Wild Bull Curry

**Fred Thomas Koury Sr.** (May 2, 1913 – March 8, 1985), best known under his ring name **”Wild Bull” Curry**, was an American professional wrestler of Lebanese descent. He is recognized as the originator of the hardcore style, predating legends such as The Sheik, Abdullah the Butcher, and Bruiser Brody.

## Professional wrestling career

Born on May 2, 1913, at the age of sixteen, Curry left high school and joined the circus in order to help provide for his four brothers and sisters. His job at the circus was that of the “tough man” who took on all comers from the audience in a fight. He had 65 straight wins without anyone going past one 5-minute round.

In 1939, Curry joined the Hartford Police Department, where he put his “tough man” background to good use in the streets, quickly earning him a reputation for toughness. It has been claimed that on one occasion, a wild steer bull broke out of the Hartford stockyard and ran wild in the streets.

Curry grabbed the bull by the horns and managed to wrestle it to the ground, however, it is likely this was in fact nothing more than a fictional story created by wrestling promoters to give a reason for his nickname of “Wild Bull” that stuck with him for the rest of his life.

In the 1940s, Curry began wrestling in Detroit under promoter Adam Weissmuller. While there, Curry developed his brutal, hardcore style of wrestling that made him a top name in the territory. In July 1940, Curry faced professional boxer Jack Dempsey in an exhibition match. Years later, Curry would often claim that he knocked Dempsey out in the match, but he was stopped in the second round.

Bull Curry's trademark was his “wildman” look with bushy eyebrows, maniacal facial expressions and insane eyes that could scare the crowd just by looking at them. In one case, he scared a girl at ringside so badly she had to be carried from the ring in terror. This wild look, coupled with his wild brawling style, made Curry one of the most disliked heels in wrestling. Other wrestlers also refused to work with Curry as they felt he seldom showed the effects of their offense. He was so hated in places that riots broke out more than once as irate fans attacked Curry in the ring:

* 1955: A match between Curry and Ray McIntyre resulted in more than a 140 fans being taken to the hospital after a riot broke out.
* 1956: Curry was jumped by a fan who was displeased with Curry's brutal treatment of local star George Becker. Curry broke the fan's jaw with a single punch.
* 1958: During a match with Pepper Gomez in Galveston, Texas, a fan struck Bull Curry with an iron pipe. Curry chased the fan out of the ring, catching up with him in the balcony where he beat him up.
* 1968: While wrestling Emile Dupreé in Worcester, Massachusetts, a fan jumped in the ring and jumped on Curry's back. Curry punched the fan so hard that he was reportedly unconscious for two days.
* Year unknown: During a match in Texas, Curry got a bucket of yellow paint dumped over his head by a fan.

In the early part of the 1950s, Bull Curry relocated to Texas, where his combination of unpredictable violence, unique look and intensity made him a star more or less immediately upon arrival. Curry's brawling style made him a success but it also kept the promoters from giving him the “main” title of the territory despite being the biggest draw in the territory. Instead of letting Curry win the top title of the Texas territory, the bookers created a brand new title to match his hardcore style of wrestling: the NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship, which he personified.

On March 6, 1953, Bull Curry won the NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship for the first time in a tournament final over Danny McShain. He held the title untill Duke Keomuka dethroned him on November 17. He would also hold the title in 1954 and 1955, respectively. On February 21, 1956, Curry officially regained the title from McShain, until March 19, when he dropped it to Don Evans. He regained the title from Evans just a week later until El Medico beat him on November 23. 1957 would also see Curry hold the championship until he dropped it on July 25 of that year to Keomuka. He once again held the title in January 1958 after beating Stu Gibson but lost it in March to Danny McShain. He regained the title from McShain not long after this and lost it on April 15 to Fritz Von Erich. He regained the title from Von Erich on June 17 before losing it back to Gibson on July 14.

On April 17, 1959, Curry would win back the Brass Knuckles title by defeating Joe "Killer" Christie, until June 2, when he held up the championship after a match with The Golden Giant, who would win a rematch for the title a week later. On December 18, Curry defeated McShain to win back the title, holding it until June 13, 1960, when he lost to Tony Borne. He won the title back on December 10 from Danny McShain. He also held the title in 1962 but lost it that year on March 13 to Jack Dalton. Luckily for Curry, he would win the title back just a week later. He lost the title to Dalton on April 3 but again regained it from him on May 15, until losing the championship on December 10 to Tony Borne. He won the title again later that month and held it until January 4, 1963, when he once again lost to Borne. He regained the title on January 21 from Borne.

After losing the title to Rock Hunter on February 3, Curry would win back the title around March, losing it on the 18th that month to Louie Tillet. On November 15, he gained payback by defeating Tillet to win back the title, until dropping it sometime later to Stan "The Man" Stasiak. He won the title back on the 28th, however, he lost it back to Tillet in 1964. He also held the title again that year but lost it on July 31. During this time, he was involved in a series of matches with Killer Karl Kox. They would trade the belt several times in August.

Curry won the title back in November, defeating Frank Shields, until losing it back to Kox on February 21, 1965, but regained it in May. September 1967 saw him have another reign with the championship until he was dethroned a short time later by Brute Bernard. Bull Curry's last recorded reign with the NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship came on August 22, 1969, however, it was vacant by Feburary 1970 after he failed to defend within 6 months.

Also in 1953, Curry would briefly hold the Texas version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Lucas Pertano, as well as the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship for three weeks.

Bull Curry's son Fred Thomas Koury, Jr. would later start wrestling as "Flying" Fred Curry. Unlike his father, Fred was a clean cut, high flying face, but the two Currys teamed up on a regular basis. On July 20, 1964, the two won the NWA International Tag Team Championship from Karl and Kurt Von Stroheim and held it until February 1966, as well as beating Nikolai and Boris Volkoff for the Ohio version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Fred's eventual attempts to get out of his father's shadow never caused any problems between the two Currys.

Bull retired from wrestling in 1979 and worked as a corrections officer; specifically, he was appointed as sheriff at the Hartford Superior Court.

## Death

Koury died on March 8, 1985, at the age of 71, from liver disease at University Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Bull Curry earned the Cauliflower Alley Club's Posthumous Award in 2004 and was inducted into the New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013.