[3], One of Blassie's most famous proteges was The Iron Sheik. News on all your favorite celebs, reality TV, and movies. One of Blassies most notable clients during his run with WWE, however, was Hulk Hogan, who he managed as soon as Hogan debuted in the company in 1979. Freddie never held a true world title but he was still one of the greatest of the 50s through the 60s". (1965 - 1968)( divorced), Nettie Needles (September 1942 - 1964)( divorced)( 3 children). He was now hooked, and he decided that pro wrestling was his destiny and not his backbreaking work in the meatpacking plant. In 1960, he became a regular with World Wrestling Associates (WWA) in Los Angeles, a move that would cement his legacy in pro wrestling, long before he became a manager. The rematches were held at Madison Square Garden in New York, with Sammartino winning out. Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=My_Breakfast_with_Blassie&oldid=1107033235, Articles needing additional references from June 2021, All articles needing additional references, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 27 August 2022, at 19:43. One that stands out was his rivalry with Bruno Sammartino in the early 1960s. The terminology would follow him for the rest of his career. Who Is Freddie Blassie's Wife? Occasionally, he would get too close to the action and get beaten up himself, much to the crowd's delight. However, Blassie said he would toss his drink in the sand if he didnt drink it, so Lanny took the offer. [22] In the demonstration of the dance, Blassie picked up Rob Petrie and twirled him over his head. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Between matches, he gave loud and boastful interviews, making Hed continue being a heel, managing a number of bad guys like George The Animal Steele, Hercules, and Blackjack Mulligan. Recommended:The Night Bruno Sammartino Saved Freddie Blassies Life, Lanny Poffo, speaking to his friend Keith Elliot Greenberg on The Genius Cast, shared the story of the time he and Freddie Blassie were in Hawaii in 1968. Take Linda McMahon, for instance. Following his 1986 on-camera retirement (he remained an executive for the WWE), still made occasional on-camera appearances since then, and his last came on "WWE Raw" in May, just a few weeks before his death (to promote his newly-released biography, "Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks"). [spoken to the WWF wrestlers during Invasion 2001] Gentleman, there Free Freddie Blassie Wallpaper Downloads, [100+] Freddie Blassie Miyako Blassie, 68, says in court papers that she was shopping for groceries when she tripped near the entrance to a Pathmark in Westchester. His parents, Anna (ne Sind) and Jacob Blassman, were German immigrants who arrived in the United States prior to World War I.[3]. Blassie held various regional titles, Walton said, including the WWA World Title on five separate occasions, the Americas Heavyweight Title nine times and tag team belts with various partners over the years. In the 1950s, Fred Blassie was hands down the most hated wrestler in the southeastern territory. 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. Fred Blassie was born and raised in the St. Louis, Missouri, area. [7] As the wrestlers became familiar with him, they began teaching him holds. One poll ranked him as the most hated wrestler in the United States. Freddie Blassie - IMDb Lanny would state that Jerry Graham "had no business living the last 15 years of his life" due to his drinking problems. The widow of pro-wrestling villain Classy Freddie Blassie got thrown for a fall by a supermarket floor mat. Some wrestlers choose to play a villain as a way of promoting their career, while others are forced to by their promoters. Why FREDDIE BLASSIE Was So Great f/ WRESTLINGBIOS - YouTube DAVE KNOWS that Classy Freddie Blassie is a Pro Wrestling legend. Blassie, whose late hubby [inset] was known for his gravel-voiced put-down pencil-neck geek, claims to have suffered excruciating pain in the January 2011 tumble, which broke her right wrist, and permanent scarring from a cut eyebrow. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Three injured in shooting outside Bronx funeral home, Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, What's next for Buster Murdaugh after dad's murder conviction, life sentence, US home prices just did something they haven't done since 2012, How a retired detective snared his seventh 'Torso Killer' confession, It's insane that NYers can use but not buy pepper spray for self-defense: Change this now, Celeb-loved jewelry brand Dorsey drops dazzling new styles, White Lotus actor jokes about being hit on following shows success, Is this the couple behind the Worst Art Job Listing Ever?, Undertaker transforms coffin into barbecue grill, Kellyanne Conway and George Conway to divorce. 