Pedro Morales

Pedro Morales (October 22, 1942 - February 12, 2019) was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He began his wrestling career as a teenager in 1959 and won his first important championship, the WWA World Heavyweight Championship, while wrestling for the World Wrestling Association. After joining the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), Morales became the first man in wrestling history to win the WWWF Championship, the WWF Intercontinental Championship and the WWF Tag Team Championship. Like Bruno Sammartino before him, Morales heavily appealed to a specific group, in his case Puerto Ricans and Latinos in general. During his career he also won titles at Mid-Pacific Promotions in Hawaii, Championship Wrestling from Florida and the World Wrestling Council in his native Puerto Rico. In 1995 Morales became the first Latin American and Hispanic to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
==Career==
===Early career, WWA World Heavyweight Championship===
When he was only seventeen years old, Morales trained under Barba Roja to become a wrestler and participated in a card held at New York in 1959, where he debuted by earning a victory over Howard LaVine, who performed under the pseudonym Buddy Gilbert, going on to participate in tag team matches and other stipulation matches throughout the tri state area the following year. The following two years, he made campaign in Virginia and North Carolina, particularly in the towns of Petersburg and Charlotte. Morales frequently wrestled fellow Puerto Rican Gypsy Joe in these cards, also earning wins over Jimmy Quinn, Don Savage and Sonny Fargo, while wrestling several local figures such as Swede Hanson, Laverne Baxter and Tony Nero. The following year, Morales began visiting several more states, often teaming with different Latin luchadores such as Pepper Gonzales and Gory Guerrero, while holding loose feuds with a wrestler simply known as “The Viking” and Mark Starr. As a traveling performer, he amassed mixed results, with most of his victories taking place in British Columbia, where Morales defeated Tarzan Potvin, Tony Nero, Bud Rattal, Tommy O'Toole and Johnny Demchuk in a two-month period, before losing three challenges to Oliver Winrush. After a similar result in a short program with Hard Boiled Haggerty, he had two draws against Allan Garfield, before defeating him on July 16, 1962. During the following months, Morales served as a midcarder, losing to several of the high-card talents but gaining wins over jobbers such as Poncho Pico, Sputnik Monroe and winning a three-fall match over Gypsy Biviano.
In August, Morales traveled to Texas and was involved in a series of matches with Jack and Jim Dalton, facing them along multiple tag team partners. After emerging victorious in a feud over Nelson Royal, he relocated to Washington, D.C. and Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he wrestled Miguel Torres, Angelo Savoldi and Lou Albano, while entering into a rivalry with Tony Altimore. It was here where he first teamed with Miguel Pérez, Sr. and Argentina Apollo, who were the first tag team champions recognized in the history of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Morales opened 1963 by performing in several tag team matches against Johnny Barend & Magnificent Maurice and returning to New York and New Jersey in a program along Gordo Chihuahua, who worked as enhancement talent. Later in the year, he formed a recurrent tag team with Perez and feuded with Pedro Rodriguez. In June, Morales joined Bruno Sammartino, Bobo Brazil, Perez and Apollo to once again enter a storyline with Johnny Barend, who was now joined by Diamond Jack. After this, Vittorio Apollo became his main stay tag team partner, along whom he challenged The Fabulous Kangaroos, Johnny Barend and Buddy Rogers on several dates. Morales finished the year by teaming with Pérez, earning three victories over the Fabulous Kangaroos. The team opened 1964 by feuding with Chris and John Tolos, losing the first two encounters but winning the three-fall rubber match. Individually, Morales defeated Chuck Martoni, Arnold Skaaland and Prince Nero on several occasions.
The tag team next entered a feud with Jerry Graham and Luke Graham, losing several times before earning a win on September 19, 1964. The team also exchanged results against Hans & Max Mortier. During this time frame, Morales picked singles wins over Frank Hickey, Chuck Martoni, Bobby Davis, Arnold Skaoland, Humberto Mercado, Matt Gilmore, Boris Malenko, Klondike Bill, Jose Quinteras, Magnificent Maurice, Bull Johnson and Luke Graham while losing in matches against Wild Red Berry and Freddie Blassie. Morales then entered a double feud against Pedro Rodriguez and Gene Kiniski, dominating Rodriguez but losing to Kiniski. Along Pérez, he retook their feud with the Grahams, picking a second victory. In the final months of 1964, Morales also gained wins over Robert Duranton and Steve Stanlee. He opened 1965 by moving to Worldwide Wrestling Associates in California, an organization that had been created as a mirror to the National Wrestling Alliance, where he engaged in multiple concurrent feuds, defeating The Executioner in his first match, before going on to defeat several wrestlers with similar characters by winning against The Axeman twice, El Verdugo and The Hangman on several occasions during the first three months of the year. Morales also experienced success in matches outside storyline, besting Jesse Rose, Charlie Kalani, Ruffy Colden, Billy Red Lyons, Kenny Yates, Don Savage, Luke Graham, Hard Boiled Haggerty, some of them more than two consecutive times. In March, he was involved in a program with Karl Von Stroheim, winning a series of matches against him and teaming with Mr. Moto and Luis Hernandez to win tag team matches that also included Kurt Von Stroheim.
