Henry Mittlestadt | |
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Tiny Mills posing for a photograph |
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Ring name(s) | Tiny Mills |
Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
Weight | 270 lb (120 kg) |
Born | 1911 Camrose, Alberta, Canada |
Died | 1987 |
Billed from | Camrose, Alberta, Canada Missoula, Montana, US |
Debut | 1953 |
Henry Mittlestadt (1911–1987) was a Canadian professional wrestler best known by his ring name, Tiny Mills. He often teamed with his brother Al Mills.
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Tiny Mills started his wrestling career at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1953 at the age of 42. He wore his hair very long and wild for the era. Teaming with his brother Al Mills, they were billed as "Murder Incorporated." Al & Tiny won Toronto's Canadian Open tag title in 1953, defeating the Canadian dream team of Whipper Billy Watson & Yvon Robert. They drew huge houses at Maple Leaf Gardens that year. They traded the title with Watson & Hombre Montana and Ernie Dusek & Emil Dusek in 1954. They won the title again in 1955, the year of Al's final Toronto appearance.
In the late 1950s, Tiny formed a new version of Murder Inc. with Stan "Krusher" Kowalski. They held the Minneapolis version of the NWA World Tag Team Championships twice in NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club. When that promotiion became American Wrestling Association in 1960, Mills and Kowalski became the first AWA World Tag Team Champions.
Later that year, as a single wrestler, Mills had a title shot against NWA World Champion Pat O'Connor at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1960. With Kowalski, Tiny Mills again won the Canadian Open tag title, defeating Watson and Ilio DiPaolo on the last Maple Leaf Gardens show of 1960. They lost the title early in 1961, and Mills never came back to Toronto. After retirement, Tiny became a sheriff in Minnesota.