Oliver Humperdink

At 62 years old, Oliver Humperdink has this physical status:

John Jay Sutton (January 16, 1949 – March 20, 2011), better known by his ring name Oliver Humperdink, was an American professional wrestling manager and occasional professional wrestler who worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, Florida Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation.

Personal life

In the 1960s, Sutton was in a car crash and nearly died when he hit a snow bank. After recovering from the incident, his health deteriorated. In 2001, he went through surgery to replace his aortic valve in Key West. He was equipped with a pacemaker and made a full recovery. The Cauliflower Alley Club, whose conventions he attended every year, helped pay for some of his medical expenses. Sutton returned to the hospital in 2008 after heart troubles complicated a case of pneumonia. In early 2011, it was announced that Sutton was diagnosed with cancer of the bladder. He entered a hospice having refused chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Sutton died early on the morning of March 20, 2011, of complications from pneumonia and cancer at the age of 62. Sutton never married or had children.

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Career

While working as an usher in Minneapolis, Minnesota, John Sutton got to know several wrestlers in the early and mid-1960s. He eventually joined the American Wrestling Association as a security guard. (AWA). When he first started working at Grand Prix Wrestling (GPW) in Montreal in 1973, he met Paul Vachon. Sutton served at GPW as both a boss and an occasional wrestler. For a time, he was also refereed. Since Sutton's split with their boss, Johnny Rougeau, they began a life as a Hollywood Blond. Both Don Jardine and Dale Heydon are credited with the invention of the term "Sir Oliver Humperdink." Jardine claims to have come up with the name in the hopes that francophone fans in Quebec who loot everything English would take notice.

Humperdink competed in the Florida Championship Wrestling in 1974 and was put into a match with Mike Graham and Kevin Sullivan. He returned to work with the Hollywood Blondes two years later. Humperdink was Dusty Rhodes' servant for 30 days after his protege Ivan Koloff lost a match to Rhodes due to this stipulation. Lord Alfred Hayes began assisting Humperdink's protégés, including Bobby Jaggers and Nikolai Volkoff, during the thirty days. When "Rooster" Humperdink (as Rhodes) returned to life as a figure of compassion during his thirty days of service, he assaulted Jaggers, Hayes, and Volkoff, sparking a feud with Hayes.

Jim Crockett Promotions, a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in the 1980s, where he supervised Greg Valentine, Paul Jones, and the One Man Bandits. He left the company in 1983 but returned five years later, shortly before Ted Turner bought the company out and became World Championship Wrestling. He established the "House of Humperdink" stable when he was still in the NWA. He competed in the NWA and NWA Central States Television Championships as a singles wrestler.

The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) approached Humperdink in 1987 and gave him a job. He was in charge of Bam Bam Bigelow, the WWF's Bam Bam Bigelow. During his rivalry with Rick Rude in the same year, he also began governing Paul Orndorff. His gimmick was that of a face, but Sutton was unimpressed by the gimmick off-screen. He supervised the pair in the first-ever Survivor Series, a match that they lost after Bigelow was pinned by André the Giant. When Humperdink lost in the first round of a WWF Championship tournament in the first round, he also managed Bigelow during WrestleMania IV.

In mid 1988, Bigelow and Humperdink left the WWF and remained on the independent circuit before joining the NWA in 1988. Humperdink was still on the side of Bigelow in his rivalry with Barry Windham in a match at Starrcade and later joined him in turning heel on Lex Luger in early 1989. Humperdink, the NWA's big brother, referred to as "The Big Kahuna" after Bigelow left the NWA.

He appeared on "Big Daddy Dink" (WCW) in the early 1990s, a biker-type gimmick. In WCW, he was in charge of The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin). Sutton, who was off-screen, was dissatisfied with his latest gimmick and WCW's office politics. He died in 1993. In 1995, Bob Orton Jr. and the Hangmen were in charge of the American Wrestling Federation.

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