Jody Hamilton - Biography

Biography

Hamilton was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. Before turning professional Hamilton was a promising amateur boxer, but instead of continuing his training he decided that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Larry Hamilton. Larry was a professional wrestler billed as "The Missouri Mauler". Hamilton started working for "Gus Karras Promotions", a professional wrestling promotion based in St. Louis, Missouri, where he made his debut against Rip Hawk in a 40 minute match. By 1957 Hamilton had started teaming with his brother Larry and worked as a full time professional wrestler. The Hamilton Brothers worked for the New York, NY based Capitol Wrestling (the precursor to World Wrestling Entertainment) where they were put in a storyline with the top tag team of the promotion Antonino Rocca and Miguel Pérez. In May 1958 the Hamilton Brothers faced Rocca and Pérez in the main event of a Madison Square Garden show, making Jody, age 19 at the time, the youngest man to ever costar in a main event at Madison Square Garden.

After the Hamilton Brothers time in New York Jody Hamilton decided to strike out on his own, working as a singles wrestler. As a singles wrestler Hamilton first got a promotional push by "NWA Western States" booker Doc Sarpolis, who billed him as "Silent" Joe Hamilton. Hamilton has revealed in recent years that the "Silent" moniker was because he was not a very good at interviews and promos. After working in Texas Hamilton worked in Oklahoma and Florida. When Hamilton left Florida in 1961 he intended to return to Oklahoma, but an offer came in from Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) that would change the direction of Hamilton’s career for good.