​Lesser Known Family

Chapter One: Bob Orton Sr.

#PWHS #Article #LesserKnownFam #LKF #OrtonFamily

September 28, 1968 - Hagerstown Morning Herald

As time goes by the illustrious history of Professional Wrestling is being lost day by day to the masses. The purpose of these articles is to preserve the memory of lesser known family members. They come from the same family of a recent star. They may even have been somewhat a star themselves to the fans of their generation. This is just another method of preserving Professional Wrestling history. Enjoy.

​Sons Bob Orton Jr (Wrestlemania I fame), and Barry O and grandson Randy is a multi-World WWE Champion. This bruiser was known to be one convincing villain who won his share of championship belts both as a single and with great tag-team partners..…Won tag belts with Mad Dog Vachon, Buddy Austin, and most prominently with partner/foe Eddie Graham.

Worth noting was his holding of the NWA (Group) Florida Tag Champ with his son Bob Jr. He had his most glamorous tag partner with 'Nature Boy' Buddy Rogers.

Also, he wrestled as the Masked Zodiac in at least three territories and made it unique with use of gimmicks like altered voices and strange letters read on TV (based on the Zodiac, serial killer of the late 60’s, early 70’s). It is interesting to note that his son Barry also wrestled as the masked Zodiac during his career.

The “Big O” wrestled as Cowboy Rocky Fitzpatrick in 1968 against WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino and other stars in the WWWF. He wrestled briefly as the Masked “Big O” but the “Big O” that unmasked in Florida was Bugsy McGraw.

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Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.

Lesser Known Family: Chapter One.
Author: Terry Kent.
Published: July 2014.
Article:   #1.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.

Updated: March 25, 2018.

Lesser Known Family: Chapter  Two - Read Here.

Other articles by Terry can be Read Here.