Pedro Morales
Pedro Antonio Morales was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with Worldwide Wrestling Associates and the World Wide Wrestling Federation.
Debuting in 1959, Morales originally came to prominence with WWA in the 1960s, where he held the World Heavyweight Championship and World Tag Team Championship. In 1970, he joined the WWWF, winning its World Heavyweight Championship and United States Championship. In a second run with the by-then World Wrestling Federation in the 1980s, he won the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship and Tag Team Championship, establishing himself as the promotion's first Triple Crown Champion. He retired from professional wrestling in 1987.
A popular champion, Morales had particular appeal to his native Puerto Ricans and the wider Latino audience. The first Latino to hold a world heavyweight championship, his reign as WWWF Heavyweight Champion remains among the longest in history. He previously also held the record for most cumulative days as Intercontinental Champion at 619 days across two reigns, having been surpassed by Gunther's one reign in February 2024. He was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1995, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2015 and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2017.
Early life
Morales was born on October 22, 1942, in the municipality of Culebra, an island off the shore of Puerto Rico's main island. He was a member of a large family, with 85 cousins just on his mother's side. Morales once claimed that sixty five percent of Culebra's population had some bloodline connection to him. He was raised in Culebra throughout his childhood and remained there until reaching his adolescence, when his mother sent him to live with an aunt in Brooklyn, New York, to finish his high school education. It was there that one of his sister's friends introduced him to the members of a wrestling club which quickly earned his interest. After practicing in his school and at a local YMCA, Morales debuted as an amateur wrestler at the age of 13, competing in the 160 lb division. In New York, he also became a professional wrestling fan, witnessing the tag team of Miguel Pérez, Sr. and Antonino Rocca. Morales also played baseball. When he was 16 years old, he was selected in the Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico's first year draft by the Leones de Ponce. However, due to living outside of Puerto Rico, he declined the opportunity. Instead, Morales elected to train in order to become a professional wrestler, in the process gaining twenty pounds. A year later, his father signed the documentation required by the New York State Athletic Commission in order to begin his career as an underage performer.Professional wrestling career
Early career (1959–1965)
When he was 17 years old, Morales trained under Barba Roja to become a wrestler and participated on a card held in New York City in 1959. He debuted by earning a victory over Howard LaVine, who performed under the pseudonym Buddy Gilbert, going on to participate in tag team matches and other stipulation matches throughout the tri-state area the following year. During the next two years, he wrestled in Virginia and North Carolina, particularly in the towns of Petersburg, Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina. Morales frequently wrestled fellow Puerto Rican Gypsy Joe on these cards. He also earned wins over Jimmy Quinn, Don Savage and Sonny Fargo, while wrestling several local figures such as Swede Hanson, Laverne Baxter and Tony Nero. The following year, Morales began visiting several more states, often teaming up with different Latin luchadores, such as Pepper Gonzales and Gory Guerrero, while holding loose feuds with a wrestler simply known as “The Viking” and Mark Starr. As a traveling performer, he amassed mixed results, with most of his victories taking place in British Columbia. While there, Morales defeated Tarzan Potvin, Tony Nero, Bud Rattal, Tommy O'Toole and Johnny Demchuk in a two-month period, before losing three challenges to Oliver Winrush. After a similar result in a short program with Hard Boiled Haggerty, he had two draws against Allan Garfield, before defeating him on July 16, 1962. Over the following months, Morales served as a mid-carder, losing to several of the high-card talents. However, he gained wins over jobbers such as Poncho Pico, Sputnik Monroe and Gypsy Biviano, the latter of whom he won a three-fall match.The following August, Morales traveled to Texas and was involved in a series of matches with Jack and Jim Dalton, facing them along multiple tag team partners. After emerging victorious in a feud over Nelson Royal, he relocated to Washington, D.C., and Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he wrestled Miguel Torres, Angelo Savoldi and Lou Albano, while entering into a rivalry with Tony Altomare. It was there where he first teamed up with Miguel Pérez, Sr. and Argentina Apollo, who were the first tag team champions recognized in the history of the World Wide Wrestling Federation. In 1963, Morales performed in several tag team matches against Johnny Barend and Magnificent Maurice, returning to New York and New Jersey in a program alongside Gordo Chihuahua, who worked as enhancement talent. Later in the year, he formed a recurrent tag team with Perez and feuded with Pedro Rodriguez. In June, Morales joined Bruno Sammartino, Bobo Brazil, Perez and Apollo to once again enter a storyline with Johnny Barend, who was now joined by Diamond Jack. After this, Vittorio Apollo became his mainstay tag team partner, with whom he challenged The Fabulous Kangaroos, Johnny Barend and Buddy Rogers on several occasions. Morales finished the year by teaming with Pérez, earning three victories over the Fabulous Kangaroos. The team opened 1964 by feuding with Chris and John Tolos, losing the first two encounters but winning the three-fall rubber match. Individually, Morales defeated Chuck Martoni, Arnold Skaaland and Prince Nero several times.
