Klondike Bill

Klondike Bill
Klondike Bill
Birth name	William Soloweyko
Born	December 1, 1931[1]; Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Died	October 3, 2000 (aged 68); Pineville, North Carolina, United States
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Bill Soloweyko; Klondike Bill[2]; Kodiak Bear
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Billed weight	365 lb (166 kg; 26.1 st)[2]
Billed from	Kodiak Island, Alaska[2]
Trained by	Stu Hart[2]
Debut	1958
Retired	1987

William Soloweyko (December 1, 1931 – October 3, 2000), better known by his ring name Klondike Bill, was a Canadian professional wrestler trained by Stu Hart in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He wrestled in various NWA territories throughout the 1960s and 1970s, before moving onto World Championship Wrestling.

Career

Bill was trained by Stu Hart in the famous Dungeon in Calgary. He began his career wrestling as Bill "The Brute" Soloweyko in Hart's local promotion, Stampede Wrestling before moving on to other territories. During his career he formed various tag teams with wrestlers such as Whipper Billy Watson and Skull Murphy. He performed in WWWF in 1964.

Under the name Klondike Bill, he was hired by Jim Crockett during the 1970s to build guard rails and rings for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, and was also a road agent for World Championship Wrestling. During the late 1990s, Bill was involved in a storyline that saw Eric Bischoff demoted as president and forced to set up a ring under Bill's supervision.

Bill was also known for being the only person to consume two 72-ounce steaks at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in the one-hour time limit back in the 1960s.[3]

Death

Bill died on October 3, 2000 from a neuromuscular disorder, similar to Bells Palsy.

Championships and accomplishments

50th State Big Time Wrestling

NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance

All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Skull Murphy

NWA Central States

NWA North American Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ron Etchison

NWA Florida

NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

NWA Georgia

NWA National Television Championship (1 time)

NWA Toronto

NWA International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Whipper Billy Watson[4]

NWA Tri-State

United States Tag Team Championship - with Luke Brown

References

http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/profiles/k/klondike-bill.php
Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-10-05. Retrieved 2010-08-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Hoops, Brian (January 18, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/18): Ivan Koloff defeats Bruno Sammartino for WWWF title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] ttp://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/profiles/k/klondike-bill.php

[Encyclopedia-2] Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.

[3] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-10-05. Retrieved 2010-08-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[Jan19F4W-4] Hoops, Brian (January 18, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/18): Ivan Koloff defeats Bruno Sammartino for WWWF title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.