Angelo Mosca
Encyclopedia
Angelo Mosca is a former Canadian Football League
player and professional wrestler
. He is also known by the wrestling nicknames King Kong Mosca and The Mighty Hercules. Mosca has a son, Angelo Jr., who also wrestled.
's Philadelphia Eagles
in 1959 in the 30th round (350th overall.) He had already decided to play in the CFL
, in 1958 and 1959 for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
. He was traded to the Ottawa Rough Riders
for Hardiman Cureton
on August 15, 1960, and played for the Rough Riders in 1960 and 1961 before joining the Montreal Alouettes
in 1962. He played his remaining years, 1963 to 1972 in Hamilton. He was a 5-time all star. At Hamilton, Mosca played at left defensive tackle, with John Barrow next to him from 1958 to 1959 and from 1963 to 1970, forming a veritable wall up the middle which few offensive teams were successful in running against.
Angelo played in 9 Grey Cup
games, more than any other player in CFL history, tied with John Barrow, winning 5, one with the Ottawa Rough Riders
, the 48th Grey Cup
of 1960, and four with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
, the 51st Grey Cup
of 1963, the 53rd Grey Cup
of 1965 (the so-called Wind Bowl), the 55th Grey Cup
of 1967 when Saskatchewan was throttled 24-1, and the 60th Grey Cup
of 1972 when the defences predominated in a 13-10 win over Saskatchewan again, but also losing 4, the 46th Grey Cup
of 1958, the 47th Grey Cup
of 1959, the 49th Grey Cup
of 1961, and the 52nd Grey Cup
of 1964. He is infamous for the 51st Grey Cup
game out-of-bounds and late hit on B.C. Lions star running back Willie Fleming
. With Fleming out of the game, the Tiger-Cats went on to win the Grey Cup
and Mosca's reputation as being the meanest CFL player grew. It was a reputation he later promoted as the notorious professional wrestler "King Kong" Mosca. This controversy flared up in 2011 when Mosca and Joe Kapp
(the quarterback for the B.C. Lions during that infamous 51st Grey Cup) were invited on stage for a pre-99th Grey Cup
event. The reunion escalated into an onstage fight.
(WWF). He left the broadcast booth to manage his son's career.
He has lived in and around Hamilton for many years. Angelo currently lives in St. Catharines, Ontario
with his wife, Helen, a real estate agent. He authored a book with Steve Milton called Tell Me To My Face, published by Lulu Canada Inc. The book was released in September 2011.
Professional Wrestling
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
player and professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
. He is also known by the wrestling nicknames King Kong Mosca and The Mighty Hercules. Mosca has a son, Angelo Jr., who also wrestled.
CFL career
Mosca attended the University of Notre Dame and was drafted by the NFLNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in 1959 in the 30th round (350th overall.) He had already decided to play in the CFL
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
, in 1958 and 1959 for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
. He was traded to the Ottawa Rough Riders
Ottawa Rough Riders
The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. One of the oldest and longest lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine times. Their most dominant era was the 1960s and 1970s, a...
for Hardiman Cureton
Hardiman Cureton
Hardiman Cureton is a former American football player.He played high school football for the Monrovia Wildcats. He played the tackle position....
on August 15, 1960, and played for the Rough Riders in 1960 and 1961 before joining the Montreal Alouettes
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...
in 1962. He played his remaining years, 1963 to 1972 in Hamilton. He was a 5-time all star. At Hamilton, Mosca played at left defensive tackle, with John Barrow next to him from 1958 to 1959 and from 1963 to 1970, forming a veritable wall up the middle which few offensive teams were successful in running against.
Angelo played in 9 Grey Cup
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
games, more than any other player in CFL history, tied with John Barrow, winning 5, one with the Ottawa Rough Riders
Ottawa Rough Riders
The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. One of the oldest and longest lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine times. Their most dominant era was the 1960s and 1970s, a...
