louie Tillet (1), Rock Riddle (1), Chavo Guerrero (1), and The Assassin (1)[18]
- NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship (4 times)[19]
- NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Los Angeles version) (3 times)[20]
- NWA United National Championship (1 time)[21]
- NWA San Francisco
- NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time) - with Chris Tolos[26]
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
- Class of 2007 - Inducted as a member of the Canadian Wrecking Crew (with Chris Tolos)
- Stampede Wrestling
- NWA International Tag Team Championship (Calgary version) (1 time) - with Chris Tolos[28]
- Western States Alliance
- WSA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[7]
- WSA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Victor Rivera[7]
- World Wide Wrestling Federation
- WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Chris Tolos[30]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "Classy" Freddie Blassie with Keith Elliot Greenberg, Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks, (WWE Books, 2003).
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ John Tolos dies at 78; notorious wrestling villain known as the Golden Greek - Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2009-06-02.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
- Pages with broken file links
- 1930 births
- 2009 deaths
- Deaths from renal failure
- Canadian male professional wrestlers
- Canadian people of Greek descent
- Professional wrestling managers and valets
- Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ontario
- Professional wrestlers from Ontario
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
