We are proud to announce the 2016 inductees into the Southern California Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. This year we induct three new members into the Hall of Fame; Bobo Brazil, Cincinnati Red, and Sandor Szabo.
Bobo Brazil – Born Houston Harris on July 10, 1924, Bobo Brazil is credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in pro-wrestling. He made his debut in 1951 and by mid-decade he was a major star in at the Grand Olympic. Famous for his finishing move that was a headbutt called the Coco Butt, hew defeated challenger after challenger. During the 1950s he held the International TV Tag Team titles 3 times, twice with Wilbur Snyder and once with fellow inductee Sandor Szabo. His first run in Los Angeles ended with a match against Lou Thesz for the NWA title that drew 8,880. He returned to Los Angeles in 1961, this time with Johnny Doyle’s rival promotions to the Eatons. In 1962 he became the first African American to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when he defeated “Nature Boy” Buddy Roggers. He then went onto to WWWF. It wasn’t long before he was back in Los Angeles, returning to the Olympic to feud with Gorilla Moonsoon, Mark Lewin, Buddy Austin, The Destoryer Dick Beyer, Fredie Blassie, The Sheiek, Gordman and Goliath among others. According to wrestling historian Steve Yohe, in his entire time at the Olympic, he only lost cleanly twice; to Lou Thesz in 1955 and Freddie Blassie in 1969. He held the WWA Heavyweight title on two different occasions, and never lost it in the ring. He also wrestled to a draw with Gene Kiniski for the NWA World Championship in 1969 at the Olympic. He also won the America’s Title three times, the last time coming in 1981. He retired from wrestling in 1993. Bobo Brazil passed away on January 20, 1998.
Cincinnati Red – Born October 17, 1974, Gregory Scott Daves was known to the wrestling world as Cincinnati Red. After being trained by fellow Hall of Famers Jesse Hernandez and Bill Anderson, Red made his debut in 1995 using the name Blackjack Daniels. He left Southern California to join the National Wrestling Conference, but returned in time to be present for the very first EWF show on May 5, 1996. In fact his match with Brian Rodgers was the first match in EWF history. He later teamed with Gary Key to open their own school and promotion, IWF. In 1999 he sold the IWF and joined up with UIWA. It was at UIWA where he began to train his most famous student, Samoa Joe. Red was named the Southern California Wrestler of the Year for 1999. He wrestled all over Southern California and it didn’t matter if wrestled in front of 20 or 2,000 people, he always put everything he had into every match. In 2001 he became the first MPW champion when he defeated Little Guido. It was also in 2001 where he, along with Primetime Peterson approached me about wanting to create a Hall of Fame to honor Southern California’s wrestling history. Red continued to wrestle and work behind the scenes with the EWF, including winning the promotion’s inaugural Great Goliath Battle Royal in 2006. He returned to MPW in 2010, and lost his hair in a match versus Logan X, that resulted in Roddy Piper shaving his head. He also continued as chairman of the Hall of Fame until his death on March 20, 2015.
Sandor Szabo – Born on January 4, 1906 in Kosice, in what was then part of Hungary, Sandor first learned to box and wrestle in exchange for bread in worn-torn Budapest, where his family has fled when his home was over run during World War I. He became a top amateur wrestler, winning the bronze medal at 82 kilograms at the 1926 European championships, and won the gold the next year. Sandor came to the United States as part of the Hungarian national team in 1929, and immigrated. He began his pro-wrestling career in 1930. He first came to Los Angeles in 1935 for Lou Daro’s International tournament. It was a double elimination tournament in which he defeated Pat Fraley, Howard Cantonwine, Bob “Rebel” Russell, Everett Kibbons, Blue Sun Jennings, and Kimon Kudo. He lost to Chief Little Wolf on June 12, 1935 in front of 10,400 and then was eliminated by Little Wolf on June 19, 1935. Sandor disn’t leave after the tournament and in fact moved his family to Santa Monica, where he would live the rest of his life. He held the Pacific Coast title thirteen times between 1937 and 1951. In August 1939 he wrestled world champion Jim Londos to a draw in a match that lasted two hours and ten minutes. In 1941 he won the NWA title in St. Louis. He also won the Beat the Champ title on multiple occasions throughout the 1950s as well as multiple tag team championships at the Olympic with Wilbur Snyder and Bobo Brazil. Szabo also was well known for a hit record featuring the song “Hold Me in Your Arms” in 1952. He retired from wrestling in 1963 and worked as Jules Strongbow’s assistant at the Olympic till his death on October 16, 1966.
Here are the complete voting results from this year’s ballots:
Cincinnati Red 86.2%
Sandor Szabo 81.8%
Bobo Brazil 72.7%
Count Billy Varga 54.5%
Edouard Carpentier 54.5%
Adam Pearce 48.3%
Samoa Joe 44.9%
Vandal Drummond 44.9%
Super Boy 41.4%
Bart Kapitzke 37.9%
Ernie Ladd 36.4%
Gus Sonnenberg 36.4%
Rikidozan 36.4%
Christopher Daniels 34.5%
Frankie Kazarian 34.5%
Jon Ian 34.5%
Martin Marin 34.5%
Rocky Romero 34.5%
B-Boy 31.0%
Joey Munoz (Kaos) 31.0%
Kevin Kleinrock 31.0%
Primetime Peterson 31.0%
Ron Rivera 31.0%
John Cena 27.6%
Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello & Roy Heffernan) 27.3%
Man Mountain Dean 27.3%
Ballard Brothers (Shannon & Shane Ballard) 24.1%
Bobby Bradley 20.7%
Brian Kendrick 20.7%
Dan Faren 20.7%
Rick Bassman 20.7%
Supreme 20.7%
Aileen Eaton 18.2%
Bearcat Wright 18.2%
Joe Stecher 18.2%
Jules Strongbow 18.2%
Benjamin Mora 13.8%
Cheerleader Melissa 13.8%
David Marquez 13.8%
Los Chivos (Enigma de Oro & Kayam) 13.8%
Matt Sinister 13.8%
Rey Misterio Jr. 13.8%
Stephan DeLeon 13.8%
Sting 13.8%
Tech IX (Byron McKinney) 13.8%
Aaron Aguilera 9.1%
Cal Eaton 9.1%
Pedro Morales 9.1%
Ramon Torres 9.1%
Alex Knight 6.9%
Al Katrazz 6.9%
Art Barr 6.9%
Frankie Dee 6.9%
Gary Key 6.9%
Hulk Hogan 6.9%
Excalibur 3.4%
Alberto Torres 0%
Billy Blade 0%
Chavo Guerrero Jr 0%
Disco Machine 0%
Ernie Duesk 0%
Gino Garibaldi 0%
Kiss 0%
Messiah / Iron Mike Ehrhardt 0%
Nick Lutze 0%
In order to be inducted a nominee must be listed on 70% of returned ballots. Anyone with less than 5% of the vote will not be eligible to be nominated in the next election.
The Southern California Pro-Wrestling Hall of Fame was created in 2001 by Cincinnati Red, Jason “Primetime” Peterson, and Steven Bryant, and was dedicated in the memory of Louie Spicoli. The Hall of Fame was created with the mission to preserve and promote the history of professional wrestling in Southern California. Since its inception there have been 32 inductees. The Hall of Fame is hosted by SoCalUNCENSORED.com. For a full list of inductees please visit the Hall of Fame at http://socaluncensored.com/history/hall-of-fame/.
Congrats Red. I miss you brother.