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Professional Wrestler Pins Success, Returns Home To Roanoke

Professional Wrestler Pins Success, Returns Home To Roanoke

Posted: Jun 17th 2009 By: CMBurnham

The woman seemed mad.

"Tony Atlas!" she called down a hallway at Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke.

Atlas, who was Tony White when he attended Patrick Henry in the early 1970s, turned and peered down the hall.

"How you know me?" he asked.

"How you don't know me?" the woman spat back.

Atlas looked at her, trying to remember, until Angela Noell gave her name. They grew up together in Hurt Park. That was before his career in professional wrestling.

"You look good," Noell told him, rubbing his ample pectoral muscles. "Oooh, they're jumping, too!" she squealed.

Everywhere Atlas went Monday, people knew him and wanted him to know it. It was a rare visit back to his hometown since he left in the 1970s, and his most triumphant return in decades.

In that time, Atlas reached the pinnacle of professional wrestling, only to crash into drug addiction and homelessness before climbing back to his feet.

Now, at 55, Atlas is back in the top echelon of pro wrestling, with World Wrestling Entertainment.

It's a bit part, but it's on the main stage.

He's on national television weekly, has his own toy action figure and is making a reliable living for the first time in years. He's buying his first home.

He returned to Roanoke to do a media tour in advance of Tuesday night's taping of WWE's "ECW" broadcast at the Roanoke Civic Center.

Radio disc jockeys fawned over him as he played up his rural Virginia roots.

"If heaven ain't a lot like Dixie, I don't want to go," he crooned into the microphone at WSLC.

Atlas, born in Clifton Forge, met two men from an Alleghany Highlands radio station and told them, "Y'all from my neck of the woods. Y'all hillbillies."

For lunch at Blues BBQ Co. with his older brother Charles and wrestling partner Mark Henry, Atlas ordered a full rack of ribs. Before the food arrived, he left to get a Roanoke Weiner Stand hot dog for an appetizer. On the way, he ran into Betty Trent.

"I used to massage his chest by stepping on it," she said.

"I love coming home," Atlas said.

That wasn't always so.

In 2000, The Roanoke Times published a story on Atlas and his life in Lewiston, Maine. He was 46 then, wrestling on the independent circuit in high school gyms for a few hundred dollars a match, and working part time as a personal trainer.

He had survived drug addiction and homelessness until a woman he didn't know took him in. They've been married nearly 20 years.

But he had no health insurance and no means of escaping the only place he could make a living: the ring.

His entire life, he's traded on his amazing physique -- he held the Mr. USA bodybuilding title once -- and the athletic ability that propelled him to the top of pro wrestling.

At one time, he held out hope of getting called back to the WWE. Maybe he could make enough money to retire.

By 2006 he'd given up that dream. But that's when he got a phone message at the gym in Lewiston where he worked. It was the WWE. They wanted to induct him into their wrestling hall of fame.

From there, he went to work from time to time at WWE wrestling schools.

And a year ago, the WWE offered him a talent contract that returned him to television.

He puts the tights on once in awhile, like on Tuesday's "ECW" broadcast. "I'm still sore," he said.

But mainly, he plays the manager to Henry, a former Olympic weight lifter and one of the ECW brand's big names.

Atlas comes to ringside in a business suit, only to remove his jacket and reveal a shirt with the sleeves cut off. That was WWE Chairman Vince McMahon's idea, Atlas said.

"I want the fans to see them arms," Atlas said McMahon told him. Atlas' massive biceps reportedly measure 21 inches.

"I grew up watching Tony," Henry said.

"I don't think I would be where I am without Tony," he said. "He's one of the pieces of the puzzle that made me want to be strong."

But wrestling today is nothing like in the old days, Atlas said.

"We was wild, we was loose, and we was pretty much on our own," Atlas said.

They wrestled hurt and doctored themselves. When he broke his hand, it was wrestler Wahoo McDaniel who set the fracture for him, Atlas recalled. When he damaged a knee, it was Gene Anderson, one half of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew, who gave him a cortisone shot.

Today, Atlas said, wrestlers are treated more as investments than something to be used up and discarded. The WWE has random drug testing with a three-strikes policy and teaches wrestlers how to invest their money for when they can't make their living in the ring anymore.

The wrestlers are independent contractors, so the WWE doesn't provide health insurance, but they are insured in the ring, Atlas said, and there are always doctors at ringside.

Not that Atlas is in much danger of needing a doctor in his current role.

