Orville Brown

Orville Brown
Orville Brown
Ring name(s) Orville Brown
Born March 10, 1908
Sharon, Kansas, USA
Died 24 January 1981(1981-01-24) (aged 72)
Maryville, Missouri, USA
Trained by Ernest Brown [1][2]
Debut 1929
Retired 1949

Orville Brown (March 10, 1908[2]–January 24, 1981) was a professional wrestler. Born in Sharon, Kansas, Brown was a former NWA Champion, and was recognized as the first NWA champion in 1948. Brown's pro-wrestling career ended on November 1, 1949, when he suffered severe injuries in an automobile accident.[1][2]

Contents

Biography

Orville Brown was born on March 10, 1908. He grew up on a small farm in Sharon, Kansas, USA. Brown worked on the farm during the mornings before walking several miles to school in Kiowa, Kansas. He only attended one year of school due to financial reasons.[1][2]

Career

Orville Brown was noticed by Ernest Brown, a former manager of amateur and professional wrestlers, in the late 1920s. Brown was convinced that Orville might have a future as a wrestler. He agreed to work with Orville at the local high school in Kiowa, Kansas. After training, Orville Brown was undefeated for 71 matches. He gained enough notoriety in western Kansas that the promoter in Wichita put him on the preliminary of the weekly matches there.[1][2]

A well-known wrestler named Abe Coleman saw Brown wrestle and recommended him to the promoter in St. Louis - Tom Packs.[1][2]

Orville Brown impressed many people with his wrestling skills in matches against former World Heavyweight Champions Jim Londos and Ed "Strangler" Lewis. He quickly won the Kansas Heavyweight Championship. Orville Brown went on to become the Kansas-based Midwest Wrestling Association (MWA) World Heavyweight Champion for a record of 11 times from 1940 till 1948. Brown won that title by beating wrestlers such as Bobby Bruns, Lee Wyckoff, Tom Zaharias, Swedish Angel, Roy Graham and Tug Carlson.[1][2]

In 1948 promoter Pinkie George, along with other promoters, recognized Orville Brown as the World Heavyweight Champion in the newly-formed National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Brown began the NWA's project of unifying the various world heavyweight championships contested at that time with the NWA version. A significant unification match took place against Frank Sexton on March 15, 1949. Sexton held the American Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Championship, the second most important championship in the country at that time, which he had previously unified with the Maryland version of the World Heavyweight Championship.[1][2]

Brown held the NWA title twice before he was forced to retire in November 1949 due to injuries he suffered on 1 November 1949 in a car accident. He was scheduled to be in a unification match against Lou Thesz on November 25, 1949. Thesz was awarded the title as Orville Brown was unable to compete.[1][2]

After retiring, Orville Brown became a promoter in Kansas City, Missouri. He promoted the Midwest Wrestling Association (MWA) from the founding of the NWA in 1948 until 1958, when the promotion was taken over by Bob Geigel.[1][2]

Personal life

Orville Brown married Grace, a farmer's daughter, in October 1926. Their marriage lasted until his death in 1981. Their son Richard also became a wrestler.[1][2]

Championships and accomplishments

  • Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Pioneer Era inductee in 2005

References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Orville by Gibson — guitar headstock Orville by Gibson (オービルbyギブソン?), also known simply as Orville …   Wikipedia

  • Orville Vogel — (1907–1991) was an American scientist and wheat breeder whose research made possible the Green Revolution in world food production.[1] Orville Alvin Vogel was born in Pilger, Stanton County, Nebraska, one of the four children of William and… …   Wikipedia

  • Orville Schell — Orville Hickock Schell III (born May 20, 1940 in New York City) is an activist and writer working on China, and is the Arthus Ross Director of the Center on U.S. China Relations at the Asia Society in New York. He previously served as Dean of the …   Wikipedia

  • Orville Trask — Date of birth December 3, 1934 (1934 12 03) (age 76) Place of birth Pueblo, Colorado Date of death November 12, 2008(2008 11 12) Place of death Houston, Texas Position(s) …   Wikipedia

  • Orville Neale — Sport(s) Football Current position Title Head coach Team Virginia Tech Coaching career (HC unless noted) 1930 1931 …   Wikipedia

  • Jerry Brown — This article is about the California politician. For other people named or nicknamed Jerry Brown(e), see Jerry Brown (disambiguation). Jerry Brown 34th and 39th Governor of California Incumbent …   Wikipedia

  • Spencer Kellogg Brown — was born August 17, 1842 in Belleville, New York [Orville Chester Brown Collection, 1834 1904.] . His family moved to Kansas.In retaliation for what was known as the Pottawatomie Massacre, pro slavery forces sacked Osawatomie on August 30, 1856… …   Wikipedia

  • Don Brown (American football player) — Not to be confused with Don Brown (American football coach), the current defensive coordinator of the Connecticut Huskies, or Donald Brown (American football), a running back for the Indianapolis Colts. Don Albert Brown (b. Aug 20, 1937) is an… …   Wikipedia

  • Michael Stuart Brown — For other people named Michael Brown, see Michael Brown (disambiguation). Michael Stuart Brown Born April 13, 1941 ( …   Wikipedia

  • National Wrestling Alliance — Form Wrestling Federation Gründungsdatum 19. Juni 1948 Standort Waterloo, Iowa Territorien Global …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”