Remembering Baron Mikel Scicluna
WWE Hall of Famer Baron Mikel Scicluna died over the weekend after a battle with liver cancer. He was 80.
When I was watching wrestling as kid in the ’70s and early ’80s, Scicluna was one of the “glorified jobbers” in the WWWF/WWF. He always put over the stars on television, but at the arena shows it was not uncommon for Scicluna to defeat other preliminary wrestlers (as they were referred to at the time).
Despite his less-than-impressive win-loss record, Scicluna was a distinctive heel character. He wore a red cape into the ring and, to my knowledge, is the only wrestler to hail from The Isle of Malta.
A staple of Scicluna’s act was that he would use a foreign object and then conceal it in various places – in his trunks, his boot, his mouth, under his arm, etc. – as he played a shell game with the referee. Another unique thing about Scicluna was that he would always sell his ear no matter what move he was on the receiving end of.
I watched Scicluna wrestle in person numerous times at The Baltimore Civic Center. His matches were never high on the card, but he always got a heated reaction from the crowd. Scicluna would often engage in entertaining verbal exchanges with the regulars at ringside.
He was indirectly involved in a famous angle in 1976. Scicluna was wrestling Gorilla Monsoon at a WWWF TV taping when boxing great Muhammad Ali, who was seated at ringside, began yelling at Monsoon. Scicluna, who had been tossed from the ring by Monsoon, threw up his arms in disgust and walked back to the dressing room as Ali proceeded to get into the ring and mix it up with Monsoon. The confrontation ended with Monsoon giving Ali an airplane spin and dumping him to the mat.
While I only saw Scicluna during the latter part of his career, he was a star in the ’60s and early ’70s and wrestled all over the world. He challenged both Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales for the WWWF title and was a co-holder of the WWWF tag team title with King Curtis Iaukea (managed by Capt. Lou Albano).
Scicluna retired in 1983 after 30 years in the ring. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996 by Monsoon.
My condolences to Scicluna’s family and friends.
Comments
R.I.P. Baron Scicluna. One of my all time favorites..even though he along with Johnny Rhodes never won many matches. They were always entertaining. I also remember his matches @ the Baltimore Civic Center.
Currently..WWE's NXT Wade Barrett reminds me a little of Mr. Scicluna
Posted by: Michael | March 22, 2010 3:30 AM
I'll always remember Scicluna having to toss himself over the top rope in that match with Monsoon because he didn't have enough momentum. Even as a kid, I remember thinking, "OK, that was so fake." Good stuff as always, Kev.
Posted by: Roch Kubatko | March 22, 2010 11:55 AM
Kev:
Thanks for remembering him. I too, remember him at the Civic Center and on TV.
RIP Baron.
Posted by: Matt | March 22, 2010 12:56 PM
RIP Baron .
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | March 22, 2010 1:51 PM
The most famous Wrestler from the ISLE of MALTA!! R.I.P.
Posted by: wrzesien | March 22, 2010 3:53 PM
Scicluna was also the master of that devastating trapezius "nerve-hold" which always seemed to have the exactly wrong effect on Chief Strongbow,never failing to send him into his war dance.
And dont forget,the obvious "Maltese Cross" symbol which HHH somehow thinks he (HHH) has a trademark on.(Gimmick Infringement?")
10 bells.
Posted by: Bill | March 22, 2010 8:07 PM
I'm saddened to hear of the Baron's passing. He wrestled on the very first live show I ever attended, losing to an at-the-time still undefeated and very baby-face Victor Rivera at the Boston Garden over 40 years ago, and at more than a few others, as well.
I'd totally forgotten about his crazy "ear sell" -- classic stuff. Thanks for that trip down memory lane, Mr. Kevin.
RIP & Condolences
Posted by: Boomerang | March 22, 2010 8:36 PM
This has been a rough year for me...Cpt. Lou Albano, then Baron Mikel Scicluna, not to mention Killer Kowalski last year. All my favorites are going. Goes to show how old i am. RIP Mikel Scicluna.
Posted by: Ace | March 22, 2010 9:01 PM
I have very fond memories of seeing Scicluna becuase my dad and I would see him in prelim matches at the Civic Center. I will never forget it. We would go nuts when he would hide the foriegn object from the ref...we loved every minute.
Posted by: rob the barber | March 22, 2010 10:59 PM
I loved watching the Baron at the Capital Centre as he seemed to be stunned with every blow the good guy would throw. He will be truly missed!
Posted by: Gary | March 23, 2010 11:14 AM
I always thought the Baron was cool. I once saw him and Nikoli Volkoff fight to a 30 minute draw at the Cap Center. The Baron was the heel since they often announced Volkoff as "hailing" from Baltimore so he got lots of pop. The greatest match I ever saw Scicluna in was one agains Pinky (Bimbo) Larsen. It last about 20 seconds as the Baron attacked him before the bell, took him by the hair and ran him from turnbuckle to turnbuckle. Good stuff.
Posted by: Frank | March 23, 2010 7:56 PM
"The Baron is a bum! The Baron is a bum!" I was one of those kids yelling that at Baron Scicluna at Boston-area wrestling shows in the late '60s, and screaming "It's in his trunks!" or "It's in his mouth!" at the clueless refs. What a great, classic wrestling character. RIP, Baron.
Posted by: Howard | March 24, 2010 12:20 AM
This may be the hardest thing I've done. Mike was my closest friend in the business, and our families were like one big family. We are now preparing to go to Pittsburg to say a final good-bye to our beloved Mike. I never thought this day would come, but those of us that were in constant touch knew that it was inevitable. I said my goodbye to Mike last Thursday night, and now there is a great void in the O'Hannon family. I just hope that we meet "up the road" someday.
Posted by: Davey O'Hannon | March 24, 2010 2:06 PM
I remember watching Baron Mikel Scicluna wrestling at both the Cap Centre and Baltimore Civic Center. It seems just like yesterday to me. Thanks for the memories, Baron.
Also glad someone else remembered Pinky Larson. We always knew Pinky was going to lose! Lee Wong too!
Posted by: Rasslin Fan | March 25, 2010 7:12 PM
I got to work in professional wrestling as an editor for Pro Wrestling Illustrated, WCW, and a bunch of other magazines - but after all these years, Baron Mikel Scicluna remains my favorite star of all time. I remember once in Albany, NY, he just about caused a riot among the fans with...get this...a sneer. Baron could draw more heat with an expression than most of today's stars can with sledgehammers and pyrotechnics. Scicluna was one of the all time best, and I'm very, very sad he is no longer with us.
Posted by: Bob Smith | April 7, 2010 1:20 AM