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Captain Lou Albano was born Louis Albano in July of 1933 to affluent parents,
Dr. Carmen and Eleanor Albano. Albano was a star athlete in high school
and earned a football scholarship to the University of Tennessee. He left
school to join the Army and became a big fan of the wrestling business.
He would quickly enter the sport of kings as a wrestler, defeating Bob
Lazaro in his first match in Montreal Quebec in 1953. Albano formed a team
with Tony Altimore called the Sicilians and drew the ire of legitimate
members of the New York Mafia who suggested they tone down their act. The
team would become the Midwest Tag Team Champions and the WWWF United States
Tag Team Champions before Albano focused his efforts on managing upon advice
from WWWF Champion and friend Bruno Sammartino.
Albano would reinvent himself as Super Mario in 1989 after shaving his beard on "Live with Regis and Kathy Lee". The show was a hit, featuring cartoons and live performances by Albano, as Mario, and other talents. When the show ended, Albano became a vetetarian and he lost an amazing 150 pounds. He returned to the WWF, as mentioned, in 1994 in the audience at Wrestlemania X and by year's end was co-managing the Headshrinkers with Afa the Wild Samoan to the WWF Tag Team Titles. Albano retired when the Headshrinkers broke up, but became a regular on the independent scene in guest manager roles and Commissioner roles, including at the infamous Heroes of Wrestling pay per view in 1999. Albano was also inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1996 and continues to make guest appearances with the WWF on special occasions. Captain Lou, with all the titles and all the stories and all the great moments is one that wrestling fans simply cannot overlook when it comes to forging the Hall of Fame. Captain Lou, we're talkin' to you... welcome to the UWOW Hall of Fame! |
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Albano became the wild Captain, utilizing his brilliantly fast tongue and
over-the-top personality to become one of the most hated managers in wrestling
history. He is best known as the "Guiding Light" of tag team wrestlers,
having managed a total of 14 teams to the WWWF and later World Wrestling
Federation Tag Team Championship. However, he also became a notable manager
in the singles division, leading the hated "Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff to
defeat Bruno Sammartino in 1971, ending a 7 year reign. Albano took on
singles stars including Pat Patterson, Don Muraco and Greg Valentine, all
three of which wore the WWF Intercontinental Championship of the WWF.
Albano would lead some of the all-time great tag teams to the WWWF World
Tag Team Championship over the years including the Wild Samoans, the Valiant
Brothers, the team of Baron Mikel Scicluna and Peter Maivia (the Rock's
grandfather), the team of Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham and the team of
Mr. Fugi and Mr. Saito. He would return to the WWF for his 14th Tag Team
Title victory as the manager of the Headshrinkers in the WWF in 1994 for
some comedic WWF entertainment.
Albano's greatest fame, however, came when he appeared in Cindy Lauper's
music video of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". The WWF's new owner, Vince
McMahon, jumped on the opportunity and signed Lauper to appear on WWF programming
and signed a deal with the newest cool thing for teens... MTV. Albano,
still a major heel, came out on WWF television claiming to be Lauper's
manager and took credit for her success, but would continue to insult her
on programming, including at MSG. Lauper and Albano would settle the score
at "The War to Settle the Score" on the undercard of the Piper-Hogan match
and afterwards, Albano apologized and became one of the WWF's all time
popular managers. This lead right into Wrestlemania I and with Hulkamania
running wild, Albano lead Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham to the WWF World
Tag Team Titles and then the British Bulldogs in 1986. Albano was drawing
big business when he retired from the WWF in 1986 to devote time to acting
and charity and due to health troubles caused by his increasing obesity.