Don Jardine

Don Jardine
Ring name(s)	Super Destroyer Sonny Cooper The Butcher The Spoiler Don Jardine
Height	6 ft 4.5 in (1.94 m)
Weight	270 lb (120 kg)
Billed weight	293 lb (133 kg)
Born	March 24, 1940(1940-03-24) Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
Died	December 16, 2006(2006-12-16) (aged 66)[1] Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada
Billed from	Parts Unknown (as The Spoiler) Singapore (as Super Destroyer)
Trained by	Donny Callow
Debut	1955
Retired	1994

Don Jardine (March 24, 1940 – December 16, 2006)^[1] was a Canadian professional wrestler best known for his masked gimmick as "The Spoiler".

Career

Jardine began wrestling in the mid-1950s,making his wrestling debut in 1955 at the age of 15. He made his Maple Leaf Gardens debut in 1959 as "Babyface" Don Jardine, a protege of Whipper Billy Watson and wrestled preliminarily in Toronto (where he also wrestled as Sonny Cooper) until 1961 and returned briefly in 1964. In 1964, Jardine wrestled NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz on TV in St. Louis, but did not win the title.

Jardine also wrestled as The Butcher in Los Angeles in 1964. Whilst wrestling under "The Butcher" moniker, he teamed with both Mad Dog Vachon and Dutch Savage for a short time. He challenged Gene Kiniski for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1966. He became one of the top masked wrestlers in the Southern United States, particularly in Texas, where The Spoiler was created by Fritz Von Erich in 1967. He famously walked the top rope, a move he would teach Mark Calaway (The Undertaker) in the mid-1980s while competing in the World Class Championship Wrestling.^[1]

He was unmasked in Texas in 1972 by Billy Red Lyons and Red Bastein and identified as Dan Jardine, still, he continued to wrestle under the mask as "The Spoiler" in Texas and Oklahoma. The Spoiler also wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1960s and 1970s. He became the Super Destroyer and was brought into the Carolinas by George Scott in 1973 and also used the "Super Destroyer" name during his stint in the AWA (1977–78). Jardine was one of the key workers, along with Johnny Valentine, who turned the Mid-Atlantic territory around and established hot singles wrestling programs in what had traditionally been a tag team territory. Jardine challenged Jack Brisco for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as both the Super Destroyer and The Spoiler, and wrestled Harley Race for the NWA Heavyweight title in a main event in Houston, Texas in 1979. He held the Georgia-based NWA National Heavyweight Championship and was briefly billed as NWA National Heavyweight Champion by the World Wrestling Federation after it bought out Georgia Championship Wrestling in July 1984.^[2]

The Spoiler, along with Jake "The Snake" Roberts and the 400-pound King Kong Bundy, joined forces with a newly emerging tag team, the Road Warriors, to form the original Legion of Doom.^[1]

The Spoiler once headlined against WWF Champion Pedro Morales in Madison Square Garden, wrestling maskless because, at that time, the arena had a rule barring masked wrestlers from performing.^[3] The Spoiler appeared in a historic match against Mil Mascaras, the Mexican legend, marking the first time a wrestler (Mascaras) ever wore a mask into a ring in New York State.

The Spoiler's matches against Chief Jay Strongbow and Sonny King were long-lasting feuds that enjoyed successful runs across the WWF circuit. His "Iron Claw" was the first maneuver to be censored from the TV screen by the WWF promotion in a 'reverse psych' move to sell tickets.

Jardine promoted some shows in Tampa, Florida in 1993-94 and then retired from wrestling. He spent the later years of his life in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada with his wife and son, where he was the manager of a car wash business. Jardine was known to make clay sculptures and carved faces in the bark of cotton wood trees. He also volunteered for the Literacy Program, teaching young children to read.

Jardine died due to complications from a heart attack and leukemia.^[1][2]

At the time of his death, he was writing a novel based on his wrestling career.

In wrestling

• Managers
  • Gary Hart^[4]

"Luscious" Johnny Valiant

Championships and accomplishments

• Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling
  • AGPW North American Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Nikita Kalmikoff

• Central States Wrestling
  • NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
  • NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (1 time)

• Georgia Championship Wrestling
  • NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
  • NWA National Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

• Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling
  • Mississippi Heavyweight Championship (2 times)¹

• NWA All-Star Wrestling
  • NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) - with Dutch Savage
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (2 times) – with Dutch Savage

• NWA Big Time Wrestling
  • NWA American Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
  • NWA American Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Gary Hart (3), Smasher Sloan (1) and Mark Lewin (2)
  • NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (1 time)
  • NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mark Lewin
  • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Texas version) (1 time)²
  • WCCW Television Championship (1 time)

• NWA Mid-America
  • City of Mobile Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Spoiler #2

• NWA Tri-State
  • NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Tri-State version) (2 times)
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Tri-State version) (1 time) – with Dusty Rhodes

• World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
  • IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • IWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Mario Milano (1) and Waldo Von Erich (2)

¹The Mississippi Heavyweight Championship that Jardine won was a state championship that was defended only within the state of Mississippi at the time. Despite being defended in an NWA affiliated promotion, it was not an NWA title itself. It should not be confused with the NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship that was created in 1999 and has been defended in NWA Mississippi and NWA Battlezone Championship Wrestling, where it is currently defended.
²This championship would be renamed the NWA American Heavyweight Championship in May 1968. It would go on to be renamed the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship after World Class' withdrawal from the NWA in February 1986.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Brady, Hicks. "2006: The year in wrestling". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts (Kappa Publications): p. 29. 2007 Edition. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Wrestling Observer (2006-12-17). "Spoiler succumbs to leukemia". http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/headlines/default.asp?aID=18163. 
3. ^ "The Spoiler". Slam! Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame. Canoe/Slam!. http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestling/spoiler.html. Retrieved 2009-02-28. 
4. ^ "Gary Hart profile". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gary-hart.html. Retrieved 2009-11-23. 

External links

• Official Site
• Page of Fame
• Oliver, Greg (17 December 2006). "Leukemia claims "The Spoiler" Don Jardine". CANOE: Slam! Sports. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2006/12/17/2841875.html. Retrieved 2007-05-27. 
• Don Jardine at the Internet Movie Database
• WWF Champs: Don Jardine

Persondata
Name	Jardine, Don
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	24 March 1940
Place of birth	Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
Date of death	16 December 2006
Place of death	Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada