A veteran of the NWA territories, especially in Canada, Portuguese wrestler Carlos Rocha, who worked from the 1940s through the 1970s, passed away on Monday at the age of 93. Carlos was the first Portuguese wrestler to work for the WWE (then WWWF).
According to Luís Pires a portuguese journalist now living in New Jersey, Carlos Rocha who for a long time was the only Portuguese-born wrestler to ever work for WWE, passed away on Monday 1/27.
He was living in Palm Coast, FL and was 93 years old.
Descanse em paz, lenda.
— Nelson Pereira (@ONelsonPereira) January 28, 2020
Debuting in the 1940s, the Portuguese grappler ultimately made his way to North America, where he worked in several NWA territories, including Southwest Sports in Dallas, Texas (the precursor to World Class Championship Wrestling). He was also a regular attraction in Europe throughout his formative years. By the early 1960s, he had moved to the United States.
In the early 1970s, he made his way to Canada, where he eventually moved, starting off with International Wrestling in Montreal, where he won the World Championship, as well as Toronto’s Maple Leaf Wrestling and Calgary’s Stampede Wrestling.
In the late 1970s, he debuted with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), where he gained the moniker “The Portuguese Champion”, where he briefly feuded with then-WWWF Champion, “Superstar” Billy Graham.
Carlos Rocha had disappeared from the wrestling world by the 1980s and following a 30-year career as one of the international great journeymen. The staff at Last Word on Pro Wrestling extends its most sincere condolences to the entire Rocha family, as well as his friends, fans, and peers.
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