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89-638: Terry Taylor was a popular fan favorite for much of his early career in the Mid-South region, as well as the Mid-Atlantic in the 1980s. Taylor was originally selected to be part of The Fabulous Ones tag team with Stan Lane , but that role went to Florida wrestler, Steve Keirn . Taylor then formed a tag team with Bobby Fulton called the Fantastic Ones. After they split up, Fulton teamed with Tommy Rogers to form The Fantastics . On June 7, 1981, Taylor won

178-460: A Brawl for All contest between Bart Gunn and Butterbean at WrestleMania XV . Because of his frail appearance and rapidly declining health, the camera only focused on Monsoon during his introduction as a judge, for which he received a standing ovation. His final occasion on television with WWF would be as a guest commentator on the August 29, 1999 international version of Superstars . Marella

267-651: A "family man" and supported their persona by appearing with their family members before and after matches. Steamboat famously carried his 8-month-old son Richard Jr. into the ring with him at WrestleMania IV before his match with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine , then handing him to his wife Bonnie before the match started, and was accompanied to the ring by his family during his rivalry with Ric Flair in Jim Crockett Promotions to contrast with Flair's party animal "Nature Boy" persona. These actions often relate to wrestlers promoting charity work or other actions outside

356-516: A 30-second squash at WrestleMania V . Taylor would then primarily be used to put over other talent. While he still earned victories against enhancement talent, he was usually on the losing end against established stars. He worked a program with Mr. Perfect , losing to him at SummerSlam '89 and again on the November 25, 1989 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event XXIV . At Survivor Series '89 , he

445-530: A Texas Death rematch to the same team. A year later, after defeating teams such as Al Costello & Dr. Bill Miller and Bobo Brazil and Earl Maynard , they went on to lose a main event to Sammartino and Victor Rivera. Monsoon had semi main event matches with Spiros Arion as well as Bobo Brazil in his key heel years. Also in 1968 he won the IWA World Heavyweight Championship (Australia) defeating Mario Milano on February 2 and dropped

534-583: A broadcaster and backstage interviewer, wrestling his last on screen match on the May 22, 1993 edition of WWF Mania against Tatanka . Taylor would leave the company in August 1993 after his final match, which was a house show match where he lost to Brutus Beefcake in Sheffield, England. Taylor returned to WCW again in September 1993, doing both commentary and in ring business. In January 1994 he teamed with Erik Watts in

623-496: A change in character for the wrestler in question. For example, Batista's run as a face upon his return to the WWE in 2014 was met with overwhelmingly negative reactions from the fans. Because of this unexpected reaction, Batista turned heel within just a few months of his return. The reaction of the fans can also influence a wrestler's booking and position on the card. Faces that get more support than expected sometimes move closer towards

712-413: A face wrestler, Angle's character was arrogant and constantly reminded people of his Olympic glory, behaving as if he thought he was better than the fans. Angle's character served as a meta-reference to how wrestling had changed. Although his character was intended to be a heel and behaved accordingly, some commentators speculated that if Angle attempted to get over as a face using a more heroic version of

801-782: A heated rivalry. After Jim Crockett Promotions took over the UWF later that year, Taylor (then the UWF Television Champion) initiated a dispute with Nikita Koloff over the NWA World Television Championship by stealing Koloff's belt, which led to a unification match of the two titles at Starrcade 1987 , which Taylor would lose before abruptly leaving the promotion. In early 1988, Taylor returned in World Class Championship Wrestling , where he and Adams continued their feud until early June. Taylor won

890-410: A long lasting very negative effect on Taylor's career as well. In 1990, Taylor returned to Jim Crockett Promotions, now renamed World Championship Wrestling (WCW) following a sale to Turner Broadcasting System . Two months after signing, Taylor made his return in a win by disqualification over "Mean Mark" Callous . He later re-debuted as "Terry Taylor" and unsuccessfully challenged Arn Anderson for

979-495: A loss to Abdullah Tamba in San Juan , Puerto Rico (also in 1983). The next phase of his career began, as the voice and backstage manager of WWF. In the early 1980s, Vincent J. McMahon's son, Vincent K. McMahon , began assuming the reins of the promotion from his father. The elder McMahon asked his son to take care of long-time employees who had been loyal to him. The younger McMahon agreed, and in 1982, Vince bought Marella's shares in

