| Gorilla Monsoon | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Gorilla Monsoon |
| Billed height | 6' 5" |
| Billed weight | 375 lbs |
| Born | June 4, 1937 New York, New York |
| Died | October 6, 1999 (aged 62) Willingboro, New Jersey |
| Debut | 1959 |
Robert James "Gino" Marella (June 4, 1937 - October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play announcer, and booker. Events 781 BC - The first historic Solar eclipse is recorded in China. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The City of New York Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Willingboro is a Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Philadelphia. The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 781 BC - The first historic Solar eclipse is recorded in China. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) A ring name is a Stage name used by a professional wrestler, or in some cases a Martial artist or boxer. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Professional wrestling, or pro wrestling, is a non-competitive professional Sport, where all matches are scripted by the promotion's booking staff Play-by-play, in Broadcasting, is a North American term and means the reporting of a Sporting event with a Voiceover describing the details of the action An announcer is a Voice actor who works in Television, Radio or Film, usually providing Narrations News updates Station He is famous for his run as one of the great super-heavyweights, and later as the voice of the World Wrestling Federation as announcer, on-screen President, and backstage manager during the 1980s and 1990s. World Wrestling Entertainment Inc ( WWE) is a publicly traded privately controlled integrated media (focusing in Television, Internet, In professional wrestling, the staging area just behind the entrance curtain at an event, a position which Marella established and where he could often be found during WWF shows late in his career, is named the Gorilla Position in his honor.
Contents |
Career
Amateur career
Marella attended Jefferson High School in Rochester, New York, becoming a standout athlete in football, amateur wrestling, and track and field. Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York State, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive Team sport known for mixing strategy with Scholastic wrestling is the commonly-used name of the style of Amateur wrestling practiced at the High school and middle (junior high school level in At the time, he weighed over 300 pounds (136 kg), and was affectionately called "Tiny" by his teammates.
Marella was also a standout athlete after high school at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. High school is the name used in some parts of the world (in particular Scotland, North America and Australia) to describe an institution Ithaca College is a private institution of higher education located on the South Hill of Ithaca New York. The City of Ithaca (named for the Greek island of Ithaca) sits on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, in Central New York He continued to wrestle, now weighing over 350 pounds, and took second in the 1959 NCAA Wrestling Championships. The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA, often pronounced "N-C-Double-A" is a voluntary association of about 1200 institutions conferences organizations He also held several school athletic records, including an 18-second wrestling pin, and several track-and-field distinctions. He was inducted into the Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973.
Marella's size and athletic ability attracted the attention of New York promoter Pedro Martinez, and he went to wrestle for Martinez after graduating from Ithaca in 1959.
Early career
Marella originally billed himself as Gino Marella, a proud Italian-American babyface who would sing in Italian prior to his matches. An Italian American is an American of Italian descent and/or dual citizenship In Professional wrestling, a face or babyface is a character who is portrayed as Heroic relative to the heel wrestlers who are analogous to villains Even after changing his stage name, "Gino" stuck as Marella's nickname among friends and colleagues, including Jesse "The Body" Ventura, who would call Marella "Gino" on the air. A stage name, also called a screen name, is a Pseudonym used by Performers and Entertainers such as Jesse Ventura (born July 15, 1951 as James George Janos) also known as "The Body", "The Star", and "The Marella garnered moderate popularity, but soon realized that fans paid more attention to outlandish monster heel gimmicks, and they therefore made more money. In Professional wrestling, a heel is a Villain character In non-wrestling jargon heels are the "bad guys" in pro wrestling storylines. Marella totally revamped his image, growing a long beard and billing himself as Gorilla Monsoon, a terrifying giant from Manchuria. Manchuria ( Romanized Manchu: Manju,, Маньчжурия Mongolian: Манж is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Supposedly born on an isolated farm, "Monsoon" traveled across the countryside with a gypsy caravan wrestling bears, spoke no English, ate raw meat, and drank his victims' blood. The Monsoon character was infinitely more successful, and fans were genuinely afraid of him, sparking a huge financial windfall for Marella. In the ring, Monsoon dominated opponents with vicious chops, the dreaded Manchurian Splash, and his signature move, the Airplane Spin.
