John Tolos, 78, Passes Away
Written: May 29, 2009
WWE is saddened to learn about the death of John Tolos, who passed away on May 28 at the age of 78.
A legendary rough and rugged superstar who hailed from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, he and his brother Chris entered the then World Wide Wrestling Federation, and the Tolos Brothers captured the United States Tag Team Championship from Gorilla Monsoon and Killer Kowalski.
Tolos entered the WWWF as a singles competitor in the early 1970’s and had a series of matches with WWWF Champion Pedro Morales in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
One of Tolos’ longest running feuds was with his arch rival WWE Hall of Famer Classy Freddie Blassie. Their battles were epic in every sense of the word, and one in particular in 1971 drew an enormous crowd to the Los Angeles Coliseum. Tolos was a mainstay in the Los Angeles area for over a decade.
In his later active years, Tolos returned to WWE in 1991. He called himself “Coach”, complete with whistle, and was a manager to WWE Hall of Famer “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig, in addition to the Beverly Brothers.
WWE offers its sincerest condolences to the family and friends of John Tolos.
