John Minton (February 19, 1948 —- March 20, 1995) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Big John Studd. He was born and raised in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Career

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Big John Studd was trained by wrestling legend Killer Kowalski. Together Studd and Kowalski, as the masked Executioners, would win the WWWF Tag Team titles in 1976.

After leaving the WWWF Studd would become known as "Chuck O'Connor", "Captain USA" & "The Masked Superstar II" at certain points in the Mid-Atlantic. In 1978 Studd teamed with Ken Patera to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Titles.

Studd would also make the occasional trips to Canada to wrestle in Emile Dupre's Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling.

On May 25, 1980, Masked Superstar II was unmasked after a match with Blackjack Mulligan in Toronto. After this Studd was brought into Florida by J.J. Dillon and feuded with Dusty Rhodes, Barry Windham, (the son of Blackjack Mulligan), and Sweet Brown Sugar.

Studd, who was a heel at this point, had a gimmick of bringing a stretcher to the ring as he would beat his opponents so bad they'd be taken out on the stretcher.

Early on in 1982 Studd gained several unsuccessful title shots at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which was held by "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair at the time. This was Studd's most legendary feud until the mid-1980's, when he rejoined the WWF and feuded with André the Giant. The feud would reach its high point at the original WrestleMania, when Studd and André had a $15,000 bodyslam challenge match, which André won. Because of Studd's enormous stature he was one of the few wrestlers that could compare to the size of André in the ring, which was one of the reasons why their feud was so successful.

After the André feud died down Studd would feud with WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, unsuccessfully challenging him for the championship on numerous occasions. In the late 1980s, Studd turned face, and won the 1989 Royal Rumble, which many consider to be the crowning achievement in his WWF career.

Studd died from Liver Cancer and Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 1995. He is survived by his son John Minton, Jr., who accepted his plaque upon his posthumous induction to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004. Minton, Jr. also to participated in the fourth series of MTV's reality show WWE Tough Enough 4.

Wrestling facts

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Finishing and signature moves

• Backbreaker
• Butterfly suplex
• Heart punch
• Reverse bearhug

Managers

• Freddie Blassie
• Bobby Heenan

Quotes

• "I'm the real giant!"

Championship and accomplishments

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• EWU

• 1-time EWU World Super Heavyweight Champion

• National Wrestling Alliance

• 1-time NWA American Heavyweight Champion

• 1-time NWA Canadian Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time NWA Florida Global Tag Team Champion (with Jimmy Garvin)
• 1-time NWA Hawaii Tag Team Champion (with Buddy Rose)
• 3-time NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champion (1 with Ric Flair, 1 with Ken Patera, 1 with Masked Superstar #2)
• 1-time NWA National Tag Team Champion (with Super Destroyer)
• 1-time NWA North American Heavyweight Champion (Hawaii version)
• 1-time NWA Pacific International Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time NWA Southern Heavyweight Champion (Tennessee version)
• 1-time NWA Texas Tag-Team Champion (with Bull Ramons)

• World Wrestling Association (Indianapolis)

• 1-time WWA World Tag Team Champion (with Ox Baker)

• World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation

• 1-time WWWF World Tag-Team Champion (with Killer Kowalski)

• 1989 Royal Rumble winner
• WWE Hall of Fame inductee (posthumous)

• '''Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• 1984 Most Overrated Wrestler

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked him #60 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.

Championship succession

Royal Rumble Winners Preceded by:
Jim Duggan First Time (1989) Followed by:
Hulk Hogan

Acting career

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Filmography

• Micki + Maude (1984) as himself
• The Protector (1985) as "Huge Hood"
• Double Agent (1987) as "Igor"
• Hyper Space (1989) as "Psycho"
• Caged in Paradiso (1990) as "Big Man"
• Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991) as "Jack Daniels"
• Shock 'Em Dead (1991) as "Officer Meak"
• The Marrying Man (1991) as "Dante"

Television series appearances

• The A-Team (November 12, 1985) in episode "Body Slam" as himself
• Hunter (January 10, 1987) in episode "Bad Company" as "Randy"
• Beauty and the Beast (March 18, 1988) in episode "To Reign in Hell" as "Erlick"

Triva

• In the song N 2 Gether Now by Limp Bizkit/ Method Man. He is mentioned in the lyrics. "They call me Big John Studd"

References

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• Solie's title histories

External links

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• Big John Studd at the WWE Hall of Fame

1948 births | 1995 deaths | American film actors | American professional wrestlers | American television actors | Entertainers who died in their 40s | People from Pennsylvania | World Class Championship Wrestling alumni