Posted on by bdamage1
Robert Segedy
Real name was Ronald Doyle “Lonnie” Mayne. September 12, 1944-August 14,1978. I can recall the first time that I saw “Moondog” Mayne; he had a crazed look about him and he carried a huge bone. On several occasions I recall him eating glass and swallowing live goldfish during an interview. Mayne wrestled in various National Wrestling Alliance territories as well as the WWWF in 1973. That would make me 12 years of age; the peak believability age back in the day. I don’t remember Mayne doing any scientific moves or suplexes; the Moondog was a brawler by nature, and he used brute force and rule bending to overpower his opponents.
“I walk through the valley of death. I am the toughest in the valley of death. That’s why I’m not afraid!”
Born in Fairfax, California, Mayne was one of three sons of Kenny Mayne from Salt Lake City, Utah. Mayne came from a sports-oriented family, but he was the only one of the siblings to strike it big. Wrestling at the College of Southern Utah, Mayne was an All American in Football. Debuting in 1967, at first wrestling for promoter Don Owens (Portland. Oregon), but under the tutelage of “Tough” Tony Borne, things quickly changed in his favor. With Borne as his partner, the duo would hold an incredible eleven Pacific Northwest Pacific Tag Team championship runs in the NWA. To say that Mayne was a unique individual was an understatement. By the end of his career, Mayne, with various partners would hold the Pacific Northwest tag titles an amazing seventeen times.
In an infamous incident in the Pacific Northwest in a match against “Apache” Bull Ramos, Mayne suffered a gruesome compound fracture of his arm resulting in the bone sticking out of the skin. The incident ensured that Ramos was solidly viewed as a heel in that territory for quite a while.
While in Hawaii in the late 60’s, Mayne took on all comers including Sam Steamboat and Mils Mascaras. He even was victorious over the NWA Hawaiian Heavyweight title from Bearcat Wright.
Don Muraco, who worked with Mayne in Hawaii, admired Mayne’s ability to take a bump with the best of them. “Lonnie Mayne was doing bumps like Mick Foley. He’d take bumps from the top turnbuckle to the floor and stuff like that.” The Heels-Greg Oliver and Steven Johnson.
Mayne’s ring style was already aggressive and vicious, with the addition of “the sauce” (alcohol) things would get even wilder. Ron Bass states “He was one of the first high flyers, period. He’d be sauced to the gills, but you would never know it in the ring.”
Mayne challenged Gene Kiniski for the NWA World Heavyweight title on November 28, 1967, in Portland, Oregon in a two out of three falls event. Mayne was defeated in the first fall but came back for a pin in the second fall after a spectacular leap from the top rope. Unfortunately, because he would not stop administering a beating to the champ, he was disqualified.
Mayne acquired his famous nickname “Moondog” from Vince Sr. supposedly because Mayne resembled a famous blind musician and poet named Louis Hardin who resided in NYC.
In 1973, Mayne challenged fan favorite Pedro Morales for the WWWF title in Madison Square Garden. This so far was the apex of his career in the WWWF. He was managed during this time period by Lou Albano who acted as a spokesperson for the madman. Morales was on an unbeatable winning streak since becoming the WWWF Heavyweight Champion in early 1971. Mayne received at least two rematches against the champ. He also battled babyfaces such as Gorilla Monsoon, Tony Garea, and even Bruno Sammartino. Mayne would even be paired up with “Classy” Freddie Blassie on occasion.
Mayne left the WWWF and returned to the West Coast where he won the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) from Pat Patterson on December 1973 in a two out of three falls match in front of 12,000 at the Cow Palace. Eventually the duo patched up their differences and teamed up to win the San Francisco version of the NWA Tag Titles on August 8th, 1975, by defeating The Invaders.
From 1973 to 1978, Mayne succeeded in California, winning numerous single titles. In LA, he battled Chavo and Hector Guerro and Black Gordman as well. In the Roy Shire Northern California area, he sparred with Pat Patterson and Don Muraco. He partnered with Ray Stevens to sellout crowds. In Texas, he tangled with Mr. Wrestling II.
In 1974, he nearly dethroned NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco in one of his rare visits to the SF Bay area. In a two out of three falls bout, both men were tied evenly, but Mayne pulled a pair of brass knuckles out of his jeans without the referee noticing. The match was temporarily stopped until another referee informed the presiding ref of what had occurred. In a wild rematch, three weeks later, Brisco retained his title.
According to Mr. Fuji in a RF Video Shoot interview, Fuji stated that Mayne would drink a bottle of Southern Comfort daily. Mayne had planned on going to rehab to get into a recovery program, but on August 14, 1978, he died in a terrible car accident. An autopsy revealed that there had been internal bleeding and a possible concussion.
It is with fond memories that I recall Moondog Mayne, a legitimately tough fellow.