Mr. Wrestling II

John Walker ( * in Charleston, South Carolina; Nickname: Johnny ) is an American professional wrestler, who fought under the name Mr. Wrestling II.

Wrestling career

John Walker made ​​his debut in 1956 in Hawaii and worked with the nickname Rubberman as a heel in the territories in the southeastern United States. However, he had little success as a heel. In 1971, he stepped in Florida as The Grappler.

In the early 1970s founded the former National Wrestling Alliance promoter Ray Gunkel his own doctorate in Georgia and took some successful wrestlers in the NWA with it. To close the gap, some new wrestlers were hired, including John Walker. He stepped under a mask as Mr. Wrestling II, and was introduced as a partner of the original Mr. Wrestling George Burrell Woodin. The two were in the territories in the south and southeast together a tag team, which was one of the most famous in the 1970s. In addition, both were active as single wrestler.

Between 1974 and 1980 she held several titles within Georgia. Their main competitors were Gene and Ole Anderson, with whom they had a six-year feud, which provided for the NWA for high income. However, the tag team career ended in the early 1980s, moved as Mr. Wrestling for the WWWF. During this time, especially Walker was very successful as a lone fighter and won the Georgia Heavyweight title a total of 10 times. In 1979 he was appointed the heavyweight champion of the Mid-South Wrestling Association. Also in Florida, he was successful and was able to secure several titles.

1983 made ​​Mr. Wrestling II a tag team with Magnum TA, but who joined Jimmy Crockett's Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling later. Mr. Wrestling II remained active as a single wrestler and had feuds with Harley Race and Ric Flair. In 1987 he went to Continental Wrestling Federation and won the local championship. After his competitor Mike Golden was given the title again two months later, Walker retired from the wrestling business.

After end of his career, he retired into private life. Occasionally he still occurs at selected shows. Since 2006 he works as a trainer for Hawai'i Championship Wrestling. In an independent show in Charlotte, he suffered a heart attack in August 2010. His condition was critical, but has improved again.

Importance

Under his ring name Mr. Wrestling II was John Walker both tag team and as an individual wrestler a big star in the southern United States. His successes were greater than those of his namesake. A fight against Larry Zbyszko in 1982, in which he put his mask on the line, was the first wrestling match in the United States, which brought more than a million viewers to their TV. The match had a rating of 6.8. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter described him in an interview as his favorite wrestler.

Wrestling Title

  • Championship Wrestling from Florida NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship ( 2x)
  • NWA Florida Tag Team Championship ( 1x) - with Boris Malenko
  • NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) ( 1x)
  • Continental Championship Wrestling NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship ( 1x)
  • Hawai'i Championship Wrestling HCW Kekaulike Heritage Tag Team Championship ( 1x) - with Mr. Wrestling III
  • Mid-South Sports / Georgia Championship Wrestling NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship (10x)
  • NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship ] (5x) - with Bob Orton, Jr. ( 1x), Mr. Wrestling (3x) and Tony Atlas ( 1)
  • NWA Macon Tag Team Championship ( 3 times ) - with Mr. Wrestling (2x) and Jerry Lawler ( 1x)
  • NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) ( 1x) - with Bill Dromo
  • NWA Tri-State / Mid-South Wrestling Association Mid-South Mississippi Heavyweight Championship ( 1x)
  • Mid-South North American Championship ( 1x)
  • Mid-South Tag Team Championship ( 2x) - with Tiger Conway, Jr. (1x) and Magnum TA ( 1x)
  • NWA North American Heavyweight Championship ( 1x)
  • NWA Big Time Wrestling NWA Texas Tag Team Championship ( 1x) - with Amazing Zuma
  • NWA Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ( Mid-America version) (9x) - with Ken Lucas (2x), Bob Ramstead ( 1x), Sundown Kid ( 1x), Dennis Hall ( 3x), Tojo Yamamoto (1x) and Bearcat Brown ( 1x )
  • NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 4x)
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship ( Mid-America version) ( 1x) - with Oni Maiva
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship ( Mid-America version) ( 4 times ) - with Len Rossi (2x) and Bearcat Brown ( 2x)
  • World Championship Wrestling WCW Hall of Fame (1993 )
Charleston (South Carolina) Georgia (U.S. state) Gene Anderson Magnum T.A. Steve Corino Continental Wrestling Association
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