Don Kent (wrestler)
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| Birth name | Leo Joseph Smith Jr. |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 24, 1933 Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana |
| Died | June 7, 1993 (aged 59) Battle Creek, Michigan |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | The Black Dragon "Bulldog" Kent Don Kent Doug Kent Joe Smith Ray Kent Super Médico III |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Billed weight | 250 lb (110 kg) |
| Billed from | Australia Indiana |
| Trained by | Larry Chene |
| Debut | 1956 |
| Retired | 1986 |
Leo Joseph "Joe" Smith Jr. (June 24, 1933 – June 7, 1993) was an American professional wrestler who wrestled as Don Kent and also as The Black Dragon, Doug Kent, Joe Smith and Super Medico III during his 20 years in professional wrestling.
Don Kent is one half of The Fabulous Kangaroos alongside partners Al Costello, Bruno Bekkar or Johnny Heffernan. Despite being born in America, Kent was billed as Australian when he competed as a Kangaroo using the Kangaroos' "Ultra Australian" gimmick, complete with boomerangs, bush hats and "Waltzing Matilda" as their entrance music.
When Kent was not one half of the Kangaroos, he mainly worked as "Bulldog" Don Kent in NWA Mid-America and NWA Detroit in the singles and the tag team divisions until his retirement in 1986.
Kent attended St. Philip Catholic Central High School in Battle Creek, Michigan. He was recruited by the Boston Red Sox as a catcher right out of high school. Kent’s father thought that Kent was too young to play professional baseball and insisted that he go to St. Benedict’s College in Kansas. After graduating, Kent worked at a Veterans Administration Medical Center in his hometown of Battle Creek while being trained by Leapin’ Larry Chene for a professional wrestling career.
Kent made his professional wrestling debut in 1956 working under such names as "Don Kent", "Joe Smith" and "The Black Dragon", generally working as a heel (bad guy) in the Michigan area. In the first half of the 1960s Don Kent went to Arizona and worked in the local wrestling promotion, where he was booked as a sadistic heel. In Arizona, Kent worked a storyline that drew full houses at the Phoenix Madison Square Garden against local face (good guy) Tito Montez. The two faced off week after week in a variety of specialty matches such as a chain match, "Arizona death match" and falls count anywhere match. The angle ended with a steel cage match that saw Montez win after overcoming Kent’s cheating ways. One week after the storyline ended, attendance dropped by half and Don Kent soon left the area.
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