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Born June 4, 1937 New York, New York-Died October 6, 1999 Willingboro,New JerseyRobert james Marella, better known by his stage name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play announcer, and booker. He is a legend in the business, famous for his run as one of the great super-heavyweights, and later as the voice of the World Wrestling Federation as announcer, on-screen President, and backstage manager during the 1980s and 1990s. In professional wrestling, the staging area just behind the entrance curtain at an event, a position which Marella established and where he could often be found during WWF shows late in his career, is named the Gorilla Position in his honor.Amateur career Marella attended Jefferson High School in Rochester, New York, becoming a standout athlete in football, amateur wrestling, and track and field. At the time, he weighed over 300 pounds (136 kg), and was affectionately called "Tiny" by his teammates.Marella was also a standout athlete after high school at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. He continued to wrestle, now weighing over 350 pounds, and took second in the 1959 NCAA Wrestling Championships. He also held several school athletic records, including an 18-second wrestling pin, and several track-and-field distinctions. He was inducted into the Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973.Marella's size and athletic ability attracted the attention of New York promoter Pedro Martinez, and he went to wrestle for Martinez after graduating from Ithaca in 1959.Early career Marella originally billed himself as Gino Marella, a proud Italian-American babyface who would sing in Italian prior to his matches. Even after changing his stage name, "Gino" stuck as Marella's nickname among friends and colleagues, including Jesse "The Body" Ventura, who would call Marella "Gino" on the air. Marella garnered moderate popularity, but soon realized that fans paid more attention to outlandish monster heel gimmicks, and they therefore made more money. Marella totally revamped his image, growing a long beard and billing himself as Gorilla Monsoon, a terrifying giant from Manchuria. Supposedly born on an isolated farm, "Monsoon" traveled across the countryside with a gypsy caravan wrestling bears, spoke no English, ate raw meat, and drank his victims' blood. The Monsoon character was infinitely more successful, and fans were genuinely afraid of him, sparking a huge financial windfall for Marella. In the ring, Monsoon dominated opponents with vicious chops, the dreaded Manchurian Splash, and his signature move, the Airplane Spin.WWF career Marella as Gorilla Monsoon.In 1963, Vincent J. McMahon reformed the Capitol Wrestling Corporation into the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) (currently known as World Wrestling Entertainment), breaking his territory away from the National Wrestling Alliance in an attempt to create a new national powerhouse. At the time, the WWWF was the dominant wrestling promotion in the Northeast U.S. Marella formed a friendship with McMahon, and became a 1/6th shareholder in the WWWF, controlling bookings in several WWWF territories. He also became one of the promotion's top heels, feuding with popular babyface champion Bruno Sammartino in sellout arenas across the country. Despite his huge size, which was now in excess of 400 pounds, Monsoon had great agility and stamina, often wrestling Sammartino to one-hour time-limit draws. He also feuded with the legendary André the Giant.

In the 70s, Monsoon became a babyface, now feuding with popular heel champion "Superstar" Billy Graham among others.In 1976, a very famous incident occurred involving boxing great Muhammad Ali. Ali, preparing for his upcoming crossover match with Antonio Inoki in Japan, jumped into the ring while Monsoon was preparing for a match, ripped off his shirt, and started screaming at him. Monsoon, not missing a beat, grabbed Ali in his Airplane Spin and slammed him to the mat. Marella would never reveal whether the incident was preplanned. In an interview, he commented, "I never saw him before and haven’t seen him since."There came a time when Gorilla Monsoon was rabidly supported in New York, and was truly a torch bearer for the WWWF.It was around the turn of the '80s that a young, up-and-coming Hulk Hogan was told to face him, at Madison Square Garden, the unofficial Mecca of Wrestling.This was during the first run Hogan had, under the leadership of Vincent J.McMahon (father of the present owner).Hogan was at the time a widely followed heel character, Monsoon being the babyface.To push the new talent, McMahon told Hulk Hogan to beat Monsoon, that too in under a minute.The crowd was livid, and chased Hogan when he was leaving the arena, turning over his car. Policemen on horses had to be summoned to quiet the mob.In the late 70's, Marella's in-ring career wound down. After losing a ic title match Ken Patera