1. Tony Christian Halme was a Finnish politician, athlete, author, actor, and singer.
52 Facts About Tony Halme
1. 2.
Tony Halme was a member of the Finnish Parliament from 2003 to 2007 as an independent elected on the True Finns party list.
3.
Tony Halme was a professional wrestler best known for his appearances with Catch Wrestling Association, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Ludvig Borga; a mixed martial artist and the first fighter from the Nordic countries to ever compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship ; and a professional boxer who held the Finnish and the American heavyweight title.
4.
Tony Halme's father left the family when Tony was six months old.
5.
Tony Halme only heard from his father a couple of times during his life.
6.
Tony Halme's mother was an alcoholic with a constant revolving door of male partners.
7.
Tony Halme later attended a Swedish-language school and studied at the electrician line at the Stromberg School of Engineering.
8.
At the age of 16, Tony Halme left his mother's home and moved in with his uncle.
9.
Tony Halme began power training and weightlifting in his late teens after watching his brothers, who were on the Finnish national team.
10.
Tony Halme worked a wide variety of jobs, including fishmonger, gatekeeper, glass cutter, singer, page, stuntman, TV and radio presenter, and coach.
11.
Tony Halme later enlisted in the Finnish army and continued his training with the Finnish military sports team.
12.
Tony Halme developed a fascination with the United States after seeing Martin Scorsese's film Taxi Driver at the age of 12, Tony Halme had a dream to get to the Gold's Gym and see it.
13.
Tony Halme left Finland to live in Los Angeles in the 1980s and lived there for 15 years.
14.
Tony Halme resumed bodybuilding in the US and began to take anabolic steroids regularly.
15.
Tony Halme worked as a bodyguard for the music group Cheap Trick and musician Gene Simmons, and as an actor, professional wrestler and a boxer.
16.
Tony Halme was trained by Verne Gagne as a powerhouse professional wrestler.
17.
Tony Halme made his debut for Herb Abrams's Universal Wrestling Federation on October 29,1990 as The Viking.
18.
On October 25,1990, Tony Halme made his debut for the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling, defeating The Soul Taker in what was billed as a "boxer vs wrestler" match.
19.
Tony Halme was brought in as an outsider and billed as a professional boxing champion with his matches billed as Mixed martial arts matches.
20.
Tony Halme was instantly pushed as a big deal, scoring wins over the likes of Scott Norton, Vader and most notably Shinya Hashimoto on December 26,1990.
21.
Tony Halme was main eventing shows regularly as he was pushed as the biggest star of a crew that included the likes of Bobby Eaton, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddy Guerrero and Fit Finlay.
22.
Tony Halme remained undefeated in NJPW until September 23,1991, when he was defeated by Shinya Hashimoto in their third match against each other in front of 18,000 fans at the Yokohama Arena.
23.
In 1992, Tony Halme was teamed in matches with Scott Norton, Bam Bam Bigelow and Barry Windham.
24.
Tony Halme competed in the NJPW Super Grade Tag League II teaming with Masahiro Chono, together scoring 8 points and finishing fourth overall.
25.
On January 4,1993, at Fantastic Story in Tokyo Dome, Tony Halme was pinned by Ron Simmons.
26.
On February 16,1993, Tony Halme teamed up with Monsieur Rambo for the IWGP Tag Team Championship against the Hell Raisers, but lost.
27.
Behind the scenes, Tony Halme started having problems with Hawk Warrior and Scott Norton.
28.
Tony Halme's singlet was adorned with the Finnish flag, and his entrance music was Maamme, the country's national anthem.
29.
On January 17,1994, Tony Halme injured his ankle in a match with Rick Steiner, forcing the WWF to cancel future plans for the Borga character that included a scheduled appearance at the 1994 Royal Rumble and a proposed WrestleMania X match against Earthquake.
30.
Tony Halme returned to Japan in August 1994, this time working for Fighting Network Rings.
31.
Tony Halme wrestled as Ludvig Borga for Catch Wrestling Association in 1995.
32.
Tony Halme's final match for the CWA was a boxing match against Tony Richardson, which he won by knocking out Richardson in the fourth round.
33.
Tony Halme become a member of the Finns Party and entered parliament in the 2003 parliamentary elections and during his parliamentary career, Tony Halme raised controversies.
34.
The day after the elections, Tony Halme referred to President Tarja Halonen as a lesbian in a radio interview.
35.
Tony Halme stated that if a lesbian can be president of Finland and he can be a member of Parliament, anything seems possible.
36.
Tony Halme later apologized, stating that he was sorry that the statement had been interpreted as an insult and that he had been under the genuine impression that Halonen was a lesbian.
37.
Tony Halme opted not to run for re-election in 2007 due to health issues.
38.
Tony Halme was elected to the City Council of Helsinki in the 2004 municipal elections, but announced he would not participate in the council's activities.
39.
Tony Halme began his compulsory military service on October 1983, at the military base of Pioneeripuisto in Koria, Finland.
40.
Tony Halme received several travel bans because he did not return from vacation on time and was guilty of maltreatment.
41.
In 1993, Tony Halme divorced his American wife, Adriana Estrada, whom he had met in the US in 1989.
42.
Tony Halme was hospitalized, as he had only days before been in a boxing match and was using prescription painkillers, but his blood had additionally contained trace amounts of amphetamines, while a police search of his House of Parliament office turned up illegal steroids.
43.
Tony Halme claimed that somebody had put the amphetamines into his drink without his knowledge.
44.
Tony Halme received a four-month suspended sentence and a fine, but continued to serve as Member of Parliament.
45.
In early March 2006, Tony Halme was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, reportedly due to delirium caused by excessive alcohol use.
46.
In December 2009, Tony Halme told a newspaper that he was suffering from impairment of his short-term memory and had trouble remembering anything, but was still trying to write a book on his political career.
47.
On January 8,2010, two days after his 47th birthday, Tony Halme died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, from an unlicensed handgun.
48.
Tony Halme authored five books and recorded one album called Mestarit salilla.
49.
Tony Halme had a modest film career starring in Finnish movies Ponterosa and Kohtalon kirja, and in 1995 had small roles overseas in Die Hard with a Vengeance and Fist of the North Star.
50.
Tony Halme was cast in a minor role in the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic but had to withdraw due to a filming delay.
51.
In 1993, Tony Halme's professional wrestling persona was part of the Japanese wrestling video game Shin Nippon Pro Wrestling: Chou Senshi in Tokyo Dome for Super Famicom.
52.
Tony Halme was featured on Vice Media's Dark Side of the Ring season 6 broadcast in April 2025.