WWWF/WWF career
In 1963, Vincent J. McMahon reformed the Capitol Wrestling Corporation into the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) (currently known as World Wrestling Entertainment), breaking his territory away from the National Wrestling Alliance in an attempt to create a new national powerhouse. Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Vincent James McMahon, better known as Vince McMahon Sr ( July 6, 1914 – May 24, 1984) was a U World Wrestling Entertainment Inc ( WWE) is a publicly traded privately controlled integrated media (focusing in Television, Internet, The National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA) is the largest governing body for a group of independent Professional wrestling promotions and sanctions various NWA At the time, the WWWF was the dominant wrestling promotion in the Northeast U. S. Marella formed a friendship with McMahon, and became a 1/6th shareholder in the WWWF, controlling bookings in several WWWF territories. He also became one of the promotion's top heels, feuding with popular babyface champion Bruno Sammartino in sellout arenas across the country. Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (born October 6 1935 is an Italian former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the Despite his huge size, which was now in excess of 400 pounds, Monsoon had great agility and stamina, often wrestling Sammartino to one-hour time-limit draws.
In 1969, Monsoon became a babyface, befriending his former arch-rival when Sammartino rescued him from an attack by The Sheik. Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Edward "Ed" George Farhat ( June 9, 1926 - January 18, 2003) was an American Professional wrestler best known The stage was set for Monsoon to become a fan favorite of the 1970s and feud with top heels of the decade, including champion "Superstar" Billy Graham. Eldridge Wayne Coleman (born September 10, 1943) better known by his Ring name "Superstar" Billy Graham, is an American He also feuded with André the Giant, and the two engaged in a special boxing match in Puerto Rico (a territory which Monsoon co-owned at the time) in 1977, which André won. André René Roussimoff (May 19 1946 &ndash January 27 1993 best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and Actor Boxing (sometimes also known as English boxing or pugilism) is a Combat sport in which two participants generally of similar weight, Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}} Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays
On June 2, 1976, a very famous incident occurred in Philadelphia involving boxing great Muhammad Ali. Events 455 - The Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə Biography Early life Cassius Clay Jr was born on January 17 1942 Ali, preparing for his upcoming crossover bout with Antonio Inoki in Japan later that month, jumped into the ring as Monsoon was concluding a short match against Baron Mikel Scicluna. real name, born February 20, 1943) is a Professional wrestling promoter and retired Japanese Professional wrestler and mixed martial For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Mikel Scicluna (nicknamed "Baron" Mike Scicluna) is a retired Professional wrestler from the Isle of Malta, who now lives in Pennsylvania Ali removed his shirt and started dancing around Monsoon while gesturing and throwing jabs at him, to which Monsoon responded by grabbing Ali in his Airplane Spin and slamming him to the mat. Marella would never reveal whether the incident was preplanned. In an interview, he commented, "I never saw him before and haven’t seen him since. "[1]
A kind of torch bearer of the Vincent J. McMahon-era WWWF, Gorilla Monsoon was rabidly supported by New York audiences. On June 16, 1980, a young and up-and-coming Hulk Hogan was booked to face him at Madison Square Garden. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Terrance "Terry" Gene Bollea (born August 11 1953 better known by his Ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Actor, and retired professional Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG, and known colloquially as The Garden, has been the name of four Arenas in New York City. At the time, Hogan was a widely followed heel character, while Monsoon was still a babyface. However, in order to push the new talent, McMahon told Hulk Hogan to beat Monsoon in under a minute. Upon that outcome, the crowd became livid and chased Hogan when he was leaving the arena, turning over his car. Policemen on horses had to be summoned to quiet the mob.
