Larry Sharpe
Encyclopedia
Larry Weil is an American retired 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...

, manager and trainer better known under his ring name, "Pretty Boy" Larry Sharpe. He currently runs the Monster Factory professional wrestling school. He went to highschool in Paulsboro, New Jersey
Paulsboro, New Jersey
Paulsboro is a Borough in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 6,097....

, and was the original trainer of Kevin Von Erich
Kevin Von Erich
Kevin Ross Adkisson is a retired professional wrestler under the ring name Kevin Von Erich of the Von Erich Family. He is the last surviving son of wrestler Fritz Von Erich and had four brothers that wrestled, David, Kerry, Mike and Chris, as well as an older brother, Jack, Jr., who died in...

, and many other well known wrestlers.

Wrestling

Larry Sharpe was a successful high school wrestler in his home state of New Jersey. He had a record 13-1-1 and went as high being ranked 4 in 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
Stampede Wrestling
Stampede 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...

 in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

. Forming a tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...

 with Ripper Collins, he won the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship
Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship
The Stampede International Tag Team Championship is the main tag-team title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. It was created in 1958 as the NWA 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
World Wrestling Council
The World Wrestling Council is one of Puerto Rico's two main professional wrestling promotions, the other one being the International Wrestling Association....

) who sent them down to Puerto Rico for their most successful run.

On December 17, 1977, they defeated Carlos Colón and Victor Jovica
Victor Jovica
Victor Jovica is a Croatian-born professional wrestler and promoter. Along with Carlos Colón, he is the co-founder and promoter of Capitol Sports Promotions, now known as the World Wrestling Council , which, since the 1970s, has been the dominant promotion on the island of Puerto Rico.-Professional...

 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.

Sharpe's next stop was Hawaii where he quickly became the top contender for the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship
NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and is defended in the US state of Hawaii. The title, which is still currently defended, began in1935...

. In November 1978 when the previous champion, Don Muraco
Don Muraco
Donald Muraco , better known by his ring name "The Rock" Don Muraco, is a retired American professional wrestler...

, won the NWA Pacific International Heavyweight Championship, was forced to vacate the Hawaiian championship, Sharpe was awarded the title, later losing it to Mando Guerrero
Mando Guerrero
Armando Guerrero Llanes , better known as Mando Guerrero, is a retired professional wrestler. He also was the trainer for the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, an all female professional wrestling promotion.-Movie stuntman career:...

 on November 22.

After a brief stint in the Mid Atlantic, he returned to the WWF in 1979. He was given a small push by Vince McMahon Sr, but ended up leaving to wrestle independently and open his training school.

Monster Factory

The Monster Factory is a professional wrestling school in Gloucester City, New Jersey
Gloucester City, New Jersey
Gloucester City is a city in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 11,456.-Geography:Gloucester City is located at ....

 run by Larry Sharpe. He opened his wrestling school with "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers in 1983, and wrestled part-time until retiring in August 1991. The school's first famous pupil was Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow, whose success brought a lot of attention to the school.

In February 2008, the school was threatened by a fire which had started at the building adjacent to the school, ANA Laboratories, and the building was evacuated by the school trainers. The fire was confined to the laboratory until its roof collapsed however, according to Camden County
Camden County, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the 2010 Census the population of Camden County was 60.28% Non-Hispanic white, 18.45% Non-Hispanic black, 1.12% Hispanic blacks, 0.17% Non-Hispanic Native American, 0.15% Hispanic Native Americans, 5.07% Non-Hispanic Asian, and 0.14% non-Hispanics reporting some other race...

 Chief Fire Marshal
Fire Marshal
A fire marshal, in the United States and Canada, is often a member of a fire department but may be part of a building department or a separate department altogether. Fire marshals' duties vary but usually include fire code enforcement and/or investigating fires for origin and cause...

 Paul Hartstein, only a firewall
Firewall (construction)
A firewall is a fireproof barrier used to prevent the spread of fire between or through buildings, structures, electrical substation transformers, or within an aircraft or vehicle.- Applications :...

 prevented the fire from reaching the school. The school had been in the middle of drills when the fire broke out although all the students were safely evacuated to the outside parking lot.

The Monster Factory's graduates include:
  • Balls Mahoney
    Balls Mahoney
    Jonathan Rechner better known by his ring name Balls Mahoney , is an American professional wrestler...

  • Bam Bam Bigelow
  • Barry Hardy
    Barry Hardy
    Barry Hardy is an American professional wrestler and trainer who has competed in North American independent promotions since 1987, including East Coast Wrestling, Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation, the National Wrestling Alliance, New Millennium Wrestling and Larry Sharpe's World Wrestling...

