Pedro Antonio Morales was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler.
120 Facts About Pedro Morales
2.
Pedro Morales is best known for his appearances in the United States with Worldwide Wrestling Associates and the World Wide Wrestling Federation.
3.
Pedro Morales holds the record for most days as Intercontinental Champion.
4.
Pedro Morales was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1995, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2015 and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2017.
5.
Pedro Morales was born on October 22,1942, in the municipality of Culebra, an island off the shore of Puerto Rico's main island.
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Pedro Morales was a member of a large family, with 85 cousins just on his mother's side.
7.
Pedro Morales once claimed that sixty five percent of Culebra's population had some bloodline connection to him.
8.
Pedro Morales was raised in Culebra throughout his childhood and remained there until reaching his adolescence, when his mother sent him to live with an aunt in Brooklyn, New York, to finish his high school education.
9.
When he was 17 years old, Pedro Morales trained under Barba Roja to become a wrestler and participated on a card held in New York City in 1959, where he debuted by earning a victory over Howard LaVine, who performed under the pseudonym Buddy Gilbert, going on to participate in tag team matches and other stipulation matches throughout the tri state area the following year.
10.
Pedro Morales frequently wrestled fellow Puerto Rican Gypsy Joe on these cards, earning wins over Jimmy Quinn, Don Savage and Sonny Fargo, while wrestling several local figures such as Swede Hanson, Laverne Baxter and Tony Nero.
11.
Pedro Morales opened 1963 by performing in several tag team matches against Johnny Barend and Magnificent Maurice and returning to New York and New Jersey in a program along Gordo Chihuahua, who worked as enhancement talent.
12.
Pedro Morales finished the year by teaming with Perez, earning three victories over the Fabulous Kangaroos.
13.
Individually, Pedro Morales defeated Chuck Martoni, Arnold Skaaland and Prince Nero on several occasions.
14.
Pedro Morales experienced success in matches outside storyline, besting Jesse Rose, Charlie Kalani, Ruffy Colden, Billy Red Lyons, Kenny Yates, Don Savage, Luke Graham, Hard Boiled Haggerty, some of them more than two consecutive times.
15.
Pedro Morales continued earning singles victories over Horst Wessel, Kurt Von Stroheim, Al Marshall, Broadway Venus, Bill Cody and in a rematch against The Destroyer, while teaming along Hernandez to wrestle multiple combinations.
16.
Pedro Morales became involved in a feud against The Assassins and The Butcher, steadily gaining the upper hands both individually and in tag matches.
17.
Pedro Morales moved on from these angles and defeated Rod Orell, Billy Klutzer and The Mummy, before dropping the championship to Luke Graham on July 23,1965.
18.
Pedro Morales responded by defeating Graham in a three-fall chain match less than a month later, in the process winning a Brass Knuckles Championship.
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Pedro Morales went on to defeat Graham in two more rematches, scoring victories over Ox Anderson, Bandito Lopez and Jack Allen as well.
20.
Pedro Morales won a battle royale held in Fort Worth, Texas and brought closure to his feud with El Mongol by besting him on February 13,1966.
21.
Pedro Morales continued this run by defeating Michiaki Yoshimura, Yoshino Sato, Mr Moto, Mitsu Hirai, Umanosuke Ueda, tying against Kim Il in all of their encounters and losing only to Giant Baba by countout in singles.
22.
On May 27,1966, Pedro 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.
23.
Pedro Morales reformed his tag team with Luis Hernandez, finding success in this division as well by winning the WWA World Tag Team Championship on June 24,1966, being a dual champion for over a month.
24.
Pedro Morales began 1967 by teaming with Ricky Romero, Mr Moto and Pepper Gomez, gathering victories along all of them.
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Pedro Morales was then joined by Romero as his partner, winning the WWA World Tag Team Championship along with him on February 10,1967.
26.
Pedro Morales ran a parallel team with Pepper Gomez, winning the American Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship along with him after winning their two previous matches.
27.
Pedro Morales made his first appearance in Hawaiian territory along Gomez on April 26,1967.