As the 1980s began, Marella's in-ring career wound down. On August 23, Monsoon put his career on the line in a match against Ken Patera. Events 79 - Mount Vesuvius begins stirring on the feast day of Vulcan the Roman god of fire Ken Patera (born November 7[[ 944]] in Portland, Oregon) is a former Professional wrestler and Olympic weightlifter Monsoon lost the match and stayed true to his word, retiring several weeks later and returning just three times: wrestling a match in 1982 as a substitute for André the Giant, taking part in Big John Studd's "Body Slam Challenge" in 1983, and participating in a special "old timers" battle royal in 1987 which was won by Lou Thesz. Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) John William Minton ( February 19, 1948 – March 20, 1995) was an American professional wrestler and Actor, Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Aloysius Martin Thesz ( April 24 1916 - April 28 2002) also known as The Great One, was a professional wrestler and The next phase of his career began, as the voice and backstage manager of WWF.
After in-ring retirement
In the early 1980s, Vincent J. McMahon's son, current WWE owner Vincent K. McMahon, began assuming the reins of the promotion from his father. Vincent Kennedy McMahon (born August 24 1945 popularly known by his Ring name Mr The elder McMahon asked his son to take care of long-time employees that had been loyal to him. The younger McMahon agreed, and in 1982, Vince bought Marella's shares in the company in exchange for a guarantee of lifetime employment. Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) As he had been to his father, Marella became a close confidant of the younger McMahon, and assumed a prominent backstage role. In addition, McMahon needed a new announcer team to head up his television programming, and installed Marella with the recently retired Jesse "The Body" Ventura as the new announcing team. Jesse Ventura (born July 15, 1951 as James George Janos) also known as "The Body", "The Star", and "The Marella and Ventura had great chemistry, with Ventura as the pro-heel color commentator and Marella as the pro-face "voice of reason. " Marella and Ventura called five of the first six WrestleManias together (the notable exception was WrestleMania 2, where Marella commentated on the Chicago portion of the event with Gene Okerlund and Cathy Lee Crosby while Ventura commentated on the Los Angeles portion with Lord Alfred Hayes and Elvira). This article is about the WrestleMania PPV series in general for the first WrestleMania itself see WrestleMania (1985. WrestleMania 2 was the second annual WrestleMania Professional wrestling Pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (although The Allstate Arena is a Sports Arena in Rosemont Illinois, which is home to the Chicago Wolves hockey club DePaul University Eugene "Mean Gene" Okerlund (born November 29 1942) is a semi-retired American Professional wrestling Interviewer Cathy Lee Crosby (born December 2, 1944) is an American actress. The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena is a multipurpose sports Arena in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles California at Exposition Alfred George James Hayes ( August 8, 1928 – July 21, 2005) was an English professional wrestler, manager and Cassandra Peterson (born September 17, 1951) is an American actress best known for her on-screen Horror host Persona Monsoon was also paired with villainous manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, a duo that subsequent wrestling commentary teams have often tried to emulate. Raymond Louis Heenan (born November 1, 1944) better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, is a former American Professional The two also formed a real-life friendship which Heenan often recalls fondly.
One of Monsoon's catchphrases was his (mis)use of the word "literally", such as "the fans are literally hanging from the rafters in here!" Presumably, this was done for humor, as Monsoon's announcing character was quite entertaining and extremely popular. Monsoon to this date still holds the record for most consecutive WrestleMania events on the commentary team, calling the first 8 WrestleManias from 1985-1992. Monsoon was the lead announcer on the syndicated show, WWF All Star Wrestling, its successor WWF Wrestling Challenge, and the USA Network weekend show, WWF All American Wrestling, as well as appearing often on the WWF weeknight show, WWF Prime Time Wrestling. WWF Wrestling Challenge was a syndicated weekly World Wrestling Federation show that aired from 1986 to 1996. USA Network (commonly referred to as USA) is an American Cable television channel with about 89 million household subscribers as of 2005 WWF Prime Time Wrestling (also known to fans as simply Prime Time or PTW) was a TV wrestling program that aired on the USA Network Monsoon also served as co-host of Georgia Championship Wrestling on WTBS during McMahon's short-lived ownership of the promotion. Georgia Championship Wrestling was a Professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta Georgia superstation Another of Monsoon's catchphrases was, "Will you Stop??" to co-broadcaster Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, usually after Heenan went off on one of his many heel-backing tangents, or other rants. Raymond Louis Heenan (born November 1, 1944) better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, is a former American Professional Monsoon would suddenly shout, "Will you Stop??"