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. The two spoke the same dialect of German, their parents had mutual friends, and . Born in 1918 to German parents who escaped World War I, Blassie took up boxing as a teenager, but found a growing interest in wrestling and actually snuck into matches, eventually befriending catch wrestlers and learning holds from them. In this series, we will look at some of pro wrestlings greatest and most well-known managers and/or valets, but explore their prior career as an in-ring professional wrestler. John Tolos: Wrestler celebrated as one of the finest ring villains He heard Blassie say that and whipped out a gun saying, "Ill kill that sonuvabitch! 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. Fred Blassie had a shocking heel turn during his stint in Georgia, which led to him becoming an extremely hated wrestler! the time, get up, stand up and fight. He grabs his balls!" He would become a frequent foe of Morales throughout the rest of his in-ring career in WWWF. "Classy" Freddie Blassie WWE Hall of Fame Induction Speech [1994] With Andy Kaufman, Freddie Blassie, Laurie Burton, Linda Hirsch. 500,000+ HD Wallpapers & Freddie Blassie Wallpaper 100% Free to Use High Quality Wallpapers Personalise for all Screen & Devices. 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. Linda Lautrec and Andy Kaufman loosely scripted the film over several months late at night on the telephone. In 1964, the legendary "Classy" Freddie Blassie was still an in-ring competitor when he took on local hero Bruno Sammartino in front of a hostile New Jersey crowd, where he cheated for a cheap countout victory over the champ. Poffo, at first, played it small and declined. He came up with it back in his carnival days, when describing a literal carnival geek -- as in, a performer who bites the heads off of chickens -- who had a slender neck. [22], Filmed in 1982, My Breakfast with Blassie featured Andy Kaufman and Freddie Blassie eating at a Sambo's in Los Angeles. He even managed Muhammad Ali going into his legendary match with Antonio Inoki. Blassie's interference at Wrestlemania 2 cost Volkoff his match with Kirchner, when the cane was grabbed by Kirchner instead of Volkoff. 3 Saving Freddie Blassie Thanks To Kayfabe. Fred Blassie was born and raised in the St. Louis, Missouri, area. 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. 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. the late 1960s, he moved to the East Coast and the World-Wide Wrestling "Bruno always had a huge entourage hanging around him," Greenberg wrote in "Classy" Freddie Blassie The Legends of Wrestling. This story has been shared 104,709 times. Blassie was a regular on the WWWF's "All-Star Wrestling" and "Championship Wrestling" weekly TV shows that were videotaped at small arenas in Pennsylvania and aired throughout the Northeast. 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. "Classy" Freddie Blassie lead an interesting life as one of . One of the men was Jilly Rizzo, Frank Sinatras number one sidekick and the owner of his own saloon. In 1973, knee problems largely forced Blassie to stop wrestling personally, though he occasionally donned the tights to tag-team with one of his heels, as he did in Madison Square Garden in June 1974, teaming with the hulking Nikolai Volkoff to face then-champ Bruno Sammartino and Chief Jay Strongbow in a tag team match (Blassie was forced to submit for the final fall by a Bruno bearhug, and the fans almost tore the Garden's roof off). Upon his return to the U.S. and the pro-wrestling circuit full time in 1946, he was repackaged by promoters as Sailor Freddie Blassie, as promoters looked to capitalize on U.S. patriotism following the war. Wrestler's widow goes to the mat - New York Post 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. View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. [6] Afterwards he became a manager in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) and its subsequent incarnation the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Freddie Blassie retired as an active wrestler in 1974 in part because of the difficulty of securing a wrestling license . September 30, 1968 - June 2, 2003 (his death), Wrestling's Living Legend Bruno Sammartino. The Legends of Wrestling - "Classy" Freddie Blassie Blassie would show Greenberg dozens of notebooks with "beautiful cursive handwriting." Born Fred Blassman in St. Louis, Blassie played baseball and football in high school. Professional wrestler Freddie Blassie, who became a cult figure for fans by playing the villain inside the ring during the 1950s and 1960s, has died. