Upon his return to WWE, Big John Studd was paired with "Classy" Freddie Blassie, who aided Studd in his feud with Andre the Giant, which lasted for years. This happened during a televised tag team match on WWF Championship Wrestling featuring Studd and fellow Heenan Family member Ken Patera against Andr the Giant and S. D. Jones. The general opinion of his physicians was that the use of human growth hormone years before had led to the development of the cancer. This list is compiled of the tallest men so far to have ever entered a professionalwrestling ring. Another great giant, Big Show, inducted Studd into the Hall, and son John Minton Jr. accepted the Hall of Fame plaque on behalf of his dad. Studd then served as a special guest referee in the match between Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Andr at WrestleMania V in Atlantic City. [1] On September 12, 1972, Studd unsuccessfully challenged Pedro Morales for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship. Trained by. Related: 8 Things About Andr The Giant's Career That Make No Sense. Ric Flair won the match in 1992 to capture the WWE Championship. Theres Steve Austin who is the only man to have won the match three times, or Hulk Hogan who won in back to back years to more firmly establish the signature match in the early 1990s. He was posthumously inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame in 1995 and the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004. photo: wwe.com. Known mostly wrestling for the Von Erich's WCCW as Silo Sam, he also wrestled for a very short time in the WWF as Trapper John. He also won NWA Canadian Heavy Weight Championship at Maple Leaf Wrestling. Big John Studd signed with the World Wrestling Federation and took on Fred Blassie as his manager. Although he held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship only once, he was able to hold the title through most of the 1995 calendar year, for a total of 358 days . [5] Studd's last match with the WWF was June 4, 1989, with Hillbilly Jim wrestling in Studd's place later that month. His son, Sean Minton Studd, is also trying to make a mark in the field of wrestling. Sports Writer who loves the Sixers, Eagles, and the Phillies. He first worked for the WWF (then the WWWF) under the name Chuck O'Connor, then as one of the Masked Executioners in 1976, leading to a Tag Team Title reign. John Minton, Actor: Micki + Maude. He was always near the top of the card, feuding with the likes of Hulk Hogan and teaming with Ken Patera to cut off Andre's hair. He started training to be a professional wrestler under 'Walter 'Killer' Kowalski' at the age of 18. Standing 6-foot-10 and weighing in at 364 pounds, John "Big John Studd" Minton was a mountain of a man who dominated his competition, and his legendary rivalries with Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan . When no suitable bone marrow donor was found, and he was given around a month to live, Minton underwent an autotransplantation procedure with a 7% success rate. The Bundy-Studd team also feuded with other established WWF tag teams in 1986, including The Islanders, and contended for the WWF Tag Team Championship held by The British Bulldogs. Profile Info. John Studd came out with his own line of workout and vitamin supplements. From tossing around notably strong wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, Big John Studd, and the Ultimate Warrior like they were rag dolls, the inaugural member of the WWE's Hall of Fame phenomenal size was matched only by his awesome strength. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); No spam. However, with Heenan now also managing his old adversary Andr the Giant, Studd rejected the offer and ran Heenan off the Brother Love set, thus turning face. In 1995, he was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame, and the WWE Hall of Fame added his name to its ranks in 2004. He claimed that no one in the federation is skilled enough to slam him. He started training to be a professional wrestler under 'Walter 'Killer' Kowalski' at the age of 18. In his most famous match, he took on Andre in a 15,000 dollar bodyslam challenge at the first _Wrestlemania (1985)_. During a televised match in late 1986, Studd and Bundy began arguing after they lost a match to the Bulldogs, and although that seemed to foreshadow a feud between the two, nothing ever came of it. training to be a professional wrestler under 'Walter 'Killer' Kowalski' As is often the case with Hodgkins disease, Big John Studds cancer returned and spread to his liver in 1994. Big John Studds death occurred onMarch 20, 1995. Studd was actually in the WWWF before his stint as Executioner #2 in 1976. He won WWA World Tag Team Championship with Ox Baker at the World Wrestling Association. Studd jumped to the World Wrestling Federation in late 1982, and was paired with manager "Classy" Freddie Blassie. An elated Bobby Heenan appeared on the set to welcome Studd back to the Heenan family. Ils attaquent Andre the Giant lors d'un house show de la WWF durant l't 1985. Big John Studd at WrestleMania I (1985). The Undertaker is also an eight-timeworld champion, having held the WWE Championship four times, the World Heavyweight Championship three timesand the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship one time as well. In fact, Studd only appeared at that year's Mania as a special guest referee in a match between Andre the Giant and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Big John Studds grave at Saxonburg Memorial Church Cemetery in Saxonburg, PA. photo: unknown. Manager Captain Lou Albano protested by claiming it was an "optical illusion". 