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.
Harold Angus
Harold Angus was born in England in 1904…he was one of 10 children. Angus began as an amateur wrestler who was good enough to compete at the 1928 Summer Olympic Games in Amsterdam. Angus advanced to the quarter finals until losing to Canadian Danny McDonald. Angus continued his amateur career for another two years before making the decision to turn pro in 1930.
Angus was a natural inside the squared circle and ended up becoming a really big star in the United Kingdom during the 1930’s. Angus went on to win the British version of the welterweight title. He also won the European version of the world heavyweight title. Two of Harold’s brothers followed him into professional wrestling, but were not nearly the star that Harold was.
On October 26, 1940, Angus was out hunting rabbits, when he was accidentally shot. Four days later on October 30th, Harold Angus died from his injuries. He was only 35 years old at the time of his death.