Tony Parisi (wrestler)

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For other people named Pugliese, see Pugliese (disambiguation).
Tony Parisi
Birth nameAntonio Pugliese
BornJanuary 22, 1941
Cosenza, Calabria, Italy[1]
DiedAugust 19, 2000 (aged 59)[1]
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Spouse(s)
Chiara Vaccaro
​
(m. 1968)​
Children1
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Antonio Pugliese
Parisi
Tony Parisa
Tony Pug
Billed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Billed weight241 lb (109 kg)
Trained byBert Ruby[1]
Harry Light[1]
Debut1961[2]
Retired1997

Antonio Pugliese (January 22, 1941 – August 19, 2000), better known by his

Louis Cerdan, he held the WWWF World Tag Team Championship from 1975 to 1976. As a singles wrestler, he also won the WWF International Heavyweight Championship
.

After retiring from wrestling, Pugliese continued to work in the industry and also operated a hotel and restaurant. He died in 2000 from an aneurysm.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1961 - 1966)

Pugliese made his professional wrestling debut in

promotion operated by Nick Gulas; they won the promotion's tag team title within two weeks of their arrival.[3] Throughout his career, Pugliese formed many tag teams in various promotions with other wrestlers of Italian descent, including Dominic DeNucci, Tony Marino, and Bruno Sammartino.[2]

Although Pugliese often wrestled in Ontario throughout his career,[4] he also competed as far away as Australia and Japan.

Pugliese also wrestled as a heel (villain) at times. He competed as "Tenor" Parisi; in this gimmick, he wore a white tuxedo and sang opera to anger the crowd.[1]

World Wide Wrestling Federation (1966 - 1969)

In 1966, Pugliese began wrestling for the

turned on Pugliese by awarding the championship to their opponents when Pugliese was injured.[5][7]

Pugliese teamed with

Spiros Arion.[8] Pugliese and Arion won the match and the title; they held the belts for six months until June 1967.[7] The team split up when Pugliese left the country briefly and Arnold Skaaland was named as co-holder of the championship in his place.[7][9]

He returned to WWWF in 1968 where he teamed with fellow Italian

Victor Riviera and Haystacks Calhoun
. By the end of 1969 Pugliese left WWWF.

Traveling wrestler (1967 - 1975)

In December 1967, Pugliese teamed with

Kurt and Karl Von Steiger.[12]

Pugliese then joined the

Yoshino Sato. Pugliese and DeNucci continued to challenge for the title, and they defeated Arakawa and Sato in March to win the belts.[15] They dropped the belts to Don and Johnny Fargo in May but regained them in a rematch the same month.[15] Later that month, however, the Fargos regained the belts. Pugliese and DeNucci were unable to regain them, but Pugliese teamed up with Luis Martinez to win the title in December.[15] Records are unclear as to whom they won the belts from and how they lost them.[15]

In 1973, he participated in the first annual

Hiro Matsuda.[16]

Pugliese and DeNucci next traveled to Florida, where they competed for

Toru Tanaka and Dick Slater to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship in December 1974.[17] Slater teamed with Johnny Weaver to win the belts back from Pugliese and DeNucci, however in February 1975.[17]

Return to the WWWF (1974 - 1976, 1982 - 1984)

Pugliese's next major success came in the WWWF, where he had been wrestling sporadically since 1970 under the ring name Tony Parisi.

Superstar Billy Graham
. Pugliese left the WWWF in 1976.

Georgia, Toronto, Detroit and New Japan (1976 - 1984)

After leaving the WWWF in 1976, Pugliese worked for Georgia Championship Wrestling. During this time, he mainly worked for Toronto's Maple Leaf Wrestling and Detroit's Big Time Wrestling into the 1980s. In 1983, he worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling where he teamed with Adrian Adonis and Bob Orton Jr.

World Wrestling Federation (1982 - 1986)

When the promotion (which had since been renamed the World Wrestling Federation) decided to reactivate the

Barry O on house shows. He would lose to Nikolai Volkoff, Jim Neidhart, and Don Muraco
. Parisi would leave WWF.

