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Bill Terry (wrestler)
Encyclopedia
Bill Terry was a Canadian professional wrestler, known by his ring name Kurt Von Hess, who competed in North American and international promotions during the 1970s and '80s, including International Wrestling Enterprise, Maple Leaf Wrestling
and Stampede Wrestling
. A regular tag team partner of Karl Von Schotz
, the two were one of the most hated "heels
" in the Detroit-area while competing in the National Wrestling Alliance
during the early 1970s.
's Maple Leaf Wrestling as "Big" Bill Terry during the late 1960s. After a brief stint in World Class Championship Wrestling
in late 1968, he later won the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship defeating Bob Lueck in 1971. After losing the title to Tor Kamata
in February 1972, he returned to Ontario.
After John Anson had arrived from Calgary later that year, the two began teaming together as Kurt Von Hess and Karl Von Schotz and soon rose to the top of the tag team division defeating Jacques Rougeau
& Gino Brito
for the International Tag Team Championship in September 1972. Often headlining events at Maple Leaf Gardens
between October 1972 and September 1973, they would also wrestle in Detroit for promoter Ed Farhat
defeating Ben Justice and The Stomper for the NWA World Tag Team Championship on December 9, 1972.
Losing the tag team titles to Fred Curry
& Tony Marino
later that month, they would feud with Curry and Marino for the tag team titles during throughout early 1973 and won the NWA World Tag Team Championship 3 more times from them until losing the titles to Tony Marino & Bobo Brazil
in early 1974. Winning the NWF World Tag Team Championship in May, the two would remain tag team champions until the promotions close later that year. While touring New Japan Pro Wrestling
, he and Von Schotz won the NWA North American Tag Team Championship defeating Johnny Powers
& Pat Patterson before losing the titles to Antonio Inoki
& Seiji Sakaguchi
in Los Angeles, California
on August 16, 1974.
Splitting up with Anson in 1975, he would remain in Detroit winning the NWA Tag Team Championship once more with Kurt Von Brauner defeating The Islanders (Afa
& Sika
) in Toledo, Ohio
on December 19, 1975.
Losing the tag team titles to Chris Colt & Count Drummer in March 1976, Terry moved on to NWA All-Star Wrestling where he teamed with John Quinn
to win the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship in 1976. He and Quinn also won the IWE
World Tag Team Championship defeating Animal Hamaguchi & Isamu Teranishi in Yokohama, Japan on March 25, 1977. The following night at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, he and Quinn lost the titles to Animal Hamaguchi & Isamu Teranishi in a two out of three falls match. Terry would score the first fall pinning Animal Hamaguchi, however he and Von Hess forfeited the second fall via disqualification allowing Hamaguchi to pin Von Hess for the third pinfall.
Terry spent the late 1970s in the southeastern United States feuding with The Wrestling Pro over the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship during early 1977 before losing the title to Ken Lucas in Mobile, Alabama
on July 26, 1977. In 1978, he and Seigfried Stanke defeated Steven Little Bear & Ray Candy
for the NWA Louisiana Tag team Championship before losing the tag team titles to Terry Lathan & Ricky Fields.
Briefly teaming in the Memphis area with King Kong Bundy
, Masao Ito, Eddie Gilbert, Phil Hickerson, Randy Collins as well as facing Dutch Mantel
and Tojo Yamamoto
during the early 1980s, Terry would also continue wrestling in Toronto and, in January 1984, he substituted for Buzz Sawyer
in a dog-collar match against Roddy Piper
.
After suffering problems with his kidneys, he was forced to retire in 1986. He would remain on a dialysis machine for six years before an organ donor was available and underwent an operation to receive a new kidney in 1996. Terry would also purchase an Orange Crush
distributorship from retired wrestler Wes Hutchins before his death from a heart attack at his west Hamilton home on March 13, 1999.
Maple Leaf Wrestling
Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name in the 1970s and 1980s of the professional wrestling promotion run by Frank Tunney in Toronto.-Queensbury Athletic Club:...
and Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...
. A regular tag team partner of Karl Von Schotz
John Anson
John Anson is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, known by his ring name "Handsome" John Anson, who competed in North American and Japanese promotions from the mid-1960s until the early-1980s, including International Wrestling, Maple Leaf Wrestling, NWA All-Star Wrestling, Pacific Northwest...
, the two were one of the most hated "heels
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
" in the Detroit-area while competing in the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
during the early 1970s.
Career
Making his debut in September 1968, Terry began wrestling in Ontario for promoter Frank TunneyFrank Tunney
Francis Martin “Frank” Tunney was a Canadian professional wrestling promoter, based in Toronto.-Early years:...
's Maple Leaf Wrestling as "Big" Bill Terry during the late 1960s. After a brief stint in World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
in late 1968, he later won the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship defeating Bob Lueck in 1971. After losing the title to Tor Kamata
Tor Kamata
McRonald Kamaka was an American/Canadian professional wrestler known by the ring name Tor Kamata. He won several Heavyweight and Tag Team championships, including one World Tag Team title. He was a classic "bad guy" wrestler...
in February 1972, he returned to Ontario.