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1068-634: A match for the vacated NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight title in Guangzhou, China . On May 20, 2011, Taylor was fired from the promotion. In 2012, Taylor was re-signed by WWE to work as a trainer in its developmental territory NXT . According to Pro Wrestling Torch in 2017, Taylor along with Shawn Michaels taught the finishing class at the WWE Performance Center , the last of four levels of classes. On April 12, 2004, Taylor had three vertebrae in his neck fused together. On April 3, 2006, he underwent

1157-450: A month later with a series against Lance Cassidy . Taylor was primarily used to put over other talent. His most high profile match during this time was a loss to Randy Savage on the December 14, 1992 airing of Prime Time Wrestling . He appeared in the 1993 Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated in 24 seconds by Ted DiBiase . He worked house shows in the spring against Typhoon, then became

1246-644: A nefarious outside party into fighting, or simply having a clean sportsmanly contest) often happen as well. In the world of lucha libre wrestling, most técnicos are generally known for using moves requiring technical skill, particularly aerial maneuvers and wearing outfits using bright colors with positive associations (such as solid white ). This is contrasted with most villainous rudos who are generally known for being brawlers, using physical moves that emphasize brute strength or size while often having outfits akin to demons or other nasty characters. Traditional faces are classic "good guy" characters who rarely break

1335-689: A new national powerhouse. At the time, the WWWF was the dominant wrestling promotion in the Northeast U.S.. Marella formed a friendship with McMahon, and became a one-sixth shareholder in the WWWF, controlling bookings in several WWWF territories. He also became one of the promotion's top heels, feuding with popular babyface champion Bruno Sammartino in sellout arenas across the country. Despite his huge size, then in excess of 400 pounds, Monsoon had great agility and stamina, often wrestling Sammartino to one-hour time-limit draws. Monsoon first wrestled Bruno Sammartino for

1424-685: A road agent. Taylor lasted in this capacity until July 14, 2003, when he was released from his contract. Taylor began working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2003. Prior to becoming Head of Talent Relations, he also worked as a road agent, trainer, and interviewer. His only match for TNA was on September 24, 2003, where he defeated Kid Kash . While in TNA, Taylor wrestled for independent promotions, notably teaming with Cyrus in Canada for Ontario's Border City Wrestling and Manitoba's No Holds Barred promotions. On December 30, 2003, Tayor lost to Steve Williams in

1513-446: A rooster. Early in his Red Rooster stint, the heel Taylor was described by Heenan as a novice wrestler who could not navigate his way through matches without constant instructions from his manager, despite objections from announcers such as Gorilla Monsoon who would recall him showing considerable promise in matches prior to Heenan's involvement. The Rooster made his pay-per-view debut in the main event of Survivor Series '88 , where he

1602-790: A scaffold match, but lost when they were defeated by P. N. News and Bobby Eaton. For a time in late 1991-early 1992, Taylor teased a face turn by arguing with manager Alexandra York and the rest of the group. After the York Foundation disbanded, Taylor (billed as 'The Taylor Made Man') remained heel and formed a tag team with Greg Valentine in 1992. They held the WCW United States Tag Team Championship for three months. Taylor would make three appearances for Eastern Championship Wrestling during September and October 1992. He would defeat Larry Winters and lost twice to Tony Stetson . On September 21, 1992 Taylor returned to

1691-645: A short time in 1977 and feuded with André the Giant , and the two engaged in a special boxing match in Puerto Rico (where Monsoon owned stock in the territory), with André winning the match. As a face, he had major wins in Madison Square Garden, including over Killer Kowalski as well as "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd . On June 1, 1976, a famous incident occurred in Philadelphia involving boxing great Muhammad Ali during

1780-516: A taping for the syndicated WWWF TV show. Ali, preparing for his upcoming crossover bout with Antonio Inoki in Japan later that month, jumped into the ring as Monsoon (who rarely appeared as a wrestler on their TV shows) was concluding a short match against Baron Mikel Scicluna . Ali removed his shirt and started dancing around Monsoon while gesturing and throwing jabs at him, to which Monsoon responded by grabbing Ali in his Airplane Spin and slamming him to

1869-585: A televised loss to Pretty Wonderful on WCW Saturday Night . Wrestling as a face, Taylor began a program with "Diamond" Dallas Page and defeated him at SuperBrawl IV on February 20. As in the WWF, Taylor began commentary work and teamed with Tony Schiavone on play-by-play for WCW Power Hour . After wrestling The Honky Tonk Man and Tex Slazenger during the spring and summer, he ended his run with three straight victories over Jean Paul Levesque on an August house show tour of Texas. Taylor became an announcer for