Lutte Internationale (1982 - 1986)

Much of Pugliese's later career was spent wrestling as Tony Parisi in the

Frenchy Martin, to win the belts from Parisi and Brito the following month. Parisi's final reign with the title began on February 20, 1984, when he joined up with Dino Bravo to regain the belts. Their title reign lasted for several months before Lefebvre and Martin defeated Parisi and Bravo to win back the championship.[21]

In 1985 WWF bought Lutte and continued to work in Montreal, New York state, and Ontario. He would team up with Brito's son Gino Jr. By the end of 1986, Parisi retired from the sport.

Later career (1994 - 1997)

In 1994, Parisi came out of retirement where he teamed with The Missing Link to defeat Joe E. Legend and Danny Johnson.

On June 7, 1996, he reunited with former partner Dominic DeNucci at World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s Ilio DiPaolo Memorial Show where they defeated Danny Johnson and Bruiser Bedlam when Parisi pinned Johnson.

In 1997, Parisi had his last match at the second Ilio DiPaolo tribute show promoted by WCW. He reunited with Brito in a tag team match, and they defeated Greg Valentine and Terry Funk by disqualification.[22]

Legacy

Pugliese promoted wrestling shows in Niagara Falls after retiring from the sport. He also ran an annual wrestling show at the CHIN Picnic in Toronto.[23]

Pugliese is credited as the inspiration behind George "The Animal" Steele's gimmick of eating turnbuckle padding in the ring. A wrestler, who Steele believes was Pugliese, jokingly suggested the idea to Steele, who became well known for his fondness for turnbuckles.[24]

Personal life

Born in Italy, Pugliese moved to

LP albums as his "prize possessions".[1]

Pugliese met Chiara Vaccaro in Niagara Falls, and the couple married in 1968.[23] They had a daughter named Ida in 1976.[23] He operated the Niagara Family Inn and Big Anthony's Restaurant in Niagara Falls with his family until he died from an aneurysm on August 19, 2000.[1][2][25]

He was related to

Joseph Dorgan, who has wrestled under his relative's name as Johnny Parisi and is better known as Johnny Swinger.[26]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oliver, Greg. "SLAM! Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame: Tony Parisi". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Tony "Cannonball" Parisi". Canadian Pro Wrestling Page of Fame. Archived from the original on 24 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  3. ^ Oliver, Greg. "SLAM! Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame: Gino Brito". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ "Maple Leaf #1: Page 2". Kayfabe Memories. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  5. ^ a b "Ring Results: 1966". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
  6. ISBN 1-58261-817-8
    .
  7. ^ a b c d e "US Tag Team Title/WWWF US Tag Team Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  8. ^ "World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation #21". Kayfabe Memories. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  9. ^ "Ring Results: 1967". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
  10. ^ a b "World Wrestling Association World Tag Team Title". Wrestling Titles. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  11. ^ "Ring Results: 1968". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
  12. ^ a b c d "International Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Title". Wrestling Titles. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  13. ^ "1969 Killer Karl Kox/The Spoiler v Mario Milano/Antonio Pugliese", from World Championship Wrestling, via YouTube
  14. ^
    ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  15. ^ a b c d e "National Wrestling Federation World Tag Team Title". Wrestling Titles. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  16. ^ "Champion Carnival 1973". Pro Wrestling History. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  17. ^ a b c "Florida Tag Team Title". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
  18. ^ "Ring Results: 1970". The History of WWE. Archived from the original on 23 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
  19. ^ a b c "History of the World Tag Team Championship". WWE. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  20. ^ a b c "International Heavyweight Title/WWWF International Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  21. ^ a b c d e "International Wrestling International Tag Team Title (Montreal)". Wrestling Titles. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  22. ^ "WCW Legends II: A Tribute to Ilio DiPaolo" (in German). Genickbruch.com: Die Wrestlingseite des alten Europa. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
  23. ^ a b c "Tony "Cannonball" Parisi". Virtual Sports Wall of Fame: The City of Niagara Falls, Ontario. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
  24. ISBN 978-1-55022-759-8
    .
  25. ^ "Tony Parisi dies of a heart attack". Slam Wrestling. 2000-08-20. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  26. ^ "Wrestler Profiles: Johnny Swinger". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
  27. ^ "NWA Texas Tag Team Title [E. Texas]". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved December 27, 2019.

External links

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