On March 12, 1965, Morales defeated "The Destroyer" Dick Beyer to win the WWA World Heavyweight Championship in a three-fall match. He continued earning singles victories over Horst Wessel, Kurt Von Stroheim, Al Marshall, Broadway Venus, Bill Cody and in a rematch against The Destroyer, while teaming along Hernandez to wrestle multiple combinations. He became involved in a feud against The Assassins and The Butcher, steadily gaining the upper hands both individually and in tag matches. Morales moved on from these angles and defeated Rod Orell, Billy Klutzer and The Mummy, before dropping the championship to Luke Graham on July 23, 1965. Morales responded by defeating Graham in a three-fall chain match less than a month later, in the process winning a Brass Knuckles Championship. Meanwhile, his team with Hernandez won three consecutive matches against The Assassins by disqualification. Subsequently, a revival of his previous feuds with The Butcher and The Assassins became intertwined with the current involving Graham, leading to a series of matches featuring different combinations during the following months. Hernandez was eventually replaced by Adalberto Torres as Morales's tag team partner, along whom he also faced Gorilla Monsoon and a variety of partners. On October 17, 1965, he defeated Graham to regain the WWA World Heavyweight Championship. Morales went on to defeat Graham in two more rematches, scoring victories over Ox Anderson, Bandito Lopez and Jack Allen as well. Following a short series against El Mongol, he continued this pattern in matches involving Swede Karlsen, Baron Leone, Killer Karlson, The Golden Terror, Mark Lewin, Killer Karl Kox and Clyde Steeves. Morales also won a battle royal held in Fort Worth, Texas and brought closure to his feud with El Mongol by besting him on February 13, 1966. During this stage, he also changed tag team partners frequently, teaming with Better Boucher, Ramon Torres and Billy Red Lyons among others, gathering mixed results.
In the final months before making a tour to Japan, Morales defeated Mark Lewin and Indio Joe, but also lost to Lyons and Mark Lewin. In his first show at Tokyo, he had a draw against Don Lewin. Morales continued this run by defeating Michiaki Yoshimura, Yoshino Sato, Mr. Moto, Mitsu Hirai, Umanusuke Ueda, tying against Kim III in all of their encounters and losing only to Giant Baba by count out in singles. During this run, he teamed with Arman Hussein, Lewin, Wibur Snyder, Lonnie Mayne & Billy Two, among others, with the results being divided inequitable manner between wins, losses and draws. On May 27, 1966, Morales returned to California and went on another winning streak over Ray Shields, Jack Lanza, El Mongol, Stan Neilson, Baby Destroyer and Fritz Von Goering, before entering a series against Buddy Austin, losing the first three encounters and dropping the WWA World Heavyweight Championship to him on August 5, 1966, before winning the fourth match. He also reformed his tag team with Luis Hernandez, finding success in this division as well by winning the WWA World Tag Team Championship on June 24, 1966, being a dual champion for over a month. After a win over Art Mahalik, Morales wrestled Hernandez to a three-fall draw. This was followed by victories over Austin and in a second battle royale. Despite gathering singles wins over the likes of El Mongol, Austin, Magnificent Maurice, Joe Flores and Frank Marconi, during the following months Morales focused on the tag team division, earning eleven wins, seven draws and only one loss before dropping the titles to Hard Boiled Haggerty and El Shereef on October 28, 1966. He subsequently split results against Shereef, also besting Rip Miller and Austin on several occasions during November. To close the year, Morales joined Mark Lewin to recapture the WWA World Tag Team Championship on December 10, 1966.
===WWA and AWA World Tag Team Champion, triple titlist in Hawaii===
Morales began 1967 by also teaming with Ricky Romero, Mr. Moto and Pepper Gomez, gathering victories along all of them. In singles, he remained in the top of the card, defeating Paul Diamond, El Shereef, Killer Karl Kox, K.O. Murphy and Johnny Vander, while wrestling Haggerty and The Mad Russian to draws. After winning two more matches along Lewin, their team ceased to exist, costing them the titles. Morales was then joined by Romero as his partner, once again winning the WWA World Tag Team Championship along him on February 10, 1967. The team went on to win almost a dozen matches, while he won contests against The Mighty Atlas, The Preacher and Mike DiBiase during the following months. Morales also ran a parallel team with Pepper Gomez, winning the American Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship along him after winning their two previous matches. He made his first appearance in Hawaiian territory along Gomez on April 26, 1967. After returning to California the following month, Morales entered a series against his former partner Mark Lewin, but lost both encounters. He then continued team with Gomez and Romero, recording a successful run until they became part-time partners in July 1967, when he joined fellow Puerto Rican José Luis Rivera, immediately entering a long feud against Mike DiBiase, who teamed with a variety of wrestlers, but most frequently wrestled along Karl Gotch. While individually Morales entered a brief period where he recorded more draws and losses than wins, his team with Rivera won their first five encounters, which also featured him besting DiBiase and Gotch in singles. Concurrent to this, his team with Romero began experiencing more losses, while the one along Gomez remained consistently successful. While DiBiase and Gotch won in two consecutive events, the feud began to produce several draws. Morales and Rivera won the last encounter on August 16, 1967, then migrating to another rivalry against Freddie Blassie & Buddy Austin. Despite earning wins over several other teams, they were unable to best Blassie and Austin during this feud, only recording a single win. Individually, Morales gained victories over Tony Nero and Tony Altimore, both of whom eventually teamed and lost to the Puerto Rican team.
