| Kola Kwariani | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Nick the Wrestler |
| Billed weight | 280 lb (130 kg)[1][2] |
| Born | January 16, 1903 Kutaisi, Georgia, Russia |
| Died | February 1980 New York City, New York, United States |
Kola (Nicholas) Kwariani (Georgian: კოლა (კოლია) ქვარიანი) (January 16, 1903-February 1980), known as "Nick the Wrestler", was a Georgian by origin professional wrestler and chess player. Kwariani was born on Jan 16 1903 (Kutaisi, Georgia) and died Feb 1980 (New York, USA). [3][1][4]
"Kwariani had been a Greco-Roman champion in Europe before the war and a “professional” wrestler in the United States afterward."[5] He spoke eight languages, and was the only chess playing professional wrestler in the United States according to Chess Review magazine.[6]
Kola Kwariani participated in many wrestling fights himself, however the most famous was with "Mr. America" Gene Stanlee[7] This fight between Kola Kwariani and Gene Stanlee was featured as one of the top-10 matches of the wrestling Golden Era in America.[8][9]
He starred in Stanley Kubrick's 1956 film The Killing, in the role of a chess-playing wrestler named Maurice Oboukhoff, who is hired to start a fight and so create a diversion during a heist. [10][11]
The picture of Kola Kwariani, Stanley Kubrick, and Sterling Hayden appeared on cover of Chess Review magazine in March 1956.[6]
Both Kubrick and Kwariani were very well known in New York chess circles. In 1950-1960 Kola Kwariani was an active member of the Chess and Checker Club in New York City, also known as "The Flea House".[2]
In 1959-1960, Kola Kwariani coached professional wrestler Antonino Rocca. In 1959-1962 Kola Kwariani closely worked with another professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino.
In February 1980, while entering the Chess and Checker Club, Kwariani was seriously injured after being assaulted by a group of teenagers. The incident was later described by fellow chess player and publisher Samuel Sloan,
| “ | Nick came in the downstairs entrance one evening when about five black youths were leaving. They bumped into each other. Words were exchanged. Nick never took any gruff from anybody and soon he was engaged in a fight with all five black kids at once. Nick probably could still have handled any one or two of them, but five were too many. Nick was beaten. The ambulance was called. Nick was taken to the hospital, and died shortly thereafter at age 77.[1][2] | ” |
