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Bios

Angelo Savoldi

Nickname: The Vampire

Height: 227 lbs.

From: Parsippany, NJ

Birthday: Apr 21st

Pro Debut: 1937

Aliases: Little Jumping Joe, "Jumpin'" Joe Savoldi, Jr.

Feds Worked For: NWA

Career Highlights: -NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion (3x)
-TSW Oklahoma Junior Heavyweight Champion
-TSW Southwest Tag Team Champion (2x; 1 each w/ Dan Savich & Al Galento)

Notable Feuds: Dory Funk, Sr., Mike DiBiase

Other Facts: -Real name was Mario Fornini
-Brother of pro wrestler Lou Fornini
-Father of pro wrestlers Mario Savoldi, Tom Savoldi, & Joe Savoldi
-Uncle of pro wrestling referee/commentator The Mediator
-Although he once competed under the name "Little Jumping Joe", he is not related to the original Joe Savoldi.
-Childhood friend of Frank Sinatra
-Dropped out of high school to help make money for his family during the Depression.
-Served in the US Navy in World War Two
-Was the first American to main event in Puerto Rico
-Minority owner of the WWWF in the 1970s
-Was stabbed twice by Danny Hodge's father, William Hodge. This happened during the 5th round of a specialty boxing match between Savoldi & Hodge. Hodge's father said he did it because "The fight wasn't fair". Hodge's father was released on a $20 bond and Angelo would later drop the charges, promising to take his aggression out on Danny later.
-Wrestled his last match in 1972
-Angelo was one of the early stars of wrestling television (arguably the first, as he appeared in the first match DuMont aired). When he began traveling the territories, he reached out to DuMont about getting some footage of himself to show on local television, only to be told they didn't keep the old shows. Angelo was appalled by this and began hanging on to any bit of footage he could get. When he passed away, he had 4-5,000 hours of wrestling. Angelo spread the gospel of holding onto footage everywhere he went, perhaps most importantly to the then-WWWF where he would become part owner. In so doing, he can perhaps be considered to have planted the seed for the WWE Network.
-Founder of International Championship Wrestling in 1984
-Inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2004
-Inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2011
-Passed away September 20, 2013 at the age of 98. At the time, he was believed to be the oldest currently living former professional wrestler.