Professional Wrestling Career
Curtis decided to become a professional wrestling in 1951, after working out with Lou Thesz. During his early career, he worked in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
Beginning in 1958, he teamed with Mark Lewin, after promoter Eddie Graham put them together. Curtis and Lewin held the NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Northeast version) twice in 1958, trading it with Graham and his "brother" Jerry. They were also the first holders of the championship, defeating Hans Schmidt and Dick the Bruiser.
Curtis teamed with Graham in May 1960 to win the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Florida version). He also held the title with Joe Scarpa in October 1962, Bob Ellis in March 1964 and Jose Lothario in March 1967.
In 1962, Curtis moved to Florida. In 1962, he teamed with Joe Scarpa to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Florida version) from Kurt and Karl Von Brauner. In January 1963, he won the title with Lewin from The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Roy Heffernan). After vacating the title, Curtis and Lewin regained it in December from the Assassins (Assassin 1 and 2). Lewin left the promotion the following month, and the title was once again vacated. In May 1964, Curtis teamed with Abe Jacobs to hold the title for the last time. In Jacksonville, Florida, Curtis promoted shows and managed the coliseum.
After wrestling Curtis was inducted into the U.B. Athletic Hall of Fame for wrestling and football in 1980, as well as managing the Jacksonville Coliseum. In 2009, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum with Mark Lewin under the "Tag Team" category.
Read more about this topic: Don Curtis
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“The professional celebrity, male and female, is the crowning result of the star system of a society that makes a fetish of competition. In America, this system is carried to the point where a man who can knock a small white ball into a series of holes in the ground with more efficiency than anyone else thereby gains social access to the President of the United States.”
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