Gino Brito
Encyclopedia
Louis Gino Acocella better known by his ring name
Gino Brito is a Canadian
professional wrestler
. He was a popular wrestler in Montreal, and was one of the promoters in the city in the 1980s. As Louis Cerdan, he was a WWWF Tag Team Champion, teaming with fellow Canadian-Italian wrestler Tony Parisi
.
. He began working with Detroit promoters Bert Ruby and Harry Light over a year later.
He first teamed with Tony Parisi
in Tennessee, where the duo won the tag titles in Nick Gulas
's promotion within two weeks. The two also won the WWWF Tag Team Championship in 1975 from Blackjack Mulligan
and Blackjack Lanza. They later lost the title to The Executioners
. Brito continued to wrestle through the mid-80s.
beginning in the 1980s, when he earned a television deal for his promotion. The promotion lost several key players in the mid-1980s, such as The Rougeaus
, Rick Martel
, and Dino Bravo
. It held events that sometimes had up to 10,000 fans in attendance. The company, however, went bankrupt in 1987, nine months after the aforementioned wrestlers left. The promotion was the last Quebec-based promotion to have a weekly television show.
After International Wrestling closed, Pat Patterson convinces Brito to be the WWWF promoter in Montreal, a job Brito held for four years. Brito also appeared in the WWF old-timers battle royal in November 1987 (the first eliminated in a match won by Lou Thesz
that featured several former world champions).
In 2003, Brito began promoting again with a promotion called Canadian Professional Wrestling (CPW) in Hull, Quebec
. He joined with promoter Paul Leduc
and his Montreal-based promotion. The promotion draws crowds of approximately 600 people every couple of months. More than 1,000 people attended the first anniversary event, in which Abdullah the Butcher
and Pierre Carl Ouellet
also participated. In October 2004, at the age of 63, Brito wrestled a match for the promotion, a loss in a six-man tag team match. In January 2005, the first of six events began airing on Canadian pay-per-view, which featured wrestlers from Brito's CPW, as well as footage from his International Wrestling promotion.
He is of Italian descent, which is reflected in his ringname Gino Brito. To form the name, Brito shortened his father's name Britton. He was good friends with other Italian wrestlers, such as Tony Parisi
, Bruno Sammartino
, and Dominic DeNucci
.
After finishing his career in the wrestling business, Brito began working at Subaru
car business—buying and auctioning—with his brother-in-law.
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...
Gino Brito is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
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 was a popular wrestler in Montreal, and was one of the promoters in the city in the 1980s. As Louis Cerdan, he was a WWWF Tag Team Champion, teaming with fellow Canadian-Italian wrestler Tony Parisi
Antonio Pugliese
Antonio Pugliese , born in Cosenza, Italy, was a professional wrestler. He is better known by his ring name Tony Parisi. Pugliese was primarily a tag team wrestler, and he won tag team titles in several organizations, including the National Wrestling Alliance , World Wide Wrestling Federation , and...
.
Active wrestler
Brito was the son of wrestler Jack Britton, who was organized a central booking office for midget wrestlers in the 1950s. Brito had a job for the promotion shuttling the wrestlers from city to city. Before becoming a professional wrestler at the age of seventeen, Brito was an amateur wrestler. At age seventeen, he was trained by George CannonGeorge Cannon (wrestler)
George Arnold McCarther , better known as George "Crybaby" Cannon, was a Canadian pro wrestler and wrestling manager, best known as manager of the Fabulous Kangaroos....
. He began working with Detroit promoters Bert Ruby and Harry Light over a year later.
He first teamed with Tony Parisi
Antonio Pugliese
Antonio Pugliese , born in Cosenza, Italy, was a professional wrestler. He is better known by his ring name Tony Parisi. Pugliese was primarily a tag team wrestler, and he won tag team titles in several organizations, including the National Wrestling Alliance , World Wide Wrestling Federation , and...
in Tennessee, where the duo won the tag titles in Nick Gulas
Nick Gulas
Nick Gulas was an American professional wrestling promoter in the Southern United States. Also known as The King of Managers and King B, Gulas helped start the careers of such wrestling stars as Tojo Yamamoto, Jackie Fargo, and Jerry "The King" Lawler in the 1960s and '70s, the Bounty Hunters with...
's promotion within two weeks. The two also won the WWWF Tag Team Championship in 1975 from Blackjack Mulligan
Blackjack Mulligan
Robert Jack Windham , better known by his ring name Blackjack Mulligan is a former professional wrestler and a former American football player...
and Blackjack Lanza. They later lost the title to The Executioners
The Executioners (professional wrestling)
The Executioners is the name of several tag teams of masked wrestlers who wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation.- The Executioners :...
. Brito continued to wrestle through the mid-80s.
Promoting
He also promoted shows under the International Wrestling banner in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
beginning in the 1980s, when he earned a television deal for his promotion. The promotion lost several key players in the mid-1980s, such as The Rougeaus
The Fabulous Rougeaus
The Fabulous Rougeaus was the professional wrestling tag team of real-life brothers, Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau, best known from their time in the World Wrestling Federation , from 1986 to 1990....
, Rick Martel
Rick Martel
Richard Vigneault is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation between 1980 and 1995 under the ring name Rick Martel...
