Hide Article Text (OCR)
Pro wrestler from KenoshavouchesforitsseriousnessBy Jim CasperSports WriterWhen Tony Leone from New York City looks in the mirror he sees Nino Gigliotti from Kenosha.It’s not a trick mirror. Gigliotti is a professional wrestler and in that field, it’s permissible to take liberty with your name and address. Facts shouldn’t spoil a good tale.Gigliotti, 34, received the Tony Leone alias from a wrestling promoter.“The promoter was Wally Karbo from Minneapolis,’’ Gigliotti said. “The first thing he did was tell me to get a different name. He said, ‘You’re Tony Leone.’“Then he asked me where I’m from. When I told him I was from Kenosha he said, ‘Scratch that. Now you’re Tony Leone from New York City.’’The name and address bluff is humorous to Gigliotti, but he sees nothing funny about people who say pro wrestling is fake.He’s suffered enough bumps and bruises to know that tangling with Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant isn’t a sham.“The matches aren’t predetermined,” Gigliotti said. “It’s hard to control your emotions and actions.“You’re out there and you’re paid on how well you do. If you win you1 get a better cut.”He did say there are certain safety guidelines that must be followed.You try to hit people across the chest, not the neck,” Gigliotti said. You can be suspended if you are clearly trying to hurt people.”Gigliotti wrestles against some of the biggest names in his sport. He’s wrestled Hogan and Andre the Giant, but admits he’s winless against them.me where I'm from. WhenI told him I was from KenoshafromCityGigliotti“Hogan is 6-foot-8 and about 300 pounds and he has such raw strength,” Gigliotti said. “I try to take him off his feet and take away his advantage, but he comes back so fast.Wrestling Hogan and Andrethe Giant aren’t Gigliotti’s favorite assignments and he lets his manager, Don McNeil of Kenosha, know that.“There are certain matches you don’t want to take,” Gigliotti said, grinning.“Andre the Giant is 7-4 and over 500 pounds. His hand is so big that when I shook it I wondered where mv armwent, ’ Gigliotti said.Fortunately, Gigliotti’s only wrestled Andre once.Gigliotti does most of his wrestling out of state, but he’s looking forward to the All-Star Wrestling Slam ‘89, 7 p.m. Saturday, July 8 at the Bradford Fieldhouse. He will face Sonny Rogers.“Rogers will be a good opponent,” Gigliotti said. “He’s been in the business about nine years and has a good physique.”Gigliotti, a Tremper graduate, has been a pro wrestler for 12 years. When he isn’t wrestling or working as a mechanic in Kenosha, Gigliotti, who is single, plays softball three nights a week.“That helps keep my endurance up,” he said.“In winter I work out with weights or swim. Right now I’m trying to rehabilitate aninjured shoulder,” he said.Long-time high school wrestling fans won’t recall the Gigliotti name at Tremper.“I only weighed 140 in high school and I didn’t wrestle. I was in cross country and track,” he said.Gigliotti, now a robust 225 pounds on a 6-1 frame, became intrigued with wrestling in the mid-1970s.“Friends said I was athletic with a good physique and should try to get into something like that,” Gigliotti said.“I worked out in several gyms and got a few connections. The promoters wanted me to gain weight.“I went to a wrestling school in Chicago run by Bob Sabre. The school ran $1,500,” Gigliotti said. “It was worth it. He taught me how to fall, do holds and throw people.”Soon Gigliotti was booked in shows in small towns. In a short time he moved up to TV shows in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).He’s wrestled at Cobo Hall in Detroit, the Cow Palace in San Francisco and the Omni in Atlanta.Although Gigliotti doesn’t command a seven-figure income like Hogan, he’s making good money.“Wrestlers like me can make anywhere from $30,000 to $70,000 a year. It depends how much you want to travel andtNino Gigliottiwrestle,” Gigliotti said.“Many promoters want you to drive everywhere and work consecutive nights. It’s tough to drive 200 miles and wrestle every night,” Gigliotti said.The wrestling associations pick up the travel tab, but wrestlers must pay their own insurance, which runs about $350 a month.Gigliotti, a 12-year wrestling veteran, limits his schedule. He likes to wrestle on the East Coast because it’s lucrative, and in the South, because it’s warm in winter.One message Nino Gigliotti wants to convey is that pro wrestling is a lot more than a show.“There’s only one weight class and at times you’re looking at an opponent who weighs 500 pounds,” Gigliotti said. “I’ve been tossed out of rings and sometimes there’s nothing to break the fall except concrete.”Gigliotti said some wrestling aspirants learn the hard way.“It’s true some pro careers last 25 years,” Gigliotti said. “Some, though, last one match.”
Newspaper Details
Kenosha News
Kenosha, Wisconsin, US
Sun, Jul 02, 1989
Page 31
Full Page
Clipped by
Uw -.
WI, USA 12 Oct 2022
Other Publications Near Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha Independent
Kenosha Tri Weekly Experiment
Kenosha Chronicle
Kenosha Aigredoux and Illustrated Dime
Kenosha Democrat
