Good morning, everyone!
In today's issue I have an article about a professional wrestler and manager you may not have ever heard of, Leo "The Lion" Newman. For around 25 years, I lived not very far at all from Leo's hometown in Kimmswick, Missouri, but until I started the research for the Dory Funk, Sr book, I had never before heard of him.
The more research I did, the more impressed I became with Newman, not only with his work as a. heel manager with Tony Borne in Amarillo, but with his entire career, which I will outline in today's Chronicle. I hope you enjoy reading about him.
Before we get to Leo's life and career, let's start with today's pro wrestler tributes.
August 2nd in the Time Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Leo "The Lion" Newman 1908
Angel Blanco 1936
Gorgeous George Jr 1937
Happy Birthday:
DeWayne Bruce\Sgt Buddy Lee Parker (63)
Jorge Rodriguez\El Hijo del Santo (62)
Harry Smith\Davey Boy Smith, Jr )40)
Austin White\Austin Theory (28)
RIP Memorial: We stop & remember those who have passed on this day and gave themselves to the business for us, the fans. We salute you and thank you.
Vincente Denigris\Argentina Apollo 8-2-1984 at the age of 46
Golden Age Pro Wrestler\Manager Profile
Leo "The Lion" Newman
Leo Newman was born as Leonard Newman on this day in Pro Wrestling History, August 2nd, 1908, in St. Louis, Missouri.
Pictured: Leo Newman promotional artwork 1951
During this time frame, right after the turn of the century, St. Louis produced some of the most amazing performers from the 1930s through the 1950s in the sport of professional wrestling. It was a hotbed of training for professional wrestling. Newman's active in-ring wrestling career was highlighted by his athletic, stocky build, his competitive spirit and never say die attitude. He weight around 200 pounds, but was very strong and had really good skills as a worker.
Very little is known about his pre-wrestling years in St. Louis, but his first recorded match we have was on December 15th, 1931, in Lynn, Massachusetts where he wrestled a 20-minute time limit draw against Leo Hyatt. As I mentioned, he had a tremendous competitive heart in the ring and before long this led to his nickname "The Lion" around the business. As with many young wrestlers in the business, he was booked sparingly in the first 3 years of his career. It wasn't until 1936, back in the St. Louis area before he started getting regular bookings at the Electrician's Hall in the Gateway City and Turner Hall in nearby Alton, Illinois.
Finally in late spring, Newman broke through and got booked on the main show at the Coliseum in St. Louis on May 5th against Earl Wadsack going to a 15-minute draw. His biggest match in St. Louis, during this early part of his career was on September 2nd, 1936, against another young, aspiring wrestler named Joe Sanderson, at the Social Center in East St. Louis, Illinois. Newman impressed enough to be sent out from the St. Louis booking office, one of the most powerful offices in the country at the time to work for Max Baumann and Billy Sandow's operation in Wichita, Kansas and for George Simpson, Promoter in Kansas City. Simpson liked Newman so much, he billed him as a "former AAU and Navy Light Heavyweight Champion."
Newman impressed Simpson enough to continue working gin Kansas City for 5 weeks before returning to St. Louis after his first trips "out" of the office. Simpson requested Newman come back for a couple shows in November before he returned to St. Louis for the holidays and finishing up 1936. In 1937, Leo Newman's reputation for reliability and good work spread so that he received bookings in Texas, Arizona, the Pacific Northwest, Oklahoma and Arkansas and through the South in Alabama. While in Alabama, Newman lost a match to the fastest rising star in that state, Joe Gunther on June 8th where he lost a two out of three falls match at the Martin Arena in Decatur, Alabama.
Newman's aggressive style proved popular on the West Coast, so much so, he was in demand and had success up and down the coast from California, through Oregon, Montana and Washington from January through most of the year before returning to St. Louis in August to finish the year, as Newman always seemed to make it home in time for a stretch for the holidays with family. Leo Newman was building a career in professional wrestling in his first ten years in the business, performing for a lot of offices, gaining a name, working mainly as a solid mid-card performer through his fierce and dominant persona in the 1930s.
Pictured: Leo Newman down on the mat tied up by the masked wrestler The Bat during a tag match in 1948
As the 1940s got underway, Newman started getting booked more after he passed his 10th year in the business. Reports and records indicate he had a good technical grappling style, incorporating various holds and a willingness to do gimmick matches that played well with his "The Lion" gimmick. The second half of the 40s, he picked up good momentum, winning a version of the World Heavyweight Title recognized in Colorado that was recognized and controlled by the Colorado Athletic Commission when he defeated the champion, Tom Zaharias on July 30th, 1947, in Colorado Springs. Starting in 1948, the commission started recognizing the National Wrestling Association version of the World Title held by a young and up and comer from St. Louis, Lou Thesz.
