Gene Kiniski

Few stones are left unturned in this account of the life of a champion professional wrestler old-time fans and wrestling historians remember well for his accomplishments in the ring, his run-’em-over approach to wrestling, his growly demeanor, and a razor-sharp wit he could unleash at will. Numerous people who knew Gene Kiniski firsthand—including boyhood friends and acquaintances in the Canadian prairie, fellow wrestlers and promoters who worked with him or against him, and people who became Kiniski’s friends after he left the ring—recount touching stories and memories of an athlete and entertainer who was known internationally to a generation of wrestling fans and to Canadians everywhere as Canada’s Greatest Athlete. In these pages, those who knew Kiniski best remember a giant of a man who impacted people around him even more than he impacted wrestling audiences in major centers in the United States, Canada, and Japan over the course of an outstanding career spanning well over three decades.