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Despite that, Blassie ended the year by leaving WWWF and returning to Los Angeles and the WWA. "Typical Italian stunt! Greenbergs memoir on Freddie Blassie was released just three weeks before he died in 2003. We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 8 February. [8] He teamed with Billy McDaniel as the McDaniel Brothers, but when they went east, they were known as the Blassie Brothers. He did an advice segment on the Tuesday Night Titans TV program, made personal appearances and did radio interviews. Freddie Blassie | Pro Wrestling | Fandom Stay tuned to theLast Word on Pro Wrestlingfor more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. Blassie got involved when he threw his cane into the ring, with Sheik and Volkoff using it to their advantage to gain the victory. 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. WWE Confidential: The life and times of "Classy" Freddie Blassie Vince McMahon interviews "Classy" Freddie Blassie & Nikolai Volkoff That year, Blassie was forced to retire from in-ring competition, as a California by-law forbade wrestling licenses for anyone upon reaching 55 years old. After the war, he continued to wrestle professionally in the Midwest. Before The Client List: "Classy" Freddie Blassie - Last Word on Pro Lanny stated that though Freddie Blassie never knew how to save his money well, he always had enough since he was never a drinker and saved a lot of money in that regard. Blassie also mastered the television interview, boasting his superiority over other wrestlers he liked to call ''pencil-neck geeks.'' Heres a look at Classy Freddie Blassies wrestling career, long before he decided to take on clients and become one of the most iconic managers of the 1970s and 1980s. He was 85. In the late 1960s, he moved to the East Coast and the World-Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, later the World Wresting Federation (WWF) and now World Wrestling Entertainment WWE)). In the late 1960s, he moved to the East Coast and the World-Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, later the World Wresting Federation (WWF) and now World Wrestling Entertainment WWE)). 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). At an early age, Blassie was enamored with pro wrestling, particularly the "shooters" of the early era of pro wrestling in the 1930s, and would often sneak into a local gym to watch the technical masters stretch and submit their opponents. [2] During that same title reign, in a match against Lord James Blears a fan threw acid on his back, and he had to return immediately to the locker room to wash it off; over the course of his career, he was also stabbed 21 times and lost vision in his right eye after being struck by a thrown hard-boiled egg. [3], In 1964, Blassie feuded with Bruno Sammartino and Bobo Brazil. Born: 1921. His ex-manager would turn out to be an enemy, representing The Iron Sheik in the match where Hulk Hogan won the WWE Championship and held it for a shade over four years. Pro Wrestling Stories - Your daily source of nostalgia and a peek behind the curtain wall of wrestlings past! Around 1980, he adopted a new moniker: "Ayatollah Blassie. 'The Destroyer' Dick Beyer story archive | Slam Wrestling Courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.. [2][14] Blassie also managed Muhammad Ali in his boxer vs. wrestler match in 1976 against Antonio Inoki. He felt this was his chance to tell his life story before moving on. [17] In 2000, Blassie made an appearance at the Royal Rumble as a judge in the Miss Rumble 2000 Swimsuit contest, which was won by Mae Young. Blassie was a contemporary of six-time NWA world champion Thesz, who died in 2002 at the age of 86. Also featured is Bob Zmuda, who plays a nosy fan. Deiveson Figueiredo Tattoo Wallpaper. Freddie Blassie Wrestlers Database CAGEMATCH - The Internet Since his retirement, he has occasionally worked as a "goodwill ambassador" (!) Discover Freddie Blassie's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. He bleached his hair and quickly became a heel's heel, outraging crowds by gleefully breaking every rule in the book. Matches Freddie Blassie Wrestlers Database - CAGEMATCH He graduated from McKinley High School and began work at a meatpacking plant. Freddie never held a true world title but he was still one of the greatest of the 50s through the 60s". )[8] The movies title and premise are parodies of the 1981 art-house classic My Dinner with Andre.