Mario Milano

Mario Bulfone (May 15, 1935 – December 9, 2016), better known by his ring name Mario Milano was an Italian professional wrestler. Milano got his start in wrestling in Venezuela and later competed in the United States and Australia.
==Career==
===Early career===
Bulfone began wrestling in Caracas, Venezuela at age 18. A curfew prohibited anyone under 19 from being out after 9 o'clock, so he had to hide his identity to avoid trouble with the police. He wore a mask and wrestled as Black Diablo. After he turned 20, he wrestled without the mask under his real name.
===Tennessee===
Bulfone moved to the United States to wrestle. A promoter felt that Americans would be unable to remember his name, so he gave Bulfone the name Mario Milano, naming him after Milan, Italy. He lived in Nashville, Tennessee, where he competed for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He won his first championship, the Mid-America version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship, on November 5, 1963. After holding the title belts for one month, they dropped them to Tojo Yamamoto and Ivan Malenkov but regained them the following day.
On March 2, 1965, Milano teamed with Fargo to win the Mid-America version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship. He also teamed with Len Rossi to win the Mid-America version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship five more times.
===Australia===
In 1967, Milano was offered a three-month stint wrestling in Australia for promoter James Barnett. His stay was then extended, after which he was offered a contract and moved to Australia permanently. Wrestling in the Australian World Championship Wrestling promotion, he teamed with Red Bastien to win the IWA World Tag Team Championship three times that year. He also had two reigns in 1967 as IWA World Heavyweight Champion after defeating Killer Kowalski and Ripper Collins.
He uses the finisher Atomic Drop and did an angle where used it on a 400-pound wrestler.
Mario appeared on Australian TV for IWA (International Wrestling Australia) on their series Main Event Wrestling on the Aurora/Foxtel cable channel in 2008. He featured in 6 shows in an angle with resident heel champion Mark Mercedes.
==Personal life==
Mario Bulfone was born in Trieste, Italy and later moved to Venezuela. He now lives in Australia. Bulfone has five children.
Mario Milano/Bulfone father of Vittorio Bulfone and grandfather of Natalie and Liam Bulfone.
==In wrestling==
*Finishing moves
**Atomic Drop
*Signature moves
**Abdominal stretch
**Headbutt
==Championships and accomplishments==
*NWA Mid-America
:*NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (7 times) - with Jackie Fargo (2) and Len Rossi (5)
:*NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (1 time) - with Jackie Fargo
*World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
:*IWA World Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
:*IWA World Tag Team Championship (10 times) - with Red Bastien (3), Billy White Wolf (1), Antonio Pugliese (1), Dominic DeNucci (1), The Spoiler (1), Waldo Von Erich (1), Spiros Arion (1) and Mark Lewin (1) (Most reigns)
:* NWA Austra-Asian Brass Knuckles Championship (5 times)
:* NWA Austra-Asian Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
:* NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Bugsy McGraw (1) and Larry O'Dea (1)
==External links==
* Profile
*Archived profile at Professional Championship Wrestling Entertainment
Category:Italian wrestlers
Category:World Class Wrestling Association alumni
Category:National Wrestling Alliance alumni
Category:All Japan Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni
Category:Real Deal Wrestling alumni
Category:Pro Wrestling ZERO1 alumni
Category:New Wrestling Generation alumni
Category:Valparaiso Lucha Libre alumni
Category:1935 births
Category:1953 debuts
Category:1986 retirements
Category:Male wrestlers
Category:2016 deaths
Category:Wrestlers who have died