Top 10 Wrestlers With Amateur Backgrounds In WWE History
6. Jack Brisco
His brother Gerald might be more familiar to WWE fans thanks to his role as one of Vince McMahon’s stooges in the late-'90s, but Jack remains the family’s stand-out amateur wrestler. Though his WWE appearances were fleeting and restricted to the latter stages of his career, The Brisco Brothers competed for the company’s Tag Team Championships in Jack’s last ever high-profile bout in 1984, and were inducted into the WWE Hall-of-Fame in 2008.
A noted fan of NWA World Champion Lou Thesz, Jack turned down a football scholarship at the University of Oklahoma to pursue his wrestling dream. In 1965, he became the first Native American to ever win an NCAA National Wrestling Championship. It was his first year of college, and Jack wasn’t taken down a single time by his opponents throughout the whole season: a record that is still unheard of to this day.
Brisco had the opportunity to go to the Olympics, but decided to pursue financial gains instead. With his family hurting for money, Jack knew that transitioning to pro-wrestling would provide a fast-track to financial success, and he started working for the NWA in late 1965. A glittering career throughout North America, Japan, and Puerto Rico followed, with the elder Brisco brother regularly cited by the likes of Ric Flair as one of the 1970’s greatest pro-wrestlers.