32 Facts About Gene Kiniski

Eugene Nicholas Kiniski was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion.

Gene Kiniski is the father of professional wrestler Kelly Kiniski and international amateur and professional wrestler Nick Kiniski.

One of six children of local politician Julia Kiniski, Gene Kiniski grew up in Edmonton.

Gene Kiniski wrestled and played football at St Joseph's High School.

Gene Kiniski captured the attention of Annis Stukus, a scout for the Edmonton Eskimos, of the then Western Interprovincial Football Union in 1949,.

Gene Kiniski secured himself a spot on the defensive line and his play earned him a scholarship to the University of Arizona.

Gene Kiniski was enrolled there from September 18,1950, to January 26,1952, and played on the defensive line for Bob Winslow.

Gene Kiniski returned to Edmonton to play football for the Eskimos, and he suffered a torn kneecap in the team's first game against Saskatchewan in August 1952.

Gene Kiniski retired from football in 1953 to resume wrestling full-time.

Gene Kiniski began wrestling in his native Canada for the first time in November 1956, debuting for Toronto's Maple Leaf Wrestling.

Gene Kiniski captured the British Empire title from O'Connor on May 2,1957, and the Montreal version of the world title from Carpentier on June 12,1957.

Gene Kiniski headlined a wrestling card at Delormier stadium in Montreal, where he dropped the Montreal world title to Killer Kowalski on July 17,1957, in front of 21,000 fans.

In 1959, Gene Kiniski teamed with Don Leo Jonathan, "The Mormon Giant" to win the Canadian Open Tag Team Championship.

Gene Kiniski joined the American Wrestling Association in 1960 and defeated AWA World Champion Verne Gagne to win the title on July 11,1961, capturing the AWA World Tag Team title twice with Hard Boiled Haggerty.

Gene Kiniski won another title in West Texas a year later.

In 1962, Gene Kiniski began what became the peak period of his career when he went to Vancouver to join NWA: All-Star Wrestling.

Gene Kiniski made Vancouver his home base while making appearances in other promotions throughout North America and in Japan, particularly a lengthy stint in the World Wide Wrestling Federation in 1964; while there, he challenged WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino several times.

Gene Kiniski wrestled Sammartino on November 16,1964, at Madison Square Garden.

Gene Kiniski travelled worldwide to defend his title during his three-year reign as champion, including making frequent stops back in Vancouver to defend his title in NWA All Star, taking on challengers such as Lou Thesz, Don Leo Jonathan, Dutch Savage, Bill Dromo, Bearcat Wright, John Tolos, Chris Tolos, Abdullah the Butcher, Haystacks Calhoun, Bobby Shane, Dean Higuchi, Tex McKenzie and Paddy Barrett in the promotion.

At the 1968 NWA Convention, Gene Kiniski announced that it was time to step down.

Gene Kiniski agreed to lose the championship to Dory Funk, Jr.

Gene Kiniski later claimed for a WWE DVD that he lost accidentally, submitting early to the toehold while assuming the match was a two of three falls encounter.

The NWA World Championship loss was not the end of the line, as Gene Kiniski continued winning championships in NWA All Star and elsewhere.

Gene Kiniski won the NWA Missouri Heavyweight title from Terry Funk in St Louis on March 16,1973, while back in Vancouver, he won the Pacific Coast Heavyweight title seven times from 1970 to 1979, and won the Canadian Tag Team title ten times between 1963 and 1976, and in Japan, he captured the NWA International Heavyweight title in 1970.

Gene Kiniski got involved in the promotional side of the business when he joined forces with Sandor Kovacs and Portland promoter Don Owen to acquire the Vancouver territory in the late 1960s; that, combined with Kiniski's NWA World title reign at the time, helped make Vancouver a wrestling hotbed for several years, until Kovacs sold his share in the promotion to Al Tomko in 1977.

Gene Kiniski retained his ownership stake in NWA All Star until around 1983.

Gene Kiniski wrestled for several months in 1970 and 1971 as a masked wrestler, "The Crimson Knight", on local TV matches in St Louis, Missouri.

Gene Kiniski remained involved in the sport for a few more years, teaming periodically with his sons, Kelly and Nick, refereeing the main event of the inaugural NWA Starrcade in 1983, and later promoting events for Stampede Wrestling and the AWA in Vancouver while occasionally stepping into the ring.

Gene Kiniski acted as the cornerman for Dory Funk Jr.

The winner turned out to be Genichiro Tenryu; Gene Kiniski left thereafter, and in 2001 the permanent PWF president was announced as Stan Hansen, who had competed in the tournament and lost to Tenryu in the semifinals.

Gene Kiniski went into acting on occasion, appearing in the 1978 Sylvester Stallone movie Paradise Alley, as well as Double Happiness and the made-in-Vancouver cult film Terminal City Ricochet, playing a bit role as a policeman.

Gene Kiniski died on April 14,2010, aged 81, at his home in Blaine, Washington.