Tuesday night, during Henry's match with Evan Bourne, Atlas carried off his usual routine, following Henry to the ring, holding the ropes so Henry could enter, and then slipping his jacket off to show off his arms while waiting for Bourne to come in.

He stalked around the floor while Henry and Bourne clashed, and did a dance after Henry scored the pin. It was all over in about six minutes.

This morning, Atlas will get on another plane to head to another town. It's a tough life for an aging athlete, but he figures if he can make this stint with the WWE last a few more years, he'll be able to retire from wrestling.

"I'm as happy as a peacock," he said. "I just hope that Tony Atlas don't screw it up."

 

Tags: Tony Atlas, WWE, ECW, Wahoo McDaniel

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Supplemental Information

1

Spotlight in History

  • 1969 Jose Lothario def. Johnny Valentine for the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Title
  • 2008 Ky-ote Johammed def. Dane Griffin for the 3DW Violent Division Title
  • 2008 Mo'Body Gillespie def. Ky-ote Johammed for the 3DW Violent Division Title
  • 2013 Bobby Starr def. Steven Sterling for the ComPro Showtime Title
  • 2013 Ignition def. Super Skunk Ape, Jr. for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 2013 The Canadian Red Devil def. Michael York for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
  • 2014 Steven Sterling def. Sam Stackhouse for the ComPro Showtime Title
  • 2014 Jake O'Brien def. The Canadian Red Devil for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
  • 2014 Terry Montana def. Ignition for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 2014 Havoc def. Buster Cherry for the SWCW All-American Title
  • 2014 Rick Russo def. David Kyzer for the SWCW Luchadore Title
  • 2014 Kevin James Sanchez def. Kareem Sadat for the SWCW Hardcore Title
  • 2014 Kareem Sadat def. Kevin James Sanchez for the SWCW Hardcore Title
  • 2014 Terry Pantera became the BPPW Junior Heavyweight Champion
  • 2025 Frankie Lee def. K. J. Gold for the RDW Iron Man Title

