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Bios

Pepper Martin

Weight: 225 lbs.

From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Birthday: Sep 20th

Pro Debut: 1957

Aliases: Howard Martin, The Batman, The Mighty Bolo, Bolo, Jr., The Mask

Feds Worked For: TSW, AWA, NWA, All Star Wrestling (Canada), Championship Wrestling from Florida (FL), Championship Wrestling USA (OR), Gulas Wrestling Enterprises (TN), Gulf Athletic Club (TX), Harry Light Wrestling Office (MI), Japan Wrestling Association (Japan), Louisiana Wrestling Enterprises (AL/LA/MS), M & M Promotions (NM/TX), Maple Leaf Wrestling (Canada), Mid-Pacific Promotions (HI), Mike London Sports (AZ/CO/NM), National Wrestling Federation (NJ/NY/OH/PA), NWA Big Time Wrestling (CA/NV), NWA Detroit (MI), NWA Hollywood (CA), NWA Mid-America (AL), NWA Vancouver (Canada), Pacific Coast Athletic Club (CA), Pacific Northwest Wrestling (OR/WA), St. Louis Wrestling Club (MO)

Career Highlights: -NWA Canadian Champion
-NWA (Los Angeles) Beat the Champ Television Champion (2x)
-NWA Pacific Coast Brass Knuckles Champion
-NWA Pacific Northwest Champion (5x)
-NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Champion (8x; 3 w/ Shag Thomas, 2 w/ Luther Lindsay, 1 each w/ Billy White Wolf, Rene Goulet, and Paul Jones)

Affiliates: Dick Lane, Al Lovelock, Rocky Johnson, Shag Thomas, Luther Lindsay, Billy White Wolf, Paul Jones, Rene Goulet

Notable Feuds: Pat Patterson, Tony Borne, Haru Sasaki, Lonnie Mayne/Moondog Mayne, Paul DeMarco, Masa Saito, Stan Stasiak, Eric Pomeroy/Mad Russian/Stan Pulaski

Other Facts: -Not to be confused with the Hall of Fame baseball player of the same name.
-Took the name "Pepper Martin" on the suggestion of Fritz Von Erich
-Began golfing at the age of 9.
-Lied about his age and joined the Navy at age 16.
-Teamed with Steve Bolus and faced Johnny Evans & Bull Johnson in his first match
-Was associated with people in organized crime in Louisiana. During a breakfast conversation once, Martin complained about the payoff he received from the booker and one mob member promised to go "get Martin's money". Martin had to call the top mob boss and keep anything bad from happening.
-Competed under a mask as The Mask until he was unmasked by John Paul Henning on January 18, 1963
-Worked as a commentator in California and the Pacific Northwest.
-After suffering a career ending injury, he was brought into Hollywood by Harold Sakata. During his Hollywood career, he appeared in 21 films from 1968 to 1989. Amongst the more notable films were "Superman II", "Scream", "The Over-the-Hill Gang" and the original versions of both "Walking Tall" and "The Longest Yard".
-Had his right eye removed as a results of scleritis He also survived a bout with lung cancer, but had 25% of the lung removed.
-Passed away March 17, 2022 from lung cancer at the age of 85.