(Remember Ozzy Osbourne and Albano barking madly at the British Bulldogs before their Wrestlemania II match with the Dream Team? Priceless.)īy this time, of course, Albano had turned into somewhat of an elder statesman for the WWF. The most important part of the event was his fight with Cyndi Lauper and Wendi Richter, virtually creating the connection between rock and wrestling that is still highlighted today. Confident to the fullest (some might say cocky), Albano was simply a juggernaut during the entire event, and helped seal the WWF's future in American pop culture. Featuring some of its biggest stars, Wrestlemania I was augmented by the hyper Lou Albano, constantly prancing about the main ring and serving as the very brash and egotistical attitude the federation wanted to convey. With him, the WWF continued to expand, and finally took a bold move by promoting a spectacular televised event - Wrestlemania. With his bombastic energy, vicious wit, and fantastic mastiff snarl, Captain Lou was an absolute delight to behold for the fans, who reviled in his every move. Captain Lou also managed Pat Patterson and Greg Valentine to the inter-Continental title on two separate occasions.Īlbano's success in the one-on-one bouts notwithstanding, he became the premiere manager in the tag team circuit, leading a cavalcade of WWF legends to the title, including the Wild Samoans, British Bulldogs, and The Valiant Brothers. Finally, Albano's dubious efforts were rewarded when the Russian Ivan Koloff defeated Sammartino and claimed the championship belt. All in good fun, of course, but certainly it made for good headlines in the fledgling federation. Then, Albano met a man who would change his life forever.īob Backlund, one of the head honchos of the He set his sights on one man - current Lou had all kinds of tricks for the champion - blinding him with rosin, pulling his legs out from under him midfight, and once by biting his hand while he was in a chokehold. Six years later, they had captured the United States Tag Team title. The Sicilians were great actors, but they were also pretty good wrestlers, too, capturing the Midwest Tag Team title in 1961. They had a great schtick - Mafia hoods who wrestled on the side - and were so effective in their roles that allegedly they were once visited by some real mobsters who told them to tone the act down. Lou got his first taste of winning wrestling as a member of a tag team group known as "The Sicilians," with Tony Altimore. For the first years, Albano primarily served as a fall guy - an anonymous wrestler the fan faves could beat up on. Soon, Albano was whisked away to a training post in White Plains, New York, and then to Montreal, where he had his first professional match. While serving, he met Arnold Skaaland, a booking agent for the World Wide Wrestling Federation. However, the Korean War was in its developing stages, and soon Albano was off to join the Army. During high school, he played lineman for the football team, and upon graduation he began attending the University of Tennessee on a scholarship. Louis Albano was born Jin Carmel, New York. Captain Lou Albano: The Man, The Myth, The Mario
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