, the 48th Grey Cup
48th Grey Cup
The 48th Grey Cup was the Canadian Football League's championship game of the 1960 season on November 26, 1960.The Ottawa Rough Riders defeated the Edmonton Eskimos 16 to 6 at Vancouver's Empire Stadium before a crowd of 38,102 fans-Box Score:...
of 1960, and four with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
, the 51st Grey Cup
51st Grey Cup
The 51st Grey Cup took place on November 30, 1963, at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, and decided the Canadian Football League champion for the 1963 season. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated the BC Lions 21-10, in front of 36,545 spectators....
of 1963, the 53rd Grey Cup
53rd Grey Cup
The 53rd Grey Cup, also known as the Wind Bowl, was hosted at CNE Stadium in Toronto, Ontario on November 27, 1965. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 22-16.-Weather conditions and change in punting rule:...
of 1965 (the so-called Wind Bowl), the 55th Grey Cup
55th Grey Cup
The 55th Grey Cup was played between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Saskatchewan Roughriders on December 2, 1967, at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, before 31,358 fans and was won by the Tiger-Cats by a score of 24 to 1.- Box Score :First Quarter...
of 1967 when Saskatchewan was throttled 24-1, and the 60th Grey Cup
60th Grey Cup
The 60th Grey Cup was played on December 3, 1972 before 33,993 fans at the Ivor Wynne Stadium at Hamilton. It was the last Grey Cup played in December...
of 1972 when the defences predominated in a 13-10 win over Saskatchewan again, but also losing 4, the 46th Grey Cup
46th Grey Cup
The 46th Grey Cup was the championship game of the 1958 season of the Canadian Football League on November 29, 1958. The game was played in Vancouver's Empire Stadium before a crowd of 36,567. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 35-28...
of 1958, the 47th Grey Cup
47th Grey Cup
The 47th Grey Cup was the Canadian Football League's championship game of the 1959 season on November 28, 1959.The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21 to 7 at Toronto's CNE Stadium before a crowd of 33,133-Game summary:...
of 1959, the 49th Grey Cup
49th Grey Cup
The 49th Grey Cup was the Canadian Football League's championship game of the 1961 season on December 2, 1961. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21 to 14 at CNE Stadium in Toronto before 32,651 fans. It is considered to be one of the 10 greatest Grey Cup Games of all...
of 1961, and the 52nd Grey Cup
52nd Grey Cup
The 52nd Grey Cup was hosted at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario on November 28, 1964. The BC Lions defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 34-24, the first Grey Cup victory for BC.-Bill Munsey on offence and defence:...
of 1964. He is infamous for the 51st Grey Cup
51st Grey Cup
The 51st Grey Cup took place on November 30, 1963, at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, and decided the Canadian Football League champion for the 1963 season. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated the BC Lions 21-10, in front of 36,545 spectators....
game out-of-bounds and late hit on B.C. Lions star running back Willie Fleming
Willie Fleming
Willie Fleming is a former professional Canadian football player with the Canadian Football League BC Lions. Fleming played collegiately as a halfback at the University of Iowa, where he was a member of the Hawkeye's 1959 Rose Bowl championship team. He is a member of the Canadian Football Hall...
. With Fleming out of the game, the Tiger-Cats went on to win the Grey Cup
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
and Mosca's reputation as being the meanest CFL player grew. It was a reputation he later promoted as the notorious professional wrestler "King Kong" Mosca. This controversy flared up in 2011 when Mosca and Joe Kapp
Joe Kapp
Joseph Robert Kapp is a former professional American and Canadian football quarterback. He is also a former college football head coach of the University of California, and a former general manager of the CFL's BC Lions. Kapp played primarily with the NFL's Minnesota Vikings and the CFL's BC Lions...
(the quarterback for the B.C. Lions during that infamous 51st Grey Cup) were invited on stage for a pre-99th Grey Cup
99th Grey Cup
The 99th Grey Cup was a Canadian football game between the East Division champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the West Division champion BC Lions to decide the champion of the Canadian Football League in the 2011 season. The Lions defeated the Blue Bombers, 34–23, and became the first team in CFL...
event. The reunion escalated into an onstage fight.
