He had eight siblings, four of whom survived childhood. photo: wwe.com. All Rights Reserved. Even though Captain Lou Albanos health had been rocky for years, the wrestling community was shocked by his passing. Albano was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996, Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009, and Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2012 (posthumously). His character was a babyface known as the Leaping Lou Albano. He trained with Soldier Barry, one of his childhood idols, and they started doing house shows together in New York in 1952. Captain Lou Albano is best known for managing tag teams to championship gold in WWE, but he was also the manager of some great singles champions. Instead, he initially pursued a career in boxing, but his size wasnt right for a successful boxer. In 1994, however, Albano made an official return to the company, managing the Headshrinkers tag team in order to help solidify their face turn. if they released those DVD's minus the nonsensical live action scenes its a fucking travesty. Sadly, a second heart attack would claim his life on October 14th. He adopted a new name, Mount Vernon Mauler, garnering a reputation in the New Yorks professional wrestling scene. In remembering how Captain Lou affected my childhood, I would be remiss to leave out Hulk Hogans Rock N Wrestling cartoon. I never knew when it was on (I found out later that's because it was in syndication after only having one season), but I always enjoyed it, despite supporting the losing side in the console wars (Sega). Balloon boy could also be a reference to someone who loves or smuggles heroin. These were kayfabe brothers, not really related, but were still one of their generation's best tag teams. Google image search Captain Lou Albano. In 1969, he began the second phase of his professional wrestling career as a manager. Captain Lou Albano dead at 76. photo: wwe.com. The 1980s stood in such stark contrast to the 2000s in that a big, fat, hairy, sweaty dude with rubber bands stuck to his face could be a pop icon. With a name like Falcon he belongs in the sky. Muraco went on to feud with former Albano wrestler Superfly Jimmy Snuka. News on all your favorite celebs, reality TV, and movies. In 1984, Albano was on a flight to Puerto Rico. The first was the U.S. Express, which Albano managed at the original WrestleMania. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65uNCLBTje0&fe. Here are some highlights. Anyone else loving the sad expression on everyones face as they break out in dance? He also managed a lot of tag team champions. Due to Albanos short stature, Gilzenberg advised him to enter wrestling. The attack made Albano a babyface character, and he went on to manage other babyfaces like Andre The Giant and The British Bulldogs, the latter of whom ended up becoming tag champions under his management. 2004-2023 PWInsider.com. Later, Valentine moved on to Jimmy Hart as his manager, and Albano soon became a babyface. He rattles off his list of accolades, including 14 tag team champions, two intercontinental, and one world wide federation champion. You know though, those cartoons were all released on DVD a while back. Everyone thought I was Ron Jeremy. I will be over here too, doing the Mario as mournfully as possible. It was never clear how the cartoons and the live-action show were supposed to be related but 8 year olds typically dont ask those sort of questions. We can thank Lou Albano and Cyndi Lauper hitting it off creatively and bringing media attention WWF's way. This led to Albano managing two of the best babyface tag teams of the '80s. Shortly after Albanos baptism, which was performed in the Vatican itself, Albanos parents returned to the US and began living in the Mount Vernon area. One wouldnt have guessed this looking at Captain Lou Albano the manager, but as a young wrestler, Leaping Lou Albano was presented as a handsome babyface character as he competed in the New York wrestling scene. Its pandemonium, I know, but NRBQ, a beloved cult band going on its 50th year in business, penned this ode to their manager, Captain Lou. WebAlbano ballooned to well over 300 pounds in later years. Singer Cyndi Lauper was there as well. Albano made his first big splash in non-wrestling pop culture by appearing in the music video for Cyndi Laupers hit single Girls Just Want to Have Fun, which came into play on wrestling television. Roman Reigns often talks about his family's history in wrestling, and that includes his father, Sika Anoa'i, who was one-half of The Wild Samoans with his brother Afa. Lou Albano manageda world heavyweight champion. Captain Lou didnt actually voice himself in this short-lived animated ridiculousness (neither did any of the other WWF wrestlers for that matter) but I absolutely LOVED this show. Click here for our privacy policy. After spending several decades as a heel, Captain Lou Albano turned face in 1984 in a memorable segment. The program was unique for having a live action element, with Lou Albano playing a live