Marella stepped down as lead announcer at Wrestlemania IX for WCW recruit Jim Ross. WrestleMania IX was the ninth annual WrestleMania Professional wrestling Pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. James William "Jim" Ross (born January 3 1952 in Fort Bragg California He is known affectionately as "good ol'" J He commentated with Jim Ross on Radio WWF for the broadcasts of SummerSlam 1993, Survivor Series 1993 and Royal Rumble 1994. SummerSlam (1993 was the sixth annual SummerSlam Professional wrestling Pay-per-view (PPV event produced by the World Wrestling Federation Survivor Series (1993 was the seventh annual Survivor Series Pay-per-view Professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation Royal Rumble (1994 was the seventh annual Royal Rumble Professional wrestling Pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation He returned to the television broadcast team to call the King Of The Ring 1994 with Randy Savage. King of the Ring (1994 was the second annual King of the Ring Professional wrestling Pay-per-view (PPV event produced by the World Wrestling Randall Mario Poffo (born November 15 1952) a 1 time Intercontinental Champion He is a graduate of Downers Grove North High School Marella's last Pay-Per-View as a commentator was calling the 1994 Survivor Series with Vince McMahon. Survivor Series (1994 was the eighth annual Survivor Series Pay-per-view Professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation Marella remained in his backstage role and appeared on-air frequently, becoming the storyline WWF President in the summer of 1995 (replacing the retiring Jack Tunney). Jack Tunney (b John Tunney 1935 &ndash January 24 2004) was a Canadian Wrestling promoter The WWF President's role was to arbitrate disputes between wrestlers and make matches, similar to the current RAW, SmackDown! and ECW General Managers. This article is about the television program You may be looking for the 1994 video game or the 2002 video game WWE Raw is WWE Friday Night SmackDown is a Professional wrestling Television program for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE that is currently airing Extreme Championship Wrestling ( ECW) is a Professional wrestling brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE based on the independent Health concerns forced him to relinquish this role in September 1997 (replaced by Sgt. Slaughter), and Marella's health deteriorated from there. This article is about the wrestler Robert Remus For the GI Joe character (based on Remus see Sgt In late 1998, Marella returned to call the international version of WWF Superstars for a brief period of time. WWF Superstars of Wrestling was a Professional wrestling program that debuted on September 6, 1986 and was aired until 2001. Sometime in early 1999, Marella appeared in a WWF Attitude commercial featuring Freddie Blassie, Ernie Ladd, Pat Patterson and Killer Kowalski. Frederick Blassie ( February 8, 1918 &ndash June 2, 2003) better known as "Classy" Freddie Blassie, was an American Ernest "Ernie" Ladd ( November 28 1938 – March 10 2007) Nicknamed " The Big Cat " was an American Pat Patterson may refer to Jacob E "Pat" Patterson, former Mayor of Minden Louisiana Pat His final public (and WWF) appearance was as a judge for the Brawl for All at WrestleMania XV. The WWF Brawl For All was a shootfighting tournament held in the World Wrestling Federation that lasted from June 29 1998 to August 24 WrestleMania XV was was a Professional wrestling Pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF which took place on March 28
In April 2007, wrestler Anthony Carelli made his WWE debut as "Santino Marella," a moniker partly given in tribute to Marella. Anthony Carelli (born March 14 1979) Paul Heyman was appointed OVW booker to replace Cornette and changed Carelli's ring name from Johnny Geo Basco
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves:
Championships and accomplishments
- International Wrestling Alliance
-
- IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- World Wrestling Association (Los Angeles)
-
- WWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Luke Graham (1) and El Mongol (1)
-
- WWF Hall of Fame (Class of 1994)
- WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Killer Kowalski (1) and Bill Watts (1)
Personal life