He challenged and defeated Blassie by himself, but lost in a rematch. Morales wrestled Pat Patterson in two tag matches, losing along Rivera but winning with Gomez. The team with Rivera dissolved afterwards, with another teammate emerging in the figure of Antonio Pugliese. Both of Morales' teams managed to record a successful run against an assortment of teams that included different combinations of opponents such as Stan Stasiak, Tom Andrews, Blassie, Austin, Patterson and Ray Stevens among others. Meanwhile, in one-on-one competition he bested Ron Romano, Baron Mikel Scicluna, Rick Renaldo, The Rebel and won an eight-man battle royal. Morales closed the year by rejoining Gomez as a full-time partner, defeating the team of Blassie and The Great Malenko. To open 1968, he defeated The Peacher, The Rebel and Blassie, briefly rejoining Romero in a draw. Individually, Morales then entered a streak of draws, before rebounding with wins over Rick Renaldo, Rocky Montero, The Alaskan, Lou Anthony, Rocky Montero and The Masked Invader. Antonio Pugliese reappeared on May 4, 1968, only to drop the WWA World Tag Team Championship to The Medics. A week later, Morales and Gomez also lost the AWA World Tag Team Championship to Kinji Shibuya & Masa Saito, but regained them on June 8, 1968. Mil Máscaras became a new member of the team, whom he joined in winning a series against Jim Osborne and losing another to Blassie and Austin. Morales made a one-night appearance in Hawaii during the summer, besting Pat Patterson. Both of Morales teams began having mixed results, which brought in another winning streak as a single wrestler which included names such as Fritz Von Goering, Texas, Osborne, Lou Anthony, Rick Renaldo, Thunderbolt Patterson, Tony Romano, Rocky Montaro and The Masked Invader before being snapped by Blassie via disqualification. On November 7, 1968, Morales challenged Gene Kiniski for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but failed to win the match. He won his next match by defeating George Cannon, forming a brief partnership with Hahn Lee that only lasted during for a month. In his final matches for WWA, Morales defeated The Raider and El Mongol twice.
Now a full-time performer for Mid-Pacific Promotions in Hawaii, he quickly entered a successful run with victories over Dave Ruhl, Austin and Tank Morgan. This resulted in Morales defeating Curtis Iaukea for the Hawaii Heavyweight Championship on May 21, 1969, and Kiniski for the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship less than a month afterwards. During this timeframe he also teamed with several wrestlers, including Gomez, Don Leo Jonathon, Dory Dixon and Ed Francis. Morales went on to defeat Austin and Kiniski in rematches, interrupting this run by unsuccessfully challenging Pat Paterson for the NWA San Francisco United States Heavyweight Championship in California. On October 13, 1969, he added the Hawaii Tag Team Championship to his other titles along Francis, holding it for a couple of weeks. After defeating Rocky Montero and Gorilla Monsoon, Morales dropped the North American Championship to Curtis Iaukea on September 24, 1969. However, in his following appearance he recovered the Hawaii Tag Team titles with Francis. After successfully teaming with Bing Ki Lee on three consecutive cards, Morales recovered the North American belt from Iaukea on November 5, 1969. In the final events of the year, he defeated "The Original Sheik" Ed Farhat, got disqualified twice against Tank Morgan and wrestled Johhny Barend. Morales began 1970 by wrestling in a series against Jack Bence, which later involved Bing Ki Lee and Tank Morgan. After defeating both Bence and Morgan, he returned to his feud with Barend dropping the North American Heavyweight Championship on February 7, 1970. Morales recovered by winning a match over Mac MacFarland and teaming with Bing Ki Lee to win the Hawaii Tag Team Championship from Barend and Ripper Collins. The team was successful in their next encounter against Kinji Shibuya and Mitsu Arakawa. After defeating Barend in a stretcher match, Morales defeated Les Roberts and advanced to the second round of the Strelich Tournament, a single-knockdown competition for the Strelich Perpetual Trophy, with a win over Woody Farmer. However, a loss to Don Carson in the quarterfinals eliminated him from the event.
He made a brief return to California, partnering with Freddie Blassie, but the team lost a series against Don Carson and the Great Kojika. Back in Hawaii, Morales defeated Bad Boy Shields, Mr. Fujiwara, Les Roberts and Mac MacFarland, only losing a match to Kinji Shibuya, during the following couple of months. In late May, Hard Boiled Haggerty arrived to the promotion. This reignited their feud in two encounters that favored Morales, who won a tag team match and tied in singles. Stan Frazier and Tony Borne were the next opponents that he bested during the summer. On July 1, 1970, Morales and Bing Ki Lee lost the Hawaii Tag Team Championship to Barend and Billy Robinson. In his next appearance, he joined Sam Steamboat and Hahn Lee in a win over Barend, Killer Karl Kox and Ripper Collins. In another tour to California, Morales lost to Black Gordman by count out and defeated Don Serrano, also teaming with Rocky Johnson for the first time to wrestle the Great Kojika and John Tolos. He the got disqualified in a match against Barrend and tied with Kinji Shibuya. On August 5, 1970, Morales regained the North American Heavyweight Championship from Barend. He was then involved in a series of matches involving John Tolos, whom he defeated in a tag team competition but lost in singles. During the following two months, Morales recorded a series of draws in matches against Ripper Collins, Billy Robinson and Kinji Shibuya twice. After snapping this streak with a win over Abdullah the Butcher, he dropped the North American Heavyweight Championship to The Destroyer. In his final two matches in MPP, Morales bested Jack Armstrong in a three-fall match and lost a 4-on-4 against Collins, Barend and The Destroyer while teaming with Sam Steamboat, Billy Robinson, Frank Allman and Hahn Lee. Returning to California, Morales began by defeating El Lobo on several encounters, also scoring wins over The Texan and John Tolos before losing the final of a one-night tournament for the NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship to Tony Rocca. During his final months in the West Coast, he defeated Karl Heisinger and Billy Graham, also participating in several tag team matches along Rocca and Ray Mendoza.
===World Wide Wrestling Federation Championship===
Morales made his first appearance for the World Wide Wrestling Federation, now known as WWE, on November 21, 1970, by teaming with Chief Jay Strongbow in a draw against The Mongols, Newton Tattrie and Josip Peruzovic, as part of a one-night appearance. Now a full-time member of the WWWF roster, he joined Gorilla Monsoon the following month, scoring a win in a three-fall rematch. In his singles debut, Morales defeated Joe Turco. This was followed by wins over The Black Demon, "The Wolfman" Willie Farkas and Bulldog Brower during the following month. On January 7, 1971, Morales won the vacant WWWF United States Championship by defeating Blassie in a tournament final. A team-up with Gorilla Monsoon also took place in two draws involving The Mongols. On February 8, 1971, Morales defeated Ivan Koloff to win the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship only a month after winning his first individual title within the promotion. The move also vacated the United States Championship. This ignited a series of wins over the likes of Jack Evans and his previous opponents The Black Demon and Bulldog Brower. Subsequently, a series of victories in tag team matches involving Blackjack Mulligan evolved into a feud of single encounters, in which Morales won half a dozen events, before scoring two more team victories along Moonson. Meanwhile, The Wolfman and Bulldog Brower became recurrent enhancement talents during this run. Morales also scored wins over the likes of Beautiful Bobby and Tarzan Tyler, who eventually teamed up with Luke Graham, which turned into a double feud against both. Tyler, The Black Demon, Graham and The Beautiful Bobby were the opponents faced by him during a winning streak that extended throughout the summer. Different tag teams along Monsoon, Jay Strongbow and Manuel Soto experienced similar success. During August 1971, Morales scored several victories over Graham and Tyler, also besting them as a tag team and in a 3-on-3 match that included Lou Albano. However, in his final contest of the month he suffered a loss to Stan Stasiak. In September, Tyler and Graham brought in Jimmy Valiant as a teammate, which led to a series of matches including a win over him in a steel cage. On October 25, 1971, Morales defeated Stasiak in a Texas Death Match. The following month brought wins over Tyler and Valiant, but also included an encounter where he bested Freddie Blassie and a continuation of the feud against Stasiak during the second half. During this timeframe, Rivera joined Morales in the WWWF, becoming part of his usual partners along Monsoon and Strongbow. He closed 1971 by defeating Blassie in a “Roman Gladiator” match, Ray Stevens, Stan Stasiak twice and The Rugged Russians along Rivera.
First contender Blassie and Stasiak remained Morales' main rivals in the first two months of 1972, against whom he scored several draws and some wins. Graham, Valiant and Toru Tanaka served as enhancement talents. On February 18, 1972, Morales and Rivera defeated The Rugged Russians, continuing this parallel rivalry. March featured several different matchups, in which he emerged victorious against "Baron" Mikel Scicluna, Smasher Sloan and Rugged Russian #2, while consistently teaming with Rivera against Curtis Iaukea & Scicluna, both of whom he defeated individually throughout April. The following month feuds that ended in Morales earning several victories over Pampero Firpo, Tanaka, Iaukea and Albano. After disposing of Valiant, Graham, Scicluna and Graham again, the feud against Albano continued with wins in regular and steel cage matches. During June 1972, Morales also bested other notable opponents, including Nikita Mulkovitch, Blue Demon and Ernie Ladd. To continue this run, he defeated George Steele in New York. Following wins three wins over Tanaka and more against Firpo, Morales teamed with Sammartino on July 18, 1972, to face the former and Mr. Fuji. The match featured the two most popular wrestlers of the era, but finished in a no contest with both of the involved in a confrontation after Mr. Fuji threw salt in both of their faces, ensuing a fight. A rematch took place, this time in a team with Monsoon, but finished in a draw. Morales defeated both Tanaka and Mr. Fuji by countout and won the following two tag team matches. This was followed by a series involving Steele, Fuji, Ernie Ladd, Chuck O'Connor and "The Spoiler" Don Jardine, none of whom were able to gain an upper hand against him. On September 30, 1972, Morales faced Bruno Sammartino in the first-ever match featuring two fan favorite, technical wrestlers. The crowd favored him, despite Sammartino's large fan base in the city of New York. After 75 minutes of wrestling featuring several near-falls, the contest ended in a draw, when the city's curfew went in effect. Subsequently, both performers embraced, signifying the end of their rivalry and the reformation of the tag team. However, the lack of a resolution was not well received, the fans were noticeably angry, and some jumped into the dugouts to shake their fists at the wrestlers. The main event of the 1972 Showdown at Shea later became known as "The Match of the Century" and is still regarded as one of the best events in the history of professional wrestling. After scoring a win over The Spoiler, Morales joined Sammartino in a rematch against Tanaka and Mr. Fuji, this time emerging victorious in a three-fall contest.
