[42] On August 9, 1980, he won the WWF Tag Team Championship along with Backlund by besting Afa and Sika, the Wild Samoans, at the Showdown at Shea 1980. [13], The tag team next entered a feud with Jerry Graham and Luke Graham, losing several times before earning a win on September 19, 1964. Morales also ran a parallel team with Pepper Gomez, winning the American Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship along with him after winning their two previous matches. [20] Morales and Rivera won the last encounter on August 16, 1967, then migrating to another rivalry against Freddie Blassie & Buddy Austin. In 1970, he joined the WWWF, winning its World Heavyweight Championship and United States Championship. Coleman, Johnny Rodz and The Hangman. In turn, Morales ended the year with wins over Matt Borne, The Spoiler, Smirnoff, Barry O and Mike Sharpe, in the process successfully teaming with Santana. Send Condolences Previous Send Flowerss Send Food Plant a Tree in the Holy Land Send a Personalized Card Plant a Tree in the U.S. Make a Donation Send a Soup Gift Basket Create An Oral History [52], During the months of March and April 1985, Morales participated in tag team matches for the WWF, including participation in a show held in Kuwait. > Video
[38] Their main opponents during this timeframe were The Invaders, against whom they exchanged results, with Morales and Patterson winning the NWA San Francisco World Tag Team Championship on October 29, 1975. [52], After a brief interruption where he bested Swede Hanson in a WWF card held at New York, Morales returned to CSP joining Carlos Coln, Sr. to win the CSP World Tag Team Championship over The Medics. He is pointing his index finger at me, asking for me to come over to him. Despite earning wins over several other teams, they were unable to best Blassie and Austin during this feud, only recording a single win. Such a great story of my childhood hero! [51] During the month of November, he divided honors with Graham, also scoring victories over Tony Russo and Fuji. Apr 1: WWE WrestleMania [9] During the next two years, he wrestled in Virginia and North Carolina, particularly in the towns of Petersburg, Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina. This pattern continued in November, when Morales and Santana exchanged results against Valentine and Brutus Beefcake. [3] The crowd favored him, despite Sammartino's large fan base in the city of New York. Sports, writer Greg Oliver considered him the best wrestler to hold the belt, stating that when "he held the title, there was a sense of honour and pride with it". The afternoons main event had Morales defending his belt against Handsome Jimmy Valiant. He won his next match by defeating George Cannon, forming a brief partnership with Hahn Lee that only lasted for a month. A feud with Mayne went on to include a steel cage match. On August 31, 2006, as part of a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling taping, Morales was mentioned by Konnan along fellow Hall of Famers Carlos Coln, Mil Mscaras and the Guerrero family, being acknowledged as Latinos that paved the way within the wrestling industry. [50] To continue, Morales won two consecutive contests, including a Brass Knuckles Alley Fight, but got disqualified in the third. Born and raised in Culebra,. Instead, Morales elected to train in order to become a professional wrestler, in the process gaining twenty pounds. [33], This was followed with a rematch, this time teaming with Andr the Giant. [20], He challenged and defeated Blassie by himself, but lost in a rematch. Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. [28] During this time-frame, Rivera joined Morales in the WWWF, becoming part of his usual partners along Monsoon and Strongbow. He was also successful in two team matches along Santana. [12] Morales also played baseball. After defeating Barend in a stretcher match, Morales defeated Les Roberts and advanced to the second round of the Strelich Tournament, a single-knockdown competition for the Strelich Perpetual Trophy, with a win over Woody Farmer. [34] Throughout April and May, he successfully faced a number of recycled adversaries, including Mayne, Wolfe and Tanaka, along with wins over new ones such as Don Leo Jonathan and Mike McCord, aka Austin Idol. [12] A year later, his father signed the documentation required by the New York State Athletic Commission in order to begin his career as an underage performer. [59] Some wrestlers that he had bested in the past, such as Butch Reed or Sika were also booked over him, along with strong adversaries such as Jake Roberts, Bravo, Orton and Paul Orndorff. [22], Now a full-time performer for 50th State Big Time Wrestling in Hawaii, he quickly entered a successful run with victories over Dave Ruhl, Austin and Tank Morgan. [11], When he was 17 years old, Morales trained under Barba Roja to become a wrestler and participated on a card held in New York City in 1959, where he debuted by earning a victory over Howard LaVine, who performed under the pseudonym Buddy Gilbert, going on to participate in tag team matches and other stipulation matches throughout the tri state area the following year. A week later, Morales and Gomez also lost the AWA World Tag Team Championship to Kinji Shibuya & Masa Saito, but regained them on June 8, 1968. But, Morales had to have felt at home. Our Locations | But, for Johnson-Morales, her interest in wrestling originated in her home state of Missouri. Staff | He was a 1992 graduate of Woodbridge High School whre he played football. The team went