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THIS IS A TRIBUTE TO OX.

About Me

The Ugly HeroBorn: Douglas A. Baker on April 19,1934A former boxer, Ox Baker was feared for his dreaded Heart Punch. (Special Note: Ox changed The Heart Punch to The Hurt Punch out of respect for Stan Stasiak.)Ox Baker was an amateur high school wrestler in 1962 before getting thrown out of school. He played football for six years, 4 in high school and two in the service. In the early 1960's Ox approached Kansas City promoters about wrestling and was paid $300 for his first night. Following that night he went into training with Buddy "Killer" Austin, Pat O'Connor, and Bob Geigel. A couple of years later he was ready, standing 6-Foot 5-Inches and Weighing in at 342-pounds Ox began his Pro-Wrestling Career. First rolling over Frank Hickey in Kansas City, then destroying the Missouri Mauler. As time went on he was winning a majority of his matches by knock out caused by the Heart Punch which he borrowed from Stan Stasiak and adapted into his own ring arsenal.In his career he would defeat "Cowboy" Bob Ellis for a version of the crown in Dick The Bruiser's Indianapolis territory, he would also defeat Carlos Colon for the WWC World Title in Puerto Rico. History shows that Ox Baker was a multi-time Tag Team Champion. He has teamed with the likes of Ole Anderson and Scandor Akbar to capture Tag Team Championships in the NWA and NWF. Baker teamed with Big John Stud (then known as Chuck O' Connor) to win the WWA Tag Team Title in 1976. He also teamed with Superstar Billy Graham to hold the NWA Florida Tag Team Title. Baker would go on to Heart Punch his way through The Sheik to win the American Heavyweight Title, he also won the World Class Championship and the World Class Texas Title several times.In studying Baker's In-Ring Career it would appear that over 8,000 men have fallen to his feared version of the Heart Punch. Among them are Fritz Von Erich, David Von Eric, Kerry Von Eric, Jimmy "Super Fly" Snuka, Verne Gagne, Ernie Ladd, Harley Race, Bulldog Brower, Mil Mascaras, and Hulk Hogan. Hogan's knockout came when he tried to wrestle the Florida Title away from Baker, Hogan would eventually get knocked out three nights in a row.Ox Baker's Heart Punch made Head-Lines in 1970, when he wrestled a man by the name of Alberto Torres. Baker hit Torres with the Heart Punch and Torres dropped and did not get back to his feet again. He was rushed to the hospital where he later died. It turned out that he had a ruptured pancreas, but didn't disclose it to the wrestling promoters before the match. Baker's Heart Punch was not the 100% cause of death. Then in 1975, Baker's Special Move made Head-Lines again. This time Ox was battling Ray Gunkel in a Texas Death Match. Baker hit Gunkel with the Heart Punch and Gunkel was dead before he hit the floor. Incidents like these made Ox Baker a feared man in the ring.He has done work on Television and appeared in half a dozen feature films, such as Jackie Chan's action film "The Big Brawl" and John Carpenter's 1981 film classic "Escape From New York".In 1988 Ox retired from Pro-Wrestling and in following years he opened "Ox Baker's Wrestling School" becoming a well renowned trainer of future Stars and Champions such as the Russian Brute and the Night Stalker (latter known as Atom Bomb) . Now happily remarried with his wife Peggy Ann and living in the New England area where he continues to keep himself busy. He has published a children's Coloring Book, recorded a Music CD and always a fan favorite, continues to make Public Appearances, most recently to promote his new Cook Book.

My Interests

Ox Baker sits at a table at a 1991 wrestling convention outside of New York City, selling t-shirts displaying his intimidating face. The t-shirts read, "Ox Baker: Big, Mean, and Ugly," and Baker's bulky frame, bald head, and immensely bush eyebrows and beard seem to confirm that claim. In fact, his fearsome appearance led to a movie role in the 1981 cult classic "Escape from New York." However, upon further examination, Baker reveals himself to be a man in search of a second chance in the world of professional wrestling.I'm from Waterloo, Iowa. I was 25 [when I began], 25 years ago. I'd been an amateur wrestler in high school, and I wanted to go on to a professional career, because I'd wrestled quite a few of the guys. I'd seen the profession, I knew I could handle myself, and so I got into professional wrestling.I really enjoyed wrestling. I got to meet hundreds and hundreds of people, and I enjoyed it very, very much. When you're in wrestling, you get to meet people, and if you like people like I do....For five years I had actually been starving in wrestling, and one night I happened to hit a guy with my famous "heart punch," and he dropped over dead. And I was an overnight sensation. It was onward and upward after that. It was a shame that it happened, but the man actually was ordered never to be in professional sports. But he got in there, and me hitting him caused his heart attack. The fans turned–at that time I didn't know whether they liked me or hated me–but they turned overnight on me, and they started sending me hate mail. And I found out the fans are very, very vicious, and over the years they put lit cigarettes on me, threw pop in my face, did a lot of despicable things. So I started my legendary saying, "I love to hurt people," because you find out that you can't really worry whether the fans like you or dislike you. You've got to do your own thing.For 25 years I've been "the bad guy," and for 5 years in a row I was voted "The Most Hated Man in Wrestling" because the man who died in the ring was quite popular. The fans, not knowing it was not my fault, blamed me for it and really rode me for the longest time. I found out that it helped my career quite a bit, so in helping it, that was all right with me. I'm not proud about it, but it happened, and we just go on.I had a six-year run with the NWA around Florida and Atlanta that I enjoyed quite well. I've been trying for the last two or three years, maybe the last five years, to get into the WWF, and I haven't been successful with it. I'm still trying very, very hard, and one of these days I might make it. Vince McMahon–of course, who at the moment is the czar of wrestling–he can point to you and you can get in, or he can not point to you and you can't get in. So you have to be very, very careful, and I'm still looking for that moment or break.I have a boy in Texas, and I just recently got married a second time to a fine lady in Connecticut. My first wife got killed in a horrible car accident. A lot of times I'd come home a little scarred up, a little scratched up, and [my family] didn't like that. But we bought a 400-acre farm out of it, and a large herd of cattle, so it paid off in the long run.I wish I hadn't been injured as much as I was. It ended quite suddenly when the arthritis in my leg, which I had tried to fight for years, slowed me down to where I had to quit. I've had a couple of organizations talking to me about trying to sign me up. My future career is actually being a manager. I've been in security for quite a few years, and I like the security work. Right now I'm working for Wells Fargo. I've been with two or three security outfits. They're not high paying, but I'm trying right now to get into corrections.Twenty-five years ago you actually had to wrestle more. I think the athletes are a little better athletes at this time, but they don't have wrestling skills that we had, where we went long periods of time. In other words, [today] you have a whole card in an hour and a half, where in the old days, you had to wrestle one hour and a half. So it's quite a difference.