Danny Hodge

**Daniel Allen Hodge** (May 13, 1932 – December 24, 2020) was an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and boxer. He is renowned for his wrestling career, where he competed both as an amateur and professional. A three-time NCAA champion, a middleweight Olympic silver medallist and a seven-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, Hodge is widely considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.

## Life and career

### Early life

Daniel Allen Hodge was born on May 13, 1932. He was the son of an alcoholic father and a mother who dealt with severe depression. Hodge picked cotton and plucked chickens in his early years.

His home burned down when he was 9, and his mother suffered severe burns over 70 percent of her body, necessitating blood transfusions. He was raised by his grandfather in later years.

### Amateur wrestling

At Perry High School in Oklahoma, Hodge won the 165-pound title at the state tournament in 1951.

As a collegiate wrestler for the University of Oklahoma, Hodge was undefeated at 46–0, with 36 pins and reportedly was never taken off his feet during his collegiate career. He was a three-time Big Seven conference champ at 177 pounds (1955–1957), and won the 177-pound title at the NCAA championships those same three years, pinning all three of his finals opponents. (Hodge is only one of two three-time NCAA Division I champs to have done that, the other being Oklahoma A&M's Earl McCready in 1928–1930.) He is the only amateur wrestler to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

His reputation as a high school wrestler preceded him when he joined the Navy in 1951. At Ames in April 1952, Hodge survived the US Olympic Trials, and was coached by Naval Academy Instructor Ray Swartz in the 174-pound division. At the Helsinki Olympics, Hodge was defeated by USSR's David Cimakuridze. Going into May 1956 wrestling trials for US Olympic team, Hodge was middleweight favorite. He was eliminated on May 2 by William Smith.

Smith was embroiled in controversy with the Central AAU and Hodge was his substitute. After two Olympics appearances, Hodge placed 5th in 1952, and won the silver medal in 1956, in Melbourne, Australia after being defeated at the final by Bulgarian Nikola Stanchev. The Dan Hodge Trophy, named after him, is the amateur wrestling equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

### Professional wrestling

Trained by Leroy McGuirk and Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Hodge made his debut as a professional wrestler in October 1959. Hodge's first major feud was with National Wrestling Alliance Junior Heavyweight Champion Angelo Savoldi. Hodge's rivalry with Savoldi led to a bizarre event.

Hodge's father entered the ring during a boxing match on May 27, 1960, between Hodge and Savoldi, and stabbed Savoldi with a penknife. Savoldi required 70 stitches at a local hospital, while Hodge's father was arrested. On July 22, 1960, Hodge defeated Savoldi for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship at the Stockyards Coliseum in Oklahoma City. Hodge became McGuirk's principal headliner, and by 1962, Hodge was making upwards of $80,000 a year.

Hodge was a perennial NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, holding the title eight times for a total of over ten years, longer than anyone else. After holding the title for over four years, he eventually dropped the title to longtime rival Hiro Matsuda.

Six months later, he defeated Matsuda to regain the title. He held the belt for several months until he lost it to Lorenzo Parente; they both continuously lost and regained the title in the span of a year during their feud. After Parente lost the belt to Hodge again, Hodge held the belt for another four months until eventually losing it to Sputnik Monroe on July 13, 1970.

Once again regaining the title a few months later, Hodge found himself as an ex-champion again when he eventually faced "Nature Boy" Roger Kirby. He was separated from the title until he defeated Dr. X, who was holding the title, and Hodge held his title once again for two more years before being upset by Ken Mantell on December 19, 1973. Mantell eventually lost the title to Hiro Matsuda, Hodge's rival. Matsuda eventually faced Hodge again and lost, where Hodge defeated him for the championship on March 2, 1976.

### Car accident and retirement years

On March 5, 1976, from which caused his retirement from professional wrestling, and just three days after defeating rival Matsuda for the championship, Hodge was driving his car when he fell asleep at the wheel causing him to crash through a bridge and into a lake. The car flipped, and the crash broke his neck and shattered his teeth upon impact. Hodge was able to escape by punching out his car window and safely swimming back to shore. On September 1, 1983, Hodge returned to the ring facing against SWCW USA Junior Heavyweight Champion Eric Embry which Embry won.

In 2007, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. He made appearances in WWE on *Raw* in 2005 and 2012 in which he honored fellow Oklahoman Jim Ross.

WWE Hall of Famer and seven-time world champion Bret Hart has referred to Hodge as "one of the greatest wrestlers in pro wrestling or amateur wrestling there’s ever been", and described being in the same room as Hodge at the 2008 National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum's award ceremony as "a big, big honor for me".

On March 29, 2005, Hodge was honored by Oklahoma state lawmakers as an "Oklahoma Sports Hero". He served as chairman of the Oklahoma Professional Boxing Commission, which regulates professional boxing, wrestling, and mixed martial arts in Oklahoma. There is a statue in his honor at the Perry Wrestling Monument Park in Oklahoma, unveiled in 2016.

## Death

Hodge died at the age of 88 on December 24, 2020. He made fewer appearances in public as it was announced that he suffered from dementia in his later years, starting in 2018.