- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRobert James Marella
- Nicknames
- Gino
- Tiny
- Height6′ 6″ (1.98 m)
- Robert James Marella was born in Rochester, New York, USA . After being a WWF Champion and President, he became known for his work on WWE Raw (1993), WWF Challenge (1986) and WWF Prime-Time Wrestling (1985). He also hosted many Wrestlemanias with Jesse Ventura.He was married to Maureen Hess for 40 years. He passed away on October 6, 1999 in Mooresville, New Jersey, USA.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Blogmonstermike
- SpouseMaureen Hess(August 23, 1966 - October 6, 1999) (his death, 3 children)
- Children
- Was famously challenged to a match by boxing legend Muhammad Ali, he answered the challenge by putting Ali in an airplane spin. He later would never tell whether or not the incident was scripted or not.
- He finished second in the 1959 NCAA wrestling championships. An 18 second pin remains a school record.
- In his later years, he claimed that his famous in-ring encounter with Muhammad Ali was not arranged in advance. He claimed that he had not met Ali before, or after, the incident. He said that although he did put Ali into an "airplane spin," he showed him some mercy by not giving him his famous "Manchurian splash."
- He was one of professional wrestling's super-heavyweights. He admitted that at one point in his career his weight reached 440 pounds.
- His first match as a professional wrestler was against Pedro Martinez at the Rochester War Memorial in the summer of 1959. The crowd of 6,000 was reportedly four times the usual attendance for a professional wrestling event.
- (To Bobby "The Brain" Heenan) "Will you stop?!"
- After the end of each match: "Stick a fork in 'im; he's done!"
- (On a television program as "Gorilla Monsoon" being asked about his real name.) It took me years to become Gorilla Monsoon. I'm not about to blow that in ten seconds
- I was a physical education major at Ithaca, and the only thing I regret about becoming a professional wrestler is that I missed the opportunity to teach youngsters.
- (Questioned on why he left teaching to become a professional wrestler) "Of course, there aren't many $100,000-a-year teachers."
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