28.
Pedro Morales 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 Jose Luis Rivera, immediately entering a long feud against Mike DiBiase, who teamed with a variety of wrestlers, but most frequently wrestled along Karl Gotch.
29.
Individually, Pedro Morales gained victories over Tony Nero and Tony Altomare, both of whom eventually teamed and lost to the Puerto Rican team.
30.
Pedro Morales challenged and defeated Blassie by himself, but lost in a rematch.
31.
Pedro Morales wrestled Pat Patterson in two tag matches, losing along Rivera but winning with Gomez.
32.
Pedro Morales closed the year by rejoining Gomez as a full-time partner, defeating the team of Blassie and The Great Malenko.
33.
Individually, Pedro Morales then entered a streak of draws, before rebounding with wins over Rick Renaldo, Rocky Montero, The Alaskan, Lou Anthony, Rocky Montero and The Masked Invader.
34.
Pedro Morales made a one-night appearance in Hawaii during the summer, besting Pat Patterson.
35.
On November 7,1968, Pedro Morales challenged Gene Kiniski for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but failed to win the match.
36.
Pedro Morales won his next match by defeating George Cannon, forming a brief partnership with Hahn Lee that only lasted for a month.
37.
Pedro Morales went on to defeat Austin and Kiniski in rematches, interrupting this run by unsuccessfully challenging Pat Paterson for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship in California.
38.
Pedro Morales began 1970 by wrestling in a series against Jack Bence, which later involved Bing Ki Lee and Tank Morgan.
39.
Pedro Morales recovered by winning a match over Mac MacFarland and teaming with Bing Ki Lee to win the Hawaii Tag Team Championship from Barend and Ripper Collins.
40.
Pedro Morales made a brief return to California, partnering with Freddie Blassie, but the team lost a series against Don Carson and the Great Kojika.
41.
Back in Hawaii, Pedro Morales defeated Bad Boy Shields, Mr Fujiwara, Les Roberts and Mac MacFarland, only losing a match to Kinji Shibuya, during the following couple of months.
42.
Pedro Morales then got disqualified in a match against Barrend and tied with Kinji Shibuya.
43.
Pedro Morales was then involved in a series of matches involving John Tolos, whom he defeated in a tag team competition but lost in singles.
44.
Pedro Morales made his first appearance for the World Wide Wrestling Federation, now known as WWE, on November 21,1970, by teaming with Chief Jay Strongbow in a draw against The Mongols, Newton Tattrie and Josip Peruzovic, as part of a one-night appearance.
45.
On January 7,1971, Pedro Morales won the vacant WWWF United States Championship by defeating Blassie in a tournament final.
46.
On February 8,1971, Pedro Morales defeated Ivan Koloff to win the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship only a month after winning his first individual title within the promotion.
47.
Subsequently, a series of victories in tag team matches involving Blackjack Mulligan evolved into a feud of single encounters, in which Pedro Morales won half a dozen events, before scoring two more team victories along Moonson.
48.
Pedro Morales scored wins over the likes of Beautiful Bobby and Tarzan Tyler, who eventually teamed up with Luke Graham, which turned into a double feud against both.
49.
On October 25,1971, Pedro Morales defeated Stasiak in a Texas Death match.
50.
Pedro Morales closed 1971 by defeating Blassie in a Roman Gladiator match, Ray Stevens, Stan Stasiak twice and The Rugged Russians along with Rivera.
51.
Pedro Morales defeated both Tanaka and Mr Fuji by countout and won the following two tag team matches.
52.
On September 30,1972, Pedro Morales faced Bruno Sammartino in the first-ever match featuring the two fan favorite, technical wrestlers.
53.
Pedro Morales went on to win a series against Lanza and a Texas Death Match involving Stasiak, before having Fuji serve as enhancement talent for the following weeks.
54.
Pedro Morales worked an angle with the then-villain Larry Hennig, besting him in singles.
55.
