Primo Carnera

It might be difficult to believe that someone with a career boxing record of 89-14 hadn’t yet peaked inside the squared circle, but that was indeed the case for Primo Carnera, a deadly boxer turned nearly unbeatable pro wrestler who put on a show every time he stepped between the ropes.

Apparently, knocking out 72 opponents inside the boxing ring wasn’t enough for the towering 275-pound athlete, who retired from the sport in 1946, brought his nasty edge to sports-entertainment and immediately started running roughshod over his fellow grapplers, going 119-0-1 before finally tasting defeat.

Carnera, who was one of the top draws in wrestling for several years and highly coveted by promoters, claimed what was arguably his most impressive victory in December of 1947 when the Italy native bested former world heavyweight champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis. Never one to shy away from the bright lights, Carnera turned in some of his most unforgettable boxing and wrestling performances inside a packed house at Madison Square Garden.

In addition to pummeling opponents in the wrestling and boxing rings, Carnera also tried his hand at acting, playing a fictional version of himself in the 1933 film, “The Prizefighter and the Lady,” getting a role in 1949’s “Mighty Joe Young,” and also appearing in several Italian films, including “Prince Valiant” in 1954.

Carnera was also inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990, and “The Ambling Alp” will be forever enshrined in WWE lore as a member of the Legacy WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2019.