Angelo Savoldi
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| Birth name | Mario Louis Fornini |
|---|---|
| Born |
April 21, 1914 Castrocielo, Italy |
| Died | September 20, 2013 (aged 99) Parsipanny, New Jersey |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Angelo Savoldi |
| Billed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Billed from | Hoboken, New Jersey |
| Debut | 1937 |
| Retired | 1972 |
Mario Louis Fornini, Sr. (April 21, 1914 – September 20, 2013) was an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter, better known professionally as Angelo Savoldi. At the time of his death, he was known as the world's oldest retired wrestler at the age of 99.
Fornini was born in Castrocielo, Italy in 1914. At the age of five, he and his family moved to the United States, where they lived in Hoboken, New Jersey. As a child, Fornini was reportedly friends with Frank Sinatra. He first began to wrestle at Demarest High School, but left during the Great Depression to get a job cutting metal at the Cleveland Container.
Fornini's brother Lou was a professional wrestler in New York, and so Fornini approached New York promoter Jack Pfefer. Pfefer christened him "Angelo Savoldi", and, billed as the brother of Joe Savoldi, he began wrestling in 1937. By 1938, Savoldi was regularly wrestling throughout the Northeastern United States. During World War II, Fornini joined the United States Navy. He later worked in Puerto Rico, becoming the first American to main event in that region.
It was in the 1950s that Savoldi became a star in the Oklahoma region, as a junior heavyweight (a term for lightweight). Wrestling as a heel (villainous character), he held the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship three times between 1958 and 1964. In Oklahoma, Savoldi feuded with Danny Hodge. On May 27, 1960, Savoldi and Hodge were facing off in a match, when Savoldi was stabbed with a pen knife by an angry fan that turned out to be Hodge's father.
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