Allen Coage

"Bad News Brown" redirects here. For the musician, see Bad News Brown (musician).
Allen Coage
Birth name Allen James Coage
Born (1943-10-22)October 22, 1943[1]
New York, New York, United States[1]
Died March 6, 2007(2007-03-06) (aged 63)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Allen Coage[1]
Bad News Allen[1]
Bad News [1]
B.L. Brown
Bad News Brown
Billed height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1]
Billed weight 271 lb (123 kg; 19.4 st)[1]
Billed from Harlem, New York, United States[1] Tokyo, Japan (WWWF 1978-79)
Trained by Antonio Inoki[1]
Stu Hart
Debut October 23, 1977
Retired May 20, 1999
Allen Coage
Medal record
Men's Judo
Olympic Games
Montreal 1976 Heavyweight
Pan American Games
Winnipeg 1967 Heavyweight
Mexico City 1975 Heavyweight

Allen James Coage (October 22, 1943 – March 6, 2007) was an American professional wrestler with the WWF, Stampede Wrestling and other promotions, better known by his ring names Bad News Allen and Bad News Brown. He won a bronze medal in heavyweight judo at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He remains the only American heavyweight judoka to have won an Olympic medal.

Biography

Early judo and wrestling training

Allen initially trained with Joseph Fuccillo [2] Allen Coage was a US Grand Champion for Judo and received a full scholarship to the Kodokan with the help of Hank Kraft. Prior to his training as a wrestler, Coage trained in judo for the better part of two decades, under the direction of renowned instructor Yoshisada Yonezuka, and earned a spot on the United States Olympic team at the Games in Montreal. He even trained in Japan with judoka masters, living in near poverty and continuing on solely for the love of his sport. After his bronze medal victory, Coage attempted to open his own judo school. Later, he decided to try his hand at professional wrestling. He began training with Antonio Inoki around 1978.

New Japan Pro Wrestling, World Wide Wrestling Federation, and Stampede Wrestling (1977-1988)

After short stints with New Japan Pro Wrestling and the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation, Bad News Allen found a long-term home in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling, centered in Allen's adopted home city of Calgary. Allen remained with Stampede from 1982 until 1988, with some tours of Australia and Florida during that time, and had matches with wrestlers such as the Dynamite Kid and Bret Hart. He often referred to himself in interviews as "the Ultimate Warrior," a name that was later used more famously by wrestler Jim Hellwig.

Return to WWF (1988-1990)

Allen returned to the World Wrestling Federation in early 1988 as Bad News Brown, and it was during this time that he achieved his greatest notoriety. While the roster was mostly filled with ultra-virtuous babyfaces and cowardly and monster heels, Bad News was something entirely different; a tough loner. While other heels were likely to form alliances with one another, Bad News was reclusive. He didn't respect anybody, and was just as likely to attack heels as faces (character traits that would later be employed to great fame by Stone Cold Steve Austin). His dislike for all fellow wrestlers was clear when he abandoned his teams at the Survivor Series of 1988 and 1989. Some memorable moments from his WWF tenure included winning the battle royal at WrestleMania IV by eliminating Bret Hart, who was then a heel, after a sneak attack, a brief feud with then-champion Randy Savage in early 1989 that led to main-event matches, feuding with Roddy Piper (starting before the 1990 Royal Rumble and culminating at WrestleMania VI) and with Jake "The Snake" Roberts (where Bad News had a sewer rat against Jake's snake) and attacking WWF President Jack Tunney on The Brother Love Show. Bad News also had a brief run challenging Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship. On the March 11, 1989 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event Bad News memorably took a microphone towards the end of his match with Hogan and told him that it was time for the Ghetto Blaster (his finisher). As he was getting ready to execute it however, Hogan got out of the way, leading him to miss the move terribly and suffer an eventual loss. Bad News eventually left the WWF after SummerSlam 1990, claiming Vince McMahon failed to live up to his promise to make him the company's first black champion.

As written in the autobiography of the Dynamite Kid, Coage's legitimate toughness was displayed in a confrontation involving André the Giant, who allegedly made a racist comment on a tour bus for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Coage overheard it and made the driver stop the bus, walked off and demanded the Giant get off and fight him one on one. André did not move from his seat and later apologized for the remark.[3]

Later career (1990-1999)

Coage continued to work in independent promotions for several more years, including Japan's shoot wrestling UWFi promotion. Coage retired in 1999 due to knee damage. He continued occasionally working independent shows for friends while living in Calgary with his wife, and had considered starting a promotion himself. Additionally, he taught wrestling with Canadian wrestling coach Leo Jean, and worked as a mall security officer in Airdrie, Alberta.

Death

Coage died of a heart attack on the morning of March 6, 2007, at Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary, minutes after being rushed there due to chest pain. [4][5]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

Judo

Professional wrestling

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Bad News Allen Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  2. ↑ http://roninmartialarts.net/73.htmlrudy
  3. ↑ Billington, Tom (August 2001). Pure Dynamite: The Price You Pay for Wrestling Stardom. Winding Stair Press. ISBN 1553660846.
  4. ↑ slam.canoe.ca Bad News Allen dies suddenly, by Greg Oliver. March 6, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Bad News Brown passes away". WWE. Archived from the original on 31 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  6. 1 2 3 McCoy, Heath (2007). Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling (Rev. ed.). ECW Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-1-55022-787-1.

External links

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