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1958-513: A three-hour cervical fusion surgery in which his sixth and seventh vertebrae were joined. Following the second operation, he announced his retirement from the ring. Taylor is a born-again Christian and has appeared on some of the wrestling and religion shows that Ted DiBiase produces. Taylor has two sons. His wife and their mother Trudy (née Davidson) died of cancer on July 14, 2011. The Mid-Atlantic promotion in which Taylor and Steiner won

2047-560: A tribute that aired on October 7, 1999, on an episode of WWF SmackDown! , McMahon described Marella as "one of the greatest men I have ever known." McMahon was reported to have broken down and cried after recording Marella's tribute. WCW commentator Tony Schiavone acknowledged Marella's death on the October 11, 1999, episode of WCW Monday Nitro . Bobby Heenan insisted on doing a tribute to Marella, even though Marella never worked for WCW. Heenan said on-air: "Gorilla will be sadly missed. Now he

2136-487: A very nice career". Martin reported that fellow wrestlers "generally speak pretty highly" of Monsoon, with particular praise for his movement and portrayal of his character. WE described him as "one of the most feared competitors" in professional wrestling, adding, "Whether in the ring, at the mic or behind the scenes, Robert 'Gorilla Monsoon' Marella will always be remembered as one of the greatest of all-time." He has been inducted into various wrestling halls of fame, including

2225-639: The 1959 NCAA Wrestling Championships . He also held several school athletic records, including an 18-second wrestling pin, and several track-and-field distinctions. During the summers he was at Ithaca College, he was a construction worker in Rochester. One of the buildings he helped construct was the Rochester War Memorial Arena . Marella's size and athletic ability attracted the attention of New York promoter Pedro Martinez, and he went to wrestle for Martinez after graduating from Ithaca in 1959. Gorilla

2314-704: The American Wrestling Federation (AWF) in 1994. A fan of wrestling announcer Gordon Solie , Taylor would often use Solie's famous phrases, pronouncing a suplex as a "soo-play" and a clothesline as a "lariat." He defeated Blacktop Bully by disqualification on April 29, 1995 at an AWF event. Taylor spent several years in WCW working backstage, as a road agent and a writer. Along with Annette Yother, Craig Leathers, Eric Bischoff and Kevin Sullivan, he wrote content for Nitro and WCW pay-per-views . He made his return to

2403-656: The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship from Les Thornton at the Roanoke Civic Center , dropping it back to him in the return match thirteen days later. Also wrestled for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, and Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1981 and 1982. Taylor made his way to Mid-South in January 1984 and feuded with the team of Nikolai Volkoff and Krusher Darsow . Darsow changed his name to Krusher Khruschev, and he and Taylor met in

2492-621: The WCW World Television Championship on several occasions, with most of the matches ending in time-limit draws. In late 1990, Taylor began a short feud with Michael Wallstreet , which ended abruptly after Wallstreet jumped to the WWF. In January 1991, Taylor took Wallstreet's place in The York Foundation and a couple months later was renamed Terrence Taylor (It was customary for York Foundation members to use formalized versions of their first names and wear suits as part of

2581-481: The WWE World Heavyweight Championship , to a triple threat match with Daniel Bryan which he would go on to win. Some face wrestlers often give high fives or give out merchandise to fans while entering the ring before their match, such as T-shirts, sunglasses, hats and masks. Bret Hart was one of the first superstars to make this popular, as he would drape his signature sunglasses on a child in

2670-617: The WWF Hall of Fame in 1994 . Monsoon's announcing has garnered both praise and derision. In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter ' s annual awards poll, readers voted Monsoon Worst Television Announcer a record six times between 1985 and 1995. Appraising his commentary in 1988, journalist Stately Wayne Manor remarked, "Monsoon is aptly named after a counterproductive wind storm that nobody welcomes." Writer Dave Meltzer referred to conversations with "irate wrestlers in

2759-453: The heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains . Traditionally, face characters wrestle within the rules and avoid cheating while behaving positively towards the referee and the audience. Such characters are also referred to as blue-eyes in British wrestling and técnicos in lucha libre . Not everything a face wrestler does must be heroic: faces need only to be clapped or cheered by

Terry Taylor - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-576: The "Gorilla Position" in his honor. Marella attended Jefferson High School in Rochester, New York , becoming a standout athlete in football , amateur wrestling , and track and field . At the time, he weighed over 300 pounds (136 kg) and was affectionately called "Tiny" by his teammates. Marella was also a standout athlete after high school at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York . He continued to wrestle, now weighing over 350 pounds, and took second in

