He eventually had to stop due to his health problems. He remained behind the scenes for a while and also played the president of the WWF for a few years.
He was inducted into the HOF in 1994 in a very heartfelt speech in which gave most of his praise to his wife. He called the action with Randy Savage in the 1994 KOTR and also did 1994 Royal Rumble and Survivor Series. He handed over the stick to Jim Ross in the early 90s, but did make a few guest spots on PPVs. It was Monsoon that coined the phrase excellence of execution, and coming up with the name for Undertaker's tombstone pile driver. Gorilla Monsoon was also noted for giving a few wrestlers their names for their moves and gimmicks. Many are still referenced to today, when Hogan came out he would often yell "This place is going bananas" or many times you would hear him say "WILL YOU STOP" after his many banters with Heenan.īut probably his most famous was his Wrestlemania 3 line, “The irresistible force meets the immovable object.” He also was noted for some of his crazy rants while calling a match. The chemistry shared with those two, makes them in most people's minds the greatest duos to call a match. Gorilla Monsoon was the perfect straght man for his heel sidekicks, most notably with Jesse "The Body" Ventura and his long time friend Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. So much so that you could close your eyes and you would know exactly what was going on in the ring, and at a time when characters were to be sold he sold them to the T. The passion in which he described the action was remarkable, he was very articulate in describing the action. In that time of the WWF, wrestling was still marketed as a sport and he called like it was one. If Picasso was to painting, Monsoon was to commentating he had a very unique style that is second to none. He also called the first eight Wrestlmanias and other WWF PPVs. He was now the voice of the WWF working most of the shows at MSG, WWF Wrestling Challenge, WWF All-Star Wrestling and Prime Time Wrestling. It was soon after that Monsoon started a new phase of his legacy as a booker and commentator. He had few in-ring returns once as part of the body slam challenge with Big John Studd, but other than that, stayed away from the squared circle. Monsoon's in-ring career slowed down in the 80s, he hung up his boots after his last match with Mikel Scicluna. "I never saw him (Ali) before and haven't seen him since." Marella insisted the episode was not contrived. But I gave him a break and didn't use my 'Manchurian splash'." I picked him up and tossed him to the mat with a 'giant swing'. "I was in the ring, waiting for my regular match, when Ali jumped through the ropes, kicked of his shoes, tore off his shirt and began screaming at me. In 1969, he went babyface and went on to wrestle some of the After that Monsoon was quoted as saying, "Ali was trying to get publicity for an upcoming gimmick fight for a fortune against Antonio Inoki and he apparently wanted to use me as a warm-up for publicity," Marella recalled. In fact one of his most talked about matches today is is boxing match with Andre, in which Monsoon was left knocked out in a puddle of water in Puerto Rico. After he decided to go heel, he wrestled Bruno Sammartino for the Gorilla Monsoon raised the bar on how the big guys should wrestle, and had many outstanding matches with another late great, Andre the Giant. It wasn't until 1963 though that he caught his first real break in the business. He even did some time in Stampede Wrestling, Stu Hart's legendary promotion.
Monsoon traveled all over the country and was a popular draw wherever he went.
#Gorilla monsoon professional#
He found his true calling in 1959 when a local promoter Pedro Martinez discovered him, and brought him into the world of professional wrestling. He was inducted into the Ithaca College Athletic HOF in 1973. He held many track and field records, and finished second in the 1959 NCAA wrestling championships. Gorilla Monsoon had a outstanding athletic career in high school and collage. He left our world sadly in 1999 due to heart failure and diabetes, but in the process he left lasting memories for millions of wrestling fans all over the world. Robert James Marella ("Gorilla Monsoon") was born in 1937 in New York.
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