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Does Anyone Know About These People?
January 4, 2006 by Dale Pierce

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I have always hated when anyone called me an “expert” or a “wrestling historian” because whenever someone is called an “expert”, in almost any field, I have found that person to be full of himself, as well as a healthy dose of B.S.. I am no expert, but have simply been around and tend to have a memory for most of what I have seen, nothing more. With his in mind, I am pulling out some names from the past and hoping someone might have a little more information they could post on feedback. Are these people alive or dead? Do you know anything else about them? This time you help me.
 
Dick Trout: The name conjures up an image of a dirty cartoon, depicting a big fish and, well, you can figure it out. All joking aside though, this guy evidently made the rounds in the 1950s. He was particularly popular working the Arizona-California circuits for a while. I have also seen his name on old posters now and again on eBay. Still, I have never seen a photo of him; have no idea about his life and death barring seeing it results, and no idea what he wrestled like. Does anyone have any information on this man, with the odd name?

Chuck Adcock: It might have been Adcox instead of Adcock and I cannot really recall. As one person I know put it, “he looked kind of like a butler, if he was seen in the fancy clothes with the coat and tails, rather than in wrestling gear.” That fits him fairly well. He was on the under-card in the East, long ago. I have found his name in some old results now and again, but very rarely. Does anyone know anything about this man or if he is still around?

Tony Barbetta: I saw this man in Phoenix a couple of times in the early 1970s, thinking of how he looked a little like Lou Albano when he was part of The Sicilians. I thought he was just some local yokel, but some searches on the net have shown he made it to Texas, where he held a belt, to Georgia, and to other places as well. No idea where he came from or whatever happened to him. He feuded with Pancho Pico and with the original Danny Kroffat when I saw him in Arizona.

Jumbo: This guy came through Phoenix in the 1960s and was a big, rotund grappler who was popular with the people. Last I heard was several years ago, when he and his tag team partner, Tokyo Joe, got into a fight somewhere in the South and one stabbed the other, a la Arn and Sid. With his great girth, I am sure he has since passed away. Looked a little like Crusher Blackwell.

Jack Ringer: This was a bigger guy, who used the intellectual heel type of tirades on Phoenix TV. He was involved in a wild and bloody feud with Cowboy Bob Ellis and Armon Hussein (He later referred to Hussein in a promo as “wearing your nun’s hat” in regard to the Arab garb he wore to the ring) There was an under-card guy in the Midwest called Big John Lee, who looked a good deal like him in the few photos I saw and may or may not have been the same man. There was also a John Ringer from 1977-1988 seeing action in Arizona, who claimed to be his “brother” but was really no relation. This Ringer even remarked, “I finally got to see a picture of that son of a bitch” in the early 1980s While info and photos, as well as video of John Ringer may be found circulating, Jack Ringer dropped out of site. Any ideas?

Killer Kane He was a muscular villain with a shaved head, who held Arizona in terror in the late 1960s. He was a stomping, mauling individual and gained a lot of heat at the old Phoenix Madison Square Garden. I am sure he worked someplace else under this name or another alias. Any idea?

Henry Pilusso: I have seen his name also spelled as Piluso and Pilluso. He was a bald-headed heel with real thick eyebrows, feuding with Pancho Pico, Ray Gordon, Cowboy Bob Ellis and others in the 1960s through the early 1970s. I did not realize he was a major star in Mexico and was the man responsible for turning Santo from heel to baby after a bout they had (could anyone even remember Santo as heel?). He also made some movies in Mexico that have been available on video. Gossip circulated in the 1990s that he had died, but this again happens all the time in the wrestling world, so who knows if it is true?

Bull Gregory: The embodiment of “carpenter” or someone who usually lost, but specialized in making the other person look good, rather than just getting smashed down with no offense offered whatsoever. He worked in the east on the under-card for several years and I cannot recall him ever winning a bout. He made a pretty good living though, I assume. He also had some bouts with Cowboy Bob Ellis in the south where presumably he was allowed to show his stuff a bit more.

Kangaroo Bob Carson: A big draw in the southwest in the 1950s and 1960s, though I cannot recall seeing the name anyplace else. Feuded in Arizona with Don Arnold, Brute Bemis (Mr Kleen), and others. He often teamed with Tito Montez and was known for his flying moves. There was a Don Carson also, but I do not think these two were the same person.

The Beautiful Bambi Ball: The Beautiful Bambi Ball had a face that wouldn’t just stop a clock, but would stop a Swiss watch by the time I saw her out West in the 1970s. She was a red haired heel and gained a lot of heat from the crowd. Started, if I recall, back east with the old Tony Santos promotion or one of the other eastern groups at that point in time. Her last hurrah in the ring came in the 1970s, again if I recall right, feuding with Tonah Tomah.

Rene Lasartesse: This name would be meaningless to U.S. fans but mention his name in Germany, Austria and other places in the 1970s and you would be speaking of the very devil. A tall, blond man with a black vampire cape, he was in his day perhaps the most hated heel in Europe. He also teamed infrequently with King Kong Kirk, the ill-fated British grappler who died from a heart attack in the ring while facing Big Daddy.

Cowboy Mike Cook: This cowboy, like all the others, wore the hat into the ring and used the bulldog to win his bouts. He was pushed among Indies fairly well in Colorado and New Mexico in the early 1980s, but I cannot recall him going much further than that. He had the charisma and the talent, but just lacked the connections to really make the big time.

Sweet Daddy Watts: There is a photo and a limited bio of this guy in the profiles section. I also recall he worked for the Santos promotion out of Boston and may have started there, as well as down south. I saw him in Arizona in 1969 or so, where he was a heel then turned thanks to Bearcat Wright. Whatever happened to him, I do not know, but I do recall his ring personality, his somewhat contradictory, high voice and how the people loved him after his turn. (Odd, as everyplace else, more or less, outside Arizona, Bearcat Wright was a baby).

The turn came when on a TV promo; Watts asked Wright how he did the claw hold, which was his finisher. Wright, playing the psycho, clamped it on him and laid him out for no reason, which started the feud. The bouts and the promotional interviews were classic, especially a few weeks later, where Watts claimed he followed Wright to south Phoenix, where he saw him gathering around a fire, jumping up and down, in a ritual with a voodoo cult. This, so help me, was said with a straight face. I had seen his real name listed in Whatever Happened To Gorgeous George, but do not have a copy of this book in my collection, having gained this info from a library edition. He was also sometimes known as Gorilla Watts.

If anyone knows anything about these people, drop me an email or leave some feedback here. Help me out with info a twist here..

by Dale Pierce..

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TG wrote:
Dale, most of the names you mentioned are just that to me–names. But for one: Bull Gregory, if he is the man I’m thinking of is a wrestler I used to see on the old Gran Prix wrestling show that came out of the Montreal area in the early 70’s. He was a mid-card heel, generally taking on the young up-and-comers, jobbing for some, winning a few matches here and there. He vanished for years after, then suddenly turned up on George Cannon’s “Superstars of Wrestling” promotion in the early 80’s. He jobbed a few matches, and behaved like a cartoon character, overselling his moves, and acting like a goofball. What he did outside of those for his career, I’ve no idea. Hope this helps.

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Dale Pierce wrote:
Yeah, that is the guy. He had a feud with Ellis down south but was lower card everyplace else. Someone asked me about him which was why i put him in as I knew who he was and what he looked like but had no idea where he went or if he died. He,. like many, dropped out of site……