1985. Actor: Micki + Maude. He was the 1989 Royal Rumble Winner and held many titles as well: WWF Tag-Team Champion, NWA North American Champion, NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag-Team Champion(3), NWA Canadian Champion, NWA Texas Tag-Team Champion, NWA Hawaii Tag-Team Champion, EWU Super-Heavyweight Champion, 1976 PWI . Giant Silva was known as another part of The Oddities after making his WWE debut. If you would like to support the channel and my work, please consider becoming a channel member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIf44toFAHLORJ8dwEQkh9g/joinWrestling Bios Presents - The Career of Big John StuddWWE Hall of Famer Big John Studd was one of wrestling's biggest heels during the pre-wrestlemania days. Free shipping. LJN Titan. He also announced a $15000 cash prize for the individual who could slam him. After retiring for two years, Studd announced his return to the WWF on the Brother Love Show in December 1988. Studd held a number of championships including the WWA World Tag Team Championship and WWWF World Tag Team Championship, and was the winner of the 1989 Royal Rumble. Undertaker definitely uses his height to his advantage as he is widely considered one of the scariest wrestlers ever. Studd participated in the well-publicized 20 man over-the-top battle royal that took place at WrestleMania 2. Studd quit the WWF over what he felt were poor payoffs.[9]. Big John Studd won the second ever Royal Rumble, but was gone from WWE six months later, without even a WrestleMania match in between. Kane's mask has haunted young WWE fans for years but he has established himself as a lot more thanjust a scary gimmick in the wrestling world. John Minton was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease and fought the disease for several years. Big John Studd fut entrain par le catcheur canadien Killer Kowalski.Ils sont mme devenus Champions par quipe de la WWF en 1976 en tant que l'quipe masqus des Executioners.. Aprs avoir quitt la WWWF, Studd deviendra connu sous le nom de Chuck O'Connor, Captain USA, et The Masked Superstar II certains endroits du Mid-Atlantic.En 1978, Studd fait quipe avec Ken Patera pour . Minton died on March 20, 1995 from liver cancer and Hodgkin's disease. Winning this match furthered Studds credibility. Unfortunately, Big John Studds death occurred much too soon at the age of 47, leaving fans and the wrestling community deeply saddened. It doesn't matter if they only competed once or if they lost every single match, if they were the tallest, they're on this list. Perry then extended his hand to Studd, but when the giant reached out to shake it, Perry pulled him over the top rope to eliminate him as well. John Minton, or Big John Studd as he would eventually be known, was born on February 19th, 1948, in Butler, Pennsylvania. The "Machines" angle began when Andre failed to show up for a tag team match against Bundy-Studd at a television taping. The only thing Khali brought to the WWE was his height, which he took back to India in 2014. Otherwise, Vince McMahon himself carried little weight for relinquishing his WrestleMania title shot, but his Rumble victory was more of a plot point in his historic run as a heel authority figure. Andr went on to win the battle royale. Studd participated in the well-publicized 20 man over-the-top battle royal that took place in the Chicago segment of WrestleMania 2 and featured in a memorable pre-match interview with "Mean" Gene Okerlund and then Atlanta Falcons player Bill Fralic, with Studd telling Fralic that he had no business in professional wrestling, and Fralic repeatedly calling Studd "Dudd". During the match, Studd was noticeably wrestling stiff and showing contempt for someone he saw as nothing more than a weightlifter with no wrestling skills who had no business being in a professional wrestling ring. Get the occasional email with the latest wrestling tributes and memorials, Search by ring name, real name, cause of death, organization, time period (2000s, etc) or specific year, WWE Hall of Famer Ravishing Rick Rude was an amazing individual in and out of the ring. The Undertaker has cemented himself as one of the greatest wrestlers ever and surelyone of the best big men to ever enter the ring. While other lists of this nature have pointed to the girth of wrestlers, this one will be focusing strictly