 Czaja (bottom) wrestlingDara Singh in 1955 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1909-07-15)15 July 1909 Hungary |
| Died | 16 May 1970(1970-05-16) (aged 60) |
| Cause of death | Car accident |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Emile Czaja King Kong King Kong Czaja King Kong Czaya |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Billed weight | 400 lb (181 kg) |
| Billed from | Australia |
| Debut | 1937 |
| Retired | 1962 |
Emile Czaja (15 July 1909 – 16 May 1970), better known by hisring nameKing Kong, was anAustralian-Indianprofessional wrestler and actor born in Hungary in 1909. He was active from 1929 until 1970. He wrestled mostly inJapan,Singapore,Europe,New Zealand, andAustralia. In professional wrestling, his arch rivals wereAslam Pahalwan,[1]Hamida Pahalwan,Sheik Ali andDara Singh.[2][3]
The Hungarian born Emile Czaja started wrestling in Europe. At the age of 18, he was participating in important matches all over Europe. He excelled in all styles of wrestling and soon become a formidable opponent for all the top contenders.
Czaja started his professional career inIndia in 1937.[2] He was given the name "King Kong" after playing the part of King Kong in an Indian movie.[2] In 1945, he wrestledHamida Pehelwan in front of approximately 200,000 spectators inLahore,India.[4] He frequently wrestled for over 100,000 fans.[4]
In 1937, he arrived in Bombay India, where many western wrestlers had gathered to trade grips with the East Indian greats. Some of the celebrities were Jeji Goldstein of Palestine, Edmond Von Kramer of Germany, Tony Lamaro of Italy, Emil Koroshenko of Hungary, George Zbisco of Poland, George Constantine of Romania, Arty Counsel of Australia, and later joined by five times world champion,Ed "Strangler" Lewis andTed Thye. These assailants often dare Great Gama, but to their dismay, Gama had retired and the fleet of Imam Bux, Hamida, Goonga, Yankapa Boolar, Young Gama among others were the stalwarts willing to face the challengers. Kong wrestled quite a few of them and after drawing with Goonga, earned a shot at Hamida Pahalwan. These were the two defeats that Kong had suffered before the war and this by no means belittled his ratings as one of the world's top ranking wrestlers.
Then in 1947, after the war, another country was created- Pakistan. Wrestling immediately took a strong hold there. In 1952, Emile Czaja came back to Bombay from Singapore and approached a well-known businessman Mr. Goostad D. Irani, "The Mat Mogul of India", and a tournament was arranged in Bombay. It was a tremendous success for all. Wrestling had its next lease of life by the hard work of Emile Czaja-Goostad D. Irani friendship. Up until the late 1960s the wrestling flourished in all parts of India under Irani's promotion.
On 16 November 1955 in theJapan Wrestling Association, King Kong andTiger Joginder Singh defeated JWA founderRikidōzan andHarold Sakata in atwo out of three falls tournament final to crown the inauguralAll Asia Tag Team Champions.[5] They later vacated the title after the tag team split up.[5] On 22 November of that year, however, Rikidōzan defeated King Kong to become the inauguralAll Asia Heavyweight Champion.[6] His matches against Hamida, Goonga,Aslam Pahalwan,Seelie Samara,Tor Johnson andTiger Joginder Singh are still talked about.
After marrying in 1956, he continued his pro-wrestling career usingSydney as his headquarters. He broke gate records in Australia and wrestled Rikidozan of Japan for3+1⁄2 hours before losing the bout by a lone fall. He met and beat some of the best in the world. Some of the well-known names that were beaten by this man mountain areTiger Holden,Harban Singh,Syed Saif Shah,George Pencheff, BigBill Verna,George Zbisco and many others. He wrestledLou Thesz for the world title in Singapore in 1958. He wrestled in the East, Europe and United Kingdom throughout the mid-1960s and fans saw the Mighty King Kong in action again.
Of all his fights, the ones that caught imagination of the public in South Asia were his bouts withDara Singh. Dara Singh's act of flooring King Kong remains embedded in Indian legend.[7][8][9]
While traveling back to Singapore after a match in Penang, Malaysia, Czaja was badly injured in a car crash in Ipoh on 12 May 1970. He died in Singapore on 16 May 1970, aged 60.[2]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Ponni | Himself | Tamil film |
| 1962 | King Kong | King Kong | Hindi films |
| Hong Kong | |||
| 1963 | Patal Nagri | ||
| King of Carnival | |||
| Faulad | Slave master | ||
| 1964 | Khufia Mahal | Wrestler | |
| Samson | |||
| Hercules | Wrestler | ||
| Aaya Toofan | Wrestler | ||
| 1965 | Tarzan and King Kong | Tarzan's opponent | |
| Sangram | |||
| Hum Sab Ustad Hain | King Kong Wrestler | ||
| 1968 | Mujrim Kaun? | ||
| 1972 | Mele Mitran De | Punjabi film |
