Mark Lewin

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Mark Lewin
Ring name(s)	"Maniac" Mark Lewin The Purple Haze 'Mad' Mark Lewin
Billed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Billed weight	220 lb (100 kg)-275 lb (125 kg)
Born	March 16, 1937 (1937-03-16) (age 72) Buffalo, New York
Trained by	John Horton
Debut	1957
Retired	1998

Mark Lewin (born March 16, 1937) is a retired professional wrestler.

Career

Mark Lewin broke into wrestling in the late '50s and had great early success in a matinee-idol babyface tag team with Don Curtis, headlining in major territories like New York and Chicago. The team's brief heel turn was a shock to its many fans. The team split up in the early '60s and Mark embarked on a singles career.

In 1963, Mark first tried out the "Maniac"/"Mad" Mark Lewin persona, which he would alternate consistently with his 'normal' babyface persona for the rest of his career. He wrestled in Australia and New Zealand in the 1960s and 1970s with great success, especially in New Zealand where he drew huge crowds during the tours. He frequently formed a tag team in Australia and New Zealand with King Curtis Iaukea. He also spent time in Detroit working against The Sheik and fellow wildman, Terry Funk. Lewin also wrestled in Vancouver with NWA All Star Wrestling, where he feuded with the likes of Gene Kiniski and "Bulldog" Bob Brown and twice won the Pacific Coast Heavyweight title.

He found a lot of success in World Class Championship Wrestling in the late 1970s and early 1980s before going to Florida Championship Wrestling, where he joined Kevin Sullivan's "cult" as The Purple Haze, another variation of the 'Maniac' gimmick.

He was one of Sabu's frequent opponents in the 1980s according to Sabu's shoot interview.

Lewin retired in 1998.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Sleeper hold

• Signature moves
  • Package piledriver

• Managers
  • King Curtis
  • Gary Hart^[1]
  • Kevin Sullivan
  • Skandar Akbar
  • The Mighty Atlas (Morris Shapiro)
  • The Great Mephisto (Frankie Cane)

• Nicknames
  • "Maniac"

Championships and accomplishments

• All-Star Pro Wrestling

• NWA Australasian Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Steve Rickard (1), Al Perez (1), and Spiros Arion (1)

• Capitol Wrestling Corporation

• NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Northeast version) (1 time) - with Don Curtis

• Championship Wrestling from Florida

• NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (1 time)

• Maple Leaf Wrestling

• NWA International Tag Team Championship (Toronto version) (1 time) - with Whipper Billy Watson

• NWA All-Star Wrestling

• NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) - with Steven Little Bear
• NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (Vancouver version) (2 times)

• NWA Big Time Wrestling / World Class Championship Wrestling

• NWA American Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with The Spoiler
• NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (5 times)
• NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
• NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Dick Steinborn
• NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (1 time) - with Killer Tim Brooks & One Man Gang

• NWA Detroit

• NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit version) (2 times)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him # 265 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.

• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
  • (Class of 2009) - with Don Curtis

• World Championship Wrestling (Australia)

• IWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
• IWA World Tag Team Championship (8 times) - with King Curtis Iaukea (2), Bearcat Wright (1), Dominic DeNucci (1), Spiros Arion (1), Mario Milano, (1), Killer Kowalski (1) and Antonio Pugliese (1)
• NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Spiros Arion

• World Wrestling Association (Los Angeles)

• WWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

¹This World Championship Wrestling was an NWA affiliated promotion based in Australia that operated from the mid-1960s to the early-1990s. It is not the same promotion as the World Championship Wrestling that was once owned by Ted Turner and sold to World Wrestling Entertainment in 2001.

References