Three Fallen Legends

Wrestling lost three of its legends in the past week—Pampero Firpo (1930-2020), Kendo Nagasaki (1948-2020), and Rocky Johnson (1944-2020). 

Pampero Firpo with a furry friend.

I knew of Pampero Firpo, but it was a long time before I saw any of his work. He popped up in a bout or two on the Wrestling Gold DVD set hosted by Jim Cornette and Dave Meltzer—the opportunity to finally see territory-era legends like Firpo were why I acquired the set in the first place. Cornette filled us in with an anecdote regarding Pampero Firpo’s status in Roy Shire’s San Francisco territory. Firpo frequently appeared on television to demonstrate why fans had dubbed him “the man with the cast-iron stomach.” Pampero’s stomach seemed impervious to pain for a number of weeks—someone even drove over his stomach with a car—until Ray “The Crippler” Stevens took the Argentinian wild man up on his challenge one day on TV. Stevens offered to perform his feared Bombs Away knee drop from the top rope to Firpo’s stomach, only to double-cross him and nailed the unsuspecting Firpo with a vicious knee to the head. Pampero Firpo was only temporarily on the shelf; he and Stevens subsequently clashed in bouts all over the Bay Area.

Firpo wrestled in Madison Square Garden for the World Wide Wrestling Federation six times before challenging Pedro Morales for the heavyweight championship in May of 1972. He lost that and their return bout at the Philadelphia Spectrum nearly two months later. Despite the losing efforts, Pampero Firpo had notoriety as a dangerous man in the ring. He soon became a mainstay in Ed Farhat’s Detroit territory, appearing on Big Time Wrestling in rivalries with Bobo Brazil and the Sheik. He traded Detroit’s NWA United States title with Brazil twice, winning it once more from the Sheik. Firpo lost the US title to Bulldog Dog Kent after several months. Young Randy Poffo saw Pampero Firpo work in Detroit and later copied many of his crazed mannerisms (including “oooohhhh yeeeaaahhh”) when he became “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

Firpo vs. Baron Von Raschke, AWA, 1975

Juan Kachmanian debuted in 1953, wrestling under names like Ervan the Armenian, Ivan the Terrible, the Missing Link, the Great Pampero, and the Wild Bull of the Pampas. Jack Dempsey bestowed him with the Pampero Firpo name, suggesting that promoters bill him as the son of one of the boxing great’s most famous opponents, Luis Angel Firpo. Firpo put away his opponents with a crushing bear hug or his dreaded El Garfio claw hold that rendered them unconscious. Pampero Firpo's presence was always strong in the Bay Area, where he became a local celebrity after retiring from wrestling in the early ‘80s to become a postal worker in San Jose. Although he was born in Argentina, Firpo once said that becoming an American citizen in 1965 was one of his life’s proudest moments.

Kendo Nagasaki with the White Ninja, aka Keiji Mutoh who later wrestled as the Great Muta.

More than one wrestler has portrayed the Kendo Nagasaki character, but I am referring to Kazuo Sakurada who wrestled under the paint all over the United States throughout the 1980s. His photos in The Pictorial History of Wrestling used to scare me as a kid. Kendo Nagasaki was an otherworldly face-painted samurai warrior whose martial arts knowledge bordered on the supernatural. Why, he could probably kill someone like Barry Windham with his bare hands if the referee was not careful! Nagasaki terrorized the territories in Memphis, Knoxville, and Florida. Eddie Graham’s Florida territory provided Nagasaki with his greatest fame, as he faced down their best competition and defeated Mike Rotunda for the heavyweight title. He also teamed with the White Ninja, who found greater fame in the US and Japan as the Great Muta. Nagasaki would also form the Ninja Express with Mr. Pogo, competing in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Japan Cup Tag League tournament in 1985 and 1987.

Nagasaki vs. Barry Windham, Championship Wrestling from Florida, 1984

Kazuo Sakurada found early success wrestling in Calgary for Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling, defeating Leo Burke for the North American heavyweight championship in May of 1978. Sakurada and tag team partner Mr. Hito (aka Katsuji Adachi) broke a young Bret Hart into the business, showing him the ropes before beating the crap out of him in the ring. Bret always credits Sakurada & Hito as his most significant trainers. Sakurada would move on to the Memphis territory in the early ‘80s, where he applied the paint to become Kendo Nagasaki for the rest of the decade.

Rocky Johnson strikes a pose.

I also read about Rocky “Soul Man” Johnson in The Pictorial History of Wrestling, which depicted him as one of wrestling’s greatest good guys if a bit injury prone. I suppose reporting on his injuries was a way of humanizing this man who looked as if his body had been sculpted from pure granite. Rocky was huge; he looked like the ultimate black superhero! Unfortunately, I started watching wrestling a tad too late to catch the Soul Man in action on WWF TV, as he had already left the company. I settled for brief clips of Johnson sending his opponent flying from a flurry of boxing jabs before a celebratory backflip. I still am not very familiar with Rocky Johnson’s matches after all of these years, so I am unable to offer an informed opinion of his work. However, I do love those boxing jabs!

Rocky actually did have a boxing background—he trained and even sparred with Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, but the man then known as Wayde Bowles wanted to try the True Sport of Kings instead. His ancestors were Black Loyalists who had escaped a southern plantation after the American Revolutionary War, settling in Nova Scotia. Bowles moved to Toronto at 16, where he became a truck driver and trained in boxing until the wrestling bug bit him. He debuted in Southern Ontario at 20 years old and legally changed his name to Rocky Johnson shortly thereafter.

History often remembers Johnson as a tag team wrestler throughout his career. His first tag team title reign began in April of 1967 when he and Don Leo Jonathan captured the NWA Canadian tag team belts from Chris & John Tolos. Unfortunately, it ended when they lost the belts back to the Tolos brothers several weeks later. Rocky moved on to Detroit, where he and partner Ben Justice enjoyed a six-month tag title reign after defeating the Hell’s Angels (obviously not the motorcycle club) in January of 1969. He first found singles fame in Mike LeBell’s Los Angeles territory, where the Soul Man became a two-time holder of both the Americas heavyweight championship and the Beat the Champ Television title. Rocky also won the very first 22-Man Battle Royal, which became an annual event at LA’s Olympic Auditorium. Rocky embarked on rivalries with the likes of Fred Blassie, Don Carson, and the Great Kojika while adding experience in Los Angeles.

Rocky stayed longest in Roy Shire’s San Francisco territory, where he enjoyed a long run from 1971 to ’74. He enjoyed a six-month tag team championship run with Pepper Gomez, frequently teaming with Tony Parisi and High Chief Peter Maivia as well. Pat Patterson was a constant foe in both singles and tag team competition, although they later became partners and four-time tag titleholders themselves. Johnson also met his future wife while wrestling in San Francisco. However, she was Maivia’s adopted daughter Ata and the Flyin’ Hawaiian did not approve of their relationship. Something must have won the High Chief over, because Rocky & Ata had their son Dwayne in May of 1972 and the Soul Man managed to avoid her stepfather tearing him to shreds.

This is the part where I mention the obvious—that little Dwayne grew up to become Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: Movie Star & Pop Culture Celebrity—and get it out of our system.

Rocky moved on from San Francisco in 1974 and began hitting the NWA’s territory system, further establishing himself in both singles and tag teams.  He even received title shots against world champions Terry Funk and Harley Race. Ric Flair was so impressed with Johnson that he put in a good word with Jim Crockett, who brought him to Mid-Atlantic in 1980 as his masked tag team partner Sweet Ebony Diamond. Johnson would then spend some time in the Pacific Northwest, feuding with Portland mainstays Playboy Buddy Rose, Matt Borne, Rip Oliver, and Stan Stasiak. He came aboard the WWF in 1982, dispatching foes like Baron Mikel Scicluna before moving on to Mr. Fuji and another go-round with Buddy Rose. Rocky challenged the Magnificent Muraco for the Intercontinental championship regularly throughout 1983, but was unable to wrest the title from his grasp.

 Rocky Johnson & Tony Atlas vs. The Wild Samoans, November 1983

Tag teams seemed to work in the Soul Man’s favor, so a run against the Wild Samoans’ tag titles was next. Johnson first partnered with Superfly Jimmy Snuka, but soon paired up with the equally muscular Tony Atlas. They dubbed themselves the Soul Patrol, running hard at the Samoans and defeating them in six-man tag matches with S.D. Jones on their side. Rocky & Tony got to the Wild Samoans in Allentown before a television audience, finally winning to become the very first African-American tag team to capture the WWF tag team championship in November of 1983. Johnson & Atlas did not get along behind the scenes, defending the titles on a minimal basis until losing them to Dick Murdoch & Adrian Adonis five months later. Rocky finished out 1984, fading out of the WWF scene in 1985. He would appear sporadically in Portland, Memphis, and Puerto Rico throughout the ‘80s before quietly settling into retirement.