Alberto "Al" Madril (born March 20, 1950) is an American retired professional wrestler.

Al Madril
Birth nameAlberto Madril
Born (1950-03-15) March 15, 1950 (age 74)
San Bernardino, California, United States
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Al Madril
Leo Madril
Billed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Billed weight231 lb (105 kg)
Debut1970
Retired1993

Professional wrestling career

edit

Madril began his wrestling career in 1970.[1] During the first half of the decade, he competed in Pacific Northwest Wrestling, the Portland, Oregon-based division of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). While there, he formed a tag team known as The Compadres with José González and won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship on July 2, 1973.[1][2] Wrestling under the ring name Leo Madril, he also competed in the Vancouver, British Columbia-based NWA All-Star Wrestling. He held the Vancouver version of the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship twice, teaming with Flash Gordon for the first win, and Dan Kroffat for the second.[1][3]

Competing once again under his real name, Madril then moved to Texas to continue his career.[4] In 1975, he won the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship on three occasions, defeating El Gran Marcus for the first and John Tolos for the others.[1][5] He also teamed with Jose Lothario that year to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship twice.[6] He wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation in 1984.

Late in his career, Madril was a traveling partner of Shawn Michaels, who was trained by his former tag team partner Lothario. Michaels credits Madril with helping him develop an appreciation for the music of Elvis Presley.[7] After adopting his "Heartbreak Kid" gimmick in the early 1990s, Michaels went on to host an interview segment in the World Wrestling Federation named the Heartbreak Hotel, after one of Presley's songs.[8]

Madril was involved in a rather high-profile feud with the Von Erich family in late 1986 and much of 1987, when he formed a tag team sometimes referred to as the "Duo of Doom" with Brian Adias, who turned heel after accusing the Von Erichs of holding him back and preventing him from succeeding on his own merits. During one especially memorable incident, Kerry Von Erich, who was Brian's high school classmate in real life, confronted him regarding his actions. Still on crutches following his June 1986 motorcycle accident, Kerry was attacked by Madril, with Adias standing aside and allowing Madril to hit Kerry with one of the crutches several times before ring announcer Marc Lowrance finally managed to get Kerry out of the ring. Afterwards, Kevin Von Erich ran in and launched an attack on Madril. Adias and Madril would go on to win the World Class Tag Team Championship, while continuing to feud with the Von Erichs through the summer of 1987.

Madril competed until his retirement in 1993.[1][9] He is currently working as a security guard for a hospital in Los Angeles.[10]

Championships and accomplishments

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e "Wrestler Profiles: Al Madril". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title". Wrestling Titles. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  3. ^ a b "NWA Canadian Tag Team Title (Vancouver)". Wrestling Titles. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  4. ^ "The Shawn T. Malone Films - Madril vs. Matsuda Wrestling Match (1975". Texas Archive of the Moving Image. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Texas Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Titles. Archived from the original on December 30, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  6. ^ a b "Texas Tag Team Title". Wrestling Titles. Archived from the original on December 30, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  7. ^ Michaels, Shawn; Aaron Feigenbaum (2005). Heartbreak & Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story. Simon & Schuster. p. 84. ISBN 0-7434-9380-X.
  8. ^ Michaels, Shawn; Aaron Feigenbaum (2005). Heartbreak & Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story. Simon & Schuster. p. 190. ISBN 0-7434-9380-X.
  9. ^ Petersen, Steve. "Pacific Northwest #22, Page 2". Kayfabe Memories. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  10. ^ "World Class Memories: FAQ: Current Whereabouts and Final Resting Places". Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  11. ^ NWA World Tag Team Title (San Francisco) history At wrestling-titles.com
  12. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "(Dallas) Texas: NWA American Tag Team Title [Fritz Von Erich]". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 978-0-9698161-5-7.
  13. ^ "N.W.A. American Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  14. ^ Will, Gary; Duncan, Royal (2000). "Texas: NWA Texas Heavyweight Title [Von Erich]". Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. pp. 268–269. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  15. ^ "NWA Texas Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  16. ^ NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  17. ^ NWA World Tag Team Title (Texas version) history At wrestling-titles.com
  18. ^ Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Texas: NWA World Tag Team Title [Siegel, Boesch and McLemore]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  19. ^ "National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Title [E. Texas]". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  20. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Texas: WCWA Television Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 396. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  21. ^ "World Class Television Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  22. ^ WCWA World Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  23. ^ NWA Americas Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  24. ^ NWA American Tag Team Title NWA Americas Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  25. ^ NWA World Tag Team Title (Los Angeles) history At wrestling-titles.com
  26. ^ NWA Pacific Northwest Television Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  27. ^ SCW Southwest Heavyweight/Television Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  28. ^ TASW Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  29. ^ SCW Southwest Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com