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Slam! Wrestling is reporting that legendary wrestler and promoter Johnny Powers passed away on 12/30/22 in Canada. He was 79 years old.
Trained by Canadian star Jack Wentworth, Powers debuted in the Detroit territory back in 1960, initially competing as Lord Anthony Lansdowne. Powers made his way through a numbe of major territories in the United States and Canada, including the WWWF. He challenged Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF Championshipl and also challenged Nick Kiniski and Lou Thesz for the NWA World Championship.
Powers was in the center of an insane riot when he was wrestling Ernie Ladd and Ox Baker turned heel to assist him, leading to an untold number of fans hitting the ring and sparking a massive melee.
On the promotional side, Powers and the late Pedro Martinez founded the National Wrestling Federation, which they run for several years before selling the rights and name to New Japan Pro Wrestling. The NWF made a run of its own as a major promotion, distributing their broadcast content internationally and across the United States. The promotion's TV was billed as Championship Wrestling with Johnny Powers.
Powers promoted a number of major events including a three ring "Wrestling SuperBowl" at Cleveland Stadium in Ohio, the first and likely only time the concept was done outside of WCW's World War 3 PPV event. He acquired the International Wrestling Association (IWA) in the mid-1970s, running it as competition to the Crocketts, before stepping away from professional wrestling in the early 1980s.
Powers did not make many modern day pro wrestling appearances. I believe his final appearance, at least in the States was the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Fanfest.
PWInsider.com sends our deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of Johnny Powers.
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