After John Anson had arrived from Calgary later that year, the two began teaming together as Kurt Von Hess and Karl Von Schotz and soon rose to the top of the tag team division defeating Jacques Rougeau
Jacques Rougeau, Sr.
Jacques Rougeau, Sr. is a former professional wrestler. He is the father of wrestlers Jacques Rougeau, Armand Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau.-Career:Jacques Rougeau, Sr. started wrestling in 1956 with his brother, Johnny Rougeau...
& Gino Brito
Gino Brito
Louis Gino Acocella , better known by his ring name Gino Brito is a Canadian professional wrestler. He was a popular wrestler in Montreal, and was one of the promoters in the city in the 1980s...
for the International Tag Team Championship in September 1972. Often headlining events at Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...
between October 1972 and September 1973, they would also wrestle in Detroit for promoter Ed Farhat
Ed Farhat
Edward George Farhat was an American professional wrestler best known as by his ring name The Sheik...
defeating Ben Justice and The Stomper for the NWA World Tag Team Championship on December 9, 1972.
Losing the tag team titles to Fred Curry
Fred Curry (wrestler)
Fred Thomas Koury, Jr. better known by his ring name ”Flyin'” Fred Curry, was an American professional wrestler of Lebanese descent. The son of "Wild Bull" Curry, Fred Koury was one of the most popular stars in the Midwest United States during the 1960s.-Career:In the 1960s, Koury, Jr. took up...
& Tony Marino
Tony Marino
Tony Silipini is a former American born Italian professional wrestler who is best known as Tony Marino.-Early career:Tony Silipini was born in 1945. He started wrestling in the 1950s near his hometown of Rochester, NY. He wrestled under a number of names over the years in different areas of the...
later that month, they would feud with Curry and Marino for the tag team titles during throughout early 1973 and won the NWA World Tag Team Championship 3 more times from them until losing the titles to Tony Marino & Bobo Brazil
Bobo Brazil
Houston Harris was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Bobo Brazil. He is credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling...
in early 1974. Winning the NWF World Tag Team Championship in May, the two would remain tag team champions until the promotions close later that year. While touring New Japan Pro Wrestling
New Japan Pro Wrestling
is a major professional wrestling promotion in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in June 1972 and owned by Yuke's since 2005, when Inoki sold the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi is the current President of the promotion and has held that position from 2007. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it...
, he and Von Schotz won the NWA North American Tag Team Championship defeating Johnny Powers
Johnny Powers
Johnny Powers is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, known by his legally changed ring name Johnny Powers...
& Pat Patterson before losing the titles to Antonio Inoki
Antonio Inoki
is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist who now resides between New York City and Tokyo. He was also the founder and former owner of New Japan Pro Wrestling before selling his controlling share in the promotion to Yukes...
& Seiji Sakaguchi
Seiji Sakaguchi
is a retired Japanese professional wrestler who was a mainstay of New Japan Pro Wrestling and also competed for the World Wide Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance....
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
on August 16, 1974.
Splitting up with Anson in 1975, he would remain in Detroit winning the NWA Tag Team Championship once more with Kurt Von Brauner defeating The Islanders (Afa
Afa Anoa'i
Arthur "Afa" Anoa'i, Sr. is a Samoan American retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. Since retiring in the 1990s, he has operated the World Xtreme Wrestling promotion and trained wrestlers at the Wild Samoan Training Facility.-Early life:Anoa'i was born in Samoa, but...
& Sika
Sika Anoa'i
Leati "Sika" Anoa'i is a former professional wrestler and a member of the Anoa'i family.-Career:Sika teamed with his brother Afa to form the tag team the Wild Samoans. They teamed in various promotions including WWF and Mid-South. In 1979, they signed with the World Wrestling Federation...
) in Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
on December 19, 1975.
Losing the tag team titles to Chris Colt & Count Drummer in March 1976, Terry moved on to NWA All-Star Wrestling where he teamed with John Quinn
John Quinn (wrestler)
John Quinn is a retired Canadian professional wrestler who competed in North American regional promotions including NWA All-Star Wrestling, Pacific Northwest Wrestling and Stampede Wrestling during the 1960s and early 1970s...
to win the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship in 1976. He and Quinn also won the IWE
International Pro Wrestling
International Pro Wrestling , also known as International Wrestling Enterprise, was a professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1966 to 1981. Founded by Isao Yoshihara, it was affiliated with the American Wrestling Association in the United States and also had tie-ins with promotions in Europe...
World Tag Team Championship defeating Animal Hamaguchi & Isamu Teranishi in Yokohama, Japan on March 25, 1977. The following night at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, he and Quinn lost the titles to Animal Hamaguchi & Isamu Teranishi in a two out of three falls match. Terry would score the first fall pinning Animal Hamaguchi, however he and Von Hess forfeited the second fall via disqualification allowing Hamaguchi to pin Von Hess for the third pinfall.