[23]. Returning to the WWA, Blassie began feuding with the likes of Bobo Brazil, Mil Mascaras, and others, as well as teaming with another known violent savage, Mad Dog Vachon. In reality, Blassie was a major on-screen figure in wrestling, both in competitive and managerial roles, and had a status in overall pop culture. [6] He performed for that promotion until his full retirement from professional wrestling in 1986. Managed by "Loud" Lou Albano, Blassie continued his winning ways, but never won the WWWF's championship. His penchant for biting opponents earned him the nickname "The [8] His final wrestling appearance was May 12, 2003 in Philadelphia on Raw, three weeks before his death. He lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with his wife and son. 10 Things Fans Should Know About Classy Freddie Blassie, 10 Managers With The Best Claim To Be On A Wrestling Mount Rushmore, 10 Performers Who Were Great As Both A Wrestler & Manager, 10 All-Time Greats You Forgot Had Managers. Because of his close relationship with Vince McMahon, Sr. and his family, Blassie remained on the WWF payroll until the day he died. [6] In later years, Blassie also appeared on The Mike Douglas Show when Philbin was a guest host. Backstage, Jilly Rizzo club owner, Frank Sinatra's bodyguard, and . The Life and Times of Classy Freddie Blassie Quiz Managed by "Loud", Countless World Wrestling Federation TV and Pay Per View Ads. (1965 - 1968) ( divorced), Nettie Needles (September 1942 - 1964) ( divorced) ( 3 children) Freddie Blassie Net Worth His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. Blassie continued to interfere from ringside in matches, especially during Volkoff's feud with Corporal Kirchner. Also learn how He earned most of Freddie Blassie networth? Among the men he managed were Nikolai Volkoff,[2] The Iron Sheik,[2] Blackjack Mulligan,[2] High Chief Peter Maivia,[2] "The Crippler" Ray Stevens,[2] Adrian Adonis,[2] Jesse Ventura,[2] Dick Murdoch,[2] Swede Hanson,[2] Killer Khan,[2] George 'The Animal' Steele,[2] Professor Tanaka,[2] Mr. Fuji,[2] Ivan Koloff,[2] Tor Kamata,[2] Masa Saito,[2] Lou Albano,[2] Victor Rivera,[2] Kamala,[2] Hercules Hernandez,[2] and Hulk Hogan. He won the World Wrestling Association world heavyweight championship from the Frenchman douard Carpentier at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in 1961. Towards the end of Freddie Blassies life, he began to realize that it all may be coming to an end soon. We've received your submission. 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. mainly in the Southeast and West Coast, winning many titles in both. Vince McMahon interviews "Classy" Freddie Blassie & Nikolai Volkoff | WWE WWE Confidential presents a feature on the life and times of the fashion plate of professional wrestling, "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Frederick Kenneth Blassie (Classy Freddy Blassie, The Vampire, Sailor Fred Blassie, The Hollywood Fashion Plate, The Fashion Plate of Professional Wrestling), Miyako Morozumi (30 September1968 - 2 June2003)( his death), ? [3], In 1953, he worked in the Atlanta, territory for Paul Jones (the wrestler of the 1930s, not the wrestler/manager of the 1980s). 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. His father was an abusive alcoholic, prompting Frederick to stay with his grandparents whenever Jacob beat Anna. 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. [8] They received acclaim on the Dr. Demento Radio Show, and the latter song was featured on several albums, including Dr. Demento's 20th anniversary collection, The Very Best of Dr. Demento, and Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty CDs of All Time. Hell, the article is entitled "Freddie Blassie - The Truth (and Somewhere In-Between)" for crying out loud. Back in the dressing room, Blassie realized he was in the wrong one. "Classy" Freddie Blassie WWE Hall of Fame Induction Speech [1994]June 9, 1994 His career began in earnest after his service in the United States Navy during World War II. Of course, these mobsters thought he was putting them down for real. He started a second career as a manager in the WWWF. When the wife of WWEs Chairman and CEOhad heard about this, she accosted Blassie saying, "I didnt even realize you had any kids!".