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Accounts about his early athletic career do not quite agree, but he first tried to make his mark as a boxer, despite warnings that his arms were too short. Unique lists featuring pop culture, entertainment and crazy facts. 10 Wrestling Book Must Reads and 5 You Dont Want To Waste Your Time On, Classy" Freddie Blassie The Legends of Wrestling, The Night Bruno Sammartino Saved Freddie Blassies Life, The Time WWE Hall of Famer DR. JERRY GRAHAM Kidnapped His Mothers Dead Body, Freddie Blassie, Lou Albano, and "The Fossil Jostle" Atrocity in 85, Roddy Piper: From The Streets to the Big Time, Bruno Sammartino and Buddy Rogers The 1963 WWWF Title Screwjob, Disclaimer, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Disclosure. [8] He married a girl in California while on shore leave. [3] As an adult, Frederick was a teetotaler. His first public wrestling match was a shoot fight which he accepted hoping to impress a girl he brought to the show. He is from USA. "No. The suit, filed in federal court in White Plains, accuses the supermarket chain of negligence and recklessness and seeks more than $1 million in damages from corporate parent A&P and mat supplier G&K Services. He is a writer and editor-in-chief here on the site, a podcast producer, the chief graphic designer of the cover art for the sites articles, the former host of The Genius Cast with Lanny Poffo, and an elementary school teacher and assistant principal who enjoys playing guitar and spending time with his lively daughters! [6] The final match of their series took place in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and set new California records for both attendance and gate. His matches with Freddie Blassie were legendary. The widow of pro-wrestling villain "Classy" Freddie Blassie got thrown for a fall by a supermarket floor mat. Also learn how He earned most of Freddie Blassie networth? [spoken to the WWF wrestlers during Invasion 2001] Gentleman, there By doing this, he saved Freddie Blassies life. In that storyline, he is menaced by Eric Bischoff and his henchmen, before calling on the Dudley Brothers to "Get the tables!" Renowned as "The Hollywood Fashion Plate",[3] he was a one-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, and was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1994. [9], In 1968, Blassie returned to Japan and was reunited with Miyako. Vampire". He was feuding with a wrestler known as The Geek who had a neck like a stack of dimes, making him a literal pencil neck geek. Most recently, he co-authored the 2016 edition of the WWE Encyclopedia of Sports Entertainment. He retired from competition in the late 1970's to manage a new generation of wrestlers, including Hulk Hogan and Jesse Ventura, the future governor of Minnesota. (1965 - 1968)( divorced), Nettie Needles (September 1942 - 1964)( divorced)( 3 children). Blassie retired from wrestling in 1986, turning over his stable of heels to another manager called Slick. His parents repeatedly separated, only to reconcile. He bleached his hair and quickly became a In the segment he is interviewed by "Mean" Gene Okerlund when the two are interrupted by a little old lady in a housekeeper outfit that Blassie claims to be his own mother. *Blassie also told Greenberg that women used to come up to him on the street and gawk at him because he was Gods gift to women! Freddie Blassie. Keith Elliot Greenberg has been doing his part to preserve professional wrestling history for the past few decades. )[8] The movies title and premise are parodies of the 1981 art-house classic My Dinner with Andre.[23]. Blassie died in Hartsdale, N.Y., Jeff Walton, a former wrestling publicist, told The Los Angeles Times. [5], Blassie was born Frederick Kenneth Blassman in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1918. Blassie came into the WWWF with his own world title belt, claiming to be the Pacific World Champion, and was coming to Sammartino's "back yard" to unify the world title. [7], His career continued as he was hired by more established promoters, including Tom Packs in St. Louis and George Simpson in Kansas City. During his time on the West Coast, he was a frequent guest and/or interruption on a local show hosted by Regis Philben, and Blassies appearances thanks to his massive appeal as a wrestling draw helped push Philben into a national celebrity. My Breakfast with Blassie is a 1983 film starring Andy Kaufman and professional wrestler "Classy" Freddie Blassie.