I’ve been asked to write about my favorite Top 10 of All Time. Now, this is not scientific or technical in nature. As a bit of a historian, a writer of professional wrestling and other topics, as well as a ring announcer of the sport in Pittsburgh for 20 years and a fan of more than 40 years, this is my personal favorite list. It’s universal and local, historical and current. There are no women on this list, as I may save that for another time, although Wendi Richter, Toni Storm and/or Becky Lynch could make an extended Top 20.
1- Andre the Giant
The reason I learned professional wrestling existed. For a kid growing up loving superheroes and monsters, finding out that a 7’4”, 500-pound giant was wandering around in real life was as fascinating as Sasquatch or the Loch Ness Monster. Then he showed up on the Six Million Dollar Man as Bigfoot. When cable television became a reality to me in the early 1980’s, seeing Andre was like seeing the largest man who ever lived. Turning on Hulk Hogan, Wrestlemania III was as big as any Super Bowl. We covered it on WVCS, California University of Pennsylvania campus radio. One of our DJ’s drove home overnight from the Pontiac Silverdome to relay stories on our morning radio show. The Princess Bride. Briefly talking about him with Cary Elwes when he was in Pittsburgh for Steel City Con. The legend of Andre. Finding videos afterwards and loving his early stuff. Was Andre 7’4” and 500-pounds? No. But it’s professional wrestling and it’s bigger than life.
2- Hulk Hogan
Rocky III. That’s when I first discovered Hulk Hogan. And then right after that, he appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the Grammy Awards with Cyndi Lauper. Cable television. Finding shows that would talk about Hogan. The endless number of promos. You almost never saw him wrestling on free television. You were supposed to go to the live events in your region to see him. When he WAS on television, it was spectacular. Wrestlemania I (Saturday Night Live), II and III. Again, for a kid who adored Superman, the Incredible Hulk and Captain America, Hulk Hogan was as big as Michael Jordan, Mohammad Ali and Ronald Reagan. The turn on WCW, all of that. And then, coming back out in the Red and Yellow in a tag team match. No one cared that Ric Flair was a much better wrestler (he is an honorable mention in my list). We all KNEW Flair was a better technical wrestler. Hogan’s appeal has been tarnished in recent years because of things he’s said. Wrestling wouldn’t be where it is today with Hulk Hogan.
3- Maurice Tillet
Obviously, I’ve never seen “The French Angel” wrestle live. He wrestled in Europe and elsewhere before debuting in Pittsburgh in the 1940’s. Tillet passed away while in his early 50’s. For many (including me), I learned of Tillet’s existence because of the movie “Shrek.” Observers said that the cartoon character was inspired by Tillet. Fun fact: that has never, ever been official “canon”, it’s just a fun observation. Maurice Tillet was one of the first “freakish” attractions in professional wrestling because he looked like Shrek. Historian Tom Latour is the preeminent authority of all things Tillet and has become a friend. We have pondered whether Tillet had ever met horror movie star Rondo Hatten who also had acromegaly. The drawing power for Tillet was immense, mainly as he wrestled for Western Pennsylvania native and Boston wrestling promoter Paul Bowser. Maurice looked like a neanderthal but was extraordinarily intelligent. Legend has it, he considered becoming an attorney. His success spurned other “Angels” like the Swedish Angel and the “Super Swedish Angel” Tor Johnson, who was another immense grappler who had many roles in Hollywood as a “heavy.” If you haven’t seen him in “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” why are you reading this? There were even at least two “Lady Angels.” Moreover, there most likely wouldn’t be a George “The Animal” Steele without the likes of Maurice Tillet.
4- Dominic DeNucci
One of Bruno Sammartino’s best friends and a tremendous wrestler who at one point was as popular in Australia as Bruno was everywhere else. There’s no disrespect to Bruno Sammartino, but I personally liked Dominic better. A great in-ring wrestler, DeNucci is very well known as the man who trained Mick Foley, Shane Douglas, Brian Hildebrand and others in and around Pittsburgh. He was a selfless man who would show up unannounced at KSWA wrestling shows, and when lay offs were announced at a corporation where one of our wrestlers worked, DeNucci telephoned the friend to see if he was laid off and okay (he wasn’t. Then.) DeNucci and fellow “Studio Wrestling” mainstay Frank Durso were in their 70’s, and worked a one-on-one wrestling match at an early KSWA FanFest. We still believe it holds up as the match featuring the two oldest competitors in a match anywhere on record. When DeNucci passed, Foley attended the funeral. Not enough can be written about Dominic DeNucci.
