Pro wrestling is a little less golden with the passing of the "Golden Greek."
John Tolos, one of grappling's top stars worldwide from the 1950s through the 1970s, died of kidney failure last Thursday in Woodland Hills, Calif. He was 78.
Some fans may remember Tolos from his World Wrestling Entertainment stint as "The Coach" in the early 1990s. He managed the late "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig and the Beverly Brothers (Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom).
But it was during his in-ring heyday that Tolos truly shined. Tolos, who was a strapping 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds, could incite a crowd like few others with his boisterous interviews and arrogant persona.
"John just did everything well," said Dr. Mike Lano, a California-based dentist and pro-wrestling historian who ran the John Tolos fan club in the early 1970s. "He wasn't flashy in his wrestling but he certainly was in his incredible, off-the-chart (interviews). No one could touch him -- and I saw and heard everyone."
Tolos' shining moment came in 1971 during a feud with another grappling legend. Tolos became jealous that Freddie Blassie received a giant trophy for being "voted" by Southern California fans as "Wrestler of the Year" while he received a lesser award as the "most hated." So Tolos threw a medicinal solution normally used to close cuts into Blassie's eyes, a dastardly deed that "blinded" him and purportedly ended his grappling career.
In today's wrestling culture, Blassie's condition and whereabouts -- he was actually leaving the promotion for several months to have knee surgery and tour Japan -- would have been quickly exposed on the Internet. But with that generation of fans none the wiser, crowds anxiously awaited the day Tolos would receive his comeuppance.
That moment came on Aug. 27, 1971, when a returning Blassie faced Tolos at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The match set a California-state attendance record with a crowd of almost 26,000 on hand.
"They filmed vignettes at the hospital that aired for months of Blassie with doctors saying he'd been blinded and must retire, fans visiting, etc.," Lano said. "Meanwhile, Tolos got the America's title and Blassie's friends challenged him to get revenge until Blassie finally attacked Tolos and demanded a match."
For those who didn't get to see Tolos in his prime, Lano describes him as having a combination of Mick Foley's verbal skills and a wrestling style that combined elements of Ric Flair, Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Bret Hart.
"He was the most charismatic heel and, later, baby face I'd ever seen," said Lano, who also was a ringside photographer for many of Tolos' battles. "He was way ahead of his time referencing things in the news and pop culture. He drew the fans into whoever he was feuding with and whatever he was doing. John was from the Johnny Valentine school of thought where you work (a match) deliberately and believably. That's why he was able to last so long."
Tolos debuted in the early 1950s as part of a tag team with his brother Chris. The duo captured a slew of major championships, including the now-defunct WWE U.S. tag-team titles (the promotion's main titles at the time) in 1963 by defeating Killer Kowalski and Gorilla Monsoon. Chris Tolos died from cancer in 2005.
(Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro-wrestling column for Scripps-Howard News Service. Contact him at alex1marv(at)aol.com.)
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