Lord Zoltan | |
---|---|
Birth name | Ken Jugan |
Born | Glassport, Pennsylvania, U.S. | October 16, 1957
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Lord Zoltan[1] Zoltan the Great[1] King Kabooki Ken Jugan |
Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1][2] |
Billed weight | 222 lb (101 kg)[1][2] |
Billed from | Bourbon Street, New Orleans[2] Helsinki, Finland Parts Unknown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (as Ken Jugan) |
Debut | 1976[2] |
Ken Jugan[1] (born October 16, 1957), better known by the ring name Lord Zoltan, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler, manager, promoter, referee, and trainer. Jugan has been a mainstay in the Greater Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania and its surrounding states of Ohio and West Virginia, holding several junior heavyweight championships in the region since his debut in 1975.[3]
Jugan was one of the first wrestlers to start wearing facepaint in the late-1970s[4] and, according to Pro Wrestling Illustrated, has one of the most unusual "gimmicks" in professional wrestling.
He was the owner of Three Rivers Wrestling from 1977 to 1979, co-owner of Ohio Championship Wrestling from 1982 to 1983, and competed in Dick the Bruiser's World Wrestling Association. Jugan also worked for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation as a preliminary wrestler and referee during the early-to-mid 1980s.
Jugan was one of the biggest "indy" stars in Pennsylvania during the 1990s. He founded Deaf Wrestlefest, a long-running benefit show for the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf,[4] which ran from 1994 to 2002, and again from 2009 to 2012,[5] and raised over $100,000.[6] In Pittsburgh's Steel City Wrestling, he held the promotion's junior heavyweight championship for over three years before his defeat by Reckless Youth in 1998. While in SCW, Jugan was the leader of The Dope Show, a "heel" stable, with Shirley Doe and Big Neal the Real Deal.[7] He also had a long-running feud with Dominic DeNucci, Doink the Clown,[4] and T.C. Reynolds[3][7] on the independent circuit.
Jugan dedicated much of his later wrestling career to helping raise money for cancer research, civic organizations, and other charitable causes though independent wrestling shows. On March 20, 2012, Jugan was recognized by the city of Pittsburgh, which declared it "Ken Jugan Day". A year later, Jugan received the Jason Sanderson Humanitarian Award from the Cauliflower Alley Club for both Deaf Wrestlefest and other charity work. Described as "local legend" by Pittsburgh Magazine in 2013,[8] Jugan is considered one of the most important independent wrestlers to come out of Western Pennsylvania.[9]
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