"Whatever happened to . . .?" is a weekly series updating some of the most newsworthy and interesting local stories covered in The Plain Dealer. Have a suggestion on a story we should update? Send it to John C. Kuehner.

Today, we answer this question:

Whatever happened to Pampero Firpo, the Wild Bull of the Pampas who was one of professional wrestling's biggest villains in Cleveland in the 1970s?



Firpo, whose real name is Juan Kachmanian, turned 81 this year and is now living in San Jose, Calif.

Firpo, who created the popular catch phrase "Oooohhhh yeaaahh!" that the late Randy "Macho Man" Savage used with enormous success, was a big attraction with his unkempt hair and beard and gravelly voice. He wrestled for 38 years before retiring in 1986.

While his physical appearance was wild and unique, Firpo said he no longer sports a beard and has cut his hair short now that he no longer wrestles. He remains popular making personal appearances, signing autographs and making speeches around the country.

"Now that I don't have all that hair, people tell me I look more like 60 years old instead of 80," he said. "But physically I feel more like 120 years old. My body took a lot of bumps and bruises ... but I have no regrets. My father, who was a great boxer, told me when you live a clean life and believe in yourself, you'll be untouchable as a person. He was right.

"But you know what? Physically and emotionally you can never leave the game [wrestling], even after retiring."

Firpo said he was comfortable wrestling the National Wrestling Alliance circuit -- Midwest version which included Detroit, Buffalo and Cleveland on a weekly circuit up through 1980. At the time, he lived in a small town just outside Lansing, Mich.

Cleveland, whose promoter at the time was Pedro Martinez, is well remembered by Firpo -- most of it fondly.

He remembers becoming a good friend with boxing great Joe Louis after he was a guest referee in one of Firpo's matches in Detroit.

"I talked him into coming with me to Cleveland to be a guest referee," he said. "Joe Louis to me was a real man and a real genuine champion. He taught me how to act with class and polish.

"Joe loved peanuts, so we stopped at a supermarket in Cleveland so I could buy him peanuts. What a pair we must have made ... the greatest boxing champion and me, with my long and wild hair. People couldn't stop looking at us, and when they figured out who we were, they came and asked for autographs."

Firpo remembers many of his opponents at the Cleveland Arena. He was impressed with the strength of Moose Cholak, who was a popular here. Cholak and Johnny Powers were at one time NWA tag team champions.

"Moose was a powerful man," Firpo said. "He wore a moose head that weighed 120 pounds. Try to balance something that weighs that much on your head and walk normally."

Firpo also said Danny Hodge, a great collegiate wrestler from Oklahoma, was so strong that when you shook his hand, your elbow hurt.

He also fondly remembers Antonino "Argentina" Rocca, one of pro wrestling's most beloved figures. Firpo said it was tough wrestling Rocca because "Fans really loved him, but they hated me."

Firpo said Rocca told him he should be wrestling in New York City, where his fame would increase nationally.

"I didn't go to New York because I didn't know anybody there," Firpo said.

He was also friends with Gypsy Joe, a pro wrestler who eventually opened up a fish market in Vermilion.

One other "character" Firpo was aware of in the Cleveland Arena was "Hatpin Mary," an elderly fan who would occasionally stick a wrestling heel with a pin from her hat.

Some people believed Kachmanian, whose parents were Armenian and living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, when he was born, taught one year at Case Western Reserve University. He said that wasn't true, but another Argentinean, Juan Constamagna, was hired in 1970-71 as a research associate in the chemistry department.

"Still, there are a lot of very intelligent pro wrestlers," Firpo said. "For instance, George "The Animal" Steele, who wrestled in Cleveland, was a math teacher in Michigan who made people believe he was a wild man."

Firpo said despite his notoriety as a wrestler, two of his proudest moments in life was when he became an American citizen in 1965, and the fact he never let anyone down -- promoter or fan -- as a wrestler.

"I loved doing my job," he said.

YouTube video of Pampero Firpo in 1973.

