Gorilla Monsoon (Wrestler)

Robert James Marella
Data
Ring name	Bob Marella Gino Marella Gorilla Monsoon Manchurian Giant
height	1.95 m
Fighting weight	159 kg - 200 kg
birth	June 4, 1937 New York City ; NY
death	October 6, 1999 Willingboro ; New Jersey
debut	1959
retirement	1980

Robert James "Gino" Marella (born June 4, 1937 , † October 6, 1999 ) was an American wrestler , wrestling commentator and booker . Marella worked primarily for the Promotion World Wrestling Federation and its direct predecessor organizations.

He was best known under his ring name Gorilla Monsoon and was still active as a backstage manager for the World Wrestling Federation after finishing his active career.

Sporty background

Marella was a pre-eminent athlete in American football , wrestling, and track and field while at Jefferson High School in Rochester , NY . At that time he already weighed almost 140 kg with a height of 195 cm. Nevertheless, Marella was in high school nicknamed "Tiny" ( Engl. = Small, tiny) awarded.

Also at the college in Ithaca ; In New York he remained a successful wrestler and finished second in the 1959 NCAA Wrestling Championships .

Marella also held several records at this school, both in wrestling with an 18 second victory and in athletics. In 1973 he was therefore inducted into the "Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame". His athletic performance and, most recently, his height caught the attention of local wrestling promoter Pedro Martínez . After graduating from college, he signed Marella.

Career

Beginnings

According to his parentage, Marella began his career as the Italian-American Gino Marella . His ring role was that of a public favorite ( Face ) and the name "Gino" would later become his permanent nickname among colleagues.

Marella initially had only moderate success. He realized that monster characters were much more interesting for wrestling fans and that the corresponding wrestlers also made more money. So Marella changed his ring character. He invented the ring figure of the gorilla monsoon and grew a beard. The new ring figure was the storyline ( storyline built up) after a brutal monster character that now from the according to the newly invented backstory Manchuria came. The fans reacted accordingly and Marella herself rose to higher-paid wrestling circles.

World Wide Wrestling Federation

Active career

In April 1963, Vince McMahon Sr. split with the then NWA Capitol Wrestling Federation from the National Wrestling Alliance and now founded the World Wide Wrestling Federation . Marella was close friends with this promoter and bought into the new promotion. He finally held 1/6 of the shares and controlled the booking of the wrestlers in some of the WWWF areas .

As an active wrestler, Marella has now reached the position of the top villain of the promotion. He competed several times against the then reigning WWWF champion Bruno Sammartino . Despite his now considerable body weight of approx. 200 kg, he played 60-minute matches several times, which were sometimes extended.

In 1969, a gimmick change was made at Marella and it was rebuilt to become a crowd favorite ( Face ). This role reversal was carried out in a match between his storyline nemesis Bruno Sammartino and his opponent The Sheik when Marella was allowed to intervene in an unauthorized attack by the latter in favor of Sammartino.

In the 1970s Marella was one of the top earners in wrestling and worked with numerous other stars of the scene, such as the then WWWF superstar Billy Graham or André the Giant .

In 1973 the influence of the WWWF also expanded to the Caribbean , when a sub-organization (English. Affiliate ) of the WWWF was created there with the current World Wrestling Council promotion . Marella became co-owner there and in 1973 the WWWF rejoined the National Wrestling Alliance under its old NWA banner .

In 1979 Vince McMahon Jr. bought WWWF from his father and renamed it the World Wrestling Federation . Marella began his active wrestling career in late 1979 and was tied into a feud program with Ken Patera . As a result, Marella played a career match against them on August 23, 1980 , which he lost. Marella declared his withdrawal from the active scene.

Commentator / Backstage Manager

After the promotion was sold, Marella sold its shares to the new owner in 1980. In return, McMahon Jr. gave him a lifetime contract. Marella now took over the backstage management , where he coordinated the processes behind the scenes. He was also used as a commentator in front of the cameras. Marella subsequently worked with Jesse Ventura and both became one of the most famous commentary duos in wrestling. Ventura took on the part of taking the villain's side while Marella insisted on the rules. Together they commented on the first six wrestlemanias .

After Ventura's departure, Marella got the former wrestler and villain manager Bobby Heenan to the side. Both had long been very good friends behind the scenes. But at the microphone they both fought endless word duels, which were very well received by the audience.

Marella commented on a total of eight wrestlemanias between 1985 and 1992. He was also used as a commentator on the TV shows "WWF All Star Wrestling", " WWF Wrestling Challenge ", "WWF All American Wrestling" and also often on "WWF Prime Time Wrestling".

In 1993, former NWA and WCW commentator Jim Ross appeared at the World Wrestling Federation. Marella slowly withdrew from the wrestling action in front of the cameras, but kept his backstage position. In 1994 he suffered a severe blow of fate when his son, who was also employed as a referee for the WWF, was killed in a car accident. In the same year he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Ross .

In 1995 he was made president of the WWF in front of the cameras, a role that today can be compared to that of the "general manager" of individual WWE shows.

In 1997 he had to resign from this role for health reasons. His last public appearance was at "Wrestlemania 15" as a juror for a tournament. In 1999, Marella died of heart failure at the age of 62.

successes

• International Wrestling Alliance

• 1 × IWA World Heavyweight Champion

• World Wrestling Association (Los Angeles)

• 2 × WWA Tag Team Champion (once each with Luke Graham and El Mongol )

• World Wrestling Council

• 2 × WWC North American Heavyweight Champion

• World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation

• 2 × WWWF United States Tag Team Champion (once each with Killer Kowalski and Bill Watts )

useful information

• Marella was a co-owner of the World Wrestling Council between 1973 and the 1980s
• The backstage post that Gorilla Monsoon held at WWE is still commonly referred to as the gorilla position in wrestling today .
• Marella's late trademark was the sunglasses with the dark blue lenses.

Web links

• Gorilla Monsoon's WWE Hall of Fame Profile
• Marella at Ithaca College

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gorilla Monsoon in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved January 9, 2015.
2. ↑ http://www.cagematch.de/?id=8&nr=52