on to win almost a dozen matches, while he won contests against The Mighty Atlas, The Preacher and Mike DiBiase during the following months. [40] Afterwards, Koloff joined Mr. Saito as his main partner in the ongoing team feud, but both of the combinations with Johnson and Muraco were able to best them. Meanwhile, his team with Hernandez won three consecutive matches against The Assassins by disqualification. [44] After defeating and drawing with St. Tamben le sobreviven sus nietos: Jorge Juan Morales, Elisa Rangel, Afredo Rangel Jr., Rogelio Reyna, Mariel Alvarez, Jonathan Reyna, Amayra Reyna, Edith Morales and Arely Alvarez. [37] Morales remained successful as a singles wrestler, gathering wins over Fuji, Eddie Sullivan, Otto Von Heller, Johnny Rodz and Black Gordman during the first half of 1974. Morales defeated both Tanaka and Mr. Fuji by countout and won the following two tag team matches. In 2000, The Ring Chronicle inducted Morales into its own version of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. In 2003, he expressed interest in returning to live permanently in a coastal town near the Caribbean Sea once his wife retired. With an offer to earn a lot more money than what she had been earning in Missouri, Johnson-Morales jumped at the opportunity. Its a good story, explained Johnson-Morales of the road that led to her meeting the man of her dreams. An extra added bonus for me was the appearance of Valiants manager The Grand Wizard. Mar 5: AEW Revolution In September, Tyler and Graham brought in Jimmy Valiant as a teammate, which led to a series of matches including a win over him in a steel cage. On October 25, 1971, Morales defeated Stasiak in a Texas Death match. whittlesea council asset protection [22] However, in his following appearance he recovered the Hawaii Tag Team titles with Francis. An advanced case of Parkinson's disease prevented him from traveling to Puerto Rico during his final years. [31] The following month featured feuds which ended in Morales earning several victories over Pampero Firpo, Tanaka, Iaukea and Albano. [19], Morales began 1967 by also teaming with Ricky Romero, Mr. Moto and Pepper Gomez, gathering victories along all of them. A second feud, this time with Don Muraco was not as successful and he experienced mixed results, but also winning more often than he lost. [15] He returned to this role working for World Championship Wrestling during the 1990s, narrating Nitro and pay per views alongside Miguel Alonzo. [11] It was there that one of his sister's friends introduced him to the members of a wrestling club which quickly earned his interest. Sign in with Twitter Officially, it was a draw. Visiting hours will be Friday from 3:00 P.M. until 6:30 P.M. Copyright 2018 - 23 [73] In reality, Konnan credits him with "[teaching] a lot" about the politics of wrestling and "the things you need to do in the ring to be a success in this business" during his time in WCW. On October 8, 1977, Morales unsuccessfully challenged Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. "He was so good to me, and took care of me. [52] He held the belt until September 15, 1984, dropping it to Randy Savage during the final stage of his CSP stay. Afterwards, Morales won contests over The Red Demon, Lombardi and Sivi Afi, while losing to Muraco and being counted out against Savage. The following year, Morales began visiting several more states, often teaming with different Latin luchadores such as Pepper Gonzales and Gory Guerrero, while holding loose feuds with a wrestler simply known as The Viking and Mark Starr. Morales closed the year by rejoining Gomez as a full-time partner, defeating the team of Blassie and The Great Malenko. [14] Morales moved on from these angles and defeated Rod Orell, Billy Klutzer and The Mummy, before dropping the championship to Luke Graham on July 23, 1965. Glad to see you return to your first love Donny!1 Looking forward to many more!!! Morales went on to defeat Austin and Kiniski in rematches, interrupting this run by unsuccessfully challenging Pat Paterson for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship in California. This was followed by a short feud against The Moondogs, which ended with singles wins over both members of the team. When the evenings show finally arrived for the main event that January 15, I was so sold on the action I would see in the title clash and for the next three decades wrestling would consume me. In the early 1960s, Johnson-Morales and her mom attended live wrestling shows in the Kansas City area, and regularly watched them on TV. WWF IC Champion Pedro Morales fought Superstar Billy Graham to a double disqualification . Slaughter, defeating him by disqualification. whas 840 radio listen live. Terms of Use | [WWE.com has a set of photos from the event. Obituaries | [41] However, as a single performer he lost matches to Nick Bockwinkel, Len Denton and Killer Karl Kox, also failing to advance in a tournament for the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship. Concurrently to this series, he was involved in a 3-on-3 match. Run a full background check on Pedro L Martinez. The date on this ticket reads September 30, 1972. [38] Immediately afterwards, they became involved in a series against Don Muraco and Mr. Saito that lasted for the remainder of the year and from which they emerged with the best balance. [51] However, he countered by winning a rematch, also defeating Graham before losing a second rubber match. [9], In August, Morales traveled to Texas and was involved in a series of matches with Jack