[20] To open 1968, he defeated The Preacher, The Rebel and Blassie, briefly rejoining Romero in a draw. [55] After four more wins over his regular opponents, he lost to Orton. Morales defeated both Tanaka and Mr. Fuji by countout and won the following two tag team matches. Sunnyside Gardens, located at the corner of 45th Street and Queens Boulevard, was a quick ride for me on the Triboro bus, and $3.00 was the cost of my general admission ticket. Following three wins over Tanaka and more against Firpo, Morales teamed with Sammartino on July 18, 1972, to face the former and Mr. Fuji. [76] Modern fan reaction has also been positive in regards to the historical significance of his accomplishments. Visiting hours will be Friday from 3:00 P.M. until 6:30 P.M. Copyright 2018 - 23 [50], During the summer of 1982, Morales feuded with Bob Orton, Jr., gaining the upper hand after being disqualified in the open bout. C1: He sure is good" as part of a discussion of dangerous adversaries that could be possible opponents for an aging wrestler. Richards and Sons for many years. (Pedro) was a very smart businessman.. The loving memory Johnson-Morales has for her husband continues. He also emerged victorious from a feud with Graham, winning the majority of their encounters. ET. [44] After defeating and drawing with St. He (Pedro) was so busy, So, when he came home, he needed to unwind. In his final phase of this run for the promotion, Morales was victorious over Butcher Vachon, wrestling his final match on March 1, 1975. </p><p>El velorio se llevara cabo de 3:00 pm a 9:00 pm el Martes 15 de Noviembre&nbsp;de 2022 en Rivera Funeral Home of McAllen con el rezo del Santo Rosario . An advanced case of Parkinson's disease prevented him from traveling to Puerto Rico during his final years. In June, Morales joined Bruno Sammartino, Bobo Brazil, Perez and Apollo to once again enter a storyline with Johnny Barend, who was now joined by Diamond Jack. His streak continued the following month, this time over Bob Arnel and The Strangler, going on to include matchups against the opponents that he had already defeated. [53] October began with a winning streak which featured Les Thornton and Matt Borne along with enhancement talent, until this victory spree was halted by The Missing Link. In his first bout of 1982, Morales defeated Valentine by disqualification. [22] In the final events of the year, he defeated "The Original Sheik" Ed Farhat, got disqualified twice against Tank Morgan and wrestled Johhny Barend. On May 27, 1966, Morales returned to California and went on another winning streak over Ray Shields, Jack Lanza, El Mongol, Stan Neilson, Baby Destroyer and Fritz Von Goering, before entering a series against Buddy Austin, losing the first three encounters and dropping the WWA World Heavyweight Championship to him on August 5, 1966, before winning the fourth match. [88] He was survived by his wife, with their son predeceasing them in 2014. As a 12-year-old, I saw first-hand just how special then the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) Heavyweight Champion was. Whitemarsh Jr. High School - May 25, 1983 The scheduled Eddie Gilbert vs. Johnny Rodz match was cancelled Pete Doherty (sub. A rivalry with Nick Bockwinkel also took place in parallel, recording a no contest and a victory. After briefly teaming with Peter Maivia, Morales defeated Armando Rodriguez and entered a series against Alfred Hayes, which ended with a balance of five wins, two losses and two draws. Apr 16: Impact Rebellion On August 31, 2006, as part of a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling taping, Morales was mentioned by Konnan along fellow Hall of Famers Carlos Coln, Mil Mscaras and the Guerrero family, being acknowledged as Latinos that paved the way within the wrestling industry. [37] Morales remained successful as a singles wrestler, gathering wins over Fuji, Eddie Sullivan, Otto Von Heller, Johnny Rodz and Black Gordman during the first half of 1974. Costello-Koyen Funeral Homes, Inc.. All Rights Reserved. Morales was then joined by Romero as his partner, once again winning the WWA World Tag Team Championship along with him on February 10, 1967. Eventually, Jay Youngblood became Moraless main partner, recording a winning streak while he also teamed with several other wrestlers including Cocoa Samoa, Tiger Jeet Singh and Bob Marcus with similar success. But, Morales had to have felt at home. [29][30] Graham, Valiant and Toru Tanaka served as enhancement talents. Pedro was a magnanimous man, said Johnson-Morales during a recent telephone conversation with SlamWrestling.net from her home in Woodbridge, New Jersey. I taught for three years, elementary children. One week later, Morales faced Ric Flair in the first Aniversario event, winning the contest by disqualification. [53] Morales entered the 1985 King of the Ring tournament, besting Johnny V in the opening contest before receiving a bye during the quarterfinals. [44] On March 26, 1981, Morales faced Hulk Hogan, dominating throughout the match and winning by count out. He won his next match by defeating George Cannon, forming a brief partnership with Hahn Lee that only lasted for a month. WWWF champion Pedro Morales. The following weeks brought wins over Sammy Sanders, Bob Bradley, Fuji and Rose, but also losses to Graham and Muraco, most of which were by countout or disqualification. Pedro still has a lot of family in Culebra. On December 2, 1972, he rejoined Rivera in a win. [40] His team along Johnson opened the