Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
Grappling with Tragedy is a series of articles that deal with unfortunate, tragic incidents that have occurred throughout the history of professional wrestling. It is unlike the ‘Wrestling with Sin’ series that deals more with the seedier side of wrestling like arrests, murders and suicides. Grappling looks more at particular tragic incidents that have in some instances altered pro wrestling in some way.
Ali Pasha
Alexander Vieira Fontes started his wrestling career in 1938 and wrestled under various aliases. They included Al Fontes, Zim Zam Zum and his most known name of Ali Pasha. The name Ali Pasha refers one of the highest ranks in the Ottoman Empire. Ali Pasha wrestled primarily for the NWA and its numerous territories including St. Louis, Detroit, Vancouver, Kansas and Chicago.
On May 20, 1961…Al Pasha wrestled a TV match in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania against opponent Billy Darnell. Al Pasha was defeated in fifteen minutes after an airplane spin. Ali Pasha got up and returned to the dressing room. By all accounts, he appeared fine when leaving the ringside area. Not long after, Pasha collapsed in the locker room of the television studio and died. The autopsy done later, revealed that Pasha died from a massive heart attack. Ali Pasha was 53 years old at the time of his death.