Angelo Mosca

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Angelo Mosca
No. 68
Born:(1937-02-13)February 13, 1937
Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died:November 6, 2021(2021-11-06) (aged 84)
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Career information
CFL statusNational
Position(s)DT
Height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight275 lb (125 kg)
CollegeNotre Dame
NFL draft1959 / Round: 30 / Pick: 350
Drafted byPhiladelphia Eagles
Career history
As player
1958–1959Hamilton Tiger-Cats
1960–1961Ottawa Rough Riders
1962Montreal Alouettes
1962–1972Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Career highlights and awards
CFL All-Star1963, 1970
CFL East All-Star1960, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1970
HonorsGrey Cup Champion (1960, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1972)
Career stats

Angelo Mosca (February 13, 1937 – November 6, 2021) was an American professional football player and a professional wrestler. He was a defensive lineman in the Canadian Football League (CFL). As a wrestler, Mosca was known by the nicknames King Kong Mosca and The Mighty Hercules. He had a son, Angelo Jr., who also wrestled. Mosca was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1987, the Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame in 2012, and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.[1]

Football career[edit]

Mosca attended the University of Notre Dame and was drafted by the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 1959 in the 30th round (350th overall). He had already decided to play in the CFL, in 1958 for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He was traded to the Ottawa Rough Riders for Hardiman Cureton on August 15, 1960, and played for the Rough Riders in 1960 and 1961 before joining the Montreal Alouettes in 1962 for 5 games. He played his remaining years, 1962 to 1972 in Hamilton. He was a five-time all star.

Mosca played in nine Grey Cup games, more than any other player in CFL history, tied with his teammate John Barrow. Mosca's teams won five Grey Cup games, one with the Ottawa Rough Riders and four with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He is infamous for the 51st Grey Cup game out-of-bounds and late hit on BC Lions star running back Willie Fleming. With Fleming out of the game, the Tiger-Cats went on to win the Grey Cup and Mosca's reputation as being the meanest CFL player grew. It was a reputation he later promoted as the notorious professional wrestler "King Kong" Mosca.[2]

On August 25, 2015, the Tiger-Cats announced that they would retire Mosca's jersey number 68. This is only the second jersey number the club has retired, the other being Hall of Fame quarterback Bernie Faloney's number 10.

Professional wrestling career[edit]

Angelo Mosca
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)King Kong[3]
King Mosca[3]
Angelo Mosca Sr.[3]
Billed height6"4
Billed weight310 lb (140 kg)[3]
Debut1960
Retired1986

Mosca was brought into wrestling by Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn. He began wrestling in the off-season, and became a full-time wrestler after his retirement from football. He wrestled all across North America, always at or near the top of the card, and almost always as a heel, even in Toronto until the late 1970s, then he became a face, and in the early 1980s, the lead face. He often used a sleeper as his finisher in later years.

In 1981 in the World Wrestling Federation, Mosca wrestled as (often – in a reversal of his character in Canada) as the promotion's most hated heel due to his brutal style. He became a top challenger to WWF Champion Bob Backlund's World Championship, but was not successful in winning the belt. He also engaged in a feud with Pat Patterson, a part-time wrestler who also did color commentary on the WWF's syndicated programs, after Mosca attacked Patterson at a television taping with a water pitcher; Patterson had grown disgusted with Mosca's rulebreaking tactics and, setting off the attack, publicly thanked a referee for disqualifying Mosca for refusing to pin his jobber opponent.

Mosca was the colour commentator and wrestled for the WWF TV tapings in Ontario from August 1984 until January 1985 as a babyface. After being fired by the WWF, Mosca promoted the NWA in Ontario in 1985-87. He and Milt Avruskin hosted a TV show featuring compilations of NWA matches. Mosca organized an NWA card in Hamilton in February 1986 called "Moscamania" that drew an excellent house of 12,000 but the follow-up a year later drew only 3,200. He retired from wrestling in 1986.

Mosca's son, Angelo Mosca Jr., had a brief and unsuccessful wrestling career.

Personal life[edit]

Mosca lived in and around Hamilton for many years, and lived in St. Catharines, Ontario with his wife, Helen, a real estate agent. He first met her in 1996 at a Ticats game; they married in 1998.[4] He had been divorced once and widowed prior.

He authored a book with Steve Milton called Tell Me To My Face, published by Lulu Canada Inc. The book was released in September 2011.[5]

In 2011, Mosca got into a fight with former B.C. Lions quarterback Joe Kapp at a CFL alumni luncheon regarding a controversial hit Mosca had made in the 1963 Grey Cup game, where Mosca ended up hitting Kapp on the head with his cane.[6] The video of the fight went viral, receiving over 647,000 views on YouTube[7] and mentions on ESPN's Monday Night Football and on Fox TV's The O'Reilly Factor.[8] Mosca auctioned off the cane he used against Kapp at the following year's alumni luncheon for $7700, with the money going towards the alumni association's "dire straits" fund for struggling former players.[7]

Mosca appeared on several Canadian TV commercials in the 1970s and 1980s. Mosca still made PR appearances for the league and the Ticats and for other businesses.

In February 2015, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.[4]

His number 68 football jersey was retired by the Hamilton Tiger Cats football club on August 27, 2015 at a ceremony at Tim Horton Field in Hamilton.

In July 2016, Mosca was named part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit is litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.[9] US District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant dismissed the lawsuit in September 2018.[10]

Death[edit]

Mosca died at Maccassa Lodge in Hamilton at age 84 on November 6, 2021.[11] While reporting on his death on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer called Mosca a "Canadian sports icon".[12]

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

North American football[edit]

Professional wrestling[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Angelo Mosca". oshof.ca. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  2. ^ Heroes of the Game, A History of The Grey Cup - Stephen Thiele, Moulin Publishing 1997
  3. ^ a b c d "Wrestler's Database: Angelo Mosca". Cagematch. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Rush, Curtis (February 27, 2015). "Sports giant Angelo Mosca copes with Alzheimer's | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  5. ^ Simmons, Steve (September 14, 2011). "Simmons: The two sides of Angelo Mosca". torontosun.com. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  6. ^ "CFL greats' fight 'most bizarre thing'". cbc.ca. November 27, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Kennedy, Brendan (November 23, 2012). "Grey Cup: Angelo Mosca's cane auctioned for charity". thestar.com. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  8. ^ "Angelo Mosca to discuss Grey Cup fight on Dr. Phil". thestar.com. December 2, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  9. ^ "WWE sued in wrestler class action lawsuit featuring Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka, Paul 'Mr Wonderful' Orndorff". FoxSports.com. Fox Entertainment Group (21st Century Fox). July 18, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  10. ^ Robinson, Byron (September 22, 2018). "Piledriver: WWE uses 'Hell in a Cell' as springboard to future shows". Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  11. ^ Angelo Mosca dead at 84
  12. ^ "WOR: Angelo Mosca, WWE cuts in detail, Power Struggle, UFC, tons more!". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  13. ^ Hoops, Brian (January 17, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/17): Vader wins IWGP heavyweight title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  14. ^ Whalen, Ed (host) (December 15, 1995). "Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame: 1948-1990". Showdown at the Corral: A Tribute to Stu Hart. Event occurs at 27:55. Shaw Cable. Calgary 7.
  15. ^ "Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (1948-1990)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. Archived from the original on March 11, 2005.

External links[edit]

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