2937-576: The "business" gimmick). He feuded with Tom Zenk , Dustin Rhodes and Bobby Eaton , and won the WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championships with Richard Morton and Thomas Rich . Taylor was the senior wrestling member of the York Foundation and either was a singles wrestler or teamed with fellow York Foundation members during its existence. The exception was at The Great American Bash , when he teamed with “Stunning” Steve Austin in

3026-459: The 1980s boom period in WWF, especially his work with Bobby Heenan ". Eck acknowledged the criticism of Monsoon among sections of the audience, but defended his use of absurdity and cliché as "entertaining", and argued that "he sold the angles well and got the characters over ". PWInsider ' s Dave Scherer said of Monsoon, "I did love him as an announcer". Rolling Stone ' s Joseph Hudak reported that Heenan and Monsoon "are regarded as

3115-536: The 2nd Annual Brian Pillman Memorial Show on May 19, 1999, and on July 30, he lost to Chris Jericho at the Mark Curtis Comes Home Memorial Show. He remained with the company until WWF bought it out in March 2001. On August 9, 2001, he defeated Bobby Eaton at 4th Annual Brian Pillman Memorial Show in a match refereed by Ricky Steamboat . In September 2002, Taylor returned to the now-renamed WWE as

3204-567: The 80s who hated Monsoon killing their psychology ". Todd Martin of the Pro Wrestling Torch noted that some regard Monsoon as "one of the all-time great announcers", while others feel he was "self-indulgent" and "dismissive of certain wrestlers", and had a tendency to "undermine the drama" by questioning the effectiveness of particular maneuvers. Baltimore Sun journalist Kevin Eck wrote that "a lot of people have fond memories of [Monsoon] from

3293-486: The Attitude Era of the WWF. During this time, wrestlers like Stone Cold Steve Austin and Sting used tactics traditionally associated with heels, but remained popular with the fans. Professional wrestling had just come off a huge steroid scandal and was facing poor ratings compared to the 1980s, and as a result, professional wrestling transformed into an edgier, more mature product. In this new era of professional wrestling,

3382-416: The August 1, 1988 airing of Prime Time Wrestling . After Houston was pinned, Taylor got on the mic and berated him for losing the match, before attacking him and turning heel. Taylor soon acquired Bobby "The Brain" Heenan as his manager and was rebranded "The Red Rooster", a gimmick which saw him don red tights and ring coat and, later as a babyface, style his hair like a rooster 's comb and strut like

3471-492: The Dark ). The Ventura/Monsoon duo of heel and babyface were the original broadcast duo, setting the standard which all who followed would attempt to emulate, especially Ventura's charismatic pro-heel character which was a first of its kind as previous wrestling commentators had almost always been in favor of the fan favorites. The pair commentated on all the WWF pay-per-views together with

3560-721: The Mid South region's top title at the time. Moving back to the Mid-South region in 1986, which been renamed the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), Taylor became one of the promotion's biggest stars and defeated Buzz Sawyer for the UWF Television Championship in May. He won the UWF Tag Team Championship with "Gentleman" Chris Adams in early 1987, before breaking up their "Dream Team" to begin

3649-517: The NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight and Tag Team Championships. Face (professional wrestling) Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s In professional wrestling , a face ( babyface ) is a heroic, "good guy", "good-doer", or "fan favorite" wrestler, booked (scripted) by the promotion with the aim of being cheered by fans. They are portrayed as heroes relative to

Terry Taylor - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-487: The NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship is not the same promotion that was once owned by Jim Crockett Jr. and sold to Ted Turner in 1988. That promotion went on to be renamed World Championship Wrestling and was sold to World Wrestling Entertainment in 2001. This current promotion, however, operates within the same region as the original and uses some of the same regional championships, primarily

3827-633: The Red Rooster gimmick. Heenan feigned wanting to make amends with Taylor on Prime Time Wrestling , but it was a set-up for Taylor to be ambushed by Heenan's new protege, long-time enhancement talent Steve Lombardi , who Heenan reinvented as "The Brooklyn Brawler". The two feuded, leading to the Rooster defeating the Brawler on the March 11, 1989 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event XX and then defeating Heenan in

