Asbjørn 'Bear' Riis
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| Asbjørn Riis | |
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| Born | July 28, 1957 V. Hvidbjerg, Mors, Denmark |
Asbjørn Riis (born July 28, 1957) is a Danish professional wrestler, who is most famous internationally for portraying the role of the 10th warrior, Halga the Wise, in the movie The 13th Warrior featuring Antonio Banderas. He is also known for being the Danish version of Hulk Hogan because of his appearance. Riis runs a wrestling school in Denmark, and has promoted several shows all over the country.
Riis originates from the small island of Mors, and his recognizable accent and local jargon has made him an instant fan-favorite, and the subject of many parodies by Danish entertainers.
Recently Riis has appeared as himself in a number of Tuborg Squash-commercials, where he jovially beats up two squash-players, while a tune is playing the words "Du' min aller-bedste Squash-Buddy" (You're my very best Squash-Buddy).
In the mid-1990s, Riis had his own tv-show on the Danish channel TV3, where he showed clips from American wrestling federations (mostly the WWF and later WCW) while adding his own commentary tracks, using the words "ubehageligt" (unpleasant) and "fy for pyffer" (not really translatable, but generally an expression of disgust after seeing a nasty stunt) frequently. Other frequently used comments were "føj for fyffer" (used in the same manor as "fy for pyffer") and "vi må ikke håbe han har fået gule ærter til aftensmad" (Let's hope he hasn't had yellow pea soup for dinner), usually said after a wrestler has been hit in the gut, as a reference to him breaking wind after the game.
Riis is also good friends with fellow Danish muscleman-gone-actor Sven-Ole Thorsen, who also had a small part in The 13th Warrior.