In November of 1949, Leo Newman's long standing and prosperous relationship with the state of Texas really took root. On a house show on November 29th, 1949, Newman defeated a legend in Wild Red Berry to win the Texas Heavyweight Title. The Texas Title, created in the 1930s by Houston Texas booker, Karl "Doc" Sarpolis, the holders of the title were a who's who of wrestling at the time. Danny McShain, Rito Romero, Dizzy Davis, Antonino Rocca and the most dominant holder of the belt, Sonny Myers indicated the importance of the championship. Newman was in a very important spot holding the title as he was the transitional champion between Berry and the man who was about the be the fastest rising star in the newly created National Wrestling Alliance, Verne Gagne.
Pictured: Leo “The Lion” Newman, Texas Champion, November 1949
Gagne won the finals of the tournament to determine the top contender on December 16th, and then defeated Newman in the championship match the next night on the 17th in Houston.
Throughout the 1950s, Newman competed in high profile matches and unique gimmick matches. He was involved in a match against Pedro Ortega in Miami in 1950 that went 24 minutes and in 1953, he was billed in a match against Farmer Jones and his pig in Louisville. Newman came to the ring against Jones and the pig with a 210-pound lion as his second. For a time in the early 50's he teamed with his close friend, Hans Schnabel, being billed as "The Wild Russians." He also had a run in Canada for Frank Tunney in Toronto working with Tunney and Whipper Billy Watson during the territory's golden age of the 50's. Newman possessed the ability to generate crowd heat and in one instance, had a fan throw a chair at him during a match, demonstrating his ability to generate crowd heat that would serve him well as he primarily worked as a heel in both singles and tag team matches.
His last major championship as a singles wrestler was the Southern Heavyweight Title, which he won in 1952, working for Roy Welch's booking office in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Newman gained newspaper headlines on August 3rd, 1953, when made a trip to New Orleans from his home in Kimmswick, Missouri. He was making it a river float trip, and his only other passenger was a 100-pound lion. He was 38 years old at the time. He retired from in-ring competition following severe injuries sustained in a devastating car accident, which also occurred in his home state. On May 25th, 1957, six miles east of Marshfield, Missouri on US Highway 66, Newman was a passenger with another wrestler when they crashed in the car and Newman sustained in-ring career ending injuries. Newman filed various lawsuits against the driver's insurance company, which continued to stall regarding payment of the various judgments obtained through court cases on Newman's behalf. The injuries Newman sustained forced him out of the ring.
Pictured: Leo Newman advising “Tough” Tony Borne
Doc Sarpolis, who had originally booked Newman in Houston and in Dallas in the 1940s and 50s, was now the owner in the West Texas booking office in Amarillo, Texas and he brought Newman in as a heel manager and paired him with Tough Tony Borne, a rough and rugged wrestler than reminded Sarpolis of Newman's style back in his younger days. Newman and Borne would work through a series in a territory, usually culminating in some gimmick matches that got Newman in the ring in some limited role for a blow-off match. While in Amarillo, Newman & Borne had successful drawing programs with Dory Funk, Sr and Gory Guerrero. They worked through the territories in Texas and also in Indianapolis to a great deal of success. After managing Borne, Newman returned to Amarillo to manage other acts for Sarpolis and Dory Funk, Sr.
Pictured: “Tough” Tony Borne amd his manager, Leo “The Lion” Newman in 1962
After he retired, Newman returned to Missouri and operated a dog kennel and lived a peaceful and quiet life until he passed away on August 5th, 1992, at his home in Imperial, Missouri, just a few days after his 84th birthday. He was fondly remembered by his family members as a kind, humorous grandfather who enjoyed playful interactions with his children but who refused to allow them to watch any of his matches or talk much about his career out of concern it might frighten them. He was quite the reader, having a large in-home library of books and one of his favorite things each year at the holidays was dressing up as Santa Claus for all the kids.
While Leo "The Lion" Newman is not widely known to the extent of some of his contemporaries, he still left a mark on 20th century territory wrestling due to his in-ring work and his managerial contributions.
You can read more about the matches and wrestlers of Leo Newman in my upcoming book '"The Life and Times of Dory Funk, Sr" coming in June 2026.
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Man Mountain Dean began his wrestling career in New York City as "The Hell's Kitchen Hillbilly".
Thank You for Reading
I'm Tony Richards, Pro Wrestling Historian, Author and Storyteller. I share pro wrestling historical items in each issue of the Time Tunnel Pro Wrestling History Newsletter. Thanks for reading! If you enjoy my information on select events, matches and insights, please share it with folks you think might like to be a subscriber!
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