in which Monsoon put his career on the line, he retired in 1980. He stayed true to his word, returning just for one match in 1982 as a substitute for Andre the Giant, and began the next phase of his career, as the voice and backstage manager of the WWF.After in-ring retirement Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura.In the early 1980's, Vincent J. McMahon's son, current WWE owner Vincent K. McMahon, began assuming the reins of the promotion from his father. The elder McMahon asked his son to take care of long-time employees that had been loyal to him. The younger McMahon agreed, and in 1982, Vince bought Marella's shares in the company in exchange for a guarantee of lifetime employment. As he had been to his father, Marella became a close confidant of the younger McMahon, and assumed a prominent backstage role. In addition, McMahon needed a new, engaging announce team to head up his television programming, and installed Marella as Monsoon alongside fellow recently retired wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura as the new announcing team. Marella and Ventura had great chemistry, with Ventura as the pro-heel color commentator and Marella as the voice of reason. Marella and Ventura called five of the first six WrestleManias together. Monsoon was also paired with villainous manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, a duo that subsequent wrestling commentary teams have often tried to emulate. The two also formed a real-life friendship which Heenan recalls fondly. One of Monsoon's catch phrases was his (mis)use of the word "literally", such as "the fans are literally hanging from the rafters in here!". Presumably, this was done for humor, as Monsoon's announcing character was quite entertaining and popular. Monsoon to this date holds the record for most consecutive WrestleMania events on the commentary team, calling each event from 1985-1992.Marella stepped down as lead announcer in 1993 for WCW recruit Jim Ross. Marella remained in his backstage role and appeared on-air frequently, becoming the storyline WWF President in 1995 (replacing the retiring Jack Tunney). The WWF President's role was to arbitrate disputes between wrestlers and make matches, similar to the current RAW and SmackDown! General Managers. Health concerns forced him to relinquish his role in 1997 (as Marella was subsequently replaced by Sgt. Slaughter), and Marella's health deteriorated from there. He made his last public appearance as a judge for the Brawl for All in 1999 at WrestleMania XV. Marella died of heart failure on October 6, 1999. He was 62.Quotes "Holy mackerel!" "Give me a break!" "Would you be serious?" "The whole place has gone bananas!" "Are you kidding me?" "They broke the mold when they made this man(referring to Hulk Hogan),there will never be another Hulkster!" "Will you stop?" "History made in (arena name) tonight." "Stick the fork in him, he's done!" "Uh-oh, look out!" "Excuse me!" "What an eruption here!" "It's the irresistible force meeting the immovable object!" "The electricity is so thick you can cut it with a knife!" "Close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades!" "It's all over but the shouting!" "Slim and none and slim left the building a long time ago." (during a dimming of the lights) Whoa! Keep your eye on your wallet!" "Highly unlikely, Brain." "What a fountain of misinformation!" "He doesn't know a wristlock from a wristwatch."Legacy Despite a 20-year-plus career as one of wrestling's most feared bad guys, most fans remember Gorilla Monsoon fondly as one of its most beloved and engaging personalities. He was one of the first inductees into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1994, and his voice brings back good memories to legions of fans. He has been sorely missed by his fans and friends, characterized by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan during his 2004 WWE Hall of Fame acceptance speech, in which, visibly shaken, he said of his old broadcast partner, "I just wish... that Monsoon was here."Trivia Gorilla's personalized license plate read "KAYFABE", a reference to pro wrestling's code of secrecy. Monsoon was Vincent J. McMahon's original choice to succeed him as company owner. Fellow wrestler Hard Boiled Haggerty played a fictionalized version of Gorilla Monsoon in the 1984 comedy Micki and Maude. Gorilla's son, Joey Marella, was a WWF referee. Joey was killed in an automobile accident and friends say his father never fully recovered from that tragedy. Gorilla Monsoon is the only person to have a boxing match with André the Giant and a wrestling match with Muhammad Ali, which can be noted on the André the Giant DVD.Championships and accomplishments 2-Time WWC North American Champion 1-Time IWA World Heavyweight Champion 2-Time WWWF United States Tag Team Champion (with Killer Kowalski and Bill Watts) 2-Time WWA Tag Team Champion (with Luke Graham and El Mongol) 1994 WWE Hall of Famer WWE President, 1995-1997