3916-781: The Texas Heavyweight Championship from Matt Borne and defended it against Adams, Kevin Von Erich , and others. Terry also held the tag team title with Iceman King Parsons for a short time. Taylor eventually departed WCCW. In 1988, Taylor signed with the World Wrestling Federation . He made his initial debut in a house show defeating Tito Santana on July 10, 1988 in Las Vegas, NV. Three days later he made his televised debut as babyface "Scary Terry" Taylor, he teamed with Sam Houston against The Conquistadors on

4005-468: The WWF as a heel under the name "Terrific Terry Taylor" and continued to use his Red Rooster entrance theme but minus the rooster crows. His first match under this was when he defeated Jim Brunzell at a WWF Superstars taping in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was undefeated for his first month, gaining a series of house show victories over Jim Powers. In November he began a house show program with Max Moon , followed

4094-400: The WWF weeknight show, Prime Time Wrestling . Monsoon also served as co-host of Georgia Championship Wrestling on WTBS during McMahon's short-lived ownership of the promotion. Marella stepped down as the WWF's lead commentator at WrestleMania IX (where he was Master of Ceremonies) to make way for WCW recruit Jim Ross . He was phased out of Wrestling Challenge with Bobby Heenan and

4183-574: The WWWF World Championship on October 4, 1963, at Roosevelt Stadium, in Jersey City, New Jersey Monsoon qualified by winning a partially televised Ring Wrestling Magazine tournament, where he pinned Killer Buddy Austin in about a minute. Monsoon's disqualification win over Sammartino in NJ triggered a series of rematches at Madison Square Garden , and they would renew the feud again there in 1967. At

4272-475: The air. He would work in Toronto, Calgary, St. Louis and Japan. Marella garnered moderate popularity but soon realized that fans paid more attention to outlandish monster heel gimmicks , and they, therefore, made more money. Marella totally revamped his image, growing a long beard and billing himself as Gorilla Monsoon, a terrifying giant from Manchuria . Supposedly born on an isolated farm, "Monsoon" traveled across

4361-424: The audience to be effective characters. When the magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated went into circulation in the late 1970s, the magazine referred to face wrestlers as "fan favorites" or "scientific wrestlers", while heels were referred to as simply "rulebreakers". The vast majority of wrestling storylines involve pitting faces against heels, although more elaborate set-ups (such as two faces being manipulated by

4450-448: The audience. Rey Mysterio , who has been a face in WWE since his debut, would go to any fan (frequently a child) wearing a replica of his mask and touch their head with his head for good luck before wrestling. Other examples include John Cena throwing his shirts and caps in the crowd before entering a match and Big Show giving his hat to a fan when he was a face. Some faces, such as Bret Hart and Ricky Steamboat , promoted an image as

4539-405: The audience. Traditional faces similar to Hulk Hogan tend to draw on support from the crowd when it's time for them to make their big comeback. In addition to wrestlers, commentators also portray face and heel dynamics. It is the job of the face commentator to criticize the tactics and behavior of the heel wrestler and gather support for the face wrestler. The face commentator gathers support for

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4628-410: The belt to Spiros Arion. In 1969, Monsoon became a babyface, befriending his former arch-rival when Sammartino rescued him from an attack by "Crazy" Luke Graham , a former tag team partner of Monsoon. The stage was set for Monsoon to become a fan favorite of the 1970s and feud with top heels of the decade, including champion Superstar Billy Graham ; he then began to speak English. He turned heel for

4717-534: The broadcast booth included Lord Alfred Hayes, Luscious Johnny Valiant , Johnny Polo , "Superstar" Billy Graham , Hillbilly Jim , Tony Schiavone , Jim Neidhart , Randy Savage and Jim Ross . Monsoon called the first eight WrestleManias from 1985 to 1992. Monsoon was the lead commentator on the syndicated show, WWF All Star Wrestling , its successor WWF Wrestling Challenge , and the USA Network weekend show, WWF All American Wrestling , as well as hosting

4806-513: The company in exchange for a guarantee of lifetime employment. As he had been to his father, Marella became a close confidant of the younger McMahon, and assumed a prominent backstage role within the then WWF. Marella would then become an announcer for the WWF starting in 1982. In addition, McMahon needed a new commentary team to head up his television programming, and installed Marella with the recently retired Jesse "The Body" Ventura in 1985. Marella and Ventura had great chemistry, with Ventura as

4895-474: The countryside with a gypsy caravan wrestling bears, spoke no English, ate raw meat, and drank his victims' blood. The story given on WWWF television was a bit different: his first manager, Bobby Davis, claimed to have discovered Monsoon in Manchuria wading nude in a mountain stream. The Monsoon character was far more successful, and fans were genuinely afraid of him, sparking a huge financial windfall for Marella. In

4984-645: The end of the Jersey City match, as Monsoon was sitting on the mat, a fan (not part of the show) jumped into the ring and broke the back of a wooden chair over Monsoon's head. Monsoon teamed up with Killer Kowalski with success. In November 1963, they defeated Skull Murphy and Brute Bernard to win the U.S. Tag Team Championship . The following month, the duo lost the belts to the Tolos Brothers (Chris and John) in Teaneck, New Jersey . Monsoon and Kowalski reunited in

5073-596: The exception of the first two SummerSlams and the 1990 Royal Rumble (at SummerSlam 1988 Ventura was the guest referee for the main event so Monsoon commentated with "Superstar" Billy Graham, while Ventura was paired with Tony Schiavone at both SummerSlam 1989 and the Royal Rumble). When Ventura left the WWF in mid-1990, he was replaced in commentary by Monsoon's Prime Time Wrestling co-host, heel manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , another duo that subsequent wrestling commentary teams have often tried to emulate. Though

5162-443: The face wrestler by mentioning how much of a disadvantage he is at, or by praising the hero's morality and valor. Gorilla Monsoon Robert James " Gino " Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon , was an American professional wrestler , play-by-play commentator , and booker . Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyweight main eventer, and later as

5251-439: The fans. While clearly not championing rule following, nor submission to authority, Austin was still regarded as the face in many of his duels such as his rivalry with World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) owner Mr. McMahon . The portrayal of face wrestlers changed in the 1990s with the birth of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), the start of World Championship Wrestling 's (WCW) New World Order (nWo) storyline, and

5340-621: The finals of a May tournament to crown the first ever Mid-South TV champion , which Khruschev won. 45 days later, Taylor defeated Khruschev in New Orleans to begin his first of four TV title reigns. Taylor feuded with "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel over the NWA National Heavyweight Championship in 1985. On March 13 of that year, he defeated Ted DiBiase for the North American Heavyweight Championship,

5429-436: The greatest color-commentary team in pro-wrestling history", and "had a Martin-and-Lewis like chemistry behind the mic". Heenan consistently named Monsoon as his favorite announcing partner. In contemplating his " Mount Rushmore of wrestling announcers", veteran commentator Jim Ross stated, " Gordon Solie , Bob Caudle , Lance Russell , Gorilla Monsoon would be four off the top of my head that I would put on there." In

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5518-432: The late 1960s to defeat champion Bruno Sammartino and Victor Rivera 2 falls to 1 in Madison Square Garden in a main event, marking the first, and possibly only, time that Sammartino & Rivera lost as a tag team. Monsoon also teamed with Professor Toru Tanaka in 1967, and they had a number of tag matches in Madison Square Garden. They won a main event on disqualification over Sammartino and Spiros Arion and later lost

5607-492: The line in a match against Ken Patera . Monsoon lost and only wrestled a few more matches, retiring several weeks later. Following this he fought only four times: wrestling a six-man tag team match at Madison Square Garden in 1981, a match in 1982 as a substitute for André the Giant where he defeated Swede Hanson , taking part in Big John Studd 's "Body Slam Challenge" in 1983, and wrestling at WWC 's tenth anniversary show in

5696-415: The main event scene, while those getting less of a reaction than hoped might move down on the card. While Batista was getting bad reactions in 2014, another face Daniel Bryan , was getting incredibly positive support. Loud "Yes!" chants that had become synonymous with Bryan were present at any show he was on, and eventually the main event of WrestleMania XXX would be changed from Batista vs Randy Orton for

5785-457: The mat. Marella would never reveal whether the incident was preplanned. In an interview, he commented, "I never saw him before and haven't seen him since." A kind of torch bearer of the Vincent J. McMahon-era WWWF, Gorilla Monsoon was rabidly supported by New York audiences. On June 16, 1980, a young and up-and-coming Hulk Hogan was booked to face him at Madison Square Garden . At the time, Hogan

5874-531: The most famous athlete-entertainers ever to don tights". Longtime industry journalist Bill Apter remarked, "He was one of the best heels – what wrestlers call a bad guy – in the business... the Gorilla Monsoon image was genuinely frightening." Todd Martin of the Pro Wrestling Torch commended Monsoon's physical agility, and noted that he became "a significant star in a lot of different places and had

