Bob Roop
| Bob Roop | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Robert Michael Roop |
| Born |
July 22, 1947 Blacksburg, Virginia |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | All-American The Enforcer The Gladiator Maya Singh Maha Singh Star Warrior Bob Roop |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (185 cm) |
| Billed weight | 270 lb (123 kg) |
| Billed from | Blacksburg, Virginia |
| Debut | 1969 |
| Retired | 1988 |
Robert Michael "Bob" Roop (born July 22, 1947) is a retired amateur and professional wrestler, whose career as a wrestler spanned high school, college, the United States Army, amateur and professional wrestling. He was an American heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Robert Roop began wrestling in the eighth grade in East Lansing, Michigan. In High School, Roop was varsity heavyweight as a freshman, with an inauspicious 0-22-1 record. With the guidance of coach Joe Dibello, his record improved in ensuing years, with a 27-0-0 record his senior year, in which he also took State Championship.
He entered Michigan State University on a football scholarship. After a year and a half, he left school to join the Army. He received paratrooper training, and signed on to become a Special Forces medic. He competed on the All-Army wrestling team and, later, the All-Services wrestling team. There was one other heavyweight on the All-Services team, Jim Rasher, who had won a bronze medal as the U.S. Greco-Roman Heavyweight at the World Games prior to entering the Army. Rasher was influential in Roop's decision to pursue an amateur wrestling.
After his three-year stint in the service, he entered Southern Illinois University, and began pursuing amateur wrestling. He attended from 1965 through 1969, majoring in political science, and was a collegiate wrestling standout with a win-loss record of 66-18, including a 16-3 record during his senior year.
While in college he won four National Amateur Athletic Union All-American rankings, earned by placing in the top four spots in the national tournament, and an NAAU Championship as a light-heavyweight. During his last year of college, his coach at Southern Illinois convinced him to train down to a lighter weight of 220 pounds. "That spring, I entered my last national tournament before turning pro, the national AAU at Greco-Roman at 220, and I won that one. It was the first one I even won. I had taken second and third a couple of times," Roop said. In 1968, Roop earned a position on the U.S. Olympic team as a Greco-Roman heavyweight.
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