Gran Gattoni

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Gran Gattoni
Gran Gattoni	Name Gran Gattoni Real name Jose Ricardo Gattone Nicknames El Campeon Italico Name history Gran Gattoni, Baron Gattoni, Michele Leone Family Maestro(s) Birth date, location November 12, 1919 - Buenos Aires, Argentina (billed from Mailand, Italy) Obituary date Debut, location Lost mask to Height Weight Signature moves Bearhug Titles:

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Began his interest in wrestling while attending school. He was trained by a priest who taught him techniques and the philosophy of Lucha Libre. Trained under several other disciplines and had different jobs but he knew that professional wrestling was his destiny. Changed his last name to "Gattoni", because he believed it sounded more Italian and more according to his gimmick.

In 1942 got a contract to wrestle in Bolivia and Peru. When he came back to Argentina, he joined to Karol Nowina's roster who annually organized Catch Tournaments at Luna Park in Buenos Aires. Gattoni's objective was to defeat the champion Antonio Rocca. Unfortunately that did not happed, but his popularity raised and became a fan favorite.

When Martin Karadagian owned most of the Argentinean wrestling, Gattoni found a real life antagonist. They never had a match in the ring, but both had opposite ideologies about professional wrestling. Karadagian preferred the spectacle. Gattoni, on the other hand, believed in the sportsmanship and the philosophy of Lucha Libre. Clearly, Argentina was not place for both, for this reason, Gattoni went to different countries including Brazil and the United States.

Had great rivals such as Illio Di Paolo, Bruno Sanmartino, Lou Thesz, Nikita Kalmikoff, Gene Stanlee, Dick Beyer, among many others.

Reference

• Revista Box y Lucha