Smashed his face to the ground
Won't stop 'till he has the belt"
Pedro Morales (October 22, 1942 – February 12, 2019) was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler who competed from the 1950s into 1987. He is best known for his work in WWE, where he was the fourth WWE World Heavyweight Champion
. He also competed for All Japan Pro Wrestling, the AWA, Stampede Wrestling and various National Wrestling Alliance territories. He was WWE's first Triple Crown Champion, holding the WWE World Heavyweight Title once, the WWE Intercontinental Title twice (first person to do that, in fact) and the WWE World Tag Team Title once with Bob Backlund. In 1972, Pro Wrestling Illustrated named him "Wrestler of the Year." In 1995, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Morales died on February 12, 2019, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
"Pedro Morales' Tropes":
- Always Second Best: During his career, he could never get fans to forget about Bruno Sammartino, but today he's better appreciated.
- As Himself: In the 1974 film The Wrestler.
- Awesome Moment of Crowning: Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1995.
- Somewhat subverted, as he stands as the only WWE Hall of Famer in history to not attend his own induction.
- Carpet of Virility: But not to the extent of Bruno Sammartino's.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: He had to forfeit the WWE World Tag Team Title because his partner was WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund and it was considered improper for someone to hold more than one title.
- Good Versus Good: When he wrestled Bruno Sammartino.
- How Much More Can He Take?: He and Bruno Sammartino wrestled for 75 minutes straight, neither one managing to get the three count.
- Improbable Weapon User: In the November 23, 1981 match where he defeated Muraco for the Intercontinental Championship, Morales — after ramming Muraco with his shoulder — grabbed a pair of brass knuckles Muraco dropped and struck him on the jaw, knocking him out and allowing him to score the pin. Muraco had planned to use the brass knuckles on Morales but dropped them on taking the impact.
- Conversely, in the January 22, 1983 match where Muraco defeated Morales for the Intercontinental Championship, Muraco's shirt was used as a weapon by both guys.
- Ink-Suit Actor: In Tiger Mask.
- Jobber: During his 1985-1987 run in the WWF, he was used as a "jobber to the stars", defeating pure jobbers but — although he consistently got offense in — would always seem to lose to newcomers, including Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Harley Race, the Honky Tonk Man and the One Man Gang. Only against Gang was Morales totally squashed.
- Signature Move: Rotating punch to the stomach, backbreaker, Caribbean Lift (running knee lift), Lariat Grande (Lariat to the back of the head in the corner), Boston crab.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Was intended to serve the same role to the Puerto Rican New York demographic as Sammartino had done to the Italians. While he was popular, he didnt have anywhere close to the same enormous impact as Sammartino had.
- Underwear of Power: It is only the most common outfit in wrestling.
- Ur-Example: The First Triple Crown Champion in WWF, and the only one who could make that claim until Bret Hart defeated Ric Flair for the WWF title in 1992.
