| Don Muraco |
Article Index for Don |
Website Links For Don |
Information AboutDon Muraco |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT DON MURACO | |
| 1949 births | |
| american professional wrestlers | |
| living people | |
| world wrestling entertainment alumni | |
| sportspeople of hawaii | |
| wwe hall of fame | |
|
Don Muraco, also '''The Magnificent Muraco''', later known as "The Rock", was a Hawaii an Professional Wrestler in the 1970s , 1980s , and 1990s . CAREER Born on September 10, 1949, Muraco wrestled in the old AWA , and several National Wrestling Alliance territories (including Vancouver -based NWA All-Star Wrestling , Georgia Championship Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions ). His greatest success was in the early 80's in the WWE where he held the Intercontinental Championship twice for a combined period of almost 18 months. The hugely muscular and genuinely intimidating Don Muraco had bloody feuds with Pedro Morales , Bob Backlund , Rocky Johnson , Jimmy Snuka and Tito Santana . Muraco's character was based on being an incredibly arrogant heel, and in one of his more famous moments, he brought a sandwich to the ring and ate it during the match as a show of disrespect to his opponent. During his tenure in the WWE, Muraco had several colorful managers ( The Grand Wizard , Captain Lou Albano , Mr. Fuji , and Superstar Billy Graham ). Fuji and Muraco famously debuted ''Fuji Vice'', a Soap Opera starring them (and parodying Miami Vice ) on ''Tuesday Night Titans'' in 1985 . It is rumored that Muraco was fired from the then-WWF in late 1988 after supposedly "disrespecting" booker Nick Bockwinkel; after that, Muraco split his time between Stampede Wrestling (where he defeated Makhan Singh to win the North American Heavyweight title) and the AWA. In the early 90's Muraco was the first to hold the ECW World Heavyweight Championship , before it became Extreme Championship Wrestling. Although Muraco wrestled mostly as a Heel , his intensity, charisma and cockiness won him many fans, especially in New York and Philadelphia. Along with Jake The Snake Roberts , Roddy Piper , and Randy Savage , Muraco was a precursor to the 90's attitude era when lines were blurred between heels and babyface. He was the first wrestler to be known as "the Rock", originally simply as a play on his name, and his finishing maneuvre, which The Undertaker would later call the "tombstone", was the infamous reverse piledriver. After retiring from the ring, Muraco returned to Hawaii. In 2003 he founded HAWAI'I CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING, and is the current commissioner and Director of Operations. PROFILE
He returned to Florida as "The Magnificent M" and was outed by Steve Kerns CHAMPIONSHIPS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS World Wrestling Federation
National Wrestling Alliance
Eastern Championship Wrestling Florida Championship Wrestling
Other titles
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
|