Al Tomko

Infobox Wrestler
name=Al Tomko
names= "Crazy Legs" Leroy Hirsch
The Zodiac
Master Sergeant Tomko


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weight= 242 lbs
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resides= Winnipeg, Manitoba
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debut= 1950s
retired=
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Al Tomko was a Canadian professional wrestler and wrestling promoter.

Career

Tomko started out as a wrestler in his hometown of Winnipeg in the 1950s with his own promotion, the Olympia Wrestling Club. After he shut down the Olympia Club to pursue non-wrestling ventures, he would join the larger Madison Wrestling Club in the 1960s and become one of that promotion's top heels; he would later buy the Madison Club in 1967 and merge it with the American Wrestling Association in 1968. He acted as the AWA's Winnipeg promoter from 1966 through to the mid-1970s, sometimes wrestling on the promotion's local shows as "Crazy Legs" Leroy Hirsch, and he was credited with launching the career of Roddy Piper.

Tomko later left Winnipeg and headed to Vancouver, where he bought Sandor Kovacs' ownership stake in NWA All Star Wrestling in 1977. While promoting the Vancouver territory, he began pushing himself as All Star's top star in the early-1980s (despite his age, being physically past his prime, and lacking wrestling skills) and gave himself almost all of All Star's championships (including the Vancouver version of the NWA Canadian Heavyweight title) at various points. Under Tomko's leadership, All Star went into decline (with co-owner Gene Kiniski selling his share of the company in 1985) and would be out of business by 1989.

Championships and accomplishments

*Madison Wrestling Club:*MWC Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Stan Mykietowich

*NWA All-Star Wrestling:*NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship ("Vancouver version") (5 times):*NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship ("Vancouver version") (2 times) - with Igor Volkoff (1) and Bob Brown (1):*NWA International Tag Team Championship ("Vancouver version") (2 times) - with Moose Morowski (1) and Bob Brown (1):*UWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

*West Coast Championship Wrestling:*WCCW Mid-Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Personal life

Al Tomko is not the father of TNA star Travis Tomko. He does have two sons who also wrestled - Todd Tomko (who used the ring name Rick Davis) and Terry Tomko (who competed as The Frog, first while wearing a mask, and later unmasked).

Tomko is no longer involved in the sport and currently lives in Washington state.

External links

* [http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBios/tomko_al.html Slam! Wrestling profile]