Mark Lewin

Mark Lewin
Lewin in 1960
Born (1937-03-16) March 16, 1937 (age 87)[1]
Buffalo, New York, U.S.[1]
FamilyDonn Lewin (brother)[1]
Ted Lewin (brother)
Danny McShain (brother-in-law)[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Mark Lewin[1]
The Purple Haze[1]
Skippy Jackson
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[2]
Billed weight265 lb (120 kg)[2]
Trained byJohn Horton
Danny McShain[1]
Debut1953[1]
Retired1988

Mark Lewin (born March 16, 1937) is an American retired professional wrestler.[1]

Early life

Lewin was born in Buffalo, New York. He had two elder brothers, Donn and Ted, both of whom also became professional wrestlers. He attended Lafayette High School.[1]

Professional wrestling career

Lewin was trained to wrestle by his brother-in-law, Danny McShain. He debuted in 1953 at the age of 16.[1]

Lewin had great early success in a matinee-idol babyface tag team with Don Curtis, headlining in major territories like New York and Chicago. The team's brief heel turn was a shock to its many fans. The team split up in the early '60s and Mark embarked on a singles career.

In 1963, Mark first tried out the "Maniac"/"Mad" Mark Lewin persona, which he would alternate consistently with his 'normal' babyface persona for the rest of his career. He wrestled in Australia and New Zealand in the 1960s and 1970s with great success, especially in New Zealand where he drew huge crowds during the tours. He frequently formed a tag team in Australia and New Zealand with King Curtis Iaukea. He also spent time in Detroit working against The Sheik and fellow wildman, Terry Funk. Lewin also wrestled in Vancouver with NWA All Star Wrestling, where he feuded with the likes of Gene Kiniski and "Bulldog" Bob Brown and twice won the Pacific Coast Heavyweight title.

Lewin as Purple Haze in 1983

He found a lot of success in World Class Championship Wrestling in the late 1970s and early 1980s before going to Florida Championship Wrestling, where he joined Kevin Sullivan's "cult" as The Purple Haze, another variation of the 'Maniac' gimmick. Lewin competed at wrestling's first Pay-Per-View event Starrcade 1983; he and Kevin Sullivan won their match.

Lewin worked as a booker for Jim Barnett in Australia.[3][self-published source]

He was one of Sabu's frequent opponents in the 1980s.

Lewin retired in 1988, but came back mid 2003 to work for Eddie Jr. and Thomas Farhat to start up All World Wrestling League/Big Time Wrestling.

Championships and accomplishments

1This World Championship Wrestling was an NWA affiliated promotion based in Australia that operated from the mid-1960s to the early-1990s. It is not the same promotion as the World Championship Wrestling that was once owned by Ted Turner and sold to World Wrestling Entertainment in 2001.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Johnson, Steven; et al. (October 1, 2012). The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: Heroes and Icons. ECW Press. p. 365. ISBN 978-1-77090-269-5.
  2. ^ a b "Wrestlingdata The World's Largest Wrestling Database". wrestlingdata.com.
  3. ^ Jim Wilson; Jim Wilson & Weldon T. Johnson (September 2, 2003). Chokehold: Pro Wrestling's Real Mayhem Outside the Ring. Xlibris Corporation. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-4628-1172-4.
  4. ^ "International Tag Team Title (Georgia)". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
  5. ^ Hoops, Brian (January 17, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/17): Vader wins IWGP heavyweight title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  6. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "(Dallas) Texas: NWA American Tag Team Title [Fritz Von Erich]". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 978-0-9698161-5-7.
  7. ^ "N.W.A. American Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  8. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "(Texas) Dallas: NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 271. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  9. ^ "Texas Brass Knucks Title [East Texas]". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  10. ^ *Will, Gary; Duncan, Royal (2000). "Texas: NWA Texas Heavyweight Title [Von Erich]". Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. pp. 268–269. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  11. ^ "NWA Texas Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  12. ^ Will, Gary; Duncan, Royal (2000). "Texas: NWA Texas Tag Team Title [Von Erich]". Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. pp. 275–276. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  13. ^ "NWA Texas Tag Team Title [E. Texas]". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  14. ^ Meltzer, Dave (November 29, 2017). "December 4, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: AJ Styles, Minoru Suzuki and more enter the Hall of Fame". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
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