Oliver Humperdink
| Oliver Humperdink | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | John Jay Sutton |
| Born |
January 16, 1949[1] Minneapolis, Minnesota[1] |
| Died | March 20, 2011 (aged 62)[2] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
Red Sutton[1] The Big Kahuna[1] Sir Oliver Humperdink[1] Rooster Humperdink[1] Big Daddy Dink[1] |
| Billed height | 5'10" |
| Billed weight | 252 lb (18 st 0 lb; 114 kg). |
| Debut |
1965 (Involved in business)[1] Spring of 1973 (Official)[3] 1981[1] |
| Retired | 1993[3] |
John Jay Sutton[3] (January 16, 1949 – March 20, 2011), better known by his ring name Oliver Humperdink, was a professional wrestling manager who worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, Florida Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation.[1]
Career
In the early and mid 1960s, John Sutton began to get to know several wrestlers while working as an usher in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[3] He eventually landed a job as a sort of security guard for the American Wrestling Association (AWA).[3] In 1973, he met Paul Vachon when he went to work at Grand Prix Wrestling (GPW) in Montreal.[3] At GPW, Sutton worked as a manager and an occasional wrestler.[3] He also refereed for a time.[3] Sutton began managing the Hollywood Blonds after they split with their manager, Johnny Rougeau.[3] Both Don Jardine and Dale Hey are credited with coming up with the name "Sir Oliver Humperdink".[3] Jardine claims to have come up with the name, believing it would draw heat from francophone fans in Quebec who hated anything English.[3]
In 1974, Humperdink went to Florida Championship Wrestling and was put into an angle with Mike Graham and Kevin Sullivan.[3] Two years later, he began working with the Hollywood Blondes once again.[3]
He worked for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s where he managed Greg Valentine, Paul Jones and The One Man Gang.[3] He left the company in 1983 but returned five years later before the company folded.[3] While still in the NWA, he formed a stable known as the "House of Humperdink".[1][3] As a singles wrestler, he held the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship and NWA Central States Television Championship.
In 1987, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) approached Humperdink and offered him a job.[3] As a part of the WWF, he managed Bam Bam Bigelow.[3] That same year, he also began managing Paul Orndorff during his feud with Rick Rude.[3] His gimmick was that of a face, but Sutton did not like the gimmick off-screen.[3] He managed the duo during the first ever Survivor Series in a match that they lost when Bigelow was pinned by André the Giant.[3] Humperdink also managed Bigelow during WrestleMania IV when he lost in the first round of a WWF Championship tournament.[3]
When he returned to the NWA in 1988, he managed The New Wild Samoans (Solofa Fatu, Samu, and the Tonga Kid).[3] He also returned to the side of Bigelow in his feud with Barry Windham in a match at Starrcade.[3]
He worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the early 1990s as "Big Daddy Dink", a biker-type gimmick.[3] In WCW, he managed the Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin).[3] Off-screen, Sutton hated his new gimmick and WCW's office politics.[3] He retired in 1993.[3] In 1995 he returned to manage Bob Orton Jr and The Hangmen in the American Wrestling Federation.
Personal life
In the 1960s, Sutton was in a car crash and nearly died when he hit a snow bank.[3] After recovering from the incident, his health deteriorated.[3] In 2001, he went through surgery to replace his aortic valve in Key West.[3] He was equipped with a pace maker and made a full recovery.[3] The Cauliflower Alley Club helped pay for some of his medical expenses.[3] Sutton returned to the hospital in 2008 after heart troubles complicated a case of pneumonia.[3] In early 2011, it was announced that Sutton was diagnosed with cancer of the bladder. He entered a hospice having refused chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
He went to the annual Cauliflower Alley Club conventions every year.[3]
Sutton never married or had children.[3] Sutton died early on the morning of March 20, 2011,[2] of complications from pneumonia at the age of 62.[4]
In wrestling
Wrestlers managed
- Bam Bam Bigelow[1][3]
- Paul Orndorff[1][3]
- Ivan Koloff[3][5]
- One Man Gang[3][5]
- Dale Valentine[3]
- Jerry Brown[3]
- Bruiser Brody[3][5]
- Superstar Billy Graham[3]
- "Bad Bad" Leroy Brown/Kareem Muhammad[3][5]
- Kevin Sullivan[3][5]
- Dick Slater
- Paul Jones[3][5]
- Jos LeDuc[3][5]
- "Maniac" Matt Bourne[3][5]
- Lord Humongous[1] (Jeff Van Camp[3] or Sid Vicious)[5]
- Greg Valentine[3][5]
- Ox Baker[3]
- Hercules Hernandez[3][5]
- Kareem Muhammad[3][5]
- Abdullah the Butcher[3][5]
- The Nightmare[1][3][5]
- Gene Anderson[3][5]
- The Great Muta[3][5]
- Bugsy McGraw[3][5]
- Nikolai Volkoff[3][5]
- Bob Orton, Jr.
Tag teams managed
- The Funk Brothers (Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk)[3]
- The New Wild Samoans (Fatu, Samu, Tonga Kid)[3]
- Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin, Michael Hayes, and Badstreet),[3] with Diamond Dallas Page and Little Richard Marley
Championships and accomplishments
- Other honoree (2005)
Championship Wrestling from Florida
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 "Oliver Humperdink profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Caldwell, James (March 20, 2011). "Legendary wrestling manager Sir Oliver Humperdink dies at age 62". Pro Wrestling Torch.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 3.28 3.29 3.30 3.31 3.32 3.33 3.34 3.35 3.36 3.37 3.38 3.39 3.40 3.41 3.42 3.43 3.44 3.45 3.46 3.47 3.48 3.49 3.50 3.51 3.52 3.53 3.54 3.55 3.56 3.57 3.58 3.59 3.60 3.61 3.62 3.63 3.64 3.65 Matt Mackinder (January 17, 2008). "Sir Oliver Humperdink recalls career of yesteryear". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ↑ http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2011/03/09/17558006.html
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 "House of Humperdink". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-08.