Terry spent the late 1970s in the southeastern United States feuding with The Wrestling Pro over the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship during early 1977 before losing the title to Ken Lucas in Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
on July 26, 1977. In 1978, he and Seigfried Stanke defeated Steven Little Bear & Ray Candy
Ray Candy
Ray Canty , known by the ring name Ray Candy, was an American professional wrestler for the Jim Crockett Promotions and various other regional wrestling territories...
for the NWA Louisiana Tag team Championship before losing the tag team titles to Terry Lathan & Ricky Fields.
Briefly teaming in the Memphis area with King Kong Bundy
King Kong Bundy
Christopher Alan "Chris" Pallies is an American professional wrestler, stand-up comedian and actor, better known by his ring name, King Kong Bundy.-Personal:...
, Masao Ito, Eddie Gilbert, Phil Hickerson, Randy Collins as well as facing Dutch Mantel
Dutch Mantel
Wayne Keown is an American professional wrestler, and author better known by his ring name, Dutch Mantel or Dutch Mantell. He currently is semi-retired but still makes occasional wrestling appearances. He was previously with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a writer behind the scenes...
and Tojo Yamamoto
Tojo Yamamoto
Harold Watanabe was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tojo Yamamoto. He was born in Hawaii.-In-ring career:...
during the early 1980s, Terry would also continue wrestling in Toronto and, in January 1984, he substituted for Buzz Sawyer
Buzz Sawyer
Bruce Woyan was a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Buzz Sawyer. Throughout his career, he was also known by the nickname "Mad Dog". He was characterized by his crazy antics inside the ring and out.-Career:Sawyer started wrestling in 1979 in the National Wrestling Alliance 's...
in a dog-collar match against Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
.
After suffering problems with his kidneys, he was forced to retire in 1986. He would remain on a dialysis machine for six years before an organ donor was available and underwent an operation to receive a new kidney in 1996. Terry would also purchase an Orange Crush
Orange Crush
Crush is a carbonated soft drink brand, originally marketed as an orange soda, which was invented by California beverage and extract chemist Neil C. Ward. Most flavors of Crush are caffeine-free.-History:...
distributorship from retired wrestler Wes Hutchins before his death from a heart attack at his west Hamilton home on March 13, 1999.
Championships and accomplishments
- Gulf Coast Championship WrestlingContinental Championship WrestlingContinental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based out of Knoxville, Tennessee from 1974 until 1988 and Dothan, Alabama from 1978 to 1990, managed by Ron Fuller. When Fuller sold the promotion to David Woods, it changed name to the Continental Wrestling Federation...
- NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- International Wrestling Enterprise
- IWE World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with John QuinnJohn Quinn (wrestler)John Quinn is a retired Canadian professional wrestler who competed in North American regional promotions including NWA All-Star Wrestling, Pacific Northwest Wrestling and Stampede Wrestling during the 1960s and early 1970s...
- Lutte` Internationale
- International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Karl Von SchotzJohn AnsonJohn Anson is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, known by his ring name "Handsome" John Anson, who competed in North American and Japanese promotions from the mid-1960s until the early-1980s, including International Wrestling, Maple Leaf Wrestling, NWA All-Star Wrestling, Pacific Northwest...
- National Wrestling AllianceNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
1 - NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Los Angeles/Japan version)NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Los Angeles/Japan version)This version of the NWA North American Tag Team Championship was a major tag team championship that was primarily defended in the National Wrestling Alliance affiliated New Japan Pro Wrestling and NWA Hollywood Wrestling. The title essentially served as New Japan's primary tag team title though it...
(1 time) - with Karl Von Schotz
- NWA All-Star Wrestling
- NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)The Vancouver version of the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship was established in 1962 as the top tag team title in NWA All-Star Wrestling. The title held that status until late summer 1985, when the title was renamed the UWA Tag Team Championship upon All-Star Wrestling's departure as a member of...
(1 time) - with John Quinn
- NWA DetroitNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version)NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version)The Detroit, Michigan version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship existed from 1964 until 1980, when the Detroit promotion closed.-Title history:...
(5 times) - with Karl Von Schotz (4) and Kurt Von Brauner (1)
- NWA Tri-StateUniversal Wrestling FederationThe name Universal Wrestling Federation may refer to:*Universal Wrestling Federation , an American professional wrestling promotion owned by Bill Watts...
- NWA Louisiana Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Seigfried Stanke
- National Wrestling FederationNational Wrestling FederationThe original National Wrestling Federation was a wrestling promotion based in Buffalo, New York and owned by promoter Pedro Martínez. It ran from 1970-1974. The promotion was then revived in 1986 by Robert Raskin...
- NWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Karl Von Schotz
- Stampede WrestlingStampede WrestlingStampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...
- Stampede North American Heavyweight ChampionshipStampede North American Heavyweight ChampionshipThe Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship is the major title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. From its establishment in 1968 until 1972, it was Stampede's secondary singles championship, becoming the top title in 1972 after the previous top...
(2 times) - Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame