| Al Tomko | |
|---|---|
 Master Sergeant Tomko asNWA Canadian Heavyweight Champion | |
| Born | (1931-11-22)22 November 1931 Winnipeg,Manitoba, Canada |
| Died | 5 August 2009(2009-08-05) (aged 77) Blaine, Washington, United States |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | "Crazy Legs" Leroy Hirsch The Zodiac Cosmo #1 Master Sergeant Tomko |
| Billed weight | 242 lb (110 kg) |
| Debut | July 9, 1954 |
| Retired | 1989 |
Al Tomko (22 November 1931 – 5 August 2009)[1] was aCanadianprofessional wrestler and wrestling promoter.
Tomko started out as a wrestler in his hometown ofWinnipeg on 9 July 1954, with theMadison Wrestling Club, losing his debut match toJohn DePaulo.[2] During that same period, he ran his own promotion in Winnipeg, theOlympia Wrestling Club. After he shut down the Olympia Club to pursue non-wrestling ventures, but he rejoined the larger Madison Club in the 1960s to become one of that promotion's topheels. He bought the Madison Club in 1967 and merged it with theAmerican Wrestling Association in 1968.
Tomko acted as the AWA's Winnipeg promoter from 1966 through to the mid-1970s, and he was credited with launching the career ofRoddy Piper. He also competed sometimes inStampede Wrestling under a mask as Cosmo #1, and later wrestled without the mask in Stampede and in Vancouver'sNWA All Star Wrestling as "Crazy Legs" Leroy Hirsch.[2] In 1972, he started up another independent promotion called Central Canadian Championship Wrestling, which he ran in Manitoba cities and towns outside Winnipeg. He made use of mostly local talent, although he occasionally also brought in big-name stars for special appearances.[2]
Tomko later left Winnipeg and headed toVancouver, where he boughtSandor Kovacs' ownership stake in NWA All Star in 1977. While promoting the Vancouver territory, he began pushing himself as All Star's top star under the ring name Master Sergeant Tomko in the early-1980s (despite his age, being physically past his prime, and lacking wrestling skills) and gave himself almost all of All Star's championships (including the Vancouver version of the NWA Canadian Heavyweight title) at various points. Under Tomko's leadership, All Star went into decline (with co-ownerGene Kiniski selling his share of the company in 1985) and went out of business by 1989.
His two sons were Todd (who wrestled under the ring name Rick Davis) and Terry (who competed as The Frog, first while wearing a mask, and later unmasked).[3]
On 5 August 2009, Tomko died, aged 77, after a two-month bout withpancreatic cancer.[3]