5963-448: The pair were frequently at odds on screen — with Monsoon regularly yelling, "Will you stop?" in response to Heenan's denigration of fan-favorite wrestlers — in real life they formed a close friendship that Heenan often recalled fondly. In his WWE Hall of Fame induction speech at the 2004 ceremony , Heenan finished by saying that only one thing was missing – that he wished Monsoon was there. Other people who were often paired with Monsoon in

6052-535: The pro-heel color commentator and Marella as the pro-face "voice of reason". Marella and Ventura called five of the first six WrestleManias together (the notable exception was WrestleMania 2 , where Marella commentated on the Chicago portion of the event with Gene Okerlund , Cathy Lee Crosby and Ernie "The Cat" Ladd while Ventura commentated on the Los Angeles portion with Lord Alfred Hayes and Elvira, Mistress of

6141-681: The ring on April 20, 1996 in Little Rock, AR when he defeated Steve Regal and would occasionally wrestle on house shows over the next two and a half years. His last match came on September 23, 1998, when he faced Steve McMichael in Utica, NY at a house show. Taylor returned to the WWF in 1998, doing interviews backstage and sometimes commentary on WWF television. As with WCW, he would occasionally wrestle on live events. His first match would be against Kurt Angle on May 15, 1999 in Baltimore, MD. His final match

6230-671: The ring, Monsoon dominated opponents with vicious chops, the dreaded Manchurian Splash, and his signature move, the Airplane Spin. In 1963, Vincent J. McMahon reformed the Capitol Wrestling Corporation into the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) (currently known as World Wrestling Entertainment ), breaking his territory away from the National Wrestling Alliance in an attempt to create

6319-466: The ring, blurring the lines between scripted wrestling and their personal lives. In the ring, traditional faces are expected to abide by the rules and win matches by their own skill rather than by cheating, outside interference etc. Because heel wrestlers take little issues with using such tactics, the face enters many matches already at a disadvantage to the heel. By putting the face in a difficult situation, it can help to draw out sympathy and support from

6408-498: The rules, follow instructions of those in authority such as the referee, are polite and well-mannered towards the fans and often overcome the rule-breaking actions of their heel opponents to cleanly win matches. While many modern faces still fit this model, other versions of the face character are now also common. A good example would be Stone Cold Steve Austin , who despite playing a heel early on in his career would start to be seen more of an antihero because of his popularity with

6497-434: The same character, he would have failed. Unusually, Angle did not use any of these heroic mannerisms when playing a face character, instead acting as somewhat of an antihero with a few elements of the " lovable loser " character archetype. The majority of the time, faces who are low-carders, or lesser known, are used as jobbers . These wrestlers usually lose matches against established wrestlers, often heels that then lose to

6586-409: The standard face was more profane, violent, and uncontrollable. In contrast to the emerging new breed of faces, Kurt Angle was introduced to the then-WWF with an American hero gimmick based on his gold medal win at the 1996 Summer Olympics . Angle presented himself as a role model and stressed the need to work hard to realize one's dreams. Although such a personality appears appropriate for

6675-458: The storyline WWF President in the summer of 1995 (replacing Jack Tunney ). The WWF President's role was to arbitrate disputes between wrestlers and make matches, similar to later WWE "general managers". In January 1996, Monsoon was attacked and ( kayfabe ) severely injured by Vader : Roddy Piper became interim WWF President until WrestleMania XII , when Marella assumed the position again. Health concerns forced him to relinquish this role during

6764-493: The summer of 1997. Instead of naming a replacement, the WWF decided to retire the role of "President" and introduced Sgt. Slaughter as the new WWF Commissioner in August 1997. Marella's health deteriorated from there. In late 1998, Marella returned briefly to call the international version of WWF Superstars . In 1999, Marella appeared in a WWF Attitude commercial featuring Freddie Blassie , Ernie Ladd , Pat Patterson and Killer Kowalski . He appeared as one of three judges for

6853-410: The top faces. Fans sometimes dislike face wrestlers despite the way they are promoted. Some reasons for this include repetitive in-ring antics, a limited moveset, a lengthy title reign, lack of selling their opponents' moves, or an uninteresting character. This often results in wrestlers who are supposed to be cheered receiving a negative or no reaction from the fans. When this happens, it can prompt

6942-399: The voice of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), as commentator and backstage manager during the 1980s and 1990s. He also portrayed the on-screen role of WWF President from 1995 to 1997. In professional wrestling, the staging area just behind the entrance curtain at an event, a position which Marella established and where he could often be found during WWF shows late in his career, is named

