15 Facts About Spiros Arion

Spiros Arion was born Spyridon Manousakis in September 1940 in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to Greek parents, Stavros and Konstantina.

Spiros Arion spent his early childhood in Egypt and migrated with his family in his teens to Athens, Greece.

In July 1964, Spiros Arion arrived on the Australian wrestling scene, nicknamed "The Golden Greek", and quickly became a fan favorite.

Spiros Arion joined World Championship Wrestling and wrestled there until its end in 1978.

Spiros Arion dropped the belt to Killer Kowalski, then regained it.

Spiros Arion was a part of many angles in IWA and WCW.

In 1966, Spiros Arion went to America and debuted in the World Wide Wrestling Federation.

Spiros Arion's finishing move was often "the hotseat", later renamed "the Greek backbreaker".

Sammartino and Spiros Arion teamed up to main event at Madison Square Garden, twice against Gorilla Monsoon and Professor Toru Tanaka.

Spiros Arion returned to the WWWF in 1974 and was instantly a fan favorite when he teamed with Chief Jay Strongbow.

Spiros Arion was enraged after his first singles loss in the US In their title match, he turned heel on Strongbow, soon taking Freddie Blassie as his manager.

Spiros Arion had a three-bout series at Madison Square Garden against Sammartino, whose focus on his singles title Arion blamed for losing their tag title.

In early 1976, Spiros Arion left the WWWF, and returned in late 1977.

In 1979 Spiros Arion, billed as "The Iron Greek", arrived in Joint Promotions claiming a version of the Mountevans Rules World Heavyweight Championship.

Spiros Arion made televised defences of his championship against such opponents as Colin Joynson, Lee Bronson and Romany Riley before losing it to Wayne Bridges and leaving the country.