on their height. Despite this, Studd began declaring himself the "True Giant of Wrestling," all while continuing to insist he could not (and had never been) slammed. The 1989 Royal Rumble was won by the returning "Big" John Studd. His last match in WWF was supposed to be held on June 4, 1989, but he did not show up for the match and was replaced by Hillbilly Jim. Todd Pettengill announces the death of Big John Studd on the March 26, 1995 episode of Action Zone, Big John Studd guest referees for Andre the Giant and Jake The Snakes match at WrestleMania V. It doesnt take long for Andre and Studd to come to blows. He retired from wrestling in the late 70s, but was talked into coming back as Ron Reis' tag team partner in The Giants tag team. Andr went on to win the battle royal. Their rivalry produced two of the most infamous moments in WWE history. All these men are known for their shear strength and size, in the WWE that is always theshow stopper, the one thing that no one can take their eyes off of. Sadly, however, John Minton passed away on March 20, 1995, due to complications from liver cancer and Hodgkin's disease. Some of these guys weren't known as the greatest wrestlers ever, but some of the characters created just from their natural size will go down in history as some of the best ever. He won Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship on four different occasions. 1948-1995 (age 47) The Big John Studd death story shows another well respected star, gone before age 50. They held the championship until October 26, 1976, when they were stripped of the titles after a third Executioner (Nikolai Volkoff) interfered in a title defence. Sean Minton is currently a professional wrestler known as Big Sean Studd. Between WWE and WCW, Big Showhas held 23 total championships. The World's Most Entertaining Car Website. Big John Studd Dead at 47 from liver cancer and Hodgkins disease. Big John Studds grave is located at Saxonburg Memorial Church Cemetery in Saxonburg, PA. He appeared in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s and wrestled in the main event of . Sound off in the comments below! Exaggerations of Sam's height has billed him up to 7'8", but real estimates of his height put him mat around 7'3" or 7'4". Andre gagne le match et les 15000$. By Patricia Brennan. He was then known as Chuck O'Connor and he feuded with El Olympico. Professional Wrestler/Entertainer. Big John Studd. Pro Wrestling is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. Previous Managers: Bobby Heenan, Freddy Blassie. An elated Bobby Heenan appeared on the set to welcome Studd back to the Heenan family. En 1978, Studd fait quipe avec Ken Patera pour gagner les titres de champions par quipe de la Mid-Atlantic. Retired. Royal Rumble: Big John Studd defeats Akeem and Andre The Giant and Arn Anderson and Ax and Bad News Brown and Brutus Beefcake and Butch and Greg Valentine and Hercules and Hulk Hogan and Jake Roberts and Koko B. Ware and Luke and Marty Jannetty and Mr. Big John Studd VS Bob Backlund WWF Championship 2/19/83 Philadelphia Spectrum #BobBacklund He died from lymphoma cancer on March 20, 1995. He is another case that height doesn't automaticallywin you many matches in professional wrestling, skill does, and Silo Sam was not a skilled athlete. John Minton (February 19, 1948 - March 20, 1995) was an American professional wrestler and actor . Big John Studd was an actor too, and starred in a few movies. Big John Studd was trained by wrestling legend Killer Kowalski. The plot is located at New Saxonburg, Section 2 North. His rivalry with Andre the Giant became intense when he gave Andre a haircut during a tag team match in 1984. The Big John Studd death story began long before the stars date of death in 1995. Big John Studd Also known as Captain America, Captain USA, Chuck O'Connor, Executioner #2, John Studd, Masked Destroyer, Masked Superstar #2, Mighty Minton In 1978, Studd teamed with Ken Patera to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team titles. The Andre-Studd feud took on a new dimension in 1986, when, in the wake of Andre's increasing health problems related to gigantism and acromegaly, his role as Fezzik in the movie The Princess Bride, and his planned tour of Japan, a storyline was developed to have Andr compete in a tag team called The Machines. But pro wrestling has also been filled with cherished giants loved by fans for years. Luckily for Nash, Shawn Michaels gave his career some new life with his new character, Diesel, HBK's bodyguard. After the inaugural one was a hit as a TV special, where Jim Duggan won the battle royal main event, Big John Studd took home this second victory at the first Rumble PPV. Studd is best known for his appearances with the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation in the 1970s and 1980s. John William Minton (February 19, 1948 - March 20, 1995) was an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name, Big John Studd. 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