Vol. 46: Gene LeBell (1933 – 2022)

What this episode covers

Gene LeBell may be the most famous judoka of all time. He was also a highly sought-after stuntman and stunt coordinator. And on top of that, he was also a professional wrestler in one of the biggest territories in history, NWA Hollywood. Seth and Train pay tribute to the legendary career of “Judo” Gene LeBell, who in his life may have actually done some of the stuff Chuck Norris jokes were made about because he helped train Chuck Norris Gene LeBell grew up in the Los Angeles area and was born into the sports promotion business. His parents were boxing promoters and his brother Mike ran the WWA (later NWA Hollywood) California territory. LeBell began his wrestling training at the ripe old age of seven at the hands of Ed “Strangler” Lewis, who was one-third of The Gold Dust Trio. He got into wrestling in 1955 and often worked under a mask in undercard matches as The Hangman to put over talent that were moving up the card. Gene wore the mask to hide his identity and protect his status as a world-class Judo champion. One of the “Chuck Norris” type stories happened when Bearcat Wright won the WWA title from Freddie Blassie in 1963. Mike wanted to put the belt on Eduardo Carpentier (who, depending on which territory you followed, was a former NWA champion). When Wright refused to drop the title, Blassie went to the promoters and convinced them that Wright would lose to him, and then he could lose it to Carpentier three days later. Wright shot on his friend Blassie and legitimately knocked him out. Three days later, Bearcat Wright stood in the ring for his title defense against Carpentier. However, the masked Hangman made his way to the ring in Carpentier’s place. Wright, who at 6’7″ and 275 pounds was an undefeated boxer, turned tail and escaped rather than face LeBell. He jumped in his Cadillac and drove to Arizona. LeBell also competed in what many would call the first-ever MMA Match when he faced a boxer named Milo Savage. He worked in hundreds of movies and TV shows including The Munsters where Herman was a wrestler.