5-Jim Londos
I’m late to the party on Jim Londos, but his influence cannot be downplayed. “The Golden Greek” who was undersized as a wrestler 100 years ago, Christos Theofilou was reportedly the very first immigrant to become a massive superstar. He was one of the first to attract attention from female fans who were fans of his showmanship and good looks. In Greece, he wrestled in front of 70,000 with an estimated 20,000 people on a hillside watching for free. Historian Steve Johnson released an excellent book on Londos last year that is very telling about the man and his legacy. He wrestled everyone at the time, including Strangler Lewis and Gorgeous George Wagner, to name just two. Wrestling fans today (I’ve been guilty of this myself), but professional wrestlers have not always been dominated by the likes of Andre the Giant and 6’6” muscle men of the day. Londos was barely 5’8” and less than 200 pounds. He would have ruled in modern-day AEW.
6- Sting
Steve Borden started to wrestle not long after I started watching. He and Jim Hellwig were the Blade Runners. Not long after that, he became “Sting” and one of Ric Flair’s greatest rivals. The excitement he brought to the ring was thrilling. His “Crow” gimmick in WCW, repelling from the ceiling, was “must see” television on Monday Nights. Much like everything else in WCW, his run was botched. Again, wrestling needs superheroes. Heck, Sammartino was one. Hogan was one. Sting was the same. His WWE run ended horribly, but we were allowed to suspend our disbelief as Sting, now in his 60’s, was no-selling being put through a table and diving off stair wells like he never had before.
7- Tie between Lou Martin and Shawn Blanchard
They defined professional wrestling on the independent scene for 25 years. Martin was a bad guy for years before really finding his place as “The Face of Pittsburgh.” If done correctly, Professional Wrestlers can be celebrities in their hometown and Lou Martin has done just that. He has been featured as a Guest Bartender with other athletes and media personalities. He has met with children who have cancer, and befriended “The Hattman Crew” a group of emotionally and mentally challenged fans who have broadened the appeal of the KSWA Megastars. As for Shawn Blanchard, he has lived the life of a grumpy bad guy for a quarter century. Never wavering as an in-ring egotistical grouch, Blanchard resembles Harley Race in build and wrestling ability. The best spinebuster outside of Arn Anderson. Perhaps the greatest bad guy Pittsburgh has ever produced.
8- Lord Zoltan:
Ken Jugan was a Pittsburgh photographer who snapped photos of Studio Wrestling events and wrote a little for programs. Trained to work and made his way into WWF tapings, worked for the NWA and knows everyone. For more than 40-years he wrestled throughout the tri-state area and beyond. Proud to have helped broaden his appeal to fans during his last decade in the ring with the KSWA. A soon-to-be three-time champion over cancer, Ken Jugan was more than a “journeyman”; he was among the most important wrestlers to come out of Pittsburgh since the 1970’s.
9- Buddy Rogers
A controversial pick in Pittsburgh, for sure. Rogers, known as a heel for a great majority of his career, was also periodically a babyface. Wrestled for many years and did a lot with his fame and wealth. He created businesses and significance out of the ring. There was a time in which wrestlers traveled and wrestled nearly every day, worked through injuries and sanity through political maneuvering. Along with the likes of Ed “Strangler” Lewis and Lou Thesz, Buddy Rogers maintained that aura before cable television.
10- Virgil
Much maligned as a hanger-on and a teller of tall tales, Pittsburgh’s Mike Jones was one-of-a-kind. “Virgil” started later in life, a bodybuilder who met Tony Atlas and others who liked his muscular look. A perfect valet and bodyguard for Ted DiBiase who later went to WCW like everyone else at the time. Never a spectacular grappler, Virgil did have a one-on-one match in Wrestlemania VII against DiBiase. Virgil worked diligently for every penny he could get post “Vince” and the WWE. Often spoofed for his “Lonely Virgil” memes, later in life, Mike Jones rarely spoke badly about anyone. However, he did fib. For years, he “worked” everyone about his true age. It took a small group of Pittsburghers, including friend Mark Charles III, my son Taylor and I to convince the universe that Mike Jones was 72 when he died in 2024, and not nearly a decade younger. Virgil would make diner patrons in rural Pennsylvania happy just by being recognized and give just about everyone he knew some sort of lasting memory, fanciful or not.
(photo courtesy of People.com)
“Trapper” Tom Leturgey is an award-winning writer and author and a ring announcer for the Keystone State Wrestling Alliance (KSWA) in Pittsburgh. He has won three Golden Quill Awards for excellence in journalism for his “KSWA Digest” and has contributed to Slam Wrestling, as well as other wrestling news sites over the decades. He is a co-author of “Behind the Mic: Pittsburgh’s Greatest Sports Journalists,” which includes a chapter of Studio Wrestling legend “Chilly” Bill Cardille.