[1]. He lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with his wife and son. He continued to outrage crowds by distracting referees so that his men could cheat and by getting in his own cheap shots when the refs weren't looking. At 85 years old, Freddie Blassie height A fierce competitor in the ring known for unorthodox methods and a penchant for bloodletting, Blassie was verbose and boastful. After managing Sheik through a brief feud with Andre the Giant, he also became the manager of Nikolai Volkoff, with Sheik and Volkoff later becoming a tag team. That revolution -- making the villain the hero -- put fans in the seats and money in Blassies pocket. switched to professional wrestling. He briefly turned face in 1989, making an appearance on Prime Time Wrestling angry with Bobby Heenan over money Heenan hadn't paid him back. Hed adopt a bleach-blond look, start biting his opponents in the ring, and would often be seen filing down his teeth to better sink his teeth in his opponent. One of Blassie's gimmicks was to file his teeth, and draw blood from his opponents by biting their foreheads. Freddie Blassie, Pro Wrestler Popular as Villain, Dies at 85, https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/08/sports/freddie-blassie-pro-wrestler-popular-as-villain-dies-at-85.html. Since his retirement, he has occasionally worked as a "goodwill ambassador" (!) He joined the Navy at the start of World War II and started wrestling initially under the name of Sailor Fred Blassie while stationed at Port Hueneme. . Accounts about his early athletic career do not quite agree, but he Bruno had gotten so famous that he couldnt always pick the boneheads from the rest. Before The Client List is an extension of our ongoing series, Before They Were Famous, which looks at wrestlers before they became internationally famous. But for nearly 40 years, Fred Blassie was an in-ring talent who ruled the West Coast, a multi-time World Champion, and one of the most feared villains in pro wrestling history. [8] He was often billed as "The Vampire" during this time for biting his opponents and filing his teeth during interviews and promos. The film My Breakfast With Blassie, which came out in 1983, was a spoof of My Dinner With Andre. The camera followed Blassie and Kaufman as they ate and discussed life at a local restaurant that looked like a Dennys. After regaining the WWA Championship from Rikidzan on July 25, 1962, Blassie lost the title two days later to the "Masked Destroyer" Dick Beyer. You pencil neck geek! For those who were brought up on pro wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s, one of the most colorful managers of the day was WWF stalwart, Classy Freddie Blassie. A child of two German immigrants, Freddie Blassie was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1918. One of the 100 Greatest Wrestlers of the 20th Century (Inside Wrestling Presents, Summer 2000). The rematches were held at Madison Square Garden in New York, with Sammartino winning out. In the 1950s, Fred Blassie was hands down the most hated wrestler in the southeastern territory. After being pounded by a longer-limbed opponent, he switched to professional wrestling. In the 1970s, Blassie recorded a number of novelty songs, including Pencil Neck Geek, which became a cult favorite via Dr. Dementos radio show, which specializes in sharing wacky tracks. for the WWF. On an episode of WWF Championship Wrestling, Blassie barged into the announcer booth to proclaim that he had sold half of the contracts of Sheik and Volkoff to a mysterious benefactor for a large sum of money. (and of course, Bubba Ray and D-Von take care of Bischoff and his cronies). The Real Housewives of Atlanta The Bachelor Sister Wives 90 Day Fiance Wife Swap The Amazing Race Australia Married at First Sight The Real Housewives of Dallas My 600-lb Life Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. [18][19] Blassie also appeared in the SummerSlam opening video. In 1961, he defeated Eduoard Carpentier for the WWA World Heavyweight Championship, a title that held prominence in the pro-wrestling world, since WWA was an outlaw territory outside the realm of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). book. (Use code PWS for a nice surprise). [16] In 1999, he was shown making the opening narration of WrestleMania XV. Blassie wrestled as a dark-haired good guy until he found out that the "heels" (bad guys) got better pay. He finally defeated Rikidozan and won back his title at a WWA event in Los Angeles but it had served his purpose. [3] Blassie, Lou Albano, and The Grand Wizard were named "The Three Wise Men of the East", as the top three heel managers in the company. After Sheik lost the belt to Blassie's former managed wrestler Hulk Hogan, Blassie managed Sheik in various rematches around the country throughout the first half of 1984, culminating into another major televised rematch on December 28, 1984, once again in Madison Square Garden. Tolos moved first to Vancouver, where he married his wife Ingrid in 