Danny Little Bear facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Danny Little Bear |
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| Born | September 13, 1937 Hodgenville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | May 12, 1991 (aged 53) |
| Cause of death | Liver cancer |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Danny Little Bear Danny Littlebear Chief Little Bear |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Billed weight | 230 lb (100 kg) |
| Billed from | Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S. |
| Debut | c. 1956 |
| Retired | c. 1978 |
Danny Little Bear (born September 13, 1937 – died May 12, 1991) was an American professional wrestler. He was known for wrestling in different parts of North America, especially in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) during the 1960s and 1970s. He was a very popular wrestler in areas like the Central States and Gulf Coast. His big rivalries with wrestlers like Yasu Fuji & Chati Yokochi and Black Angus Campbell often made his matches very exciting and caused a lot of fan excitement.
He also had a great time wrestling for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling. There, he won the important Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Championship and held it for many months in 1974.
Contents
Danny Little Bear's Wrestling Journey
Starting His Wrestling Career
Danny Little Bear was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky. He grew up in Jonesboro, Georgia. He started his professional wrestling career in 1956 when he was 19 years old. For the next few years, he wrestled in many different places in the Southeastern United States. He learned a lot while wrestling in promotions like Championship Wrestling from Florida and Georgia Championship Wrestling in the early 1960s.
In 1964, Danny Little Bear wrestled against many different opponents. He had a match that ended in a draw against Johnny Bruce, Sputnik Monroe, and Joe McCarthy in Augusta, Georgia. The next night, he lost a match in Macon, Georgia.
He also teamed up with Ron Reed in a tag team match. They wrestled against Johnny Heidman and Dick Dunn. Later that month, he faced a famous wrestler known as The Destroyer. In 1966, he continued to wrestle in Georgia. He won matches against wrestlers like Jack Vansky and Pancho Rosario. He also teamed up with Chief Crazy Horse. They wrestled against teams like the Mysterious Medics and the Infernos.
Wrestling in the Central States and Gulf Coast
In 1967, Danny Little Bear won his first championship. He defeated Jack Dalton to become the Louisiana Heavyweight Champion in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He also teamed up with Bobby Fields. Together, they won the NWA United States Tag Team Championship.
He lost the Louisiana Heavyweight title to Ken Lucas. He also lost the tag team titles back to the Daltons. Later, he teamed with Luke Brown. They won the NWA North American Tag Team Championship in Kansas City, Missouri.
After Luke Brown left, Danny Little Bear found a new partner, Stan Pulaski. They won the tag team titles again. He later teamed with The Viking to win the titles back from Luke Brown and The Ox.
Two years later, in 1969, Danny Little Bear won another important title. He became the NWA Central States Heavyweight Champion. He held this title for over four months before losing it to Roger Kirby.
In 1972, he teamed with Omar Atlas. They defeated Yasu Fuji and Chati Yokochi for the NWA North American Tag Team titles. They lost the titles but won them back twice more from Fuji and Yokochi. He also defeated Harley Race for the NWA Central States Heavyweight title.
Exciting Rivalries
Danny Little Bear had some very exciting rivalries. One of his biggest was against Black Angus Campbell. This rivalry often caused a lot of excitement among the fans.
In one match, Danny Little Bear and The Viking were wrestling against Fuji and Yokochi. The match became so intense that the two partners started fighting each other! Later, Danny Little Bear and The Stomper teamed up. They won the NWA North American Tag Team titles.
During this time, Danny Little Bear began his rivalry with Black Angus Campbell for the NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship. Campbell won the title from him. After one match, Campbell and his manager, Percival A. Friend, needed a police escort to leave the arena because fans were so upset.
Another rematch against Campbell in St. Joseph, Missouri caused a lot of fan excitement. Some fans even tried to get into the ring to help Danny Little Bear! Police were there to keep everyone safe. Danny Little Bear also teamed with Omar Atlas. They lost the tag team titles to Campbell and Roger Kirby.
Danny Little Bear continued to wrestle against Campbell and Kirby. He also defeated Harley Race in another match. In a big 6-man tag team match, Danny Little Bear, Omar Atlas, and Les Thornton wrestled against Billy Howard, Juan Sebastian, and The Destroyer. This match was very long and exciting. At one point, some fans tried to rush the ring, but police kept everyone safe.
Later, Danny Little Bear even teamed up with his rival, Black Angus Campbell. They defeated Roger Kirby and The Destroyer. The next year, he won the NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship again from Roger Kirby.
Wrestling in Stampede Wrestling
In 1974, Danny Little Bear started wrestling for Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, Canada. He defeated The Stomper to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight title. He held this important title for five months. He also had a match against Jack Brisco for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. He eventually lost his Stampede title to John Quinn.
After that, he returned to the Kansas City area. He won matches against wrestlers like Jesse Ventura and Buddy King. He also had a rivalry with Tank Patton. Danny Little Bear teamed up with other wrestlers like Bob Geigel and Akio Sato in big tag team matches.
Later Years in Wrestling
In the late 1970s, Danny Little Bear wrestled in NWA Mid-America. He teamed up with Chief Thundercloud. They won the NWA Mid-America Southern Tag Team Championship in 1976. They successfully defended their titles against many teams.
They eventually lost the titles to Dutch Mantell and David Shults. Danny Little Bear and Chief Thundercloud also won the NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship.
Danny Little Bear stopped wrestling professionally by the end of 1977. He moved back to Georgia and lived with his wife, Mary Ann. He passed away in May 1991 after battling liver cancer. He is remembered by his wife, daughter, and son.
Championships and Accomplishments
Danny Little Bear won many championships during his wrestling career:
- Central States Wrestling
- NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- NWA Central States World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jerry Oates
- NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Central States version) (5 times) – with Luke Brown (1), Stan Pulaski (1), The Viking (1), Omar Atlas (2) and The Stomper (1)
- Georgia Championship Wrestling
- NWA Macon Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rocky Johnson
- Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling / Southeast Championship Wrestling
- NWA Gulf Coast Louisiana Championship (1 time)
- NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Chief Thundercloud
- NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Gulf Coast version) (1 time) – with Bobby Fields
- NWA Mid-America
- NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (1 time) – with Chief Thundercloud
- NWA Tri-State
- NWA Louisiana Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kit Fox
- Stampede Wrestling
- Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Images for kids
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Danny Little Bear in his wrestling gear.
