| Walter Paul Sieber | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Waldo Von Erich[1] The Great Zimm[1] Mr. M[1] El Tigre[1] Wild Man Zim[1] The Great Hornet[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 265 lb (120 kg)[1] |
| Born | October 2, 1933[1] Toronto, Ontario, Canada[1] |
| Died | July 5, 2009 (aged 75)[1] Kitchener, Ontario, Canada[1] |
| Trained by | Red Garner[1] |
| Debut | 1950 |
| Retired | 1979[1] |
Walter Paul Sieber[1] (October 2, 1933 – July 5, 2009)[2] was a Canadian professional wrestler under the ring name Waldo Von Erich. He was billed as the brother of Fritz Von Erich, but was not actually related to Fritz or the rest of the Von Erich family.[1]
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Walter Paul Sieber was born in Toronto on October 2, 1933, where he trained as a professional wrestler with Red Garner at a local YMCA.[1] He also was into bodybuilding, swimming, and weight training.[1] Sieber became a professional wrestler at the age of 17.[1]
He began his career in Calgary, wrestling for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling.[1] He later met Jack Adkisson aka Fritz Von Erich, his fictional (storyline) brother, and they held the NWA American Tag Team Championship in 1967.[1] As a von Erich, Sieber's gimmick was that of a German heel.[1] The height of his success was in the 1960s and 1970s.
Sieber, now using the ringname Waldo Von Erich, also had success as a singles wrestler. He worked in singles matches for the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).[1] As a part of the WWWF, he wrestled Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF Championship in both the 1960s and the 1970s.[1] He was also co-holder of the U.S. Tag Team Championship with Gene Kiniski. After his WWWF run, he continued to have success as a singles and tag team wrestler, holding championships in various promotions.[1] Had memrable feud with Tony Atlas in Georgia in the late 70s After attempting a retirement in 1973, Sieber retired in 1979.[1] After his retirement from in-ring action, Sieber became the president of the Ontario-based promotion, ICW, where he trained young professional wrestlers. Two of his star pupils included Tyson Dux and Brian Cannon also known as the masked wrestler Kijimuna in Okinawa and New Japan[1]
Sieber was the only child of Paul Sieber Sr. an immigrant from Germany, and his wife, the former Romanian Anna Yost.[3]
He was married for 29 years before divorcing; he has three daughters from that marriage.[1]
Sieber died on July 5, 2009, aged 75, in hospital in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada after falling earlier that day.[1]