Pat O'Connor (wrestler) videos and info

Before entering the world of professional wrestling, Patrick O'Connor was an amateur wrestler. He trained under Dave Sparrow, and later Don Anderson, while working as a blacksmith to pay the bills.^[1] After a tournament in 1947, he joined the Wellington wrestling team and trained under Anton Koolmann.^[1] In 1948, he represented New Zealand in the Pan American games.^[3] O'Connor won the New Zealand Heavyweight Championship in amateur wrestling in both 1949 and 1950. The 1949 win earned him entry into the 1950 British Empire Games.^[1] At the Empire Games, O'Connor, once again representing New Zealand,^[3] won a silver medal winner in the (freestyle) heavyweight division. He later trained to be a professional wrestling under Len Levy.^[3]

Professional wrestling career

National Wrestling Alliance

O'Connor held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from 1959 to 1961. He first won the title on January 9, 1959, from Dick Hutton, who had held the title for 13 months.^[3]^[4] O'Connor's reign was recognized by both the National Wrestling Alliance and the National Wrestling Association.^[4] The title change was part of the rivalry between bookers Sam Muchnick and Fred Kohler, the latter of whom did not want to waste any money announcing O'Connor as the new champion.^[5] Kohler also wanted O'Connor to pay him $10,000 to wrestle at shows in Chicago, while being paid less than champions usually earned.^[5] O'Connor was so angry at the suggestion that he walked out of their meeting and later told Muchnick not to book him for events in Chicago.^[5] The men later worked out a deal of sorts, and on February 19, 1960, O'Connor wrestled in Chicago against Bruno Sammartino and Johnny Valentine, among others.^[6]

On July 29, at one of Fred Kohler's events, O'Connor defeated Yukon Eric at an event with an attendance of 30,275.^[7] During this time, television also became a factor in the burgeoning market for professional wrestling, and as a result, the demand to trade wrestlers, including O'Connor, throughout the territories, was eased due to Vince McMahon's Capitol Wrestling.^[8] In December, he worked for McMahon in the Northeast.^[9] In March 1961, he was suspended for 16 days when he missed a match in New York.^[9] On June 30, 1961, O'Connor dropped the title to Buddy Rogers in front of 38,622 fans at Comiskey Park, a North American professional wrestling attendance record that lasted until WrestleMania III in 1987.^[3] The ticket sells of $148,000 was a professional wrestling record for almost 20 years.^[3] The match was a two out of three falls match and was billed as the "Match of the Century".^[3] During the match, both men had gained a pinfall, when O'Connor missed a dropkick, hit his head, and Rogers pinned him to win the match.^[3]

American Wrestling Association

In May 1960, while still the NWA Champion, the American Wrestling Association (AWA) named O'Connor as the first holder of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship when they succeeded from the NWA.^[10] Therefore, he held both the AWA and NWA World Heavyweight Championships simultaneously.^[2] He never defended the AWA Championship, and was stripped of it in August, after 90 days, when Verne Gagne was recognized as the new champion.^[10]

Later career

On January 1, 1982, O'Connor was part of the card that comprised promoter Sam Muchnick's last professional wrestling show, located in St. Louis.^[11] O'Connor was also one of the owners of the St. Louis Wrestling Club.^[11] O'Connor, along with Verne Gagne, Harley Race, and Bob Geigel purchased the territory from Sam Muchnick the day after Muchnick's retirement.^[12]^[13] On September 18, 1963, O'Connor was named as a con-conspirator in the monopoly that controlled wrestling in Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa.^[14] O'Connor filed a counterclaim.^[15] All the claims were later dismissed.^[16]

Championships and accomplishments

Notes

†Fictitious title reign. Announced as the champion as part of the storyline to introduce the title.

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Hornbaker, Tim. National Wrestling Alliance, p.208
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "2007 Inductees Press Release". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (2007). Retrieved on 2009-01-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Oliver, Greg (March 16, 2006). "Chicago's big moment: O'Connor vs Rogers, 1961". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved on 2009-01-07.
^ ^a ^b Hornbaker, Tim. National Wrestling Alliance, p.55
^ ^a ^b ^c Hornbaker, Tim. National Wrestling Alliance, p.88
^ Hornbaker, Tim. National Wrestling Alliance, p.89
^ Hornbaker, Tim. National Wrestling Alliance, p.90
^ Hornbaker, Tim. National Wrestling Alliance, p.106
^ ^a ^b Hornbaker, Tim. National Wrestling Alliance, p.210
^ ^a ^b Duncan, Royal & Gary Will (4th Edition 2006). Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b Hornbaker, Tim. National Wrestling Alliance, p.59
^ DiBiase, Ted (2008). Ted DiBiase: The Million Dollar Man. Simon and Schuster. p. 106–107. ISBN 141655890X.
^ Robertson, Dewey and Meredith Renwick (2006). Bang Your Head: The Real Story of the Missing Link. ECW Press. p. 99. ISBN 1550227270.
^ Hornbaker, Tim. National Wrestling Alliance, p.168
^ Hornbaker, Tim. National Wrestling Alliance, p.171
^ Hornbaker, Tim. National Wrestling Alliance, p.173
^ ^a ^b Hornbaker, Tim. National Wrestling Alliance, p.44
^ "Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (1948-1990)". Puroresu Dojo (2003).
^ "W.W.A. World Tag Team Title (Indianapolis)". Puroresu Dojo (2003).

Diemazz

Contents

Early life

Amateur wrestling