Don Muraco (born September 10, 1949) is an American retired https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling. He is best known for his appearances with the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWE from 1981 to 1988, where he held the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWE_Intercontinental_Championship on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WWE_Intercontinental_Champions and was crowned the inaugural winner of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Ring_tournament in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Ring_(1985). He was inducted into the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWE_Hall_of_Fame https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWE_Hall_of_Fame_(2004) and the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Wrestling_Hall_of_Fame_and_Museum in 2014.
Muraco was born at Sunset Beach, Oahu, Hawaii in 1949 and is of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Hawaiians heritage. A Hawaii state amateur wrestling champion for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punahou_School in 1967, Muraco chose professional wrestling over https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football. He spent the first year of his career learning the ropes in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NWA_All-Star_Wrestling, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_Wrestling, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Championship_Wrestling_from_Florida and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NWA_Hollywood_Wrestling before getting his first big break, for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verne_Gagne's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Wrestling_Association (AWA). Wrestling as a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_(professional_wrestling), he often https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_team with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Snuka, against wrestlers such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Hennig, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Koloff and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusty_Rhodes. In 1973, tired of life in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis, he left the AWA for Roy Shire's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Time_Wrestling_(San_Francisco) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Wrestling_Alliance territory. In 1974, Muraco moved to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Championship_Wrestling_from_Florida (CWF). He was frequently compared to the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NWA_World_Heavyweight_Championship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Brisco, whom he physically resembled. In a match between the two on May 28, 1974, Muraco reversed Brisco's finishing move, the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling_holds#Figure-four_leglock. Though Muraco lost the match by disqualification, this feat made him a star. After brief stints in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Championship_Wrestling, Muraco returned to California in 1975 and won his first singles title, the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NWA_Americas_Heavyweight_Championship. He then won the San Francisco version of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NWA_World_Tag_Team_Championship_(San_Francisco_version) with Masked Invader #1. In San Francisco, Muraco learned to work as a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heel_(professional_wrestling).
Muraco debuted in the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWE (WWF) in Allentown, Pennsylvania defeating Steve King on February 24, 1981. Managed by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Roth, he captured the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWE_Intercontinental_Championship on June 20, 1981, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Morales; he lost it to Morales on November 23 in a Texas Death match, capping a bloody feud. That year, Muraco wrestled then https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWE_Championship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Backlund several times, including a 60-minute draw on October 24.He split 1982 between https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crockett_Promotions (where he partnered with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roddy_Piper for a time), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Championship_Wrestling (where he also wrestled under a mask as Dr. X) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Japan_Pro-Wrestling (where he wrestled in the annual https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Square_Garden League tournament), before returning to the WWF that fall.
Muraco returned to the WWF in 1985, managed by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Fuji. After not wrestling on the card of the first https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WrestleMania_(1985), Muraco headlined three consecutive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Square_Garden cards against WWF World Heavyweight Champion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulk_Hogan, climaxing in a bloody steel cage match on June 21, which Hogan won. On July 8, Muraco won the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Ring_(1985) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Ring_tournament when he pinned https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Sheik in the Final. Before defeating the Sheik, Muraco had defeated the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkyard_Dog, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Thornton and Pedro Morales to reach the Final. In addition to feuding with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Steamboat for much of the remainder of the year which included hanging Steamboat from the top rope with Steamboat's own karate belt on an episode of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWF_Championship_Wrestling, Fuji and Muraco debuted Fuji Vice, a series of skits parodying https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Vice, on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuesday_Night_Titans (Fuji General, a parody of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Broadcasting_Company soap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Hospital, followed soon after). In 1986, Muraco allied with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Adonis and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Orton_Jr. in their feud with Roddy Piper. This led to Orton and Muraco becoming a regular tag team. On March 29, 1987, they lost to the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can-Am_Connection (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Zenk and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Martel) in the opening match of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestlemania_III in front of a reported 93,173 fans at the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Silverdome.