 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Grady Johnson[4] (1940-02-05)February 5, 1940[4] Union Point, Georgia, U.S.[4] |
| Died | June 23, 2006(2006-06-23) (aged 66)[4] Georgia, U.S.[4] |
| Children | 6 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Billy Calhoun[1] James Wolfe[1] El Lobo[1] Luke Graham[1] Mighty Yankee[1] Pretty Boy Calhoun[1] Wolfman Savage[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 219 lb (99 kg)[2] |
| Debut | 1961[1] |
| Retired | 1987[3] |
James Grady Johnson (February 5, 1940 – June 23, 2006) was an Americanprofessional wrestler, best known by hisring name,"Crazy" Luke Graham. As Luke Graham, Johnson was part of the Graham family, astable of wrestlers. All members were billed as kayfabe brothers. He worked extensively for variousNational Wrestling Alliance territories as well as theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation, where he was a three-time tag-team champion and the inauguralWWWF World Tag Team Champion (alongsideTarzan Tyler).
Johnson made his debut in 1961 inNational Wrestling Alliance's Mid-America territory. He began his career as theKayfabe brother ofDr. Jerry Graham after fellow wrestlerFrankie Cain (The Great Mephisto) suggested that they resembled each other. They began wrestling together in 1963 inStampede Wrestling. Starting that summer, Graham would go on to have a series of matches againstChief Big Heart.[4]
Beginning in 1964 he started wrestling for theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) with Jerry Graham .[4] They won theWWWF United States Tag Team Championship from Don McClarity andArgentina Apollo, holding it for eight months, before losing the belts to another heel tagteam,Gene Kiniski andWaldo Von Erich.[4] It was during this time that he became known as "Crazy" Luke Graham.[4] Graham left the Northeast territory after the loss and returned to the WWWF as a singles wrestler from 1966-1969; feuding withMiguel Perez,Antonio Pugliese andBruno Sammartino.[citation needed]
Graham enjoyed most of his success for theLos Angeles territory in the mid to late 1960s. During this period he held theWWAWorld Title once in 1965 which he won by defeating futureWWE champion Pedro Morales at a house show on July 23. He held the title for 86 days before losing it .[4][5] Hedropped the belt back toPedro Morales.[4] For rest of the 1960s, he was a mid card performer forVerne Gagne'sAmerican Wrestling Association (AWA) out ofMinneapolis.[citation needed] Failing to find any mainstream success he departed AWA for Vince McMahon's WWWF.
After leaving the AWA, Luke returned to WWWF and had a brief run withTarzan Tyler as the inauguralWWWF Tag Team Champions in 1971.[4][5] One story was that the team allegedly defeatedDick the Bruiser andThe Sheik for the belts, however, no record of any match between the two teams has ever been documented. The other story is that they won it fromBepo andGeeto Mongol. Once champions, the team held the belts for six months while feuding withChief Jay Strongbow,Gorilla Monsoon, andPedro Morales.[4] He and Tyler also went on to win the WWF International Tagteam Championship in November 1971 from Bepo and Geeto Mongol. They lost it back to the Mongols after a month. After losing the title he again left WWWF and went to on to wrestle in the Georgia territory.
He fought in Florida as El Lobo in 1970. In 1974, he was the United States Champion in the Pacific Northeast. After that he left forGeorgia Championship Wrestling where he won theNWA Georgia Heavyweight championship in a tournament on April 20. In 1978, Graham return to the WWWF this time being managed byThe Grand Wizard. He had epic feuds withAndre the Giant,Dino Bravo,Haystacks Calhoun,Ivan Putski and then WWWF championBob Backlund. He even teamed with his "brother" SuperstarBilly Graham.[4] After WWWF, Graham contiued to work in the Southern states. He retired in the late 1987. He teamed with his son, Luke Jr., however, in 2001 and started Galaxy Championship Wrestling, Inc.[4]
Grady Johnson's Luke Graham persona was known for his "craziness".[4] Whenever someone referred to him as "Crazy" Luke Graham, as part of his gimmick he would claim to be sane and cover his ears.[4] He had bleached hair and goatee.[4] His signature moves included theatomic drop[3] andstabbing people with his taped thumb (which he called the "Golden Spike").[4]
Graham's storyline brothers were "Doctor" Jerry Graham (Jerramiah Martin Mathews),Superstar Billy Graham (Wayne Coleman), former wrestler/promoterEddie Graham (Eddie Gosset). Other Family members include: Tommy "T.G." Graham (William Pawlak), Troy "The Dream Machine/Warrior" Graham (Troy R. Tompson), Eddie Graham's sonMike Graham (Mike Gosset), and Luke Graham's son, "Crazy" Luke Graham Jr. (Donald J. Jolly), and nephew, Gerry "Chubby" Graham (M. Gerald Sadler). All Graham Family members are reported as retired. Dr Jerry, Eddie, Luke Sr, Billy and Mike are among the family members that are reported deceased.[5]
Johnson, who had apacemaker, died fromcongestive heart failure on June 23, 2006, at the age of 66.[4]