1967 (they later divorced), then worked his way south until he reached Los Angeles. He bleached his hair and quickly became a heel's heel, outraging crowds by gleefully breaking every rule in the book. Let's learn more about this classic heel! Vince McMahon interviews "Classy" Freddie Blassie & Nikolai Volkoff | WWE egomaniac then known as Cassius Clay. RELATED: 10 All-Time Greats You Forgot Had Managers. * Blassie also told Greenberg that women used to come up to him on the street and gawk at him because he was God's gift to women! He bleached his hair and quickly became a heel's heel, outraging crowds by gleefully breaking every rule in the book. The Genius Cast with Lanny Poffo (2018-19), HOMAGE.com Our favorite in retro wrestling attire! He returned again in 1990 briefly to do color commentary for Prime Time in April with Vince McMahon, as an emergency fill-in after Tony Schiavone quit, playing a heel once again. Greenbergs memoir on Freddie Blassie was released just three weeks before he died in 2003. The nastier he was in the ring, the more popular he became to fans on the other side of the ropes. From there, he moved on to become a regular writer, contributor, and reporter for WWE. Blassie was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1994 by Shane McMahon. [8] He worked for Jack Pfefer, who he claimed would only employ people who looked like sideshow freaks at his shows, and whose wrestlers included Tor Johnson, who made movies with director Ed Wood, and Lillian Ellison, the Fabulous Moolah. It made Japanese wrestling a commodity on the West Coast and had given Rikidozan the credibility of conquering America. He was 85. 2018 Remaster of Andy Kaufman on The Late Show w/ David Letterman w/ "Classy" Fred Blassie on February 23rd, 1983.More remastered Andy Kaufman - https://goo.. 1 One of the great legends of pro wrestling albeit one whose in-ring career predated the 1980s Golden Era wrestling boom Classy Freddie Blassie was a successful heel who wrestled all over. His last name is slightly easier to pronounce than it looks. Zach Eflin And Wife On Yacht Wallpaper. During these runs, hed take part in a couple of title feuds for the WWE Championship, challenging Bruno Sammartino in the 1960s and Pedro Morales in the 1970s, not to mention coming after Bobo Brazils US Heavyweight Title. [7], After the US entered World War II, Blassie enlisted in the Navy and served in the Pacific Theater for 42 months. Occasionally, he would get too close to the action and get beaten up himself, much to the crowd's delight. Following a stint in the California wrestling scene, Freddie Blassie headed southeast to the Georgia territories in the 1950s, where he would enjoy a whopping 17 reigns with the big title of the region, the NWA Georgia Southern Heavyweight Championship between 1954 and 1960. "Everything had to be the best with him," Miyako told WWE.com. Between matches, he gave loud and boastful interviews, making him a favorite of talk shows and reportedly influencing a fellow egomaniac then known as Cassius Clay. He was popular in Japan as well. He had been in poor health for quite a while, and it was as if he wanted to wait to get his story out before he passed on. Freddie Blassie retired as an active wrestler in 1974 in part because of the difficulty of securing a wrestling license . Hed also regularly tag with Gorilla Monsoon, another wrestler better known for his non-wrestling roles. The nastier he was in the ring, the more popular he became to fans. So, how much is Freddie Blassie worth at the age of 85 years old? In 1972, ten years after his last match in Japan with Rikidozans JWA, he returned to Japan and began working for Giant Babas All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). By the mid-1970s, Freddie Blassie was in his 50s and began to settle into a role as a manager in WWE, though he would still occasionally wrestle a match. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. The World's Most Entertaining Car Website. Managed by "Loud", Countless World Wrestling Federation TV and Pay Per View Ads. Blassie got involved when he threw his cane into the ring, with Sheik and Volkoff using it to their advantage to gain the victory. If you're not from the midwest you're not allowed to have an opinion on this. He heard Blassie say that and whipped out a gun saying, "Ill kill that sonuvabitch! One poll ranked him as the most hated wrestler in the United 500,000+ HD Wallpapers & Freddie Blassie Wallpaper 100% Free to Use High Quality Wallpapers Personalise for all Screen & Devices. [6] His cousin John Frank Holaus often refereed his matches. We've received your submission. He held his WWA World title for 289 days and thanks to WWAs alliance with Japan, in particular the Japan Wrestling Alliance (JWA) headed by puroresu icon Rikidozan, Blassie would not only help introduce Japanese pro wrestling to the U.S. market but help validate it in Japan as well. The defendants had a duty to provide reasonably safe conditions for its customers, the suit charges. This story has been shared 143,593 times. Pro Wrestling Stories - Your daily source of nostalgia and a peek behind the curtain wall of wrestlings past! At Freddie Blassies wake, a family member came up to Keith Elliot Greenberg, saying that Freddies son had read the book and was ready to make peace with his father. Around 1980, he adopted a new moniker: "Ayatollah Blassie. Despite being a 7-year pro before his duty in World War II, Blassie was still a journeyman. His parents, Anna (ne Sind) and Jacob Blassman, were German immigrants who arrived in the United States prior to World War I.[3]. Those colorful interviews helped make him a celebrity in the newly expanding medium of television. Despite that, Blassie ended the year by leaving WWWF and returning to Los Angeles and the WWA. Stay tuned to theLast Word on Pro Wrestlingfor more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. We have estimated in their 1992 song about Kaufman, "Man on the Moon". It is a mostly improvised parody of the art film My Dinner with Andre and is set in a Sambo's restaurant where Kaufman and Blassie have a discussion over breakfast. Fred Blassie would meet his wife, a Japanese actress.. November 15, 1968: Fred Blassie defeated Buddy Austin in a "Stretcher" match in the Olympic Stadium.. Linda's dual role (as director and actress) was scripted as an irritating fan who requests Andy's autograph after he washes his hands. Many people close to him actually had no idea that he had children in the first place. [6] On July 7, Blassie successfully defended his title against the former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz. Discover today's celebrity birthdays and explore famous people who share your birthday. Blassie, who became a cult figure outside the ring and starred with comedian Andy Kaufman in My Breakfast With Blassie, died of heart failure June 2 in Hartsdale, N.Y., according to Jeff Walton, a onetime wrestling publicist in Los Angeles who knew Blassie well. Back in the dressing room, Blassie realized he was in the wrong one. the time, get up, stand up and fight. JP Zarka created Pro Wrestling Stories in May 2015. He delivered a rousing speech, dramatically standing up from his wheelchair to get the WWE-loyal wrestlers pumped up for the next battle. Credited with bringing a young Hulk Hogan into the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in late 1979. Renowned as "The Hollywood Fashion Plate", [3] he was a one-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, and was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1994. [6] In later years, Blassie also appeared on The Mike Douglas Show when Philbin was a guest host. Feb 27. Backstage, Jilly Rizzo club owner, Frank Sinatra's bodyguard, and . He married his first wife Nettie Needles while on shore leave during the war. Given that Hogan was the top babyface in the 1980s, this iteration of The Hulkster was actually a heel and would depart in 1981 after a dispute with Vince McMahon Sr. over Hogans taking a role in Rocky III. "When hed go to a town, the most powerful Italians would latch themselves onto him and decided they were his protectors, whether Bruno liked it or not. In For Freddie Blassie, there was no question why he took on a villian's persona - he loved it. [3], Blassie's famous "pencil-neck geek" catchphrase originated early in his career while describing a fellow carnival performer who appeared in a geek show. Patrick Stewart In A Checkered Coat Wallpaper. mainly in the Southeast and West Coast, winning many titles in both. [7] When Philbin had a late-night weekend talk show in San Diego, Blassie would routinely show up to yell at the audience, throw furniture, and threaten Philbin; the confrontations were wholly kayfabe and both of them were friends when the cameras weren't rolling. RELATED: 10 Managers With The Best Claim To Be On A Wrestling Mount Rushmore. This movie got together because the man who produced wrestling manager and former wrestling champion Fred Blassie's novelty song, "Pencil-Neck Geek", Johnny Legend, wanted to film a very cheap parody of the awful art movie My Dinner with Andre, and decided that Blassie's young friend and protege, the eccentric comedian Andy Kaufman would be the . His eagerness to learn from 1935 to 1942 led to many of the circuits top stars sharing knowledge with Blassie, and when he returned home to the U.S. in 1946, he was determined to make an honest run as a professional wrestler. Blassie also mastered the television interview, boasting