[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/freddieblassie_2765_5.jpg]]

->''"Pencil neck geek, grit-eatin' freak\\
scum-suckin' pea head with a lousy physique\\
He's a one man, no gut, losing streak\\
Nothin' but a pencil neck geek."''

Frederick Kenneth "Freddie" Blassie (February 8, 1918 – June 2, 2003) was an American {{professional wrestl|ing}}er and manager best known for his work in the World Wide Wrestling Federation, later known as {{Wrestling/WWE}}. Blassie was inducted into the Wrestling/WWEHallOfFame in '94.

The Wise Men (Blassie, [[Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano Captain Lou]], and [[Wrestling/TheGrandWizard Ernie "Grand Wizard" Roth]]) [[WrestlingManagersAreHeels managed the heels]] in the [=70s and early 80s.=] "Classy" Blasse was a [[WhenEldersAttack cane-wielding Man's Man]] who could beat up {{Yakuza}} members. If you were a heel and being managed by the TerribleTrio, you were guaranteed to get booed out of every building, every night, in any town.

With the exception of Roth, each wrestled before they became managers. Blassie in particular had a long, storied career, becoming the top heel in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles for a long time. Worked a lot of very bloody matches, and was considered one of the great brawlers of his day. He had so much [[CheapHeat heat]] that it was reported that he gave viewers heart attacks in Japan after a match in which he drew blood from Japanese wrestling icon Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}}. That's right, [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou people literally died]] from his heat. The man was stabbed a few times and even had acid thrown at him because of his heel work. He was so hated that at one point, fans torched his car. Someone from the Creator/RatPack nearly murdered him backstage for the stuff he said about Wrestling/BrunoSammartino. His legacy can still be felt in the manga ''Manga/TigerMask'', in which he darkly figures.

Blassie is the subject of ''My Breakfast with Blassie'', a low-budget parody of ''My Dinner with Andre'' (co-starring Creator/AndyKaufman as his wrestling persona). Apart from his wrestling career, he recorded a novelty song called "Pencil Neck Geek", which was popular on ''[[Creator/DrDemento The Dr. Demento Show]]''.