, and Dino Bravo
Dino Bravo
Adolfo Bresciano was an Italian-born Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his work as Dino Bravo, self-proclaimed as "Canada's Strongest Man".-Territories:...
. It held events that sometimes had up to 10,000 fans in attendance. The company, however, went bankrupt in 1987, nine months after the aforementioned wrestlers left. The promotion was the last Quebec-based promotion to have a weekly television show.
After International Wrestling closed, Pat Patterson convinces Brito to be the WWWF promoter in Montreal, a job Brito held for four years. Brito also appeared in the WWF old-timers battle royal in November 1987 (the first eliminated in a match won by Lou Thesz
Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...
that featured several former world champions).
In 2003, Brito began promoting again with a promotion called Canadian Professional Wrestling (CPW) in Hull, Quebec
Hull, Quebec
Hull is the central and oldest part of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of the Canadian National Capital Region, it contains offices for twenty thousand...
. He joined with promoter Paul Leduc
Paul LeDuc (wrestler)
Paul LeDuc is a former Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for teaming with his kayfabe brother Jos LeDuc.-Career:LeDuc began wrestling professionally in 1957 at age 18. He began his training in Montreal, Quebec and later moved to Mexico for further instruction. He talked a friend,...
and his Montreal-based promotion. The promotion draws crowds of approximately 600 people every couple of months. More than 1,000 people attended the first anniversary event, in which Abdullah the Butcher
Abdullah the Butcher
Lawrence Robert "Larry" Shreve best known as Abdullah the Butcher, and also at times The Madman from the Sudan, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler known as one of the most brutal or "hardcore" professional wrestlers of all-time...
and Pierre Carl Ouellet
Carl Ouellet
Carl Joseph Yvon Ouellet is a retired Canadian professional wrestler. He has worked for, among other promotions, the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.-Beginnings:Carl Ouellet debuted in 1987...
also participated. In October 2004, at the age of 63, Brito wrestled a match for the promotion, a loss in a six-man tag team match. In January 2005, the first of six events began airing on Canadian pay-per-view, which featured wrestlers from Brito's CPW, as well as footage from his International Wrestling promotion.
Personal life
Brito's father, Jack Britton, and uncle were both professional wrestlers. Brito's son, Gino Brito, Jr., also worked in the business for a short time.He is of Italian descent, which is reflected in his ringname Gino Brito. To form the name, Brito shortened his father's name Britton. He was good friends with other Italian wrestlers, such as Tony Parisi
Antonio Pugliese
Antonio Pugliese , born in Cosenza, Italy, was a professional wrestler. He is better known by his ring name Tony Parisi. Pugliese was primarily a tag team wrestler, and he won tag team titles in several organizations, including the National Wrestling Alliance , World Wide Wrestling Federation , and...
, Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino is an Italian-American former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation , holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign...
, and Dominic DeNucci
Dominic DeNucci
Dominic DeNucci is an Italian-American professional wrestler. He is also an accomplished trainer, counting former World Heavyweight champions Mick Foley and Shane Douglas, as well as referee Brian Hildebrand, among his students.-Early career:...
.
After finishing his career in the wrestling business, Brito began working at Subaru
Subaru
; is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries .Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as...
car business—buying and auctioning—with his brother-in-law.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Figure four leglock
Championships and accomplishments
- Eastern Sports AssociationEastern Sports AssociationThe Eastern Sports Association, often referred to in the business simply as "the Maritimes," was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Halifax, Nova Scotia...
- IW North American Heavyweight ChampionshipIW North American Heavyweight ChampionshipThis is a list of people who held the "North American Heavyweight Title" under the banner of International Wrestling from 1969 to 1984. The promotion was owned by the Eastern Sports Association from 1969 until 1976...
(1 time)
- Lutte Internationale (Montreal)
- Canadian International Tag Team ChampionshipCanadian International Tag Team ChampionshipThe Canadian International Tag Team Championship was the tag team title in the Montreal-based wrestling promotion Lutte Internationale . The title lasted from 1976 until Lutte Internationale closed in 1987.-Title history:...
(4 times) - with Rick McGraw (1) and Tony ParisiAntonio PuglieseAntonio Pugliese , born in Cosenza, Italy, was a professional wrestler. He is better known by his ring name Tony Parisi. Pugliese was primarily a tag team wrestler, and he won tag team titles in several organizations, including the National Wrestling Alliance , World Wide Wrestling Federation , and...
(3)
- World Wide Wrestling Federation (World Wrestling Federation)World Wrestling EntertainmentWorld 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...
- WWWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tony Parisi
- WWF International Heavyweight ChampionshipWWF International Heavyweight ChampionshipThe WWF International Heavyweight Championship is a former championship recognized by NWA Northeast, the World Wrestling Federation, New Japan Pro Wrestling and the Japanese UWF.The title existed from 1959 through 1963 and again from 1982 through 1985....
(1 time)
- Other titles
- Grand Prix Tag Team Championship (Montreal) (1 time) - with Dino BravoDino BravoAdolfo Bresciano was an Italian-born Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his work as Dino Bravo, self-proclaimed as "Canada's Strongest Man".-Territories:...