This was followed with a rematch, this time teaming with André the Giant. The Spoiler remained Morales most common adversary during the following months, which resulted in wins over him and his partner, Buddy Wolfe. Other wrestlers to fail their attempts were Ernie Ladd, The Sheik and Ray Stevens. To close the year, Morales defeated Tanaka individually and in tag team action, before going on to defeat Wolfe on several occasions. On December 2, 1972, he rejoined Rivera in a win. During the first months of 1973, Morales bested Mr. Fuji, Buddy Wolfe and Lonnie Mayne, as well as Hans Schmidt, Lonnie Mayne and Curtis Iaukea. He also teamed along Moonson, Bobo Brazil and Strongbow. A feud with Mayne went on to include a steel cage match. A series against Freddie Blassie concluded with three singles wins for Morales, also including a tag team contest. Throughout April and May, he successfully faced a number of recycled adversaries, including Mayne, Wolfe and Tanaka, along wins over new ones such as Don Leo Jonathan and Mike McCord. Morales also defeated Blassie twice, including a steel cage match. Throughout the summer, he performed mostly as a singles wrestler, gathering wins over Toru Tanaka, Paul Jones, Lonnie Mayne, Jonathan, McCord and George Steele facing them repeatedly in cyclical fashion. This trend was broken with the arrival of August, when Morales bested other figures including Blackjack Lanza and Stan Stasiak. During the month of September 1973, he was placed over Ib Solvang Hansen, McCord, Steele and Fuji. Morales went on to win a series against Lanza and a Texas Death Match involving Stasiak, before having Fuji serve as enhancement talent for the following weeks. On November 2, 1973, he made an appearance in AWA, winning a three-fall contest over Ray Stevens. Morales worked an angle with the then-villain Larry Hennig, besting him in singles. He followed this by entering a feud with Stasiak which featured mixed results, but concluded with him dropping the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship on December 1, 1973. Morales' title run lasted 1,027 days, remaining to this date the longest reign by any Latino and the fifth longest overall. His reign was featured in independent film The Wrestler, where footage of him was shown while two characters remarked "Morales... Eastern league champion. And he is young. He sure is good..." as part of a discussion of dangerous adversaries that could be possible opponents for an aging wrestler. Following this, he returned in two tag team matches, before defeating Stasiak twice in three rematches. One of these matches was promoted by Sponsham wrestling and held at Roberto Clemente Coliseum. Morales remained successful as a singles wrestler, gathering wins over Fuji, Eddie Sullivan, Otto Von Heller, Johnny Rodz and Black Gordman during the first half of 1974. During the second half of the year, he bested Nikolai Volkoff and Strong Kobayashi, before exchanging results in a long-running feud against Killer Kowalski. In his final phase of this run for the promotion, Morales was victorious over Butcher Vachon, wrestling his final match on March 1, 1975
===NWA San Francisco and Florida Tag Team Champion===
Four days later, Morales returned to California wrestling for the NWA's San Francisco territory. Despite now serving mainly as a tag team performer along Manny Cruz, Raul Mata, Pat Patterson, Cowboy Lang and The Haitian Kid among others, he also remained a singles attraction, gathering wins over Ricky Hunter, The Brute and winning a feud over Kurt Von Brauner during the following two months. Morales began the summer by teaming with Patterson n a consistent basis, sometimes alternating to include Peter Maivia, Don Muraco or a random wrestler. Their main opponents during this timeframe were The Invaders, against whom they exchanged results, with Morales and Patterson winning the NWA San Francisco World Tag Team Championship on October 29, 1975. Immediately afterwards, they became involved in a series against Don Muraco and Mr. Saito that lasted for the remainder of the year and from which they emerged with the best balance. To begin the following year, Mr. Saito and The Invaders were included in the feud, teaming with Muraco and Fuji on alternate events. The rivalry eventually shifted to singles competition, where Morales defeated Muraco on three dates before losing once. To close this run, he lost a contest to The Great Fuji by being counted out. Morales made two appearances in St. Louis, winning two tag team matches and defeating Ox Baker individually. On October 30, 1976, he joined the AWA roster as a full-time performer. Returning to his former singles pace, Morales went on to immediately enter an undefeated streak over Bobby Jones, Moose Morowski, Buddy Wolff, Frankie Hill, Baron Von Raschke, Vito Martino, Ray Stevens, Pierre Poisson, Blackjack Lanza, Puppy Dog Peloquin, Rodeo Jones, Roger Kirby, Ray Stevens, Joe Carlos and Frankie Hill to close the year. To open 1977, he continued to trend in matches including Tom DeMarco, Mike Soma, Mad Dog Vachon, Baron Von Raschke, Poisson, Bobby Duncum, Moose Morowski and Jim Brunzell, also winning a battle royale and drawing in a series against The Super Destroyer. His streak continued the following month, this time over Bob Arnel and The Strangler, going on to include matchups against the opponents that he had already defeated. The feud with The Super Destroyer resumed shortly afterwards, this time ending with another draw and two wins for Morales. A rivalry with Nick Bockwinkel also took place in parallel, recording a no contest and a victory. After briefly teaming with Peter Maivia, Morales defeated Armando Rodriguez and entered a series against Alfred Hayes, which ended with a balance of five wins, two losses and two draws. Afterwards, he recorded mixed results in several contests against The Super Destroyer.
