Larry Sharpe | |
---|---|
Birth name | Larry Weil |
Born |
Paulsboro, New Jersey, United States |
June 26, 1950
Website | http://www.monsterfactory.org |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) |
Larry Sharpe Larry Weil |
Billed weight | 260 lb (120 kg) |
Billed from | Paulsboro, New Jersey |
Trained by |
Mr. Fuji Gorilla Monsoon Nikolai Volkoff |
Debut | 1974 |
Retired | 1991 |
Larry Weil (born June 26, 1950) is an American retired professional wrestler, manager and trainer better known under his ring name, "Pretty Boy" Larry Sharpe. Sharpe is perhaps most well known for creating the Monster Factory professional wrestling school. He grew up in Paulsboro, New Jersey, and was the original trainer of Kevin Von Erich, and many other well-known wrestlers.
Larry Sharpe was a successful wrestler at Paulsboro High School in his home state of New Jersey. He had a record 13-1-1 and was ranked fourth in the NCAA national rankings. In 1974 he was scouted by Red Berry and Gorilla Monsoon who trained him for a life in professional wrestling and later that year Larry made his pro wrestling debut in the WWWF.
Larry then toured Japan and various territories including Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Mid Atlantic.
Sharpe then headed to Canada, where he won his first championship while working for Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, Alberta. Forming a tag team with Ripper Collins, he won the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship on September 24, 1976. The team held the title for less than one month, dropping it to Ed and Jerry Morrow on October 15.
In June 1977, Sharpe returned to the WWWF where he formed a tag team with Dynamite Jack Evans (who was working in the WWWF in preliminary and mid card matches). The Hollywood Blondes (as they were known) had a successful run winning matches on television and at live events. They impressed Gorilla Monsoon (who owned part of the World Wrestling Council) who sent them down to Puerto Rico for their most successful run.
On December 17, 1977, they defeated Carlos Colón and Victor Jovica to win the WWC North American Tag Team Championship. The title was declared vacant on April 22 the following year because of a controversial match against Jovica and Chief Thunder Cloud. The teams met for a rematch on May 6, and the Hollywood Blondes regained the championship. Three weeks later, however, they lost the title to Colón and Thunder Cloud.