Ox Baker

Professional Wrestler. A gentle giant who was typecast as a villain, he is remembered for his thirty year career during which he felled numerous opponents with his trademark “Heart Punch”. Raised in Waterloo, Iowa, he was a standout athlete in high school until he was, for reasons unspecified, kicked out. After spending two years in the military during which time he played football, he was trained by several professingal wrestlers including World Champion Pat O’Connor prior to his 1962 Kansas City debut; originally presented in the guise of a glasses-wearing dimwit, he soon found his place as a bad guy complete with the signature catchphrase “I love to hurt people”. Over the years he was a part of several promotions including the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), the World Wrestling Association (WWA), and the World Class Championship (WCC); he beat Carlos Colon for the WCC World Championship, topped Cowboy Bob Ellis to earn the WWA belt, in 1976 teamed with Big John Studd to capture the WWA Tag-Team crown, took a large number of minor titles, and was part of several long-running feuds including one with Macho Man Randy Savage. Twice, Ox took the blame for the death of an opponent, Alberto Torres in 1971 and Roy Gunkel in 1972, and privately suffered grief, though on both occasions medical evidence showed that nothing he had done in the ring was contributory. In the 1980s he had a movie career, bowing in 1980’s “The Big Brawl”, making Kurt Russell feel the Heart Punch in the 1982 cult-classic “Escape From New York”, and playing a Russian wrestler in 1985’s “Blood Circus”. Though gradually slowing down, he kept fairly busy up thru the 1980s, later ran a noted wrestling school where he taught a number of successful students, among them WWF legend The Undertaker, and continued making occasional public appearances. Ox participated in a 2005 documentary about his life and career and died of heart disease after an extended period of declining health. (bio by: Bob Hufford)  Family links:  Spouses:  Peggy Ann Kawa Baker (1952 – 2010)  Darlene J Doyle Baker (1938 – 1989)* *Calculated relationship