Post-football career
Following his retirement, Mosca had a short run as a broadcaster for the World Wrestling FederationWorld Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWF). He left the broadcast booth to manage his son's career.
He has lived in and around Hamilton for many years. Angelo currently lives in St. Catharines, Ontario
St. Catharines, Ontario
St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, Canada, with 97.11 square kilometres of land...
with his wife, Helen, a real estate agent. He authored a book with Steve Milton called Tell Me To My Face, published by Lulu Canada Inc. The book was released in September 2011.
Championships and accomplishments
Professional FootballAmerican football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
- Canadian Football LeagueCanadian Football LeagueThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
- Canadian Football Hall of FameCanadian Football Hall of FameThe Canadian Football Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is an open to the public institution. It includes displays about the Canadian Football League, Canadian university football and Canadian...
(Class of 1987) - The CFW ranked him # 37 of the Top 50 playersTSN Top 50 CFL PlayersThe TSN Top 50 CFL Players was a list of the greatest fifty Canadian Football League players, as selected by a panel of sixty former CFL players, then-current and former coaches, executives, and media members in 2006. The panel was assembled by sports television network TSN in partnership with the...
of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSNThe Sports NetworkThe Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels...
.
Professional Wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
- American Wrestling AssociationAmerican Wrestling AssociationThe American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
- AWA British Empire Heavyweight ChampionshipAWA British Empire Heavyweight ChampionshipThe AWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship was a short-lived mid-card professional wrestling title contested for in the American Wrestling Association promotion. The title was primarily defended in Canada, part of the Commonwealth Realm, hence the British Empire name.-Title history:-External...
(1 time) - Cauliflower Alley ClubCauliflower Alley ClubThe Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America....
- Other honoree (1996)
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Florida Bahamian ChampionshipNWA Florida Bahamian ChampionshipThe NWA Florida Bahamian Championship was a minor title that existed in Championship Wrestling from Florida from 1982 until 1987. It is also known as the NWA Bahamas Championship.-Title history:-See also:*National Wrestling Alliance...
(1 time) - NWA Florida Global Tag Team ChampionshipNWA Florida Global Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship was a minor tag team title in Florida Championship Wrestling from 1982 until fall 1983, when it was replaced by the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship.-Title history:-See also:...
(1 time) – with Bobby Duncum - NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (1 time)
- Georgia Championship WrestlingGeorgia Championship WrestlingGeorgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S., superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...
- NWA Columbus Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Georgia Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Georgia Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship was the major title in the Georgia Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion. It started in 1964 and was unified in 1981 with the NWA National Heavyweight Championship....
(1 time) - NWA Macon Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Maple Leaf WrestlingMaple Leaf WrestlingMaple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name in the 1970s and 1980s of the professional wrestling promotion run by Frank Tunney in Toronto.-Queensbury Athletic Club:...
- NWA Canadian Heavyweight Champion (Toronto version) (5 times)
- Mid-Atlantic Championship WrestlingJim Crockett PromotionsJim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Television ChampionshipWCW World Television ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Championship Wrestling....
(2 times)
- NWA San FranciscoNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA United States Heavyweight Champion (San Francisco version) (1 time)
- NWA Tri-StateNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA Tri-State Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI ranked him # 305 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- Stampede WrestlingStampede WrestlingStampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...
- Stampede North American Heavyweight ChampionshipStampede North American Heavyweight ChampionshipThe Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship is the major title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. From its establishment in 1968 until 1972, it was Stampede's secondary singles championship, becoming the top title in 1972 after the previous top...
(1 time) - Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame
- World Wrestling CouncilWorld Wrestling CouncilThe World Wrestling Council is one of Puerto Rico's two main professional wrestling promotions, the other one being the International Wrestling Association....
- WWC Caribbean Heavyweight ChampionshipWWC Caribbean Heavyweight ChampionshipThe WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship is a secondary title contested for in the Puerto Rican professional wrestling promotion, the World Wrestling Council ....
(1 time)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Worst Television Announcer award in 1984