The tag team next entered a feud with Jerry Graham and Luke Graham, losing multiple times before earning a win on September 19, 1964. The team also exchanged results against Hans & Max Mortier. During this time frame, Morales picked singles wins over Frank Hickey, Chuck Martoni, Bobby Davis, Arnold Skaaland, Humberto Mercado, Matt Gilmore, Boris Malenko, Klondike Bill, Jose Quinteras, Magnificent Maurice, Bull Johnson and Luke Graham, while losing in matches against Wild Red Berry and Freddie Blassie. Morales then entered a double feud against Pedro Rodriguez and Gene Kiniski, dominating Rodriguez but losing to Kiniski. Alongside Pérez, he restarted their feud with the Grahams, earning a second victory. In the final months of 1964, Morales also gained wins over Robert Duranton and Steve Stanlee.
Worldwide Wrestling Associates (1965–1968)
Morales opened 1965 by moving to Worldwide Wrestling Associates in California, an organization that had been created as a mirror to the National Wrestling Alliance, where he engaged in multiple concurrent feuds, defeating "The Executioner" in his first match, before going on to defeat several wrestlers with similar characters by winning against "The Axeman" twice, "El Verdugo" and "The Hangman" on several occasions during the first three months of the year. Morales also experienced success in matches outside storyline, besting Jesse Rose, Charlie Kalani, Ruffy Colden, Billy Red Lyons, Kenny Yates, Don Savage, Luke Graham, Hard Boiled Haggerty, some of them more than two consecutive times. In March, he was involved in a program with Karl Von Stroheim, winning a series of matches against him and teaming with Mr. Moto and Luis Hernandez to win tag team matches that also included Kurt Von Stroheim.On March 12, 1965, Morales defeated "The Destroyer" Dick Beyer to win the WWA World Heavyweight Championship in a three-fall match. He continued earning singles victories over Horst Wessel, Kurt Von Stroheim, Al Marshall, Broadway Venus, Bill Cody and in a rematch against The Destroyer, while teaming along Hernandez to wrestle multiple combinations. He became involved in a feud against The Assassins and The Butcher, steadily gaining the upper hands both individually and in tag matches. Morales moved on from these angles and defeated Rod Orell, Billy Klutzer and The Mummy, before dropping the championship to Luke Graham on July 23, 1965. Morales responded by defeating Graham in a three-fall chain match less than a month later, in the process winning a Brass Knuckles Championship. Meanwhile, his team with Hernandez won three consecutive matches against The Assassins by disqualification. Subsequently, a revival of his previous feuds with The Butcher and The Assassins became intertwined with the current involving Graham, leading to a series of matches featuring different combinations during the following months. Hernandez was eventually replaced by Adalberto Torres as Morales's tag team partner, along whom he also
faced Gorilla Monsoon and a variety of partners. On October 17, 1965, he defeated Graham to regain the WWA World Heavyweight Championship. Morales went on to defeat Graham in two more rematches, scoring victories over Ox Anderson, Bandito Lopez and Jack Allen as well. Following a short series against El Mongol, he continued this pattern in matches involving Swede Karlsen, Baron Leone, Killer Karlson, The Golden Terror, Mark Lewin, Killer Karl Kox and Clyde Steeves. Morales also won a battle royale held in Fort Worth, Texas and brought closure to his feud with El Mongol by besting him on February 13, 1966. During this stage, he also changed tag team partners frequently, teaming with Better Boucher, Ramon Torres and Billy Red Lyons among others, gathering mixed results.
In the final months before making a tour to Japan, Morales defeated Mark Lewin and Indio Joe, but also lost to Lyons and Mark Lewin. At his first show in Tokyo, he had a draw against Don Lewin. Morales continued this run by defeating Michiaki Yoshimura, Yoshino Sato, Mr. Moto, Mitsu Hirai, Umanosuke Ueda, tying against Kim Il in all of their encounters and losing only to Giant Baba by countout in singles. During this run, he teamed with Arman Hussein, Lewin, Wilbur Snyder, Lonnie Mayne & Billy Two, among others, with the results being divided inequitable manner between wins, losses and draws. On May 27, 1966, Morales returned to California and went on another winning streak over Ray Shields, Jack Lanza, El Mongol, Stan Neilson, Baby Destroyer and Fritz Von Goering, before entering a series against Buddy Austin, losing the first three encounters and dropping the WWA World Heavyweight Championship to him on August 5, 1966, before winning the fourth match. He also reformed his tag team with Luis Hernandez, finding success in this division as well by winning the WWA World Tag Team Championship on June 24, 1966, being a dual champion for over a month. After a win over Art Mahalik, Morales wrestled Hernandez to a three-fall draw. This was followed by victories over Austin and in a second battle royale. Despite gathering singles wins over the likes of El Mongol, Austin, Magnificent Maurice, Joe Flores and Frank Marconi, during the following months, Morales focused on the tag team division, earning eleven wins, seven draws and only one loss before dropping the titles to Hard Boiled Haggerty and El Shereef on October 28, 1966. He subsequently split results against Shereef, also besting Rip Miller and Austin on several occasions during November. To close the year, Morales joined Mark Lewin to recapture the WWA World Tag Team Championship on December 10, 1966.
