Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is a continuation of my first piece on the careers of less successful siblings in professional wrestling. There was so many, that a second piece was needed to cover the majority of them.
Lanny Poffo
Perhaps one of the most famous brothers in pro wrestling whose career certainly did not match the legacy of his much more famous sibling. Lanny did have some success in his father’s ICW promotion in the 70’s…but when he followed his brother Randy Savage to the WWF…he became a glorified jobber to the stars as the poem reading, frisbee throwing “Leaping” Lanny Poffo. He did redeem himself later in his career as a manager called “The Genius,” but nowhere close to the Macho Man’s success.
Joe Malenko
While we all know of the tremendous success of “The Man Of 1,000 Holds” Dean Malenko all over the world….his older brother Joe( A great wrestler in his own right) was less known. Joe’s greatest successes came in Japan mostly as he won the All Japan Junior heavyweight title on a couple of occasions. He briefly appeared in both ECW and WCW, but for the most part to newer fans anyway…Dean is the more well known sibling. Joe Malenko retired in 1996.
Jackie Fulton
Long time fans will remember the tag team called “The Fantastics.” A team that consisted of Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton. They had a great run in the NWA, World Class and the UWF. Bobby Fulton has a younger brother named Jackie who later replaced Tommy Rogers in the Fantastics team with less success. Jackie’s main success came in Japan where he wore a mask and called himself “The Eagle.”
Barry Orton
Barry Orton was a 2nd generation wrestler and younger brother to “Cowboy” Bob Orton. He had a run in the WWF but wrestled mostly as a preliminary wrestler named Barry O. Barry’s biggest claim to fame was appearing on the Phil Donahue show to reveal he was sexually molested by Terry Garvin and Pat Patterson.
Michael Smith
Many people forget, but Jake “The Snake” Roberts ( Aurielian Smith Jr.)has a half brother and sister that also competed in wrestling. Rockin’ Robin Smith a former WWF women’s champion…who also sang “America The Beautiful” at Wrestlemania V and Michael Smith AKA “Sam Houston.” While Houston had some success in the territories….he never really gained much fame. He wrestled for both Jim Crockett and the WWF..but mostly as a jobber. His biggest notoriety was marrying wrestling valet “Baby Doll” aka Nickla Roberts.
Brett Sawyer
Brett Sawyer was a journeyman in the old National Wrestling Alliance going from territory to territory occasionally teaming with his more famous brother…the ruthless “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer. Even though he wrestled for nearly 18 years…Brett was never the calibur of wrestler as his older brother Buzz.
Kendall Windham
Kendall had some success in the Florida territories, but never really got going anywhere else. He was arrested in 1990 along with his dad (Former wrestler Blackjack Mulligan) for counterfeiting money and spent two years in jail. He is now retired and runs a security company.
Terry Orndorff
The younger brother of “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff…Terry did have a bright future in pro wrestling. He spent the bulk of his time in the old Mid South region. Terry’s career came to an abrupt end after only 4 years after surviving a near fatal car accident in 1982.
I will wrap this trilogy up next time…coming up part III