Week of Sun 06-07 to Sat: 06-13

  • 06-07 1969 Jose Lothario def. Johnny Valentine for the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Title
  • 06-07 2008 Ky-ote Johammed def. Dane Griffin for the 3DW Violent Division Title
  • 06-07 2008 Mo'Body Gillespie def. Ky-ote Johammed for the 3DW Violent Division Title
  • 06-07 2013 Bobby Starr def. Steven Sterling for the ComPro Showtime Title
  • 06-07 2013 Ignition def. Super Skunk Ape, Jr. for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 06-07 2013 The Canadian Red Devil def. Michael York for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
  • 06-07 2014 Steven Sterling def. Sam Stackhouse for the ComPro Showtime Title
  • 06-07 2014 Jake O'Brien def. The Canadian Red Devil for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
  • 06-07 2014 Terry Montana def. Ignition for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 06-07 2014 Havoc def. Buster Cherry for the SWCW All-American Title
  • 06-07 2014 Rick Russo def. David Kyzer for the SWCW Luchadore Title
  • 06-07 2014 Kevin James Sanchez def. Kareem Sadat for the SWCW Hardcore Title
  • 06-07 2014 Kareem Sadat def. Kevin James Sanchez for the SWCW Hardcore Title
  • 06-07 2014 Terry Pantera became the BPPW Junior Heavyweight Champion
  • 06-07 2025 Frankie Lee def. K. J. Gold for the RDW Iron Man Title
  • 06-08 1959 Frankie Kovacs & Jerry Miller def. Pretty Boy Collins & Duke Scarbo for the TSW Louisiana Tag Team Titles
  • 06-08 2013 L. J. McDaniels became the SWCW Hardcore Champion
  • 06-08 2013 Hurricane Ross def. Billy Ray for the NAW Heavyweight Title
  • 06-08 2019 Michael Duplanti def. Anarchy [2nd] for the NAW Lightweight Title
  • 06-08 2019 Big Smooth def. Hurricane Ross for the NAW Heavyweight Title
  • 06-08 2024 Billie the Kiid became the NAW Indigenous Land Champion
  • 06-08 2024 Daniel Aaron Michalles def. Pastor Brent for the WAH Hunger Dojo Title
  • 06-08 2024 Eddie LeVaughn def. Romeo Reese for the WAH Heavyweight Title
  • 06-08 2024 Michael Duplanti became the NAW Openweight Champion
  • 06-08 2024 Speeding Bullet (Mike Gunnz & Stephen Nitro) def. The Texas Outlaws (Bobby Burns & Manico) for the NAW Tag Team Titles
  • 06-09 1959 The Golden Giant became the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
  • 06-09 1966 Johnny Valentine def. Fritz Von Erich for the WCCW American Heavyweight Title
  • 06-09 1980 The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts) def. Junkyard Dog & Buck Robley for the MSW Mid-South Tag Team Titles
  • 06-09 1989 Jeff Jarrett & Mil Mascaras def. Super Zodiac & Cactus Jack for the WCCW World Tag Team Titles
  • 06-09 2017 The Rising (Matt Durden & Riker) def. Team Dean Machine (Christopher Dean & Jerry Dean) for the BPPW Oklahoma Tag Team Titles
  • 06-09 2023 Koko became the CPW Heavyweight Champion
  • 06-09 2023 The Regime (Derek James & Logan Knight & Merc & Skylar Slice/Sgt. Slice) def. The Roll Modelz (Malik Mayfield & Olivier Vegos) for the CPW Tag Team Titles
  • 06-09 2023 Mr. Nasty def. Mascara Purpura for the CPW 918 Title
  • 06-09 2023 Red James def. Mr. Nasty for the CPW 918 Title
  • 06-10 1979 Bruiser Brody def. Mark Lewin for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Title
  • 06-10 1985 Tim Brooks def. Scott Casey for the WCCW Television Title
  • 06-10 2006 Dexter Hardaway became the AACW Mid-American Light Heavyweight Champion
  • 06-10 2023 MLP became the XDWF New GenX Champion
  • 06-11 1984 Chris Adams became the WCCW Television Champion
  • 06-11 2009 Sage became the SWCW Art of War Champion
  • 06-11 2011 Jake O'Brien def. Robbie Awesome for the MERC Patriot Title
  • 06-11 2011 The Ring Intruders (Jon Cross & Fuel) became the SRPW Tag Team Champions
  • 06-11 2011 Jake O'Brien became the SRPW Patriot Champion
  • 06-11 2011 Kareem Sadat def. Rick Russo for the SWCW Hardcore Title
  • 06-11 2011 Tim Storm def. Michael Faith for the NWA-OK Oklahoma Heavyweight Title
  • 06-11 2022 Pastor Brent & Andrew Fenix def. The Rejecs LM (Elijah Sparks & Dr. Corvus) for the WAH Tag Team Titles
  • 06-11 2022 Connor Smith def. Romeo Reese for the WAH Spotlight Title
  • 06-11 2022 Umbra def. Koko for the WAH Living Hope Title
  • 06-11 2022 Dan Webber def. Paul Puertorico for the WAH Heavyweight Title
  • 06-12 1982 The Spoiler def. Frank Dusek for the WCCW Television Title
  • 06-12 2009 El Latino became the NWA-OK Oklahoma Light Heavyweight Champion
  • 06-12 2021 Brawler Morrison def. Blade [2nd] for the UWO Heavyweight Title
  • 06-13 1960 Tony Borne def. Bull Curry for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Title
  • 06-13 1969 Chuck Karbo became the TSW North American Champion
  • 06-13 1978 Karl Krupp became the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
  • 06-13 1998 The Bad Boys (Splash Jackson & Bull Schmitt) def. The Texas Outlaws (Dan Wilder & Bernard Funk) for the OPW Oklahoma Tag Team Titles
  • 06-13 2008 Brent Albright def. Slam Shady for the NWA-OK Oklahoma Heavyweight Title
  • 06-13 2008 High Society (Al Farat & Thomas Trump) became the NWA-OK Oklahoma Tag Team Champions
  • 06-13 2008 Josh Michaels became the ACW Heavyweight Champion
  • 06-13 2009 The Canadian Red Devil became the ComPro Showtime Champion
  • 06-13 2015 Seth Angel & Adrian Dell def. Nemesis (Bobby Starr & Damien Morte) for the ComPro Tag Team Titles
  • 06-13 2015 Killista def. Paul Puertorico for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 06-13 2015 Rolling Thunder def. Michael Duplanti for the NAW Heavyweight Title
  • 06-13 2015 Paige Turner def. Erica for the IZW Queens Title
  • 06-13 2015 Michael Wolf def. Jake O'Brien for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
  • 06-13 2015 Jake O'Brien def. Michael Wolf for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
06-07
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