 Woodin as Mr. Wrestling in 1978 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | George Burrell Woodin (1934-07-28)July 28, 1934[1][2] Utica, New York, U.S.[2] |
| Died | November 30, 2002(2002-11-30) (aged 68)[1][2] |
| Cause of death | Myocardial infarction |
| Alma mater | Cornell University Michigan State University |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Mr. Wrestling[1][2] Tim Woods[1][2] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2] |
| Billed weight | 230 lb (100 kg)[2] |
| Debut | 1962 |
| Retired | 1983[2] |
George Burrell Woodin (July 28, 1934 – November 30, 2002) was an Americanprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring names,Mr. Wrestling andTim Woods.[1][2]
Woodin received a degree in agricultural engineering fromCornell University and a degree inmechanical engineering fromMichigan State University.
Before becoming a professional wrestler, Woodin was a successful collegiate wrestler. While wrestling for the Michigan State Spartans, Woodin won twoBig Ten titles in 1958 and 1959. He also finished second in theNCAA tournament in 1958 and 1959.
As a junior at Michigan State, Woodin won the 1958 Big Ten 177-pound title by pinning Gary Kurdelmeier of the University of Iowa at 8:21. A couple of weeks later, the two met again in the 177-pound finals of the 1958 NCAAs at the University of Wyoming, where Woodin lost to Kurdelmeier 6-2.
As a senior, Woodin defeated Iowa's Gordon Trapp 6–4 in the heavyweight finals to win his second Big Ten title. At the 1959 NCAAs, the Michigan State Spartan competed in the 191-pound class, making it to the finals for the second year in a row, but lost 9-5 to Syracuse's Art Baker. With his two runner-up finishes at the national championships, Woodin was a two-time NCAA All-American.
Woodin began his wrestling career in 1962 at the age of 28 using the name "Tim Woods".[1] He wrestled in theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation in the northeast from 1963 to 1964, at the upper end of the preliminary wrestlers. In 1965, he was then given the name "Mr. Wrestling" by Nebraska promotor Joe Dusek, and subsequently adopted both a whitewrestling mask and white singlet to complete thecharacter.[1] Mr. Wrestling became a major superstar in theGeorgia,Florida,Texas and Mid-Atlantic territories. Starting in the Seventies, he would alternate between his masked persona as Mr. Wrestling and wrestling unmasked as Tim Woods, depending on the territory.
In 1968, Woodin faced street fighter Arnold Spurlin, a former Golden Gloves champion, in a shoot fight inColumbus, Georgia. After Woodin dominated the match, using non-wrestling moves and blows with his fists, Spurlin bit down on the only thing he could to stop the melee - Woodin’s finger. As Woodin danced around Spurlin in pain and trying to remove his finger from his opponent’s grip, other wrestlers entered the ring and began beating Spurlin. Spurlin’ s friends then joined in with knives in hand to run off the wrestlers. As they did, Spurlin spit Woodin’s finger joint across the ring. The finger was subsequently surgically reattached, but Woodin did not regain full use of it. Later that year, Woodin challengedNWA World Heavyweight ChampionGene Kiniski, with the bout being stopped after Woodin's finger began bleeding.[3]
Woodin was involved in the same 1975plane crash which involved pilot Joseph Michael Farkas (he ended up in a coma and died the next year), wrestling legendJohnny Valentine (broke his back and bone fragments impacted into his spinal cord, which ended his career), wrestlerBob Bruggers (broke his back and had a steel rod put in; Bruggers could have made a comeback, but he decided to retire), future legendRic Flair (broke his back, but recovered and returned to wrestling), andJim Crockett Promotions' announcerDavid Crockett. At the hospital, Woodin gave them his real name (George Burrell Woodin), and told them that he was a promoter. Since Woodin wrestled under the name Tim Woods, a newspaper article in theCharlotte Observer listed his name as his real name, George Burrell Woodin, and mentioned that he was a promoter. Woodin was the onlyfan favorite wrestler on the plane, while the rest wrestled asvillains, and this was back in the days whenkayfabe was not broken (at the time, Woods was feuding with Flair and Valentine) and heroes and villains were not known to travel together. Eventually, rumors began circulating that Woods was in fact on the plane. Unwilling to risk the exposure of professional wrestling, he got back in the ring two weeks after the crash and was obviously in extreme pain. Flair later said in his bookTo Be the Man, that he was "more than just Mr. Wrestling that day, but was the man who saved wrestling."
Woodin retired from professional wrestling in 1983. After retiring, he ran a heating and air conditioning business.
Woodin was an avid collector of motorcycles as well as an accomplished photographer and saxophone player.
On November 30, 2002, Woodin died from aheart attack at his home in Charlotte, North Carolina at the age of 68. Before his death, he was scheduled to be interviewed about the October 1975 plane crash forWWE Confidential.
