Real Name - Daniel Allen Hodge
Birthdate - n/a
5'10" 220 lbs. - Perry, OK
Aliases - none
Athletic background - Wrestling (`56 Olympics), Boxing (Golden Gloves)
Peak Years - 60s

Place in History - Danny Hodge is more of an amateur wrestling legend than a pro-wrestling legend, but his influence in the latter cannot be denied. Gifted with freakish strength and amazing stamina, once he learned technique, Hodge was unstoppable. In the 50s, there was no finer wrestler than Hodge as he was a 4-time AAU champ, 3-time NCAA champ and had a 46-0 college record as a pinning machine (24 consecutive and in fact he was never even taken down!). As far as his Olympic accomplishments, he was a twice a member with a 5th place finish in `52 and a silver medal win in `56 following a controversial loss to Bulgarian Nikola Stanchev. The first Olympic shot made him the youngest wrestler to ever represent the United States as he was right out of high school. He was also appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated an unpresidented feat for an amateur.After that he focused on boxing and he became an undefeated Golden Gloves winner (with 26 KOs) making him the only man to win national championships in both wrestling and boxing. He went pro and went 8-2 before deciding to pursue pro-wrestling after not being paid properly. Hodge hooked up with Leroy McGuirk, who had been an NWA junior heavyweight champion, and built his Tri-State promotion around the local legend. Soon after his start, Hodge took over that belt for nearly twenty years. He wrestled all over with some gifted juniors, namely Hiro Matsuda, Sputnik Monroe and Angelo Savoldi, and some legendary heavyweights as well. While he never got his just due, despite being one of the best pure wrestlers and one of the better workers around in the 60s and early 70s. In `76, an unfortunate car accident broke his neck and ended his career.