In what marked the final stage of this AWA run, Morales continued defeating jobbers Mike York, Kenny Jay and The Strangler, but began losing more often to talent that he had bested earlier including Nick Bockwinkel and others such as Angelo Mosca. After migrating to Championship Wrestling from Florida, he immediately emerged victorious from a rivalry with Pat Patterson. In this territory, Morales’ tag team with Johnson became more active and defeated the team of Patterson & Ivan Koloff on five consecutive encounters. A second one along Don Muraco was not as successful, experiencing mixed results, but also winning more often than losing. During this timeframe, Morales also faced “Superstar” Billy Graham and Lars Anderson on a regular basis. On October 8, 1977, Morales unsuccessfully challenged Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.[36] Afterwards, Koloff joined Mr. Saito as his main partner in the ongoing team feud, but both of the combinations with Johnson and Muraco were able to best them. Morales then teamed twice with Dusty Rhodes in a draw and a win against Lars Anderson & Killer Karl Kox, also teaming with Muraco one last time to defeat Koloff and Saito. On December 6, 1977, Morales wrestled Race for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, failing to win the belt. The following night he faced Race, Dick Murdoch, Baron Von Krupp and Mr. Sakuruda for the title, but was disqualified. To close the year, Morales earned singles victories over Buddy Roberts and Tank Patton. His team along Johnson opened the year by winning their first two matches, going on to defeat Koloff and Saito to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship on January 24, 1978. Concurrently, Morales wrestled Anderson and divided honors in a series which included a win in the Super Bowl of Wrestling. A feud with Killer Karl Kox ended in individual and team losses, a streak which ended costing them the titles. After recovering with wins over Koloff and Saito, Morales and Johnson regained the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship on February 14, 1978. This reign was short, lasting only two weeks before dropping them to Saito and Mr. Sato. Morales then wrestled several singles matches, defeating Killer Karl Kox, Bobby Dumcum, Saito, Bob Roop, Jack Ruggers and Charlie Cook, dividing contests with Dick Slater and losing to Koloff. This was followed by three new partners, Tiger Conway, Jr., along whom he won four consecutive bouts, Joe Azzari, which led to two losses, and Jerry Brisco, who wrestled with him in two draws.
On May 5, 1978, Morales returned to Puerto Rico for one night and teamed with Rivera. Afterwards, Ron Mikolajczyk became a recurrent teammate, mostly in matches involving Butch Bronson and a chosen partner. During the following months, Morales scored wins over Len Denton, Butch Cassidy, Rick Oliver and Sir Winston, but lost to Killer Karl Kox, Dick Slater and The Spoilers. On June 23, 1978, he made a tour to New Japan Pro Wrestling, but only participated in tag matches. This was followed by a visit to Kansas, where Morales defeated Alex Perez and lost to Jesse Ventura. In October, he toured Germany, with a win over Amet Chong and losses to Kublai Khan. On November 11, 1978, Morales made a one night visit to California, teaming with Chavo Guerrero, Sr. in a win over Eddie Mansfield and The Grappler. The following year, he began making appearances in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. His first partner became Skip Young, along whom he managed to gain mixed results in matches involving Moose Morowski, John Studd and Baron Von Raschke among others. In singles competition, Morales defeated Mr. X #1, Brute Bernard and Morowski. A secondary teammate, Les Thornton, joined him in several victories, while Abe Jacobs and Johnny Weaver teamed occasionally. Eventually, Jay Youngblood became Morales's main partner, recording a winning streak while he also teamed with several other wrestlers including Cocoa Samoa, Tiger Jeet Singh and Bob Marcus with similar success. However, as a single performer he lost matches to Nick Bockwinkel, Len Denton and Killer Karl Kox, also failing to advance in a tournament for the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship. His victories during this timeframe were over Brute Bernard, Rudy Kay and Charlie Fulton. On November 8, 1979, Morales returned to NJPW, besting Kengo Kimura, Kuniaki Kobayashi, drawing with Tatsumi Fujinami and losing to Antonio Inoki. He also teamed with Singh and Bob Backlund in wins that included both Fujinami and Inoki, but lost along Greg Valentine in return matches. To open the following year, Morales relocated to Canada, where he defeated David Patterson, Mr. X #1, The Scorpion, Doug Somers and Brute Bernard, but lost a series to Ox Baker in alternate dates at South and North Carolina. In his final matches within the NWA circuit, Morales earned wins over Billy Starr, Frankie Laine and The Destroyer, both in singles and tag team matches.
===First WWF Triple Crown Champion, Capitol Sports Promotions===
On May 6, 1980, Morales returned to the renamed World Wrestling Federation, eventually forming a tag team with Bob Backlund. They became the No. 1 contenders for the WWF World Tag Team Championship, held by the Wild Samoans, and at the Showdown at Shea event, Morales and Backlund defeated the Samoans in two straight falls to win the tag team championship. However, they had to forfeit the belts the same night, due to a rule stating that no heavyweight champion could hold a second title at the same time. Shortly thereafter, Morales returned to singles competition and became engaged in a feud with WWF Intercontinental Champion Ken Patera. Patera initially held back Morales' challenge, including a double-disqualification during a televised match in October 1980 at Madison Square Garden. However, Morales eventually pinned Patera on December 8, 1980 at Madison Square Garden, becoming the first WWF wrestler to win the Triple Crown Championship, which along his United States Championship reign also meant holding all of the promotion's titles during his era, a recognition that only he held for almost two decades. (The match, which was not televised, took place on the same night John Lennon was shot and killed.)
