Arnold Skaaland
| Arnold Skaaland | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Birth name | Arnold Skaaland |
| Born |
January 21, 1925 White Plains, New York, United States |
| Died | March 13, 2007 (aged 82) White Plains, New York, United States |
| Spouse(s) | Betty Skaaland (his death) |
| Children | 3 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Arnold Skaaland Bobby Weaver |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Billed weight | 240 lb (110 kg) |
| Billed from | Norway White Plains, New York |
| Debut | 1946 |
| Retired | 1978 |
Arnold Skaaland (January 21, 1925 – March 13, 2007) was an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager.
Skaaland served in the U.S. Marines during World War II. After a short-lived attempt to make a living through boxing, he decided to become a professional wrestler.
Skaaland debuted in 1946 as "Arnold Skaaland". Though competing under his real name, he was billed early in his career as hailing from Norway. Performing throughout the northeastern United States, Skaaland gained the nickname "The Golden Boy" and was known as a small, agile wrestler who relied on speed, wits, and toughness in the ring rather than size and strength. In the late 1950s, he wrestled in Georgia under the ring name Bobby Weaver.
In the early 1960s, Skaaland unsuccessfully challenged both Pat O'Connor and "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. In 1962, he refereed a high-profile match between Freddie Blassie and Rikidōzan in Japan.
In 1963, Skaaland was a part of the newly created, New York City-based World Wide Wrestling Federation. On June 1, 1967 he collected his only title as one half of the WWWF United States Tag Team Champions, when Tony Parisi gave his half of the title to Skaaland. Skaaland and his partner, Spiros Arion, soon lost the titles to The Sicilians (Lou Albano and Tony Altimore) on July 10, 1967 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Arion and Bruno Sammartino rewon the belts two weeks later, and retired them.
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