Morales began 1967 by also teaming with Ricky Romero, Mr. Moto and Pepper Gomez, gathering victories along all of them. In singles, he remained in the top of the card, defeating Paul Diamond, El Shereef, Killer Karl Kox, K.O. Murphy and Johnny Vander, while wrestling Haggerty and The Mad Russian to draws. After winning two more matches along Lewin, their team ceased to exist, costing them the titles. Morales was then joined by Romero as his partner, once again winning the WWA World Tag Team Championship along with him on February 10, 1967. The team went on to win almost a dozen matches, while he won contests against The Mighty Atlas, The Preacher and Mike DiBiase during the following months. Morales also ran a parallel team with Pepper Gomez, winning the American Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship along with him after winning their two previous matches. He made his first appearance in Hawaiian territory along Gomez on April 26, 1967. After returning to California the following month, Morales entered a series against his former partner Mark Lewin, but lost both encounters. He then continued to team with Gomez and Romero, recording a successful run until they became part-time partners in July 1967, when he joined fellow Puerto Rican José Luis Rivera, immediately entering a long feud against Mike DiBiase, who teamed with a variety of wrestlers, but most frequently wrestled along Karl Gotch. While individually, Morales entered a brief period where he recorded more draws and losses than wins, his team with Rivera won their first five encounters, which also featured him besting DiBiase and Gotch in singles. Concurrent to this, his team with Romero began experiencing more losses, while the one along Gomez remained consistently successful. While DiBiase and Gotch won in two consecutive events, the feud began to produce several draws. Morales and Rivera won the last encounter on August 16, 1967, then migrating to another rivalry against Freddie Blassie & Buddy Austin. Despite earning wins over several other teams, they were unable to best Blassie and Austin during this feud, only recording a single win. Individually, Morales gained victories over Tony Nero and Tony Altomare, both of whom eventually teamed and lost to the Puerto Rican team.
He challenged and defeated Blassie by himself, but lost in a rematch. Morales wrestled Pat Patterson in two tag matches, losing along Rivera but winning with Gomez. The team with Rivera dissolved afterwards, with another teammate emerging in the figure of Antonio Pugliese. Both of Morales' teams managed to record a successful run against an assortment of teams that included different combinations of opponents such as Stan Stasiak, Tom Andrews, Blassie, Austin, Patterson and Ray Stevens among others. Meanwhile, in one-on-one competition he bested Ron Romano, Baron Mikel Scicluna, Rick Renaldo, The Rebel and won an eight-man battle royale. Morales closed the year by rejoining Gomez as a full-time partner, defeating the team of Blassie and The Great Malenko. To open 1968, he defeated The Preacher, The Rebel and Blassie, briefly rejoining Romero in a draw. Individually, Morales then entered a streak of draws, before rebounding with wins over Rick Renaldo, Rocky Montero, The Alaskan, Lou Anthony, Rocky Montero and The Masked Invader. Antonio Pugliese reappeared on May 4, 1968, only to drop the WWA World Tag Team Championship to The Medics. A week later, Morales and Gomez also lost the AWA World Tag Team Championship to Kinji Shibuya & Masa Saito, but regained them on June 8, 1968. Mil Máscaras became a new member of the team, whom he joined in winning a series against Jim Osborne and losing another to Blassie and Austin. Morales made a one-night appearance in Hawaii during the summer, besting Pat Patterson. Both of Morales teams began having mixed results, which brought in another winning streak as a singles wrestler which included names such as Fritz Von Goering, Texas, Osborne, Lou Anthony, Rick Renaldo, Thunderbolt Patterson, Tony Romano, Rocky Montaro and The Masked Invader before being snapped by Blassie via disqualification. On November 7, 1968, Morales challenged Gene Kiniski for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but failed to win the match. He won his next match by defeating George Cannon, forming a brief partnership with Hahn Lee that only lasted for a month. In his final matches for the WWA, Morales defeated The Raider and El Mongol twice.