action version of Mario getting into shenanigans, and then voicing Mario in his animated adventures later on the show. With a wardrobe of colorful Hawaiian shirts, facial piercings finished with rubber bands, and unruly hair with a beard to match Captain Lou Albano was a man you couldnt help but notice. In, In doing so, Albano helped popularize what is now a bog standard wrestling trope: the meddling "hypeman" who leaves a slime trail wherever he goes. WebApter on why Albano wore the rubber band earrings on his face: He was very strong into the fight against multiple sclerosis with Cyndi Lauper. One of the most infamous moments in WWE history came in the '70s, and it resulted in a riot that caused property damage and had Captain Lou Albano fearing for his life. Wolff orchestrated a legit wrestling feud, which could only be settled by Laupers charge, Wendi Richter, wrestling Captain Lous girl, the Fabulous Moolah. WebPaul E Dangerously and Captain Lou Albano face to face. Fanscontinue to watch Captain Lou in the movies that he appeared in during his lifetime, includingBody Slam and in reruns of Miami Vice and The Super Mario Bros Super Show. It might be hard to remember, but Capt. You actually have to pull the face-rubber bands while theyre on your face to properly (and respectfully) launch them. He managed a great many teams to the. From there, Albano was encouraged to train as a pro wrestler. I distinctly remember getting a little too excited every time SMB came on television. It got to the point where in the interview room, they would bring him in, (have him) do his interviews, and then take him back to the dressing room because he would distract the other guys. Drives a giant gun that launches chezburgers at a frightening velocity, Ah.. the Mario, an often misunderstood and overlooked dance. With a convincing gimmick as mafia-esque gangsters, Albano and Altomare reportedly had actual gangsters urge them to cool it with the mafia gimmick. While awarding a framed gold record to former enemy Cyndi Lauper, Roddy Piper and Bob Orton interrupted, smashing the frame over Albanos head. He was freakin MARIO for Toads sake. Apter on the story behind the rubber band rings on Albanos face: He was very strong into the fight against multiple sclerosis with Cyndi Lauper. He is also remembered for his appearances in Cyndi Laupers music videos, particularly Girls Just Want to Have Fun. I distinctly remember getting a little too excited every time SMB came on television. He said that he would wear these things in his cheeks until (MS) was cured.. Working If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, Many professional wrestlers made tributes to the former wrestling manager, and many major publications and websites, including MTV.com and New York Times, ran his obituary. Mario had been played in both live-action and voiceover roles by a number of actors in both the US and Japan since 1983, but none of them became as iconic as Captain Lou did, Martinet was cast in 1990 and had been officially voicing Mario since 1992, but had only made niche appearances in the role prior to. sniff why couldn't it have been John Leguizamo or Bob Hoskins?. When he first made his way back to WWE after his stint in the NWA, he signed with Capt. While awarding a framed gold record to former enemy Cyndi Pat Patterson was the first-ever WWE Intercontinental Champion, and he went on to enjoy a WWE Hall of Fame career before taking a role backstage as one of the top producers. Later, a masked man who looked just like Andre showed up wearing a mask and calling himself the Giant Machine. In his later years, Albino became a successful actor, playing numerous memorable roles in both films and television shows. http://www.profightdb.com/wrestlers/captain-lou-albano-945.html, http://ecwfrenchtribute.free.fr/HTLM/Photos/L/Lou_Albano.htm. RELATED:10 Legends Who Never Won A Title In WWE. Yes! Davey Boy went on to even bigger success in later years. Shawn is a former member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle before relocating to Texas and has work published in the Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma Gazette, Vox Magazine and Loud Magazine and on websites like The Huffington Post, CBS, Time Warner Cable, Yahoo, The Movie Network, Chud, Renegade Cinema, 411mania and Sporting News. As Hulk Hogan and WWE came into pop culture prominence in 1980s, so did Nintendo's smash hit video game Super Mario Bros. Much like WWE with Hulk Hogans Rock n Wrestling, Mario entered the animated world with the cartoon The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Here's a look back at the 13 best wrestlers managed by Albano, ranked! Albanomanaged numerous top name competitors. Mario and Luigi double up on the Princess they must have made that porn already. Even though the Captain Lou Albano death story occurred years ago, he is still fondly remembered to this day by wrestling fans. WebAlbano, whose real name was Louis Vincent Albano, died in Westchester County in suburban New York, said Dawn Marie, founder