He was inducted into the Wrestling/WWEHallOfFame in 1994.
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!! "Read my tropes, you pencil-neck geeks!":
* AllAmericanFace: The shit-eating grin was always a constant. Might be one of the reasons why his "Sailor" Fred gimmick didn't get over. (He served in the Navy before/during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and then came back.)
* AlwaysABiggerFish: His last TV appearance was on the May 12, 2003 ''[[Wrestling/WWERaw Raw]].'' [[Wrestling/EricBischoff Bischoff]] was about to signal 3 Minute Warning (a heel [[PowerStable stable]]) to attack the wheelchair-bound Blassie, but [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Stone Cold]] (then-"Sheriff" of ''Raw'') and the Dudleyz intervened.
* AsHimself:
** On the 1962 ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'' ProWrestlingEpisode "The Twizzle."
** Can't forget his appearance with Andy Kaufman in ''My Breakfast with Blassie''. "Don't have to tip her so much when we leave now."
* BadassBoast: "FREDDIE BLASSIE, MAKER OF CHAMPIONS!"
* BorrowedCatchphrase: His last-recorded words on television were "'''[[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys D'VON! GET THE TABLES!]]'''"
* TheCameo: Blasse's locker room pep-talk during the [=InVasion=], one of the few great moments sprinkled throughout this dud of a storyline.
* CanonDiscontinuity: He was one of the men who defeated the "disputed" Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA World Heavyweight Champion Édouard Carpentier, whom NWA President Sam Muchnick eventually declared had no claim to the title when Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn left the NWA. Still, World Wrestling Associates used the victory to break away from the NWA itself for seven years and promote Blassie as it's world champion.
* CatchPhrase: "Listen, you pencil-neck geeks...". It's even the title of his autobiography, the cover of which provides the page photo for CheapHeat. While he was wrestling at carnivals, he noticed a [=geek=] performer with a neck which looked like a stack of dimes, which inspired the term.
* TheDandy: One of his early nicknames was "The Hollywood Fashion Plate"
* FinishingMove: The Southern (Swinging) Neckbreaker
* ForeignWrestlingHeel: In Japan. He also managed several: Wrestling/TheIronSheik (Fred was redubbed "Ayatollah Blassie"), [[Wrestling/NikolaiVolkoff Volkoff]], Wrestling/{{Kamala}}, Wrestling/KillerKhan, and more.
* ManBitesMan:
** A staple of his offense. One of his nicknames during his in-ring career was "The Vampire."
** His album, also featuring "Pencil Neck Geek," was called ''[[Music/BarryManilow I Bite The Songs.]]''
* NoSell: In Blassie's book, Killer Khan talks about growing up watching Blassie's matches with Rikidozan and seeing him do this.
* PassingTheTorch: The poem he composed for ''Wrestling/WrestleMania XIV'', in which he noted the differences between the then-current wrestlers and those of his time, and, while certainly not diminishing the importance of his era in the slightest, he cheered for the next generation.
* RingOldies:
** He debuted in 1935 working the carnival circuit and went from there to work in the UsefulNotes/StLouis and Kansas City promotions. This was before there were technically even ''territories.''
** He retired from active competition in '74 (as California State law required) and became one of the original top [[WrestlingManagersAreHeels three heel managers there]], along with Captan Lou (who had in fact previously managed Blassie). His biggest successes as a manager, though short-lived, both involved Wrestling/TheIronSheik. He retired from managing in 1986, but was kept on as an on-air personality until his passing.
* TheRival:
** Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}} or John Tolos. Fun Fact: Blassie also helped established Japanese pro wrestling by having high-profile matches with Rikidozen. Blassie, an American at a wrestling event in California, was such a hated heel that they still booed him and cheered Rikidozan. Yeah, Rikidozan is a cultural icon back home, but this was circa-1962 American fans we're talking about; World War 2 had only ended 17 years earlier.
** Outside of the ring, he is on the list of wrestlers, along with Wrestling/MickFoley and Wrestling/ChrisJericho generations later, who had negative opinions about Mil Mascaras. He didn't think too highly of Wrestling/AntonioInoki either, and even supported UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli in his infamous "match" with Inoki.
* RousingSpeech: Blasse's locker room pep-talk during the [=InVasion=], complete with Blassie standing up from his wheelchair. Watch as Kurt Angle goes nuts.
* SignatureMove: The Stomach Clawhold.
* TheTeetotaler: He never drank a drop of alcohol in his life. After seeing what it did to his father, who was an abusive alcoholic, he swore off of it for good.
* TestosteronePoisoning:
** Freddie Blassie sings [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N89PtR8DZds "Blassie, King of Men"]]
** According to his biography, he once decked a pair of drunken Yakuza on a tour of Japan, not knowing who they were. ("I jumped up and zapped the other one with a real flying dropkick...") He was politely 'asked' to visit their ''oyabun''... just so he could meet the fearsome Freddie Blassie and tell him what a fan he was.
* UnrelatedBrothers: As Fred [=McDaniel=] with Billy [=McDaniel=] as the [=McDaniel=] Brothers..
* WrestlingManagersAreHeels: He was a heel throughout his entire career, as both a wrestler and a manager. He even managed Wrestling/HulkHogan's initial WWF run when Hogan was a heel. When Hogan returned as a face, Blassie didn't manage him (in fact, he was managing Wrestling/TheIronSheik, who Hogan defeated for the world championship).
* WrestlingMonster: He was notorious for his viciousness in the ring. When Blassie was wrestling in Japan, he utilized a particularly brutal style, particularly in his matches with Rikidozan. It was so barbaric (for the time) that, halfway through the rematch, more than one fan had a fatal heart attack when Blassie busted him open.
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