Pedro Morales followed this by entering a feud with Stasiak which featured mixed results, but concluded with him dropping the WWWF Heavyweight Championship on December 1,1973.
56.
Pedro Morales' title run lasted 1,027 days, remaining to this date the longest reign by any Latino and the fifth longest overall.
57.
Pedro 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.
58.
Four days later, Pedro Morales returned to California, wrestling for the Big Time Wrestling territory in San Francisco.
59.
Pedro Morales began the summer by teaming with Patterson on a consistent basis, sometimes alternating to include Peter Maivia, Don Muraco or a random wrestler.
60.
The rivalry eventually shifted to singles competition, where Pedro Morales defeated Muraco on three dates before losing once.
61.
Pedro Morales made two appearances in St Louis, winning two tag team matches and defeating Ox Baker individually.
62.
Pedro Morales's 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.
63.
In what marked the final stage of this AWA run, Pedro 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.
64.
On October 8,1977, Pedro Morales unsuccessfully challenged Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
65.
On December 6,1977, Pedro Morales wrestled Race for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, failing to win the belt.
66.
Concurrently, Pedro Morales wrestled Anderson and divided honors in a series which included a win in the Superbowl of Wrestling.
67.
On May 5,1978, Pedro Morales returned to Puerto Rico for one night and teamed with Rivera.
68.
On November 11,1978, Pedro Morales made a one night visit to California, teaming with Chavo Guerrero, Sr.
69.
On November 8,1979, Pedro Morales returned to NJPW, besting Kengo Kimura, Kuniaki Kobayashi, drawing with Tatsumi Fujinami and losing to Antonio Inoki.
70.
Pedro Morales teamed with Singh and Bob Backlund in wins that included victories over both Fujinami and Inoki, but lost along with Greg Valentine in return matches.
71.
On May 6,1980, Pedro Morales returned to the renamed World Wrestling Federation, defeating Moose Monroe, Frank Savage, Mark Pole, Brute Bernard and Ben Alexander during the course of the following weeks.
72.
Pedro Morales formed a tag team with Bob Backlund, which won its first two contests.
73.
On March 26,1981, Pedro Morales faced Hulk Hogan, dominating throughout the match and winning by count out.
74.
Pedro Morales began wrestling and defeating other adversaries, including George Steele, The Executioner and Larry Sharpe, besides the usual low card talents that he had consistently bested previously.
75.
Pedro Morales entered the contest with wins over The Executioner and Greg Valentine, winning the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship back on November 23,1981, in a Texas Death match.
76.
Pedro Morales was successful in four rematches against Muraco, with Valentine systematically becoming his main adversary.
77.
Pedro Morales was able to dominate Hans Schroeder, Larry Dee and Killer Khan, but drew in another match against Valentine, who went on to win their next encounter by disqualification.
78.
Pedro Morales then entered a winning streak, during which he defeated The Black Demon twice, Jesse Ventura by countout, Adonis thrice, Fuji and Valentine four times, two of these being Brass Knuckles Matches and other a Street Fight.
79.
Pedro Morales wrestled Valentine three more times, winning in a Brass Knuckles match and by countout.
80.
Pedro Morales opened the following months with victories in matches featuring Bob Bradley, Tony Russo and Swede Hanson, but was counted out in a challenge by Superstar Billy Graham.
81.
Pedro Morales continued his feud with Buddy Rose, defeating him by disqualification.
82.
On December 28,1982, Pedro Morales wrestled Don Muraco to a double disqualification draw.
83.
Pedro Morales emerged victorious from a feud with Graham, winning the majority of their encounters.
84.
One week later, Pedro Morales faced Ric Flair in the first Aniversario event, winning the contest by disqualification.
85.
Pedro Morales held the belt until September 15,1984, dropping it to Randy Savage during the final stage of his CSP stay.
86.
Pedro Morales later went on to defeat Mr X, Terry Gibbs and Steve Lombardi during the following months.
87.
Pedro Morales entered the 1985 King of the Ring tournament, besting Johnny V in the opening contest before receiving a bye during the quarterfinals.
88.