of Wrestlers Rescue, an organization that Hell, Afa and Sika got Title matches in Madison Square Garden against Bob Backlund because Albano was that over as a heel. you take that back! The World's Most Entertaining Car Website. However, there was , Weve profiled 40 wrestlers who sadly, didnt make it to see age 40, including many enhancement talent names of the , Heart Attack / Heart Failure / Heart Disease, Comprehensive Deceased Wrestlers List (text-only), Comprehensive Deceased Managers List (text-only), 8 Things You May Not Have Known About Rick Rude. He wasn't wrong. Shawn S. Lealos is a freelance writer who received his Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma with a minor in Film Studies. The MTV masses ate up the 1987 The Vintage Wrestling Captain Lou Albano also managed the very successful Valiant Brothers in WWE. Albano was the manager when Superfly dived from the top of the cage onto Muraco in one of WWE's most celebrated moments. Amazingly, he received scholarship offers from 32 colleges as a senior. Lou Albano managed the Machines, including Blackjack Mulligan as Big Machine and Bill Eadie (Ax of Demolition) as Super Machine. They first tried to escape in a taxi but people broke its windows. After a health scare in the 1990s, Albano began to work out earnestly, eventually shedding 150 pounds (70kgs). A lot of you are too young to remember Captain Lou Albano, but to us children of the late 70s and early 80s he was a pop-culture fixture. Flashback: Albano and Lauper Engage in Father-Daughter Smackdown in Pipers Pit, 6-year-old boy floats away in homemade helium balloon, Balloon Boy Gets Fresh Prince Treatment on Facebook, Balloon Boy: We did this for the show., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65uNCLBTje0&fe. You must be logged in to post a comment On the latest edition of Wrestling with History, Bill Apter and Ken Resnick talked about their time with WWE Hall of Famer Captain Lou Albano. Third Party Advertising: We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our Web site. In the following years, he would make sporadic appearances in WWF/E events. Broadcast live on MTV, it gave WWE the opportunity to access the coveted young adult demographic. He is also the man who created the Royal Rumble match, one of WWE's most successful gimmick matches. Love the viking beard though, Josh. Lou Albano was inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996. With his open Hawaiian shirts, outrageous facial hair and trademark rubber bands hanging Hed put [safety] pins on his face and on his nose the rubber bands. He suffered a heart attack in 2005, but made recovery. And Im no longer buttoning my shirt. He worked alongside Danny Wells, who portrayed Luigi.In addition to Despite playing a heel for the majority of his managing career, Albano ended his career as a face. As a professional wrestler, Albano won the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship with Tony Altomare on July 10, 1967. It was the only time that Capt. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996. They touched on his early career, his love of drinking, the reason for his rubber bands, and much more. He was kind of a wild and crazy guy. Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com. Please download one of our supported browsers. Through collaborations with pop star Cyndi Lauper, he helpedbring mainstream attention towrestling during the 1980s. After the videos success, Wolff saw dollar signs. It was Bruno Sammartino who suggested to McMahon that Albano, a mediocre wrestler at best, would better serve the promotion if he was attached to a wrestler as a spokesperson. Copyright 2023 411mania.com, LLC. Patterson was involved in a big angle with Captain Lou Albano in 1980 when he was the Intercontinental Champion. Albano was so convincing on the microphone that in January 1971, after his client Ivan Koloff defeated Sammartino, ending his seven-year reign as the WWWF Heavyweight Champion, a riot broke out in Madison Square Garden. The British Bulldogs would have been Yorkies without Lou. Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza won their first WWE tag team titles in 1975 from Dominic DeNucci and Pat Barrett. Following his retirement from medicine, Albanos father wanted to start an insurance business with him, but Albano had already decided to try his luck as a professional boxer. Shawn is also a published author, with a non-fiction book about the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers and has begun work on a new fiction series as well. Lou Albano is the first guest. We just watched the show, ate our Ninja Turtles cereal and occasionally did The Mario for hours on end. Captain Lou managed no less than four singles champs, and 15 different duos to WWE World Tag Team belts. Bob Hoskins is a Saint! He said that he would wear these He eventually picked the University of Tennessee for their excellent football program. He was a pro himself, who broke into the biz in 1953 as pretty boy, baby face, Leaping Lou Albano. Thats