Mike Sharpe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations. |
| Mike Sharpe | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Iron Mike Sharpe |
| Billed height | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) |
| Billed weight | 125 kg (275 lb) |
| Born | Hamilton, Ontario |
| Trained by | Dewey Robertson |
| Debut | 1977 |
Mike Sharpe is an ex-professional wrestler better known as Iron Mike Sharpe.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Sharpe comes from a family legacy of wrestling, as his father and uncle were a successful tag team in the 1950s[1], recognized as champions from San Francisco to Japan. He grew up in California, but moved with his father back to Canada as a teenager. In high school, he dabbled in boxing and weightlifting before choosing to follow in his father's footsteps.
Dewey Robertson trained him for the ring at age 25 and shortly thereafter Sharpe made his mark wrestling for promotions around Canada such as Gene Kiniski's NWA All Star Wrestling. He became a two-time NWA Canadian Tag Team Champion, partnering first with Moose Morowski and later with Salvatore Bellomo, and also won the Pacific Coast Heavyweight title. His career picked up steam after moving to Louisiana, where he became a fan favorite and won two different Mid-South Wrestling belts - Louisiana champion (two times) and the Mississippi title (also two times) along with a Brass Knucks title in 1979. Sharpe also did some work for the then-WWWF, even receiving a title shot against heavyweight champion Bob Backlund which was ultimately unsuccessful. New England area fans were less impressed with Sharpe and reports from the era say 'WIMP!' was a common insult flung his way.
Despite the derision, Sharpe became a regular of World Wrestling Federation programming throughout the mid-1980s and early 1990s. He was announced and self-proclaimed as "Canada's Greatest Athlete" (a nickname taken from Kiniski) and was further distinguished by his near-constant yelling and grunting throughout a match, as well as a mysterious black band on his right forearm, supposedly protecting an injury but more widely believed to contain a foreign object. Though occasionally defeating jobbers after smashing them with said forearm, Sharpe never held a single title for the promotion and is largely regarded to have himself been a jobber to rising stars of the then-WWF. Despite this, Sharpe was involved in his share of memorable moments over his WWF career. He wrestled Ivan Putski at Madison Square Garden, appeared on Piper's Pit, and pinned Boris Zhukov to reach the second round of the 1988 King Of The Ring tournament. And though he wrestled as a heel on official WWF programming, Sharpe was also the tag team partner of none other than Hulk Hogan during a tour of Japan against stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling in early 1984. In what may be his last televised match, Sharpe was defeated by the short-lived Man Mountain Rock on May 15, 1995.
For some time after his retirement Sharpe had made his living teaching aspiring wrestlers at 'Mike Sharpe's School of Pro-Wrestling' located in Asbury Park, New Jersey (the school has since closed down). Among the better known of his proteges are Mike Bucci (b.k.a. Nova and Simon Dean), Chris Ford (a.k.a. Crowbar and Devon Storm) and the Haas brothers, Charlie and Russ.
Sharpe is described in at least three books by former wrestling personalities (Tom "Dynamite Kid" Billington, Hulk Hogan and Gary Michael Cappetta) as having shown characteristics of obsessive-compulsive disorder, as evidenced by a preoccupation with cleanliness that caused him to spend hours washing his hands or showering at arenas and meticulously folding and re-folding his clothing. According to Cappetta, Sharpe's behavior earned him the nickname "Mr. Clean" among his co-workers.
[edit] Finishing/Trademark moves
- Leather forearm smash, believed to contain a foreign object
- Bear hug
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
-
- JWA All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Buddy Austin
-
- Mid-South Louisiana Championship (2 times)
- Mid-South Mississippi Championship (2 times)
-
- NWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time)
- NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) - with Salvatore Martino
- NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time)
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) - with Ben Sharpe (First)
-
- NWA International Television Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Zebra Kid
-
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Chicago version) (1 time) - with Ben Sharpe
-
- NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) (3 times)
- NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (3 times) - with Ben Sharpe
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (18 times) - with Ben Sharpe
-
- NWA Tri-State Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)
-
- NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ben Sharpe
-
- NWA International Tag Team Championship (Calgary version) (1 time) - with Jim Wright
- World Wrestling Association (Los Angeles)
-
- WWA International Television Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Zebra Kid
