Captain Lou Albano
He was “often imitated, never duplicated” and
rightfully so, because the legendary Captain Lou Albano will always be
one of a kind. With his open Hawaiian shirts, outrageous facial hair and
trademark rubber bands hanging from his cheek, Captain Lou may not have
looked like much of a success, but his record speaks for itself.
Albano was an excellent athlete as a youth, attending the University of
Tennessee on a football scholarship. After a stint in the United States
Army, he began his sports-entertainment career in Canada in 1953. Albano
soon began teaming with Tony Altimore; together they were known as “The
Sicilians.” After coming to the WWWF in the 1960s, they defeated the
legendary Bruno Sammartino & Spiros Arion to win the WWWF United States
Tag Team Championship in 1967.
After the breakup of The Sicilians, Albano transformed himself into a
manager, making it his sole mission to end the lengthy WWE Championship
reign of Bruno Sammartino. This made him perhaps the most hated man in
the promotion, but in 1971, he accomplished his goal; protégé Ivan
Koloff defeated Sammartino in Madison Square Garden to end the Italian
champion’s seven-plus year reign. Koloff’s reign lasted only three
weeks, and despite managing several other Hall of Famers, Koloff was the
only World Champion Albano ever managed. He would lead Don Muraco, Greg
Valentine and Pat Patterson to the Intercontinental Championship, but
never again tasted a World title.
Having been a tag team star himself, though, it was in managing duos
where Albano excelled. In the span of 20 years, he managed 15 different
teams to the World Tag Team Championship, earning the nickname “The
Guiding Light” and a record that may never be broken. Several of his
championship duos featured Hall of Famers, including fellow 1996 Hall of
Fame inductees The Valiant Brothers and 2007 inductees The Wild Samoans.
Mr. Fuji & Mr. Saito, The Executioners and The Moondogs were just of few
of the other teams to become World Tag Team Champions under Captain
Lou’s guidance.
After 15 years of being one of the most hated men in
sports-entertainment, however, Albano had a change of heart. In 1983, he
appeared in Cyndi Lauper’s music video for “Girls Just Want to Have
Fun,” and later claimed to be the catalyst to Lauper’s success. Thus
began the legendary “Rock n’ Wrestling” Era in WWE, which combined with
Hulkamania helped launch WWE into a new stratosphere in the mid-1980s.
After a lengthy rivalry with the singer (which saw Lauper’s pal Wendi
Richter win the Women’s Championship from Albano’s client The Fabulous
Moolah), Captain Lou apologized to Lauper and became an instant fan
favorite. Once the Rock n’ Wrestling phenomenon began to wind down,
Albano led the British Bulldogs to the World Tag Team Championship in
1986 before leaving WWE.
In his time away from WWE, Albano capitalized on his newfound celebrity.
He appeared in several episodes of shows such as Miami Vice before
starring in the film Body Slam alongside fellow Hall of Famer “Rowdy”
Roddy Piper in 1987. Albano also managed and performed with rock group
NRBQ, who wrote the song “Captain Lou” in his honor. Later, the Captain
starred in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, a hybrid
live-action/animated show; Albano played Nintendo legend Mario in the
live portion while also voicing his cartoon counterpart.
After nearly a decade away from the ring, however, Captain Lou returned
for one final hurrah. In 1994, Albano joined former protégé Afa the Wild
Samoan as advisor of Samu & Fatu, the Headshrinkers. Together, Albano &
Afa had success once more, leading Samu & Fatu to the World Tag Team
Championship. The Headshrinkers thus became the final team on Captain
Lou’s legendary list of World Tag Team Champions.
In 1996, Albano claimed his rightful place in the pantheon of the elite,
the WWE Hall of Fame. Inducted by legendary New York media personality
Joe Franklin, Albano was finally truly recognized as one of
sports-entertainment’s elite.
In May 2005, Albano suffered a heart attack, but later recovered. Albano was sent home from the hospital and again began watching his health. However on October 14, 2009, he died in his sleep from a severe heart attack at age 76.
