| Al Costello | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Giacomo Costa |
| Born | 14 December 1919[1] Santa Marina Salina, Italy[1] |
| Died | 22 January 2000 (aged 80)[1] Clearwater, Florida, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Al Costello |
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Australia |
| Trained by | Basher Bonas[1] |
| Debut | 1938[1] |
| Retired | 1987[1] |
Giacomo Costa (14 December 1919 – 22 January 2000) was an Italian Australian professional wrestler best known by his ring name, Al Costello. Costello was the first professional wrestler to be nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Holds" because of his innovative and very technical style.[1]
Costello was the creator and original member of the tag team The Fabulous Kangaroos, whose "Ultra Australian" gimmick complete with boomerangs, bush hats and the song "Waltzing Matilda" as their entrance music, existed in various forms from 1957 until 1983. Costello was either an active wrestler, or a manager in all versions of The Fabulous Kangaroos.[1] He and Roy Heffernan are arguably the most famous version of The Kangaroos,[2] regarded as one of the top tag teams to ever compete in professional wrestling,[1][3] and are often credited with popularizing tag team wrestling in the late 1950s and 1960s.[2]
Costello later formed other versions of The Fabulous Kangaroos with Ray St. Clair, Don Kent and Tony Charles. He also managed the team of Don Kent & Bruno Bekkar and later on "Johnny Heffernan" under The Fabulous Kangaroos name.[1]
Costello officially retired from wrestling in 1983 but still made a few brief returns to the ring after that.[4] In 1993, he managed The New Fabulous Kangaroos (Denny Kass and Al Snow) before retiring completely from the wrestling business.[1] Both Costello and his tag team partner Heffernan died before Kangaroos were honored as the first tag team to ever be inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003,[5] which started a tradition of inducting a new team every year.[6]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Greg Oliver and Steve Johnson (2005). "Top 20: #1 The Fabulous Kangaroos". The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams. ECW Press. pp. 17–24. ISBN 978-1-55022-683-6.
- ^ a b Greg Oliver and Steve Johnson (2005). "Introduction". The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams. ECW Press. pp. 1–16. ISBN 978-1-55022-683-6.
- ^ Conner, Floyd (12 February 2001). "Terrific Tag Teams". Wrestling's Most Wanted : The Top 10 Book of Pro Wrestling's Outrageous Performers, Punishing Piledrivers, and Other Oddities. Potomac Books. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-57488-308-4.
- ^ Siler, Bob. "Al Costello, "THE" Fabulous Kangaroos". 1Wrestlinglegends.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2007.
- ^ the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame. "2003: The Fabulous Kangaroos". Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
- ^ the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame. "About the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: Ballot Formation and Voting Process for Induction Purposes". Archived from the original on 4 August 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
One winner from each of the following categories shall be inducted each year: LADY WRESTLER, TAG TEAM, and NON-PARTICIPANT. As many as two wrestlers, but at least one wrestler, shall be inducted each year in the category of INTERNATIONAL. Two wrestlers will be inducted annually from each of the following categories:PIONEER ERA and MODERN ERA