and Jim Dalton, facing them along multiple tag team partners. His (Pedros) mom was a businesswoman, and advised him often. [11] However, this did not materialize. His victories during this time-frame were over Brute Bernard, Rudy Kay and Charlie Fulton. [60] Morales made a final in-ring appearance as professional wrestler by participating in a battle royale held on November 16, 1987. He was 40 years old. Cremation will be private. Sunnyside Gardens, located at the corner of 45th Street and Queens Boulevard, was a quick ride for me on the Triboro bus, and $3.00 was the cost of my general admission ticket. [28] The following month brought wins over Tyler and Valiant, but also included an encounter where he bested Freddie Blassie and a continuation of the feud against Stasiak during the second half. Their series continued with the equitable results of one win, one loss and a draw. Born in Manhattan, NY; He resided in Woodbridge most of his life. Two more matches against Graham ended in a draw and a disqualification loss. I was pumped for the five-match card. On February 8, 1971, Morales defeated Ivan Koloff to win the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship[nb 1] only a month after winning his first individual title within the promotion. He was 78 years old.Born and raised in Culebra, Puerto Rico, he moved to Brooklyn, NY when he was in Hig [42] He formed a tag team with Bob Backlund, which won its first two contests. He closed 1971 by defeating Blassie in a Roman Gladiator match, Ray Stevens, Stan Stasiak twice and The Rugged Russians along with Rivera. Individually, Morales went on to defeat Mr.X several times, Gibbs, Lombardi and Barry O twice, Rene Goulet four times and Tiger Chung Lee. [24] In late May, Hard Boiled Haggerty arrived to the promotion. > The Artist Canvas
Following three wins over Tanaka and more against Firpo, Morales teamed with Sammartino on July 18, 1972, to face the former and Mr. Fuji. The following weeks brought wins over Sammy Sanders, Bob Bradley, Fuji and Rose, but also losses to Graham and Muraco, most of which were by countout or disqualification. In December, Morales bested Jimmy Jack Funk, Volkoff, Frenchy Martin and Bravo, but also featured an unsuccessful rivalry with Race. He had a geat interest in aviation and loved to travel and fish. 14112-1 Pedro A. Morales of Woodbridge passed away on Wednesay, June 4, 2014 at JFK Medical Center in Edison. He was every bit a babyface. After pinning Valiant to successfully defend the title, ring announcer Mike Goldbergs was barely audible. Pedro was a resident of Woodbridge, New Jersey at the time of passing. On December 12, 1985, Goulet scored a rare win over him. [25] On January 7, 1971, Morales won the vacant WWWF United States Championship by defeating Blassie in a tournament final. [53] The second half of the month brought wins in two matches along with Santana and singles success over opponents that he had previously wrestled. Sign in with Facebook. After his 1987 retirement, Morales remained active in wrestling as a road agent and a Spanish-language commentator. In a rare CSP card outside of Puerto Rican soil, Morales wrestled Hugo Savinovich in Trinidad. This was followed by victories over Austin and in a second battle royale. [55] He won his first two contests of 1986 Moondog Spot and Lee, before losing to Terry Funk. Morales began 1970 by wrestling in a series against Jack Bence, which later involved Bing Ki Lee and Tank Morgan. [11] After practicing in his school and at a local YMCA, Morales debuted as an amateur wrestler at the age of 13, competing in the 160lb division. [11] Despite being a resident of this area, he continued to travel frequently to Puerto Rico, visiting the archipelago multiple times per year. > Books
[27] Meanwhile, The Wolfman and Bulldog Brower became recurrent enhancement talents during this run. It was like fireworks went off for me. At Madison Square Garden, on February 8, 1971, Morales dethroned The Russian Bear Ivan Koloff for the title. Pedro Morales Jr. Memorial Baseball Class: Senior Baseball Boys Bowling Football. Morales began wrestling and defeating other adversaries, including George Steele, The Executioner and Larry Sharpe, besides the usual low card talents that he had consistently bested previously. On August 5, 1970, Morales regained the North American Heavyweight Championship from Barend. [85] Morales met Karen Johnson in 1965, when she attended an event at Long Beach where he was performing. Individually, he gained victories over several familiar performers including Lee, Barry O, Gibbs and The Spoiler, also winning a series against Alexi Smirnoff and losing a single time to Orton. Free Marketing emails Johnson-Morales voice is perky, and excited to go back in time, to tell how their love story began. I was teaching in Kansas City. In what marked the final stage of this AWA run, Morales continued defeating jobbers Mike York, Kenny Jay and The Strangler, but began losing more often to talent that he had bested earlier including Nick Bockwinkel and others such as Angelo Mosca. Morales was born on October 22, 1942, in the municipality of Culebra, an island off the shore of Puerto Rico's main island. [42] On November 8, 1979, Morales returned to NJPW, besting Kengo Kimura, Kuniaki Kobayashi, drawing with Tatsumi Fujinami and losing to Antonio Inoki. [43] However, they had to forfeit the championship belts the following day, due to a rule stating that no heavyweight champion could hold a second title at the same time. 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