 Moondog King,c. 1983 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edward John White[1] May 18, 1949[1] |
| Died | August 26, 2005(2005-08-26) (aged 56)[1] St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Big John Strongbo[1] Moondog King[1] Sailor White[1] Knuckles McKnight[1] The Wharf Rat[1] The Canadian Hit Man[1] The Spoiler |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 310 lb (141 kg)[2] |
| Debut | May 22, 1972[1] |
| Retired | 1991 |
Edward John White (May 18, 1949 – August 26, 2005) was a Canadianprofessional wrestler, best known asSailor White and asMoondog King ofThe Moondogs when he joined theWorld Wrestling Federation in the early-1980s.[2] White won championships in Canada and around the globe. He also wrestled inSouth Africa asBig John Strongbo.[2]
After doing work on Great Lakes boats, White made his professional wrestling debut inPembroke, Ontario, on May 22, 1972, against Michael Gango for promoter Larry Kasaboski.[1] While inQuebec he was the Grand Prix tag team champion in 1976, International Heavyweight champion in 1982, International tag team champion twice in 1982–1984 and won the Canadian Television Championship in 1984.
He was most known for his time in the WWF as Moondog King where he teamed withMoondog Rex and won theWWF Tag Team Championship (then WWWF) fromTony Garea andRick Martel inAllentown, Pennsylvania, in March 1981.[3]
After he was denied re-entry to the United States at theCanada–United States border, the WWWF replaced him with substitutes includingStan Hansen,Hulk Hogan,Lou Albano andSgt. Slaughter before selectingMoondog Spot as a permanent replacement. Gorilla Monsoon explained his absence stating King had been hit by a car.[3] White claims the border dispute involved a rival wrestling promoter alerting the authorities to his criminal past whereas some say it was drug related.[4]
After the WWF, he worked in Montreal forLutte Internationale teaming withGilles Poisson. He retired from wrestling in 1986. Then on October 22, 1990, he returned to a WWF house show as "Sailor Moondog White" where he lost toThe British Bulldog at the OttawaCivic Center.[5] In 1991, he appeared a few appearances forWorld Championship Wrestling in house shows where he fought againstBrad Armstrong. His last match was a victory over Mike Winter.
White was active inCanadian politics. In May 2000, White stood for election to theHouse of Commons of Canada in aSt. John's Westby-election, representing theCanadian Extreme Wrestling Party. His motto was "Parliament Needs a Moondog". On July 28, 2004, White again ran for the House of Commons of Canada, this time representing theGreen Party of Canada inBonavista—Exploits, but lost toScott Simms of theLiberal Party of Canada. White received 367 votes to Simms's 15,970.[6]
White suffered fromBell's palsy in 1999 and had twoheart attacks by then. In 2002, he underwent triple bypass surgery and on December 2, 2004, his taxi crashed, breaking two bones in his neck and pinching a nerve in his spinal cord. He remained hospitalized on life support until his death on August 26, 2005. White was survived by his daughter, Rozlynn White, and grandchildren, Keygan Hewitt, Hudson, Owen, Ethan and Quinton. His biographySailor White was written by Dave Elliott.[4]
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