Captain Lou passed away this morning. He had recently fallen ill, and was at home with his family under hospice care. Albano was not suffering from cancer, according to his family. Albano suffered a severe heart attack in 2005 and had deteriorated since. RIP Captain Lou.



Following the encouragement of fellow wrestler Bruno Sammartino, Albano transformed himself into the brash, bombastic manager Captain Lou Albano. With a quick wit and a grating personality, Albano delivered memorable promos that made him wrestling's most villainous manager. He earned the scorn of the wrestling audience as he attempted to dethrone World Wide Wrestling Federation superstar and WWWF champion Bruno Sammartino.

In 1971, Albano achieved his objective when "Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff ended Sammartino's seven year reign as champion. Koloff's reign marked the only time that Albano would manage a World Heavyweight champion. For the remainder of the seventies Albano's cadre of loyal henchmen were unable to resecure the championship.

Albano guided singles wrestlers such as Pat Patterson, Don Muraco and Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine to the Intercontinental Championship. Furthermore, Albano carved a prolific legacy that remains unmatched by guiding over a dozen teams to the WWWF World Tag Team Championships. Under his tutelage, Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito, The Valiant Brothers, Wild Samoans, The Moondogs, and The British Bulldogs were a few of many that solidified Albano as wrestling's premiere tag team manager. By the end of his career, Albano managed over 50 different wrestlers who won two dozen championships.

By the 1980s, Albano appeared in Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", "She Bop", "Time After Time" and "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" music videos. Parlaying the venture, new WWF owner Vince McMahon devised the Rock 'n' Wrestling storyline, a collaboration and cross-promotion between the newly renamed WWF and elements of the music industry.

During a public appearance at Madison Square Garden, Albano made sexist comments that outraged the singer and non-wrestling fans. Furthermore, on WWF television, Albano made the audacious claims that he was Lauper's manager and that he was the architect of her success. The two settled their differences on the MTV/WWF special The War to Settle the Score. Following Lauper's victory at the event, Albano apologized to Lauper and instantly became a fan favorite and the voice of Rock 'n' Wrestling.

The crossover storyline, coupled with the Hulkamania phenomenon surrounding then-WWF champion Hulk Hogan and the first WrestleMania, triggered a period of unprecedented success for not only the WWF, but for the professional wrestling industry as a whole. Moreover, Albano helped cement wrestling's place within pop culture. Following the colossal success of the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection, Albano left the WWF in 1986 to focus on various projects. Except for a brief return in 1994 to co-manage The Headshrinkers, Albano had since retired from the wrestling industry.

Capitalizing on his new found celebrity, Albano began appearing in a vast array of television and film projects. Throughout the late eighties, Albano appeared in Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling, 227, Miami Vice, Hey Dude, Brian De Palma's Wiseguys and the 1987 wrestling movie Body Slam. Expanding into music, Albano managed and performed with rockers NRBQ. He was immortalized in the song "Captain Lou" on their Lou and the Q album.

In March 1989, on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Albano shaved his trademark beard to star as the iconic video game character Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. Along with Danny Wells, he co-starred in live action segments during interludes of the Mario cartoon, as well as providing the voice of his animated counterpart.

In 1993 Albano appeared in the John Ritter film Stay Tuned as the ring announcer for a wrestling match of the "Underworld Wrestling Federation" pitting Ritter and Pam Dawber's characters against two demonic wrestlers.

In 1996, Albano was enshrined into the WWF Hall of Fame. Two years later, he co-authored the book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pro-Wrestling along with Bert Randolph Sugar. In recent years Albano has been semi-active in the wrestling industry with appearances on reunion events, conventions, and WWE programming.

"While the family is grateful for the in outpouring of affection, please respect their privacy during these tough times. Wrestler's Rescue is collecting donations to be forwarded to the Albano family for medical expenses."

For more information, go to:

http://www.WrestlersRescue.Org

http://pwinsider.com/article/42204/lege ... y.html?p=1

_________________

That's one of the things that kills wrestling today. In 2009, guys are lucky to have a 7-week run as champion.

_________________

Honky Tonk Man and Hart Foundation were champions for about 65 years

Somewhere Cyndi Lauper is crying.

_________________

I always forget about Bodyslam

Guy on the left looks like Jiminy Glick

_________________

_________________
Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

I am assuming that you are kidding here but incase people don't know your humor, this is "Face" from the A-Team (Dirk Benedict)

Where the hell has he been?

_________________
This is my signature...

According to IMDB.com, he got divorced in 95', got custody of his boys, George and Roland and took them to Montana where he raised them in a 900 square foot log cabin on his macrobiotic diet. Sounds like a hoot.

_________________
This is my signature...