- Oliver Humperdink
-
Oliver Humperdink 
Ring name(s) Red Sutton[1]
The Big Kahuna[1]
Sir Oliver Humperdink[1]
Rooster Humperdink[1]
Big Daddy Dink[1]Born January 16, 1949[1]
Minneapolis, Minnesota[1]Died March 20, 2011 (aged 62)[2] Debut 1965 (Involved in business)[1]
Spring of 1973 (Official)[3]
1981[1]Retired 1993[3] John Sutton[3] (January 16, 1949 – March 20, 2011), better known by his ring name Oliver Humperdink, was a professional wrestling manager who worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, Florida Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation.[1]
Contents
Career
In the early and mid 1960s, John Sutton began to get to know several wrestlers while working as an usher in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[3] He eventually landed a job as a sort of security guard for the American Wrestling Association (AWA).[3] In 1973, he met Paul Vachon when he went to work at Grand Prix Wrestling (GPW) in Montreal.[3] At GPW, Sutton worked as a manager and an occasional wrestler.[3] He also refereed for a time.[3] Sutton began managing the Hollywood Blonds after they split with their manager, Johnny Rougeau.[3]Don Jardine came up with the "Sir Oliver Humperdink" name,[3] which he thought would draw heat from francophone fans in Quebec who hated anything English.[3] Both Don Jardine and Dale Hey are credited with coming up with his new moniker.[3]
In 1974, Humperdink went to Florida Championship Wrestling and was put into an angle with Mike Graham and Kevin Sullivan.[3] Two years later, he began working with the Hollywood Blondes once again.[3]
He worked for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s where he managed Greg Valentine, Paul Jones and The One Man Gang.[3] He left the company in 1983 but returned five years later before the company folded.[3] While still in the NWA, he formed a stable known as the "House of Humperdink".[1][3] As a singles wrestler, he held the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship and NWA Central States Television Championship.
In 1987, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) approached Humperdink and offered him a job.[3] As a part of the WWF, he managed Bam Bam Bigelow.[3] That same year, he also began managing Paul Orndorff during his feud with Rick Rude.[3] His gimmick was that of a face, but Sutton did not like the gimmick off-screen.[3] He managed the duo during the first ever Survivor Series in a match that they lost when Bigelow was pinned by André the Giant.[3] Humperdink also managed Bigelow during WrestleMania IV when he lost in the first round of a WWF Championship tournament.[3]
When he returned to the NWA in 1988, he managed The New Wild Samoans (Solofa Fatu, Samu, and the Tonga Kid).[3] He also returned to the side of Bigelow in his feud with Barry Windham in a match at Starrcade.[3]
He worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the early 1990s as "Big Daddy Dink", a biker-type gimmick.[3] In WCW, he managed the Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin).[3] Off-screen, Sutton hated his new gimmick and WCW's office politics.[3] He retired in 1993.[3]
Personal life
In the 1960s, Sutton was in a car crash and nearly died when he hit a snow bank.[3] After recovering from the incident, his health deteriorated.[3] In 2001, he went through surgery to replace his aortic valve in Key West.[3] He was equipped with a pace maker and made a full recovery.[3] The Cauliflower Alley Club helped pay for some of his medical expenses.[3] Sutton returned to the hospital in 2008 after heart troubles complicated a case of pneumonia.[3] In early 2011, it was announced that Sutton was diagnosed with cancer of the bladder.[4] He entered a hospice having refused chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
He went to the annual Cauliflower Alley Club conventions every year.[3]
Sutton never married or had children.[3] Sutton died early on the morning of March 20, 2011,[2] of complications from pneumonia at the age of 62.[5]
In wrestling
Wrestlers managed
- Bam Bam Bigelow[1][3]
- Paul Orndorff[1][3]
- Ivan Koloff[3][6]
- One Man Gang[3][6]
- Dale Valentine[3]
- Jerry Brown[3]
- Bruiser Brody[3][6]
- Superstar Billy Graham[3]
- "Bad Bad" Leroy Brown[3][6]
- Kevin Sullivan[3][6]
- Dick Slater
- Paul Jones[3][6]
- Jos LeDuc[3][6]
- "Maniac" Matt Bourne[3][6]
- Lord Humongous[1] (Jeff Van Camp[3] or Sid Vicious)[6]
- Greg Valentine[3][6]
- Ox Baker[3]
- Hercules Hernandez[3][6]
- Kareem Muhammad[3][6]
- Abdullah the Butcher[3][6]
- The Nightmare[1][3][6]
- Gene Anderson[3][6]
- The Great Muta[3][6]
- Bugsy McGraw[3][6]
- Nikolai Volkoff[3][6]
Tag teams managed
- The Funk Brothers (Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk)[3]
- The New Wild Samoans (Fatu, Samu, Tonga Kid)[3]
- Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin, Michael Hayes, and Badstreet),[3] with Diamond Dallas Page and Little Richard Marley
Championships and accomplishments
- Cauliflower Alley Club
- Other honoree (2005)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Oliver Humperdink profile". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/o/oliver-humperdink.html. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
- ^ a b Caldwell, James (March 20, 2011). "Legendary wrestling manager Sir Oliver Humperdink dies at age 62". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/Other_News_4/article_48610.shtml.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo Matt Mackinder (January 17, 2008). "Sir Oliver Humperdink recalls career of yesteryear". SLAM! Wrestling. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2007/05/12/4175841.html. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ http://www.pwinsider.com/article/54926/oliver-humperdink-health-update.html?p=1
- ^ http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2011/03/09/17558006.html
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "House of Humperdink". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/h/house-of-humperdink.html. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
Categories:- 1949 births
- 2011 deaths
- People from Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Professional wrestling managers and valets
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
