 Studd,c. 1982 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | John William Minton[4] (1948-02-19)February 19, 1948 Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | March 20, 1995(1995-03-20) (aged 47) Burke, Virginia, U.S. |
Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Big John Studd[1] Captain USA Chuck O'Connor[2] Executioner #2 The Mighty Minton[2] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 10 in (208 cm)[1][3] |
| Billed weight | 365 lb (166 kg)[3] |
| Billed from | Los Angeles, California[1] |
| Trained by | Killer Kowalski[2] |
| Debut | 1972 |
| Retired | 1993 |
John William Minton (February 19, 1948 – March 20, 1995) was an Americanprofessional wrestler andactor, better known by hisring nameBig John Studd. Studd is best known for his appearances with theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation in the 1970s and 1980s.
Studd held a number ofchampionships over his career, including theNWA American Heavyweight Championship,NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship, andWWWF World Tag Team Championship, and was the winner of the1989 Royal Rumble. He was posthumously inducted into theWCW Hall of Fame in 1995 and theWWE Hall of Fameclass of 2004.
John William Minton was born and raised in a farm inButler, Pennsylvania.[5] He attendedButler High School, where he playedbasketball.[2] He then joined theUnited States Army and served as a military police officer inVietnam.[5]
Minton was trained for a career in professional wrestling byKiller Kowalski and Charlie Moto inLos Angeles.[4] He debuted in 1972 under thering name "The Mighty Minton" forNWA Hollywood Wrestling.[6] He formed atag team with"Superstar" Billy Graham, facing the Tolos Brothers (Chris andJohn) in a series of matches.[1][4]
In mid-1972, Studd joined theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation under the ring name "Chuck O'Connor".[6] His most notable match of this run took place on September 12, when he unsuccessfully challengedPedro Morales for theWWWF World Heavyweight Championship.[6] He left the WWWF in February 1973.[7]
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As Chuck O'Connor, Minton joinedMid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in January 1974.[8] In 1977, he got the ring name Big John Studd from promoterPaul Boesch, who said "My God, you look like a stud."[2] In 1978, Studd teamed up withKen Patera to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team titles.[1] He also competed as Masked Superstar #2, but unmasked after losing toBlackjack Mulligan.[1] In early 1981, Studd gained several unsuccessful title shots at theNWA World Heavyweight Championship, which was held byDusty Rhodes at the time.
In 1976, Studd returned to the World Wide Wrestling Federation, where he donned amask and performed as "Executioner #2", teaming withExecutioner #1 asThe Executioners.[1] On May 11, 1976, The Executioners defeatedLouis Cerdan andTony Parisi to win theWWF World Tag Team Championship, but they were stripped of them on October 26, after a third Executioner (Nikolai Volkoff) interfered in a title defense againstChief Jay Strongbow andBilly White Wolf.[9] Studd left the WWWF once more in early 1977.