As the new champion, Morales was successful in rematches against Patera, and also feuded with Sgt. Slaughter, Larry Zbyszko, the Hangman, Killer Khan and Angelo Mosca; he also met future WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan, defeating him by count out at a house show in Worchester, Massachusetts. In the spring of 1981, he was challenged by a newcomer, The Magnificent Muraco, who vowed to defeat Morales and become the new champion. On June 20, 1981, at the Philadelphia Spectrum, Muraco used a foreign object to knock out Morales and win the championship. Morales and Muraco engaged in a series of rematches, with Morales usually winning by disqualification. After a bloody double-disqualification match earlier in the fall of 1981, the two agreed to a Texas Death Match on November 23, 1981, at Madison Square Garden for the title; toward the end of the match, Muraco attempted to hit Morales with a pair of brass knuckles, but Morales ducked, hit Muraco in the stomach to cause the champion to drop the knuckles, and Morales hit Muraco with the foreign object to regain the Intercontinental Championship and, In doing so, become the first two-time holder of that title.
After defeating Muraco in a series of rematches, Morales' main foe during 1982 was future Intercontinental Champion Greg Valentine; other foes included Adrian Adonis, Mr. Fuji, Mr. Saito, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, "Playboy" Buddy Rose and former WWF Champion "Superstar" Billy Graham. In late 1982, Muraco – who had briefly left the WWF – returned, vowing to recapture the Intercontinental Championship. Their feud resumed, and on January 22, 1983, at Madison Square Garden, Morales dropped the Intercontinental Championship to Muraco. He was unsuccessful in a series of rematches, only able to get a few disqualification wins over Muraco, and in April 1983, he began a tour in his native Puerto Rico performing for Capitol Sports Promotions (CSP), now known as the World Wrestling Council, challenging Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in his first appearance.
Later in 1983, Morales returned to CSP joining Carlos Colón, Sr. to win the CSP World Tag Team Championship over The Medics. On June 25, 1983, he defeated Buddy Landel to add the CSP North American Heavyweight Championship, holding the championship until September 10 when Morales and Colón lost the titles to the Medics. He and Sweet Daddy Siki began feuding in later 1983, trading the North American Heavyweight Championship before losing the belt for good to Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
Morales returned to the WWF in 1985, where he wrestled primarily lower- to mid-card matches, although he and Tito Santana did team to challenge The Dream Team (Valentine and Brutus Beefcake), and had several matches against Savage, who was by now the Intercontinental Champion. His high-profile matches in 1986 included his participation in the 20-man invitational WWF vs. NFL Players Battle Royal at WrestleMania 2 (his only WrestleMania appearance as a competitor), and a match against Harley Race at The Big Event, losing by pinfall. He wrapped up his in-career in 1987, teaming with Danny Spivey in an ultimately unsuccessful march for the World Tag Team Championship, losing to Rick Martel and Tom Zenk., an unsuccessful challenge to The Honky Tonk Man for the Intercontinental Champion and making a final in-ring appearance by participating in a battle royal held on November 16, 1987. Despite his in-ring appearances becoming less frequent, Morales was still seen occasionally on camera, including his attempt to stop The Islanders (Haku and Tama) from beating down Santana, but also getting beat up; and – as a WWF official – making André the Giant return to the ring to face Hacksaw Jim Duggan during a match at the Boston Garden in 1988, when André attempted to walk out.
==Retirement and legacy==
Following his retirement from the squared circle, Morales became a commentator for WWF's Spanish-language programming, the first time that a Puerto Rican performed this duty for an international promotion. He returned to this role working for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) during the 1990s, narrating WCW Monday Nitro and pay per views along Miguel Alonzo. This accomplishment has since been mimicked by Jack Meléndez and Willie Urbina. Morales has made few wrestling related appearances since his WCW days, the most recent being autograph signings in fan conventions, the first instance was at Wrestling Reunion III held in 2005 and the second at Wrestling Reunion 5 held in 2007, where he was reunited with Sammartino. Despite living a low profile life following his retirement, he has been the inspiration for homages and mentions throughout the decades that followed. Morales was not involved with the pro wrestling due to the way that it has changed over the years. A self-proclaimed "old school" wrestler, he was not interested in the overselling of gimmicks and spectacle that is seen in modern professional wrestling, despite admitting the economic success of the "sports entertainment" formula. Morales was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame as part the 1995 class. Professional wrestling critics and purists have discussed his contributions to the discipline in widespread publications. Tomás Marín Rodríguez "El Martillo", part of a group led by José Antonio Geigel and one of the founding members of the first promotion in Puerto Rico, expressed in an interview that he considers Morales the best Puerto Rican wrestler in history. Marín considered that both his in-ring style and chivalry made him "unique" among performers. Terry Funk, Stan Hansen, Greg Valentine and Magnificent Muraco have expressed having enjoyed working matches with Morales. Fernwood Gold III and Thor Jensen of UGO Networks listed him as the 36th best face wrestler in history, noting how he appealed to the fanbase in New York. His run as the first Latin American Intercontinental Champions is universally lauded. Bill Barnwell of IGN Sports also included Morales in the site's list of Top Intercontinental Champions, placing him in the sixth slot. Jeremy Thomas of 411.com ranked him fifth as part of a debate among the website's staff. In a similar discussion held at Slam! Sports, writer Greg Oliver considered him the best wrestler to hold the belt, stating that when "he held the title, there was a sense of honor and pride with it." WWE itself ranks Morales in the ninth spot in the "Intercontinental Champions" entry of their Top 25 series. The promotion mentions being the first wrestler to win the title twice and holding it for a combined record of over 600 days, more than any other wrestler, as merits for this recognition. WWE also included him in a compendium titled "Top 50 Good Guys in Wrestling History", which featured wrestlers that performed as fan favorites during their careers.