right, Im a method writer. Their gimmick was grunting and using a dialect that only their manager Captain Lou Albano could understand. He then joined the United States Army but due to the injuries obtained in the football field, he was honourably discharged after eight months. Basically, WrestleMania would never have happened were it not for Rock n' Wrestling Connection. Lou Albano and beat Tito Santana for the IC Title. In some fun trivia, Albano came out of retirement in 1994 to manage The Headshrinkers to the tag titles, which was Afa's son Samu and nephew Fatu (Rikishi). He soon moved with his parents back to the U.S. A buccaneer before he changed his gimmick, Albano wasn't a great wrestler, but had a couple of high visibility runs in the northeast. The MTV masses ate up the Captains critically acclaimed turn in Laupers video, just like her manager and boyfriend David Wolff predicted. In 1986, he made his cinematic debut in the crime comedy Wise Guys. Fair well paisano. Captain Lou Albano was one of WWE's most iconic managers of the '70s & '80s. WebBorn Louis Vincent Albano on July 29, 1933 in Rome, Italy, Lou Albano began his professional wrestling career in 1953 and first rose to national prominence in the late [Insert gay plunder reference]. Captain Lou was a big, fat reason wrestling blew up to become the pop culture crossover phenom of the mid-80s, back when pile-driving was a fad. WebCaptain Lou Albano dead at 76. photo: wwe.com 1933-2009 (age 76) With a wardrobe of colorful Hawaiian shirts, facial piercings finished with rubber bands, and unruly hair with The most piercings on the face is 280, achieved on this day in 2012 by Axel Rosales from Villa Maria, Argentina. Known to friends and family as Louis Albano, during the 1970s and 80s, the larger-than-life personality brought drama and fun to the world of professional wrestling. In WWE, a storyline began to build around the two, with Albano claiming that he had written all of Laupers songs and she owed all her success to him. PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE. WebApter on why Albano wore the rubber band earrings on his face: He was very strong into the fight against multiple sclerosis with Cyndi Lauper. WebWrestler, personality Captain Lou Albano dies at 76 Flashback: Albano and Lauper Engage in Father-Daughter Smackdown in Pipers Pit 6-year-old boy floats away in homemade "Captain Lou's History Of Music", by Lou Albano & George Steele, 1 WWWF United States Tag Team Championship - with Tony Altimore, WWF Hall of Fame induction (class of 1996), Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum induction (class of 2009), Cauliflower Alley Club's Other honoree Winner (1995). With his slovenly appearance and rubber bands pinned to his face, Albano managed a plethora of heel These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements on this site and other sites about goods and services that may be of interest to you. WebCaptain Lou was a big, fat reason wrestling blew up to become the pop culture crossover phenom of the mid-80s, back when pile-driving was a fad. Some say it was in piercings but I think they were tied into his beard hair. However, his career took a different turn after he sustained a wound on his forehead and intentionally allowed it to form a scar rather than heal seamlessly. His last name is slightly easier to pronounce than it looks. Users who like Why Did Captain Lou Albano Have The Rubberbands In His Face? Captain Lou portrayed what seemed to be a pre or post mushroom kingdom Mario that lived and worked as a plumber in a big city (presumably New York) with his brother-in-overalls Luigi. Lou Albano married Geraldine, his high school sweetheart, in 1953. He was76. At the time, he was living in hospice care. Over the course of the decade, he would lose more than 150 pounds and by 2000 he did seem to have considerably improved his health. However, Albano would once again leave WWE early in the following year, retiring from being a full-time participant in the wrestling business. However, following a non-wrestling injury that left a gash on his forehead, he purposefully did not let the mark heal completely and turned heel. In between Marios Earthbound hijinks, they would show Super Mario Bros. cartoons that seemed to be set in the universe of Super Mario Bros. 2. Are we really adding another one to the pile of celebrity deaths this year? 1987 The Vintage Wrestling Okay, I always get a good chuckle out of these things, but I am on the floor in (good) tears over this one. In 1989, he was cast as the voice of Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! He would later reprise the character in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990). Despite finding a character perfect for pro wrestling, Lou Albano didnt start out wanting to enter the business. Offers from 32 colleges as a heel, Captain Lou Albano and Cyndi,! Leave out Hulk Hogans Rock N wrestling cartoon Title in WWE of his professional wrestling career a! 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