From 1975 to 1976, Studd performed for theAmerican Wrestling Association. He returned in 1980 and feuded withMad Dog Vachon andThe Crusher before leaving in 1981.[10]
Studd jumped to the World Wrestling Federation in late 1982, managed byFreddie Blassie.[1] Studd quickly became amonster heel, adopting a gimmick of bringing a stretcher to the ring and beating his opponents so badly they would be taken out on the stretcher.[11]
While Studd became a top challenger forBob Backlund's WWF World Championship, it was his feud with 7 ft 4 in (224 cm), 520 pounds (240 kg)André the Giant over who was professional wrestling's 'true giant' that earned him main event status. Studd and Blassie had issued a "Bodyslam Challenge," offering $10,000 (and later, $15,000) to any wrestler who could slam Studd before boasting that he could not be slammed. After several wrestlers were unsuccessful in answering Studd's challenge, Andre accepted and was about to slam Studd before Blassie attacked Andre from behind (as Studd grabbed the ring ropes to prevent the slam). The Andre–Studd feud raged throughout 1983, and Andre got the upper hand and slammed Studd several times, once with enough force to collapse the entire ring. Several times the two met inside a steel cage, where André not only slammed Studd, but used asitdown splash from the top rope onto his chest to knock him out. Despite this, Studd began declaring himself the "True Giant of Wrestling" while continuing to insist he could not be (and had never been) slammed.[12] By 1984, with his feud with Andre still raging, Studd was challenging then-new championHulk Hogan, who was also successful in slamming Studd, for the title.[12]
In December, Studd was paired withBobby "The Brain" Heenan during a televised tag team match onWWF Championship Wrestling featuring Studd and fellow Heenan Family memberKen Patera against André the Giant andS. D. Jones. The match ended by disqualification after persistent rulebreaking by Studd and Patera, who attacked André afterwards and cut his hair.[1][10] André set out for revenge and accepted Studd's challenge to a "$15,000 Bodyslam Challenge" match atthe first WrestleMania, whereby if Andre failed to slam Studd before the time limit (or Studd managed to slam Andre), André would be forced to retire from wrestling.[12] At WrestleMania on March 31, 1985, André won by slamming Studd.[13]
Studd then formed an alliance with fellowHeenan Family memberKing Kong Bundy, injuring André'ssternum in August.[14] Their feud continued for the rest of that year and into 1986, with André recruiting faces such as Hulk Hogan,Tony Atlas,Junkyard Dog andHillbilly Jim to team with him.[1] AtWrestleMania 2 on April 7, 1986, Studd participated in the WWF vs.NFLbattle royal, targetingAtlanta Falcons playerBill Fralic after a pre-match confrontation during an interview with"Mean" Gene Okerlund. He eliminatedWilliam "The Refrigerator" Perry, who in turn eliminated Studd; André went on to win the battle royal.[1][15]
The Andre–Studd feud took on a new dimension in 1986, when, in the wake of Andre's increasing health problems related togigantism andacromegaly, his role as Fezzik in the movieThe Princess Bride, and his planned tour of Japan, a storyline was developed to have André compete in a tag team calledThe Machines. The "Machines" angle began when André did not show up for several tag team matches against Bundy and Studd. Heenan successfully campaigned to get André suspended, only for André to reappear shortly thereafter in a mask, billing himself as a Japanese wrestler called the Giant Machine. Studd, along with Bundy and Heenan, insisted that Andre and the Giant Machine were one and the same, and set out to prove their point by vowing to unmask the Giant Machine during a series of tag team matches; the Giant Machine's partners included Blackjack Mulligan (as "Big Machine") andBill Eadie (as "Super Machine"), with Studd and Bundy saying in interviews that they knew who The Machines were and had never heard of Japanese wrestlers with a South-Texas accent (Mulligan/Big Machine) or a South-Florida accent (Eadie/Super Machine), while Heenan repeatedly claimed that no Japanese wrestler or person was 7'4" and over 500 lbs and spoke with a French accent. However, neither Studd, Bundy, or Heenan, could unmask The Machines, and their true identities remained a secret.[16]
Bundy and Studd feuded with other established tag teams in 1986 and contended for theWWF Tag Team Championship, held byThe British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and theDynamite Kid). During a televised match later that year, Studd and Bundy argued after they lost a match to the Bulldogs, teasing a feud between the two which never materialized. Studd's last match during his original 1980s WWF run came on the November 15, 1986 episode ofWWF Superstars of Wrestling, when he teamed with Bundy to defeat The Machines (in a match not involving the Giant Machine).[16] Despite leaving the WWF, Studd's presence was still made known in aWWF Magazine article published shortly beforeWrestleMania III, where he supported André in his upcoming match against Hogan (contending that Hogan's friendship with André was a ruse, to duck him as a potential challenger to the title). Studd retired from wrestling to focus on his acting career.[5][10]