Outside of the WWE, he received recognition as a Latin American and Hispanic pioneer in other promotions. In mid 1996, Morales appeared at an event of the short lived American Wrestling Federation, in the championship match between Bob Orton, Jr. and Tito Santana, along with other superstars and legends like Sgt. Slaughter, Chris Adams, and special guest referee Jim Brunzell. On August 31, 2006, as part of a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling taping, Morales was mentioned by Konnan along fellow Hall of Famers Carlos Colón, Mil Máscaras and the Guerrero family, being acknowledged as Latinos that paved the way within the wrestling industry. This was part of an in-character celebratory speech following The Latin American Xchange's coronation as NWA World Tag Team Champions. In reality, Konnan credits him with "teaching a lot" about the politics of wrestling and "the things you need to do in the ring to be a success in this business" during his time in WCW. From 2003 onwards, the World Wrestling Council approached Morales and offered holding an Aniversario event in his honor, but he declined the invitations for ten years. In 2013, Morales accepted being the honoree of Aniversario 40. He was the centerpiece of the International Pedro Morales Fan Club, an independent organization that ran during the 1970s and that recruited members through wrestling magazines. In 2000, The Ring Chronicle inducted Morales into its own version of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Modern fan reaction has also been positive in regards to the historical significance of his accomplishments. Besides the wrestling and sports media, the mun2 network also featured Morales in an article that listed their selection for the "20 of the most memorable Latino wrestlers in WWE history" which was published in 2012. When compiling a list based on the wrestler's impact on the Puerto Rican fanbase", Raúl Álzaga of Primera Hora listed him third overall.
==Personal life==
Morales was born in the municipality of Culebra, an island extending eleven square miles located off the shore of Puerto Rico's main island. He was a member of a large family, with 85 cousins just on his mother's side. Morales once claimed that sixty five percent of Culebra's population had some bloodline connection to him. He was raised in Culebra throughout his childhood and remained there until reaching his adolescence, when his mother sent him to live with an aunt in Brooklyn, New York to finish his high school education. It was there that one of his sister's friends introduced him to the members of a wrestling club, quickly earning an interest. After practicing in his school and at a local YMCA, Morales debuted as an amateur wrestler at the age of 13, competing in the 160 lb division. In New York he also became a professional wrestling fan, witnessing Miguel Pérez, Sr.'s run as one half of the only undefeated NWA Capitol (WWWF's predecessor) World Tag Team Champions along Antonino Rocca. Since early in his life, Morales had displayed aptitude for athletic competitions, mostly focusing in the practice of baseball. When he was 16 years old, he was selected in the Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico's (now known as Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente) first year draft by the Leones de Ponce. However, due to living outside of Puerto Rico he declined the opportunity. Instead, Morales elected to train in order to become a professional wrestler, in the process gaining twenty pounds. A year later, his father signed the documentation required by the New York State Athletic Commission in order to begin his career as an underage performer.
He married his wife Karen in 1966, continuing this relationship throughout his wrestling career and afterwards. The couple has a son, Pedro Morales, Jr. born in 1974. Due to the nature of his work, Morales had lived in over a dozen cities throughout his career, including some time in Japan. However, when his son was about to start kindergarten, the family bought a house in Central New Jersey. His wife, a teacher herself, began working at Avenel Street Elementary School. After concluding his participation in WCW, Morales permanently settled in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey where he adopted gardening as a hobby, cultivating tomatoes in his personal garden. Due to working during a time where the ring featured no methods of protection, Morales suffered several injuries that continued to linger after his career was over, limiting the amount of physical exercise that he was capable of doing. However, he remained a frequent visitor to The Club, a gym located in Woodbridge. Despite being a resident of this area, he continued to travel frequently to Puerto Rico, visiting the archipelago multiple times per year. In 2003, he expressed interest in returning to live permanently in a coastal town near the Caribbean Sea once his wife retired. However, this did not materialize. An advanced case of Parkinson's disease prevented him from traveling to Puerto Rico.
On February 12, 2019 Morales would pass away from Parkinson's disease at the age of 76.
==In wrestling==
*Finishing moves
:*Boston Crab
:*Caribbean Cannonball (Senton)
*Signature moves
:*Rotating punch to the stomach
:*Backbreaker
:*Caribbean Lift (Running Knee lift)
*Managers
:*Gorilla Monsoon
*Tag teams and stables
:*Bob Backlund & Pedro Morales
*Wrestlers trained
:*Gypsy Joe
==Championships and accomplishments==
*Championship Wrestling From Florida
**NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**NWA Florida Television Championship (1 time)
**NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Rocky Johnson
*World Wrestling Council
**WWC Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Carlos Colón
*World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation
**WWWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**WWWF United States Championship (1 time)
**WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)
**WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Bob Backlund
**Triple Crown Champion
==External links==
* WWE.com Profile
* Profile
Category:American wrestlers
Category:Championship Wrestling From Florida alumni
Category:Georgia Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:Jim Crockett Promotions alumni
Category:Maple Leaf Wrestling alumni
Category:New Japan Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:NWA Hollywood Wrestling alumni
Category:World Wrestling Council alumni
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni
Category:1942 births
Category:WWE Champions
Category:WWE Intercontinental Champions
Category:1958 debuts
Category:1987 retirements
Category:WWE Triple Crown champions
Category:Pacific Northwest Wrestling alumni
Category:National Wrestling Alliance alumni
Category:American Wrestling Association alumni
Category:All Japan Pro Wrestling alumni
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Category:WWE World Tag Team Champions
Category:Male wrestlers
Category:2019 deaths
Category:Wrestlers who have died
Category:Puerto Rican wrestlers