Don Muraco

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Real Name - Don Muraco
Birthdate - 9/10/49
6'3" 270 lbs. - Sunseet Beach, HA

Aliases - Magnificent M, Magnificent Muraco

Athletic background - Surfing [State Champion], Football [High School]

Teachers - Lord James Blears; Billy Robinson; Jack Brisco; Roy Shires

Professional background - Vancouver(`70), Portland(`70), Florida(`70), Los Angeles(`70), Hawaii(`71), AWA(`71-`72), IWE(`71), San Francisco(`72), Florida(`72), Georgia(`72), Texas(`72), Georgia(`74), AWA(`74), Florida(`74-`75), Los Angeles(`75), San Francisco(`76-`77), Australia(`77), Florida(`77-`78), San Francisco(`78), Portland(`78), Hawaii(`78-`79), Florida(`79-`80), Polynesia(`80), WWF(`81), Florida(`81), NJPW(`82), Georgia(`83), NJPW(`84), WWF(`85-`88), Stampede(`88), UWF(`89) ECW(`92-`93)

Peak Years - `78-`85

Career Highlights -
- Defeats Manny Fernandez for the Florida heavyweight title that gains him national recognition
- Comes into the WWF as a challenger to Bob Backlund and has a tremendous broadway before a soldout house
- Defeats Pedro Morales for the WWF Intercontinental title
- Works the most famous feud of his career with Jimmy Snuka that turns into a legendary steel cage feud
- Battles "Hawaiian" Ricky Steamboat in the last great feud of his career

Finisher(s) -
- Reverse Piledriver (Tombstone)

Favorites -
- Samoan Drop
- Backbreaker
- Falling Hamstring Stretch
- Kneelift
- Elbow

Ringwork Rating -
move set - 7
science - 4
aerial - 2
power - 8
strikes - 6

Intangible Rating -
entertainment - 8
selling - 7
bumping - 9
carrying - 7
heat - 8
legacy - 6

Place in History - Don Muraco is one of those classic examples of someone who wrestled, was especially good at it, but would rather be doing other things. While for many workers it was being with their famalies, for Muraco it was being a beach bum. Muraco typically spent several months with a company, building up his status and wallet then he'd return to Hawaii. While it prevented him from being a top star in the business, Muraco was so good that he still managed to be an upper midcarder at least (often a headlining heel as well) for the better part of ten years. Surely, if the "Magnificent One" had stayed in one place, behaved and established himself he would have been one of the top heels as long as he wanted to. Muraco just had a natural intensity that came across well and he was able to do good money with a variety of babyfaces. While his stints in Portland, Florida and Georgia all have their memorable parts, the Magnificent Muraco's tenure in the WWF is what modern fans remember best because he was there the most and his package comprised of an interesting alliance with Mr. Fuji. Muraco and Fuji did everything from dastardly deeds to hilarious skits, which may have killed Muraco's legacy as a feared heel in his day, but were more interesting than most of the WWF's heel bits at the time. After gassing up, having a forgettable face run and getting fired, Muraco worked infrequently in the post-territorial world. Aside from his involvement in the formative ECW, Muraco's later years are not particularly noteworthy. In 2003, he started his own company in Hawaii comprising of workers he's trained and has an alliance with New Japan Pro-Wrestling.