7031-569: Was 6'5" and weighed around 330 pounds when he first started wrestling professionally. By the end of his career, he was up around 375 pounds, although he had weighed as much as 440 pounds at points. Marella debuted in 1958, originally billing himself as Gino Marella, a proud Italian American babyface who would sing in Italian prior to his matches. Even after changing his ring name , "Gino" stuck as Marella's nickname among friends and colleagues, including Jesse Ventura , who would call Marella "Gino" on

7120-443: Was a widely followed heel character, while Monsoon was still a babyface. However, in order to push the new talent, McMahon told Hulk Hogan to beat Monsoon in under a minute. Upon that outcome, the crowd became livid and chased Hogan when he was leaving the arena, turning over his car. Policemen on horses had to be summoned to quiet the mob. As the 1980s began, Marella's in-ring career wound down. On August 23, Monsoon put his career on

7209-447: Was against Joey Abs on September 23, 1999. After conducting backstage interviews for a year in the WWF, Taylor returned to WCW yet again. He appeared in a backstage segment with Kimberly on Monday Nitro on November 15, 1999. During this run in WCW, Taylor co-hosted and provided commentary for WCW Saturday Night with Larry Zbyszko . While in WCW, Taylor would also wrestle for the independent promotions . He defeated Tom Prichard at

7298-543: Was billed on-camera as Bob Marella rather than as Gorilla Monsoon. Marella died on October 6, 1999, of heart failure brought on by complications of diabetes , at his home in Willingboro Township, New Jersey . He was 62 years old. His body was buried next to his son, Joey Marella, at Lakeview Memorial Park in Cinnaminson, New Jersey . Nick Ravo of The New York Times described Monsoon as "legendary" and "one of

7387-590: Was married to his wife, Maureen, for more than 40 years and had three children: Sharon (born 1960), Joey (1963–1994), and Valerie (born 1966). Víctor Quiñones (1959–2006) was listed in Gorilla's obituary as his son as well. On July 4, 1994, his son, Joey Marella, fell asleep at the wheel and died in a car accident on the New Jersey Turnpike , while returning from refereeing a WWF event in Ocean City, Maryland . He

7476-505: Was moved to All-American Wrestling with Lord Alfred Hayes on April 11, 1993. He commentated with Jim Ross on WWF Radio for the broadcasts of SummerSlam 1993 , Survivor Series 1993 and Royal Rumble 1994 . He returned to the television broadcast team to call the King of the Ring 1994 with Randy Savage as well as covering a few episodes of Monday Night RAW in 1993 and 1994 whenever Vince McMahon

7565-443: Was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. Fellow WWF employee Mike Chioda later commented that Marella was "heartbroken" about his son's death. In early 1994, Marella co-hosted the short-lived morning variety/game show Bingo Break on WBFF in Baltimore, Maryland, which also featured fellow WWF on-air personality Sean Mooney as the bingo caller. The program did not acknowledge Marella's wrestling career, and as such he

7654-540: Was one big tough man. He was a decent honest man. And we're all gonna miss him very much. And you know the pearly gates in heaven? It's now gonna be called 'the Gorilla position.' Goodbye, my friend." He was inducted into the Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973. When Heenan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004 , he ended his acceptance speech with, "Only one thing's missing: I wish Monsoon

7743-522: Was part of Dusty Rhodes 's "Dream Team". Though Taylor was eliminated from the match, the Dream Team was victorious. The Rooster's last pay-per-view appearance was as a participant in the 1990 Royal Rumble match (replacing The Widow Maker ), where he lasted only two minutes before being eliminated by André the Giant . Taylor left the federation in June 1990, and "The Red Rooster" gimmick that he had used has left

7832-465: Was the first wrestler eliminated from the match. On the January 7, 1989 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event XIX , the Rooster lost a match to Tito Santana due to being distracted by an argument with Heenan. Following the loss, Heenan slapped Taylor. Taylor, tired of Heenan's demeaning style of coaching, turned against his manager and attacked him. He became a face as a result, though he retained

7921-404: Was unavailable. He was also called upon sporadically to return to Challenge from 1993 to 1995, calling action with Stan Lane , Ted DiBiase , and Ross again. Monsoon also did various work for Coliseum Video . Marella's last pay-per-view commentary was for the 1994 Survivor Series , with Vince McMahon on play-by-play. Marella remained in his backstage role and appeared on-air frequently, becoming

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