By George Shire
When Professional wrestling legends
are discussed, many names can be tossed around. But, a list of
professional wrestling legends is incomplete if the name Eddie
Sharkey is not on it.
Eddies story is fascinating! He was
born Eddie Shyman and later changed his given name to Sharkey when
he entered the wrestling game. When growing up in south Minneapolis,
Eddie was a big wrestling fan. He would go to the old Minneapolis
Auditorium to watch the wrestling matches. It didn't take long, and
Eddie was hooked.
He got into weightlifting and
eventually the word was out that Eddie was the toughest and meanest
kid on the block. In fact sometimes, he was too tough. He was
getting into street fight after the other, and his parents shipped
him of to a boy's reformatory school in Redwing, Minnesota. It was
there amongst the other unruly kids that Eddie felt right at home.
That was Eddies education. He learned
to hit hard, talk fast and never to forget what honor meant. When he
was 15 years old, he quit school and decided to go to Hollywood
where he did odd jobs like washing dishes, moving furniture, and
even worked as a bouncer in a strip club. When Eddie would return
home to Minneapolis, he would end up hanging out with his old
buddies on Hennepin Avenue, and always got into his share of
trouble. The thing was, Eddie wasn't afraid of anyone.
After awhile, Eddie joined the Mill
City Gym in Minneapolis, where he took up boxing and became a
sparring partner with middleweight boxer Del Flanagan. Soon
thereafter, the boxing climate in Minneapolis cooled off and the
main promoter, Tommy Anderson passed away.
By now it was the late 1950's and
Eddie got a job in Chief Little Wolf's Athletic Show, a traveling
carnival show. Eddie would grapple up to 15 times a day and make
$40.00 on a good day-BIG dough during the 50's.
Eventually life on the road was
getting to Eddie, and it was time for a change. He had made some
friends in the professional wrestling business, and even though he
was small (as wrestlers go), his friend Len Montana urged him to try
pro wrestling. Word got out about how tough Eddie was and it wasn't
long after that, he was offered a chance to wrestle for Verne
Gagne's newly formed American Wrestling Alliance. Eddie made his pro
debut in 1961 in Fargo, North Dakota against Larry Simon who was
wrestling as a German heel, calling himself Otto Von Krupp.
Ironically, Eddie was a baby face...a real stretch considering his
tough guy reputation. In his second match Eddie faced off with a
rugged "Texas" Bob Geigel, and it didn't get any easier in his third
match, as his opponent was former Olympic great Joe Scarpello. After
these matches, Eddie traveled all over the AWA circuit.
For the next ten years, Eddie met
just about every major name that came through the AWA. Many fans
still recall the great bouts Eddie had against fellow baby face Bob
Boyer to decide who was the top Junior Heavyweight contender in the
AWA. Sharkey also wrestled many times for the Junior Heavyweight
title (then) held by the great Danny Hodge. Many of their matches
are still remembered today by long time wrestling fans as ring
classics.
One of Eddies favorite partners for
tagteam matches was Rene Goulet, and the had many matches against
Larry Hennig & Harley Race, the top tagteam in the AWA in the 60's.
Another regular partner of Eddies was "Golden Boy" Paul Christy, and
they were real popular with the lady fans.
Eddie also had a short stint in the
NWA, and held the United States championship recognized in the
Central States region. He won the belt from "Nature Boy" Roger
Kirby. Still later, Eddie worked the Arizona territory and teamed
with Tito Montez.
Finally though, the grind of the
wrestling business was taking its toll on Eddie, and he decided to
make a career change. He went into business with Ron Peterson, a
former wrestler turned boxing promoter. Together they were in
several business venues that include a message parlor and the
Seventh Street Gym, where they trained wrestlers and boxers. It was
during this time that Eddie trained future greats - Jesse "THE BODY"
Ventura and former WWWF champion Bob Backlund.
When Eddie and then wife Dixie Jordan
(who worked as lady wrestler Princess Little Cloud) had children,
Eddie decided to try settling down. So, he sold his interest in the
gym, and began dealing in antiques and military collectibles.
Ultimately for the next ten years, Eddie was out of the wrestling
business.
In 1982, while bartending in a tough
northeast Minneapolis biker bar called "Grandma B's", Eddie became
Buddies with tough guys by the names of Rick Rude, Barry Darsow, Joe
Lauranites and Mike Hegstrand. It wasn't long before Eddie was
training his new friends to become professional wrestlers. At the
time, Eddie could never have known that these four monsters would
become wrestling superstars. The later two, Lauranites and Hegstrand
joined together to become the most dominant tag team combination in
wrestling history....The Road Warriors, Animal & Hawk. Other
wrestling greats that Eddie trained were Savanah Jack who went on to
become a big star in Bill Watts old UWF territory, Rick Steiner who
with brother Scott formed a top team in the WCW and WWF territories,
and John "The Barbarian" Nord.
Sharkey also became a wrestling
promoter in his own right, affording many of his students a place to
test their skills in the ring. Then when Vince McMahon went national
with his World Wrestling Federation in 1983, Eddie also worked as a
Referee for him.
To be a legend, one has to do it all.
Eddie Sharkey has done it all! He has been a wrestler, promoter,
manager, referee and trainer. Eddie Sharkey is a professional
Wrestling Legend!
Cauliflower Alley Club Congratulates Eddie Sharkey for being the 2006 Art Abram Lifetime Achievement recipient.
