10 Legendary Wrestlers Who Grappled Bears

Before 'Classy' Freddie Blassie became a heel manager in the mid-1970s, he squared off against Terrible Ted.

In his autobiography, Blassie goes into detail about his experience wrestling bears. Apparently, the encounters were not pleasant, and the grappler had this to say about his opponent,:"He stunk. His hair was all molted. I'm telling you that bear was diseased." During one particular match, Blassie kicked the bear, which resulted in the animal exiting the ring. The handler was unable to get the flouncing bear back, resulting in a victory for Blassie.

However, during their rematch, the bear sat on Blassie. While he wasn't able to get out from underneath the animal, the wrestler was able to keep his shoulders off of the mat, avoiding the three count and thus forcing the referee to declare the match a draw. Though it required a great deal of effort, Blassie had managed to avoid defeat at the hands of Terrible Ted.