A legend from the early days of North American Pro Wrestling, Angelo Savoldi died on September 20th 2013 at the grand age of 99. Savoldi debuted in 1937 in the Great Depression era, he starred in New York when pro wrestling was perceived as legitimate, a time when talent needed to be truly tough in order to combat regular fan attacks. It was a different time, an almost unrecognizable form of what we now watch on television. Savoldi was a master of his craft, an in ring technician in the era when wrestling had gritty realism. He moved on to work in Boston and Puerto Rico, before finding fame in Oklahoma, where he held the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship on 3 occasions from 1958 to 1960. He would face several famous names in the grappling game, the esteemed likes of Verne Gagne, Stu Hart and Dory Funk Snr. His greatest feud was with Danny Hodge, a rivalry that led to Angelo being stabbed by an over zealous fan who turned out to be Danny's father. It was an era in which things were taken very seriously. The New Jersey native finished his career with the WWF as a wrestler to put over the good guys. He helped to train Jack Brisco and became a minority shareholder in the 1970's. He would go on to various awards recognizing his great career, and was a true pioneer in laying the foundation stones of pro wrestling in North America.