his superiority over other wrestlers he liked to call ''pencil-neck geeks.'' He felt this was his chance to tell his life story before moving on. On top of that, hed take on English legend Billy Robinson, WWE Champion Superstar Billy Graham, and legendary masked heel wrestler Destroyer. In this match Hogan was once again victorious. In March of 1962, Blassie lost the WWA World title to Rikidozan, and for the next four months, Blassie competed in Japan, determined to regain his title from the Japanese wrestling innovator. ", "Heres some money," Blassie would say. "Bruno always had a huge entourage hanging around him," Greenberg wrote in "Classy" Freddie Blassie The Legends of Wrestling. However, he became increasingly interested in wrestling. [6] One of his most famous feuds took place in southern California in 1971, against Tolos. He started a second career as a manager in the WWWF. [2] He was given a commentary tryout in 1986 and 1987 for WWF Wrestling Challenge, calling a few matches with Gorilla Monsoon. Over the course of his in-ring career, Classy Freddie Blassie would wrestle a number of legends, many of whom have either become legendary wrestlers or became famous in the following decades for non-competitive roles. [20] Images from his WrestleMania XV promo were also included in the opening of the 2001 Survivor Series. Blassie We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 8 February. Greenberg would add that Jerry Grahams drinking issues may have been combined with mental illness. He returned to the company in 1971, reaching the final of a tournament in January for the vacant WWWF United States Heavyweight Championship before losing to Pedro Morales. PWSTees.com Your favorite Pro Wrestling Stories, on a tee! Using a variety of names, he wrestled the top performers of the day including Lou Thesz and Gorgeous George, but did not reach their level of popularity. Blassie appeared alongside Slick to co-manage Sheik and Volkoff for a few television appearances before finally bowing out in November 1986, with Albano, the final member of the Three Wise Men, retiring a few weeks later. A gifted gabber and a splashy dresser, Blassie guided The Iron Shiek to the WWF World Heavyweight title in 1983, Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff to the WWF World Tag Team titles, as well as managing such clients as Adrian Adonis, Jesse The Body Ventura, Kamala, Hercules Hernandez, and even Hulk Hogan during his first stint in the WWF. [3] Blassie also publicly represented Ali for media events and interviews for a period in the mid-1970s. In 1964, Dick the Bruiser defeated Blassie to become champion, and Blassie headed east to work for the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Blassie would continue to make his titles make history in 1963, he lost to Bearcat Wright, making Wright the first African-American to hold a World title in the United States. Ironically, during his WWWF stint, he was managed by another former wrestler who had recently become a manager, in the form of Captain Lou Albano. The Rock for the WWF Title)", "TJR Retro: WWE Royal Rumble 2000 Review (The Rock wins Rumble, Triple H vs. Cactus Jack)", "Freddie Blassie - Dick Van Dyke Show - 1962", "My Breakfast with Blassie: An appreciation", NWA North American Heavyweight Title (Hawaii version) history, NWA Southern Heavyweight Title (Florida) history, NWA World Tag Team Title (Florida) history, NWA International Tag Team Title (Georgia) history, NWA Southern Heavyweight Title (Georgia) history, NWA World Tag Team Title (Georgia) history, "NWA Hall of Fame Class for 2011 announced", WWA International Television Tag Team Title history, NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title history, Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Inductees, 1853 Shepherd Circle SW, Blassie's Atlanta home (1960), 1950 Campbellton Road SW, Blassies Atlanta home (1966), WWE Hall of Fame Profile of Freddie Blassie, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Freddie_Blassie&oldid=1142698000, NWA World Tag Team Champions (Florida version), Professional wrestling managers and valets, United States Navy personnel of World War II, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Pages using infobox military person with embed, Articles with disputed statements from February 2023, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, The Mysterious Medics (Mysterious Medic #1 and Mysterious Medic #2), This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 22:16. World Wrestling Entertainment WWE)). After Blassie lost the WWA World Heavyweight Championship to Rikidzan in Los Angeles, the two had a rematch on live Japanese television. Frederick was an only child.

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