Gordon Nelson 

Real Name - Gordon Nelson

Lifespan - 3/27/1930 - 12/12/2012

5’11” 220 lbs. - Winnipeg, MA

Athletic Background - Wrestling

Teacher(s) - Ole Olson

Professional Background - Winnipeg(`53-`56), England(`56-`68), Germany(`61), Mid-Atlantic(`62), AWA(`63), Texas(`63), Georgia(`68), JWA(`68), New Zealand(`68), Detroit(`69-`70), Amarillo(`70-`73), JWA(`71), Los Angeles(`72-`74), Dallas(`74-`75), GCCW(`75-`76), WWC(`76), Amarillo(`76), Georgia(`77), Florida(`77-`82), Mid-Atlantic(`78), All Japan(`85)

Aliases - Gordie Nelson, Masked Terror, The Outlaw, Mr. America, Mr. X, Wrestling Pro #2

Peak Years - `59-`70

Place in History - Gordon Nelson had a reputation amongst his peers as being one of the toughest and one of the most underrated talents of his time.  From Winnipeg, when that city was a wrestling factory, Gordon Nelson was an exceptional amateur with Olympic aspirations.  After funding prevented him from going, Nelson pursued pro-wrestling.  He traveled to England, where he spent a dozen years.  Winning a tournament at the Royal Albert Hall, propelled Nelson into the running as a top heavyweight.  Masked men were not unusual in England and he adopted a black masked persona known as “The Outlaw.”  Wrestling on television was first catching on and the Outlaw became the most prominent masked man on it.  Over the years, he regularly teamed with Doctor Death (Paul Lincoln) and the young Kendo Nagasaki and wrestled most of the top heavyweights of the era wrestling like George Gordienko, Ernie Baldwin, Alan Garfield and Tibor Szakacs. many times over the years.  He also unmasked several lower level masked men, but also claimed the hood of the famed Zebra Kid before he left the country.  Nelson began having short runs in the US, which led to him suddenly leaving Britain.  That unexpected move has been pointed to as the reasoning behind Kendo Nagasaki’s long period of absence from television.  In the US, Nelson adopted a number of masked characters over the years with “Mr. Wrestling” being the most notable.  Although an unspectacular character, Nelson’s years of working the British style meant he was phenomenal in the ring and had a thickly muscled build.  The hood provided a little color and hid his receding hairline as Nelson neared fifty.  He mainly worked tags and undercards, he also did a little policeman work and bolstered his reputation as a vicious shooter.  In his later days, Nelson married Ann LaVerne’s daughter Maria, who went pro and they had two children, one of whom pursued pro-wrestling and mixed martial arts.  Gordon Nelson is one of those wrestlers who worked all over and like George Gordienko or Paul Vachon and saw his greatest success internationally, but was well respected by his peers.