Klondike Bill
 |
|
| Birth name | William Soloweyko |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 1, 1931 Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Died | October 3, 2000 (aged 68) Pineville, North Carolina, United States |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Klondike Bill Bill Soloweyko Kodiak Bear |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Billed weight | 365 lb (166 kg; 26.1 st) |
| Billed from | Kodiak Island, Alaska |
| Trained by | Stu Hart |
| Debut | 1958 |
| Retired | 1987 |
William Soloweyko (December 1, 1931 – October 3, 2000), better known by his ring name Klondike Bill, was a Canadian professional wrestler trained by Stu Hart in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He wrestled in various NWA territories throughout the 1960s and 1970s, before moving onto World Championship Wrestling. Bill has achieved cult status online in 2017 following stories relayed during online podcasts presented by former WCW announcer and play by play commentator Tony Schiavone and podcast host Conrad Thompson. These stories usually revolve around the legend of Klondike Bill being a ladies man and voracious lothario.
Bill was trained by Stu Hart in the famous Dungeon in Calgary. He began his career wrestling in Stu's local promotion, Stampede Wrestling before moving onto other territories. During his career he formed various tag teams with wrestlers such as Whipper Billy Watson and Skull Murphy. He performed in WWWF in 1964.
Bill was hired by Jim Crockett during the 1970s to build guard rails and rings for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, and was also a road agent for World Championship Wrestling. During the late 1990s, he was involved in a storyline that saw Eric Bischoff demoted as president, he was forced to set up a ring in which Bill supervised him.
Bill was also known for being the only person to consume two 72-ounce steaks at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in the one-hour time limit back in the 1960s.
Bill died on October 3, 2000 from a neuromuscular disorder, similar to Bells Palsy.
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