This is the first part of a series on the late great Tim "Mr. Wrestling" Woods.
The trademark white mask, white trunks and white boots spoke volumes about the man. But it was his name -- Mr. Wrestling -- that told the story.
From collegiate champion to professional wrestling star, Tim Woods embodied the spirit of the game -- so much, in fact, that he adopted the name "Mr. Wrestling" nearly 60 years ago. While the billing may have initially appeared presumptuous and even arrogant to some, it didn't take long for Woods to make believers out of the skeptics. No one was ever more tailor-made for the role than the man who would end up carrying it straight into the annals of wrestling history.
To a generation of fans, Tim "Mr. Wrestling" Woods epitomized wrestling. To those fortunate enough to have known him, he represented the best the sport had to offer. So when Woods passed away in 2002 at the age of 68, it was hard not to feel that a little bit of the business we loved died with him.
Woods' achievements in both the amateur and professional ranks were monumental. Before turning pro in 1962, he had been one of amateur wrestling's most decorated athletes, having won a number of state and regional titles in high school and later as a star at Michigan State, where he captured two Big Ten titles and twice finished second in the NCAA championships, along with being a three-time AAU national champion.
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One of an elite few to master both disciplines, the Ithaca, N.Y., native seamlessly bridged the gap between the amateur and pro styles. His decision to don a hood, conceal his identity and work as a fan favorite after only three years as a pro was a risky move. Few in the 1960s would have imagined a masked grappler as a babyface, since hoods in those days were exclusive to the profession's most hated heels. Then again, few had the credentials that Woods brought to the table.
His approach to professional wrestling was simple, and he stuck with the basics.
"He is poetry in motion," said the late legendary announcer Gordon Solie. "What he is doing out there is what the Greeks had in mind when they invented the sport."
Decorated athlete
Born George Burrell Woodin in Ithaca, N.Y., Woods set his sights on the wrestling game at an early age.
Nicknamed "Tiny Tim" as a child because he was so small when he started wrestling, he captured his first AAU national title in 1955 at 191 pounds. He originally went to Cornell University, but he didn't wrestle, concentrating on his studies and getting a degree in agricultural engineering.
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He had firmly established himself as a top amateur nationally, placing fifth in the AAU nationals as a high school senior, losing to Syracuse University standout and future pro great Dick "The Destroyer" Beyer, who placed second that year. It would be more than a just little ironic that years later Woods and Beyer would become two of the most successful American masked wrestlers of their era.
Woods later went to collegiate wrestling power Oklahoma State to compete on the mat as well as for post-graduate work, but he ended up transferring when legendary coach Myron Roderick brought in another highly touted grappler, Iraqi national wrestling champion Adnan Alkaissy (the future Sheik Adnan El-Kaissey).
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Woods narrowly missed out on a dream meeting with Oklahoma's Danny Hodge in 1957 when Hodge, who was coming off a run in the Olympics, a record pinning streak and a Sports Illustrated cover, pulled out of the tournament due to a neck injury. Woods, who had considered dropping down to the 174-pound class to face Hodge, decided not to cut weight and won the Big Ten title at 191.
Ranked No. 2 in the nation the next year at Michigan State, where he also earned his second degree in mechanical engineering, Woods pinned his way through the Big Ten tournament before losing 6-2 in the finals to Iowa's Gary Kurdelmeier, who would later coach NCAA champs Dan Gable and Chris Taylor at Iowa State.
Woods won his second Big Ten title in 1959, this time back at 191, and was ranked No. 1 in the nation. Woods, whose 74 percent career pinning percentage was second in NCAA history to Hodge, once again breezed through the tourney, including a semifinal victory over Oklahoma State's Alkaissy by an 8-2 margin. Woods, however, would suffer only his second college defeat, both in the NCAA finals, to Art Baker of Syracuse by a 9-5 score.
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Woods (then Woodin) continued to wrestle as an amateur before starting as Tim Woods in the WWWF in 1962 working prelims, mostly jobbing to the top heels. He got his first break in 1964 working for Dory Funk Sr. in Amarillo, Texas, before promoter Joe Dusek tried to copy the success of the black-masked, super heel Dr. X in Omaha from six years earlier, but this time coming up with a babyface, white-masked Mr. Wrestling.
The risky plan worked to perfection with Woods drawing sellout crowds that culminated with him voluntarily unmasking before a match with Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon. Woods won the bout and the Omaha version of the American Wrestling Association title, but he relinquished the belt in a rematch two weeks later against Vachon, another accomplished wrestler who had represented Canada in the 1948 Olympics.
Reach Mike Mooneyham at [email protected] or follow him on X @ByMikeMooneyham and on Facebook at Facebook.com/MikeMooneyham. His latest book -- "Final Bell" -- is available at evepostbooks.com and on Amazon.com.
Did you know ...
Sid Eudy, better known in wrestling circles as Sid Vicious, Sycho Sid and Sid Justice, was a six-time world champion, having won the WWF championship twice, the WCW world heavyweight championship twice and the USWA Unified world heavyweight championship twice.
Eudy, who passed away on Aug. 28 at the age of 63 after a battle with cancer and COVID, previously had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and atrial fibrillation. He was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2021.
On this date
Thirty-four years ago today on this date (Oct. 27, 1990): Sting defeated Sid Vicious to win the NWA heavyweight championship in the main event of the Halloween Havoc pay-per-view at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago.
Stan Hansen defeated Lex Luger to win the NWA United States championship, and NWA world tag-team champions Doom fought to a double countout with Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in other featured bouts.
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