Athletes - Bob Roop

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	Athletes - Bob Roop

Bob Roop is a wrestler whose career has spanned high school, college, Army, amateur and professional wrestling. He was an American Heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Amateur career

Robert Roop began wrestling in the eighth grade in East Lansing, Michigan. In High School, Roop was varsity heavyweight as a freshman, with an inauspicious 0-22-1 record. With the guidance of coach Joe Dibello, his record improved in ensuing years, with a 27-0-0 record his senior year, in which he also took State Championship.

He entered Michigan State University on a football scholarship. After a year and a half, he left school to join the Army. He received paratrooper training, and signed on to become a Special Forces medic. He competed on the All-Army wrestling team and, later, the All-Services wrestling team. There was one other heavyweight on the All-Services team, Jim Rasher, who had won a bronze medal as the U.S. Greco-Roman Heavyweight at the World Games prior to entering the Army. Rasher was influential in Roop's decision to pursue an amateur wrestling.

After his three-year stint in the service, he entered Southern Illinois University, and began pursuing amateur wrestling. He attended from 1965 through 1969, majoring in political science, and was a collegiate wrestling standout with a win-loss record of 66-18, including a 16-3 record during his senior year.

While in college he won four National Amateur Athletic Union All-American rankings, earned by placing in the top four spots in the national tournament, and an NAAU Championship as a light-heavyweight. During his last year of college, his coach at Southern Illinois convinced him to train down to a lighter weight of 220 pounds. "That spring, I entered my last national tournament before turning pro, the national AAU at Greco-Roman at 220, and I won that one. It was the first one I even won. I had taken second and third a couple of times," Roop said. In 1968, Roop won a position on the U.S. Olympic team as Greco-Roman heavyweight.

Roop was 25 years old, 6'1" tall, and weighed 270 pounds entering the Games in Mexico City in 1968. The team was coached by legendary wrestling coach Henry Wittenberg. Roop finished in seventh place in Mexico City, losing to Anatoli Roschin, who went on to win the silver medal.

Professional career

After the Olympics, Roop turned to professional wrestling. He began his professional career in 1969 and wrestled until 1988, when a car accident damaged his neck.

In 1976, Bob Roop received a possible career ending knee injury while wrestling Eddie Graham. The move which caused the injury, the figure-four, was banned as a crippling hold. While Roop was supposedly recovering, a new wrestler, The Gladiator, appeared on the Florida wrestling scene. The masked Gladiator used the shoulderbreaker, Roop's signature finishing move, and crowds shouted Roop's name when he appeared in the ring. During a television match of Championship Wrestling from Florida, Eddie and Mike Graham interefered with the fight and removed the mask. The Gladiator was Roop. This incident is listed as number 24 in the CWF's "The Twenty-Five Greatest Angles In CWF History." After the unmasking, the figure-four was reinstated.

Roop was one of the The Army of Darkness team which included Kevin Sullivan, Purple Haze, Luna Vachon and Lock, Kharma/Molokai and Fallen Angel.

Finishing and signature moves

Shoulderbreaker

Championships and accomplishments

Amateur wrestling

Michigan State Wrestling Champion
1-time NCAA Champion in 1967

Professional wrestling

International Championship Wrestling

:*3 time ICW Southeastern Tag Team Champion :*2 time ICW Television Champion

Mid-South North American Championship

:*1 time MSWA Louisiana Heavyweight Champion :*1 time MSWA North American Heavyweight Champion

National Wrestling Alliance

:*1 time NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Champion :*3 time NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion :*4 time NWA Florida Tag Team Champion, with Boris Malenko once, Harley Race once, and Bob Orton, Jr. twice :*1 time NWA Florida Television Champion :*2 time NWA Southeast Tag Team Champion, with Jimmy Golden in 1978, and Bob Orton, Jr. in 1979 :*1 time NWA Southeast Television Champion :*1 time NWA Tag Team Champion

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Bob Roop ]

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