After retiring for two years, Studd announced his return to the WWF on theBrother Love Show in December 1988. An elated Bobby Heenan appeared on the set to welcome Studd back to the Heenan family. However, with Heenan now also managing his old adversary André the Giant, Studd rejected the offer and ran Heenan off theBrother Love set, thus turning face.[17] Studd went on to feud with several members of the Heenan family, including André, who had turned heel during Studd's absence, andHaku.[10]
AtRoyal Rumble on January 15, 1989, Studd won theRoyal Rumble match by last eliminatingTed DiBiase.[18] He then served as a special guest referee in the match betweenJake "The Snake" Roberts and André atWrestleMania V on April 2, which Roberts won when he disqualified André, who attacked Studd from behind.[19] Studd's last match with the WWF took place on June 4, with Hillbilly Jim wrestling in Studd's place later that month.[20] Studd quit the WWF over a financial dispute withVince McMahon.[10][2]
In the following years, Studd wrestled sporadically on theindependent circuit, including forNorth American Wrestling Association (NAWA), where he was the first NAWA Champion.[21] He also came out with his own line of workout and vitamin supplements.[5] Studd was responsible for trainingRon Reis, who he had tagged with as the "Giants of Wrestling".[10] In tribute, Reis would make his WCW debut as Big Ron Studd.[1]
Studd wrestled his last match in October 1993 at a show promoted by Killer Kowalski againstThe Honky Tonk Man, filling in forJimmy Snuka, who could not make the event. After the match, Studd collapsed due to low stamina.[4][10] In 1994, he was called as a prosecution witness at theVince McMahon steroid distribution trial inLong Island, New York, but due to his declining health, Studd, under oath, admitted to using steroids via telephone from his home.[10]
Minton met his wife Donna Conklin, a former competitiveswimmer, at the Le Pichet restaurant inMontreal, which was co-owned by his WWF rival Andre.[10] They had three children: Robert, Jannelle, and Sean, the latter of whom is also a professional wrestler going by the ring name Big Sean Studd.[5][22] In 1989, Minton said that his left knee, shoulder and lower back were all damaged from wrestling.[2]
In the fall of 1993, Minton noticed a lump in his armpit, and a doctor found a large tumor in his chest. It remitted afterchemotherapy, and he was told he might wrestle again in six months, but it returned in 1994. When no suitable bone marrow donor was found, and he was given around a month to live, Minton underwent anautotransplantation procedure with a 7% success rate. Again, the tumor remitted and he went home. Around September 1994, Minton's lungs collapsed and he went back to the hospital.[4] In February 1995, Minton returned for another round of chemotherapy, and it was found that the tumor had spread widely. He died after a battle withliver cancer andHodgkin's disease on March 20, 1995.[1][10]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Micki & Maude | Himself | |
| 1985 | The Protector | Huge Hood | |
| 1987 | Double Agent | Igor | |
| 1989 | Hyper Space | Psycho | |
| 1990 | Caged in Paradiso | Big Man | |
| 1991 | Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man | Jack Daniels | |
| 1991 | The Marrying Man | Dante |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | The A-Team | Himself | Episode: "Body Slam" |
| 1987 | Hunter | Randy | Episode: "Bad Company" or "Bad Companions" |
| 1988 | Beauty and the Beast | Erlick | Episode: "To Reign in Hell" |
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11/6/76 – featured the announcement from WWWF President Willie Gilzenberg that WWWF Tag Team Champions the Executioners had been stripped of their championship as a result of a third Executioner appearing during the Executioners title match with Chief Jay Strongbow & Billy White Wolf two weeks earlier, and that a tournament would be held to crown new champions
Championship Wrestling – 8/31/85: Andre the Giant defeated Big John Studd (w/ Bobby Heenan) via disqualification at 13:01 when King Kong Bundy interfered after Studd sustained a bodyslam and Andre was about to cut Studd's hair; after the contest, Andre was beaten down by Bundy and Big John Studd, sustaining four splashes from Bundy that were credited with breaking Andre's sternum; as Bundy prepared for a fifth splash, several wrestlers came out to clear the ring
In addition to Rhodes, Antonio Inoki, "Macho Man" Randy Savage's father, Angelo Poffo, Terry Funk, Wahoo McDaniel and Big John Studd – posthumously – were also inducted.
,Cagematch,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database| Preceded by | Royal Rumble winner 1989 | Succeeded by |
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