Tony Rumble

Tony Rumble
Tony Rumble at a ring
Birth name	Anthony David Magliaro
Born	(1956-11-06)November 6, 1956 Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Died	November 13, 1999(1999-11-13) (aged 43) Natick, Massachusetts, United States
Cause of death	Heart attack
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Boston Bad Boy Tony Rumble Tony Rummell The Dungeon Master
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Billed weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Billed from	Combat Zone, Boston
Debut	1984

Anthony David Magliaro (November 6, 1956 – November 13, 1999) was an American professional wrestler and manager, known by the ring name Boston Bad Boy Tony Rumble. He competed on the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic independent circuit during the 1980s and 90s. A longtime veteran of Angelo Savoldi's International World Class Championship Wrestling, he also was the owner of the New England-based Century Wrestling Alliance and an independent wrestling promoter until his death in 1999.

Early career

Although having little prior training, Magliaro was one of the earliest wrestlers to compete for then International Championship Wrestling in 1984. As "Tony Rummell", he would face Abdullah the Butcher and Bruiser Brody during his rookie year as well as former WWF wrestlers the Tonga Kid and Superstar Billy Graham during his singles career. In 1986, he briefly teamed with Rocky Raymond as The Boston Bad Boys who together faced The Midnight Rockers in an interpromotional match with the American Wrestling Association before feuding with "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas as the masked "Dungeon Master" the following year.

Behind the scenes

In 1988, Magliaro began working as a booker, as well as producer for the weekly ICW, which later became IWCCW, television show. He later went on to host the popular "Rumble Seat" segment whose guests included former WWF wrestlers The Honky Tonk Man and "Ravishing" Rick Rude as well as international stars such as Dory Funk, Jr., Ivan Putski and Mr. Pogo. During the late 1980s, he would also become a successful manager to wrestlers such as former rival and IWCCW Heavyweight Champion "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas, IWCCW Light Heavyweight Champion The Tasmaniac and the IWCCW Tag Team Champions The Undertakers (The Henchman and The Punisher).

Century Wrestling Alliance

Although establishing Century Wrestling Alliance in 1989, Magliaro remained in IWCCW until its decline during the early 1990s until leaving to concentrate on his own promotion in early 1993. Using many of his contacts such as Kevin Sullivan, he was able to bring in former WWF and WCW wrestlers such as Jimmy Snuka, The Iron Sheik, Harley Race, Al Snow, Hugh Morrus, Public Enemy, Scott Taylor and A-Train, as well as many longtime IWCCW veterans including Atlas, The Tasmaniac, Tommy Dreamer, "Mr. Intensity" Erich Sbraccia, Vic Steamboat, "Surfer" Ray Odyssey, The Pink Assassin and The Trouble Makers (formerly The Undertakers) who followed Magliaro to the newly formed promotion.

Magliaro would go on to win the CWA's heavyweight title three times before being stripped of the title by CWA President Victoria Van Ellen as a result of the CWA becoming a territory of the National Wrestling Alliance on January 24, 1998.

Later years

As Tony Rumble, Magliaro appeared at WCW's World War 3 pay-per-view event in 1996 as an entrant in the 60-man, three-ring battle royal, which he was not successful in winning.

Representing NWA New England, Magliaro appeared with The Brotherhood (Erich Sbraccia and Knuckles Nelson) who would win the NWA World Tag Team Championship in a four way elimination match against Tully Blanchard and Tom Prichard, The Border Patrol and Team Extreme (Kit Carson and Khris Germany) during the NWA's 50th Anniversary Show in October 1998.

Magliaro would continue running NWA New England until his death following a heart attack on November 13, 1999. Following Magliaro's death, his wife Victoria Van Ellen Magliaro Rumble took over ownership of the promotion which later became NWA Cold Front and eventually Victory Championship Wrestling (based in Everett, MA). Jason Della Gatta, who both runs live events and competes in the promotion as "Jason Rumble", is claimed to be the son of Magliaro's in-ring persona. However, the two are not related.

VCW runs an annual "Tony Rumble Memorial" show. The Millennium Wrestling Federation has also featured an annual Tony Rumble Memorial Battle Royal with Todd Hanson, Bull Montana, Ox Baker and Rick Fuller winning the most recent held on August 4, 2007. Tony Rumble is frequently mentioned during VCW's Livewire television program.

Championships and accomplishments

• Century Wrestling Alliance

• CWA Heavyweight Championship (3 times)

• International Championship Wrestling (New England)

• ICW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Moondog Spike

• New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2008
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him # 257 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1994

• Victory Championship Wrestling
  • VCW Hall of Fame (Class of 2018)

See also

• List of premature professional wrestling deaths

References

• "Anthony Magliaro, 43, professional wrestler. (Obituary)". Boston Herald 16 November 1999
• "Grappling For A Piece Of The Local Action". Boston Globe. 3 August 2003
• Williams, Scott E. Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW. Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing L.L.C., 2006. ISBN 1-59670-021-1

External links

• Manufacturing an anti-hero, Greg Garber, April 2, 1999, ESPN
• Interview with Chris “Crowbar” Ford, Alex Marvez, wrestlingobserver.com
• Deceased Superstars: Tony Rumble
• Online World of Wrestling: Tony Rumble
• NWANE's 2006 Tony Rumble Memorial by Keith Hayes
• Sheldon Goldberg on Wrestling: Remembering Rumble
• VCW's homepage