Individually, Pedro Morales went on to defeat Mr X several times, Gibbs, Lombardi and Barry O twice, Rene Goulet four times and Tiger Chung Lee.
89.
Pedro Morales was successful in two team matches along Santana.
90.
On September 12,1985, Pedro Morales bested Muraco in New Jersey.
91.
Pedro Morales made his following appearance in a WWF event held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he defeated The Spoiler.
92.
Contests including Moondog Spot, Thorton and Lee ended in the same fashion, with Pedro Morales going on to win a rematch over Orton.
93.
In turn, Pedro Morales ended the year with wins over Matt Borne, The Spoiler, Smirnoff, Barry O and Mike Sharpe, in the process successfully teaming with Santana.
94.
Pedro Morales won his first two contests of 1986 Moondog Spot and Lee, before losing to Terry Funk.
95.
On February 15,1986, Pedro Morales defeated Bret Hart in Phoenix, Arizona.
96.
Pedro Morales made his only WrestleMania appearance in 1986 when he was a part of a 20-man invitational battle royal at WrestleMania 2.
97.
On May 17,1986, Pedro Morales defeated The Iron Sheik in a WWF return to California.
98.
Meanwhile, Pedro Morales earned wins over Paul Christy, Roger Kirby, Lee, The Iron Sheik and Hercules, but began to lose more often against opponents such as Jake Roberts, King Kong Bundy and Savage.
99.
Pedro Morales recovered by defeating Savage three times and Gibbs once, while drawing with Orton before losing a rematch to Race.
100.
Pedro Morales entered the Sam Mushnick Memorial Tournament, winning his matchup against Funk in the opening round before being eliminated by Beefcake in the quarterfinals.
101.
Pedro Morales opened 1987 with a win over Bret Hart, before teaming with Santana twice with mixed results.
102.
At 44 years old, Pedro Morales was entering his final year as an active wrestler, now being moved back in the card.
103.
Pedro Morales lost a series of matches against Bravo, but, bested Muraco before entering a feud with Nick Kiniski that featured several draws before he gained the upper hand in the final bout.
104.
On March 8,1987, Pedro Morales teamed with Danny Spivey in the quarterfinals of a tournament for the World Tag Team Championship, but they were eliminated by Rick Martel and Tom Zenk.
105.
Pedro Morales made a final in-ring appearance as professional wrestler by participating in a battle royale held on November 16,1987.
106.
Pedro Morales returned to this role working for World Championship Wrestling during the 1990s, narrating Nitro and pay per views alongside Miguel Alonzo.
107.
Pedro Morales made few wrestling related appearances since his WCW days, with his last appearances being at autograph signings in fan conventions.
108.
Pedro Morales appeared at Wrestling Reunion III in 2005 and Wrestling Reunion 5 in 2007, reuniting with Sammartino at the latter.
109.
Pedro Morales was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame as part the class of 1995.
110.
Pedro Morales's run as the first Latin American Intercontinental Champions is universally lauded.
111.
In mid-1996, Pedro Morales appeared at an event of the short lived American Wrestling Federation, in the championship match between Bob Orton, Jr.
112.
From 2003 onwards, the World Wrestling Council approached Pedro Morales and offered holding an Aniversario event in his honor, but he declined the invitations for ten years.
113.
In 2013, Pedro Morales accepted being the honoree of Aniversario 40.
114.
Pedro Morales was the centerpiece of the International Pedro Morales Fan Club, an independent organization that ran during the 1970s and that recruited members through wrestling magazines.
115.
Pedro Morales repeated at the ninth place in a subsequent interpretation.
116.
Pedro Morales's mother Teodora was a businesswoman, who continued to advise him on economic decisions throughout his life.
117.
Pedro Morales met Karen Johnson in 1965, when she attended an event at Long Beach where he was performing.
118.
Pedro Morales's wife began working at Avenel Street Elementary School.
119.
Pedro Morales died on February 12,2019, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey at the age of 76.
120.
Pedro Morales was survived by his wife, with their son predeceasing them in 2014.