Sharpe Brothers

Sharpe Brothers
Statistics
MembersBen Sharpe
Mike Sharpe
Billed heightsMike:
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Ben:
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Combined
billed weight		495 lb (225 kg)
HometownHamilton, Ontario, Canada
Billed fromHamilton, Ontario, Canada
Years active1947–1960[1]

The Sharpe Brothers was a Canadian professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Ben Sharpe and Mike Sharpe,[2] best known for their tenures wrestling in the territories of Northern California and Japan. Both men were tall in stature with athletic backgrounds[3] (Ben was an Olympian with the Canadian rowing team in 1936)[4] and served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. While both were stationed in England, they discovered professional wrestling and set about entering the profession soon thereafter. In pursuit, they travelled to San Francisco after the war and rose to prominence in promoter Joe Malcewicz's territory as both singles and tag team wrestlers.[5]

In the mid-1950s, the Sharpe Brothers also began competing for Rikidozan's newly formed Japan Wrestling Association, becoming one of the most revered tag teams in Japanese history. Mike continued to wrestle as a single's competitor after Ben's retirement and his son "Iron" Mike Sharpe, Jr. entered the business as well. The Sharpe Brothers are remembered as a tag team that was able to rise to headline status in an established and respected territory and also helping to establish a new one (in Japan).[5] The duo have been inducted into various Halls of Fame, including the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum, Class of 2010.[6]

  1. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Matches « Sharpe Brothers « Tag Teams Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  2. ^ III, Harris M. Lentz (21 October 2003). Biographical Dictionary of Professional Wrestling, 2d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9781476605050 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Wrestling Observer Newsletter". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 1 July 2004 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "Wrestling Card – Ben Sharpe". 9 December 2017 – via brocku.ca.
  5. ^ a b "PWHF inductees Ben & Mike Sharpe were giants".
  6. ^ "The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum". Wrestling-Titles.com.