year by winning their first two matches, going on to defeat Koloff and Saito to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship on January 24, 1978. [50] To continue, Morales won two consecutive contests, including a Brass Knuckles Alley Fight, but got disqualified in the third. When the evenings show finally arrived for the main event that January 15, I was so sold on the action I would see in the title clash and for the next three decades wrestling would consume me. On December 12, 1985, Goulet scored a rare win over him. [13] After this, Vittorio Apollo became his main stay tag team partner, along whom he challenged The Fabulous Kangaroos, Johnny Barend and Buddy Rogers on several dates. [20] Meanwhile, in one-on-one competition he bested Ron Romano, Baron Mikel Scicluna, Rick Renaldo, The Rebel and won an eight-man battle royale. On December 28, 1982, Morales wrestled Don Muraco to a double disqualification draw. After defeating Barend in a stretcher match, Morales defeated Les Roberts and advanced to the second round of the Strelich Tournament, a single-knockdown competition for the Strelich Perpetual Trophy, with a win over Woody Farmer. To close the year, Morales joined Mark Lewin to recapture the WWA World Tag Team Championship on December 10, 1966. Stan Frazier and Tony Borne were the next opponents that he bested during the summer. In what marked the final stage of this AWA run, Morales continued defeating jobbers Mike York, Kenny Jay and The Strangler, but began losing more often to talent that he had bested earlier including Nick Bockwinkel and others such as Angelo Mosca. Such a great story of my childhood hero! (Pedro) was a very smart businessman." The couple were married for 52 years. Two babyfaces were in the main event, and, 75 minutes later, the timekeepers bell rang, ending the match. [38] Morales began the summer by teaming with Patterson on a consistent basis, sometimes alternating to include Peter Maivia, Don Muraco or a random wrestler. He then continued to team with Gomez and Romero, recording a successful run until they became part-time partners in July 1967, when he joined fellow Puerto Rican Jos Luis Rivera, immediately entering a long feud against Mike DiBiase, who teamed with a variety of wrestlers, but most frequently wrestled along Karl Gotch. During the early months of 1981, he continued defeating the likes of The Hangman, Ron Shaw, Jose Estrada and Zbyszko, but tied in contests against St. [19] While individually, Morales entered a brief period where he recorded more draws and losses than wins, his team with Rivera won their first five encounters, which also featured him besting DiBiase and Gotch in singles. He opened 1987 with a win over Bret Hart, before teaming with Santana twice with mixed results. After defeating both Bence and Morgan, he returned to his feud with Barend dropping the North American Heavyweight Championship on February 7, 1970. Morales closed the year by rejoining Gomez as a full-time partner, defeating the team of Blassie and The Great Malenko. Our Locations | [24] He then got disqualified in a match against Barrend and tied with Kinji Shibuya. On August 5, 1970, Morales regained the North American Heavyweight Championship from Barend. I arrived early to pick out a good view from the bleachers. [41] In singles competition, Morales defeated Mr. X #1, Brute Bernard and Morowski. [19] He made his first appearance in Hawaiian territory along Gomez on April 26, 1967. Apr 2: WWE WrestleMania During the following two months, Morales recorded a series of draws in matches against Ripper Collins, Billy Robinson and Kinji Shibuya twice. The following night he claimed a win over Valentine. Afterwards, Morales won contests over The Red Demon, Lombardi and Sivi Afi, while losing to Muraco and being counted out against Savage. With an offer to earn a lot more money than what she had been earning in Missouri, Johnson-Morales jumped at the opportunity. [59] Some wrestlers that he had bested in the past, such as Butch Reed or Sika were also booked over him, along with strong adversaries such as Jake Roberts, Bravo, Orton and Paul Orndorff. Slaughter in another series, Killer Khan became Morales' most recurrent adversary, experiencing more success, while other names such as Greg Valentine and Hansen challenged him occasionally. Much of Morales business prowess, as his widow tells, came from his mother Theodora. In the early 1960s, Johnson-Morales and her mom attended live wrestling shows in the Kansas City area, and regularly watched them on TV. Sammartino was Vince McMahon Sr.s top draw for more than seven years, until dropping the strap in the Garden to Koloff in January of 1971. Pedros career was building popularity, and it was around this time, when he was in Hawaii, Vince McMahon, Sr., began talking to him about coming to New York, stated Johnson-Morales. Morales would be defending the heavyweight crown he won 12 miles to the west in Manhattan 19 months earlier. [84], His mother Teodora was a businesswoman, who continued to advise him on economic decisions throughout his life. After successfully teaming with Bing Ki Lee on three consecutive cards, Morales recovered the North American belt from Iaukea on November 5, 1969. [27] Meanwhile, The Wolfman and Bulldog Brower became recurrent enhancement talents during this run. [23] During this timeframe he also teamed with several wrestlers, including Gomez, Don Leo Jonathon, Dory Dixon and Ed Francis. 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