Sweet Daddy Siki
| Sweet Daddy Siki | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 16, 1940 Montgomery, Texas[1] |
| Residence | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
Mr. Irresistible Sweet Daddy Siki |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 245 lb (111 kg)[1] |
| Trained by |
Sandor Szabo Ray Ortega[2] |
| Debut | 1955 |
Sweet Daddy Siki (born June 16, 1940) is a retired professional wrestler and singer. He is also known as Reggie Siki, the name of a pro wrestler in the early-to-mid 20th century.
Siki started wrestling in 1955 in Artesia, New Mexico.[3] He also did some training in Los Angeles with Sandor Szabo and Ray Ortega.[3] He says he weighed about 180 pounds when he started, but within three years weighed in at 230.[3]
Career
He moved to Toronto in 1961 because it was a central location from which to travel across North America.[3] He still lives in Toronto today, and uses it as a base for his country & western band and his work as a karaoke DJ at The Duke on Queen Street East.[3] Siki is well-known throughout Canada. He was a top draw in the 1960s and 1970s. He fought in Stampede Wrestling for years, travelled with Bearman McKigney's circuit and was a mainstay of the eastern scene.[3] Siki is best known for his headbutt or "coco butt" and his "neckbreaker" maneuver.[4]
At his peak, Siki was a main card attraction at Maple Leaf Gardens and drew fans by the busloads.[4] He had made his Maple Leaf Gardens debut in 1962 and wrestled there until 1980.[5]
In his peak at Maple Leaf Gardens, he earned up to $3,000 a bout and received bundles of mail from fans around the world.[4] In the 1970s, Siki wrestled two well-known radio & television hosts in Toronto: CHUM radio's Terry Steele and CITY-TV's Gene Taylor.[5] He used an airplane spin as a finisher in both matches.[5]
Siki made an appearance on WWE Smackdown on September 13, 2011 for Edge Appreciation Night, along with several other WWE Legends and former superstars.
Siki now hosts karaoke Saturday afternoons at The Duke bar at Queen and Leslie street in Toronto.
Championships
Along the way, he has accrued six major wrestling belts, including the Austra-Asian championship, the North American championship (three times), the Texas championship and the tag-team heavyweight crown.[4]
Siki suffered many injuries throughout his career. He suffered from two broken ribs, had his hands broken twice, his ankle and leg broken and half his face paralyzed.[4]
In the 1980s, he wrestled across the Maritimes and in small Northern Ontario towns.[4] Siki wrote his own theme song entitled "I Am So Proud of What I See".[4]
During this time, he also started to teach the craft at Sully's Toronto Youth Athletic Club on Sundays.[4] He continued to wrestle into the 1990s. He was also affiliated with a Toronto wrestling school through the 1980s and to the mid-1990s, initially in partnership with Johnny Powers.[5]
Besides Canada, Siki has wrestled across the United States, and in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Trinidad.[3]
List of championships
- AGPW North American Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Cuban Assassin
- NWA International Tag Team Championship (Toronto version) (1 time) - with Bulldog Brower[5]
- Midwest Wrestling Association
- MWA Ohio Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Leon Graham[2]
- NWA Eastern States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)1
1This title should not be confused with the NWA Eastern States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in the early to mid-1970s. This title would go on to be renamed the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. Finishing move: Airplane Spin
References
- 1 2 3 Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. DK. p. 296. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- 1 2 Other Superstars - Sweet Daddy Siki
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 SLAM! Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame: Sweet Daddy Siki
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Siki still wonderful…just ask him, By Tom Godfrey, Toronto Sun, June 29, 1986
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 PAGE OF FAME: Sweet Daddy Siki