  • Paul "Big Show" Wight
    Paul Wight
    Paul Donald Wight, Jr. , better known by his ring name, Big Show, is an American professional wrestler and actor, currently signed to WWE on its Raw brand....

  • Chris Candido
    Chris Candido
    Christopher Raul Candito was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Chris Candido...

  • Chris Harris
    Chris Harris
    Chris Harris may refer to:* Chris Harris , English business author* Chris Harris , American football player* Chris Harris , Texas State Representative and State Senator...

  • Domino
    Cliff Compton
    Clifford "Cliff" Compton is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Domino. He is signed with Ohio Valley Wrestling , where he is a former two–time OVW Heavyweight Champion...

  • D'Lo Brown
    D'Lo Brown
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  • Giant Silva
    Giant Silva
    Paulo César da Silva , better known by his ring name Giant Silva, is a former Brazilian basketball player and mixed martial artist and current professional wrestler...

  • Gillberg
    Duane Gill
    Duane Gill is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation as Gillberg, a parody of then-rival promotion World Championship Wrestling's top star Goldberg. During his tenure in the WWF, Gill became a one time Light Heavyweight Champion...

  • The Godfather
  • The Headbangers
    The Headbangers
    The Headbangers is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Mosh and Thrasher, best known for their work in the World Wrestling Federation...

  • Kevin Von Erich
    Kevin Von Erich
    Kevin Ross Adkisson is a retired professional wrestler under the ring name Kevin Von Erich of the Von Erich Family. He is the last surviving son of wrestler Fritz Von Erich and had four brothers that wrestled, David, Kerry, Mike and Chris, as well as an older brother, Jack, Jr., who died in...

  • King Kong Bundy
    King Kong Bundy
    Christopher Alan "Chris" Pallies is an American professional wrestler, stand-up comedian and actor, better known by his ring name, King Kong Bundy.-Personal:...

  • The Pitbulls
    The Pitbulls
    The Pitbulls were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of "Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe and "Pitbull #2" Anthony Durante. They were best known for their tenure in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where they were one-time World Tag Team Champions...

  • Raven
    Scott Levy
    Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other...

  • Rocco Rock
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  • Ray Odyssey
    Ray Odyssey
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  • Sheamus
  • Sonjay Dutt
    Sonjay Dutt
    Retesh Bhalla is an American professional wrestler of Indian Punjabi descent, better known by his ring name, Sonjay Dutt. He is best known working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and is also known for his stints with Combat Zone Wrestling, Major League Wrestling, and other various independent...

  • Tank Toland
  • Tatanka
    Chris Chavis
    Christopher "Chris" Chavis , is a Native American professional wrestler best known for his work with World Wrestling Entertainment as Tatanka from 1991 to 1996 and from 2005 to 2007...

  • Tony Atlas
    Tony Atlas
    Anthony White better known by his ring name "Tony Atlas" is an American bodybuilder, powerlifter, and professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his bodybuilding title, "Mr...

  • Tony Stetson
    Tony Stetson
    Tony Matteo is a semi-retired American professional wrestler, best known by his ring name "Hitman" Tony Stetson, who has competed in Northeastern independent promotions during the late 1980s and 1990s...

  • JT Southern
    JT Southern
    JT Southern is a retired American professional wrestler. Though he achieved most notoriety during his 1992 feud with Van Hammer in World Championship Wrestling, Southern also competed for Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association, Continental Wrestling Association in Memphis, Tennessee, and in...

  • "Virgil" Mike Jones
    Mike Jones (wrestler)
    Mike Jones is an American professional wrestler, who most recently performed for World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Virgil, where he appeared on its Raw brand as Ted DiBiase, Jr.'s personal assistant...


  • Championships and accomplishments

    • National Wrestling Alliance
      National Wrestling Alliance
      The 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 Hawaii Heavyweight Championship
      NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship
      The NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and is defended in the US state of Hawaii. The title, which is still currently defended, began in1935...

       (1 time)

    • North American Wrestling Federation
      • NAWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

    • Northeast Championship Wrestling
      • NCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

    • Northeast Championship Wrestling (Tom Janette)
      • NCW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

    • Stampede Wrestling
      Stampede Wrestling
      Stampede 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 Wrestling International Tag Team Championship
      Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship
      The Stampede International Tag Team Championship is the main tag-team title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. It was created in 1958 as the NWA International Tag-Team Championship...

       – with Ripper Collins

    • World Wrestling Council
      World Wrestling Council
      The World Wrestling Council is one of Puerto Rico's two main professional wrestling promotions, the other one being the International Wrestling Association....

    • WWC North American Tag Team Championship
      WWC North American Tag Team Championship
      The NWA North American Tag Team Championship was a major tag team championship that was used and defended in Capitol Sports Promotions...

       (2 times) – with Jack Evans

    External links

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