Marella was married to his wife of over 40 years, Maureen, with whom he had two sons, Joey and Victor; and two daughters, Sharon and Valerie. Manchuria ( Romanized Manchu: Manju,, Маньчжурия Mongolian: Манж is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Attacking maneuvers are offensive moves in Professional wrestling, used to set up an opponent for a submission hold or for a throw. Professional wrestling throws are the application of techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming him or her down which makes up most of the action of Professional wrestling throws are the application of techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming him or her down which makes up most of the action of A backbreaker refers to Professional wrestling moves which see a wrestler dropping an opponent so that the opponent's back impacts or is bent backwards against a part of the Professional wrestling throws are the application of techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming him or her down which makes up most of the action of The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship started out in 1964 as the top Professional wrestling Tag team title in the Los Angeles California The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship started out in 1964 as the top Professional wrestling Tag team title in the Los Angeles California James Grady Johnson Gimmick Grady Johnson's Luke Graham persona was known for his "craziness" The World Wrestling Council (WWC is one of Puerto Rico 's two main Professional wrestling promotions the other one being the International Wrestling Association The WWC North American Heavyweight Championship was a Professional wrestling title defended in the Puerto Rican promotion, the World Wrestling The WWC North American Heavyweight Championship was a Professional wrestling title defended in the Puerto Rican promotion, the World Wrestling World Wrestling Entertainment Inc ( WWE) is a publicly traded privately controlled integrated media (focusing in Television, Internet, In Professional wrestling, the WWE Hall of Fame (formerly WWF Hall of Fame) is an institution that honors selected former and current employees of World Wrestling In Professional wrestling, the WWE Hall of Fame (formerly WWF Hall of Fame) is an institution that honors selected former and current employees of World Wrestling The WWWF United States Tag Team Championship was a major tag team title in the World Wide Wrestling Federation from 1963 until 1967 The WWWF United States Tag Team Championship was a major tag team title in the World Wide Wrestling Federation from 1963 until 1967 Bill Watts, (born May 5 1939 in Oklahoma City Oklahoma) is a former American Professional wrestler and promoter Joey Marella ( February 28 1963 - July 4, 1994) was a Professional wrestling referee and the son of legendary wrestler and announcer
He was one of the first inductees into the WWF Hall of Fame on June 9, 1994. In Professional wrestling, the WWE Hall of Fame (formerly WWF Hall of Fame) is an institution that honors selected former and current employees of World Wrestling Events 53 - Roman Emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia 62 - Claudia Octavia commits Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar)
Death
Marella died on October 6, 1999 of heart failure brought on by complications of diabetes, at his home in Willingboro Township, New Jersey. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Heart failure is a Cardiac condition that occurs when a problem with the structure or function of the Heart impairs its ability to supply Diabetes mellitus (ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz or /ˌdaɪəˈbiːtəs/ /məˈlaɪtəs/ or /ˈmɛlətəs/ often referred to simply as diabetes ( Ancient Greek: grc Willingboro is a Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Philadelphia. [2] He was 62 years old. In a tribute that aired on WWF television after his death, McMahon described Marella as "one of the greatest men I have ever known. "
References
- ^ Ithaca College Quarterly 1999/No. 4
- ^ Hagenmayer, S. Joseph. "ROBERT MARELLA, 62, WRESTLER KNOWN AS 'GORILLA MONSOON'", The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 7. The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily Newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United Events 3761 BC - The epoch (origin of the modern Hebrew calendar ( Proleptic Julian calendar) , 1999. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Accessed February 27, 2008. Events 1560 - The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common "Robert "Gorilla Monsoon" Marella, 62, a professional wrestler whose demeanor in the ring resembled Atilla the Hun's but whose deeds and personality were more akin to those of Santa Claus, died yesterday at his Willingboro home after being ill for the last month. "
External Links
- Gorilla Monsoon's WWE Hall of Fame Profile
- Robert Morella at the Internet Movie Database
- Marella's Ithaca College Quarterly Obituary
| Preceded by Jack Tunney |
President, WWF 1995-1997 |
Succeeded by Sgt. Slaughter (as Commissioner) |
| Preceded by none |
WrestleMania play-by-play announcer 1985–1992 |
Succeeded by Jim Ross |
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