8 Nights of Jewish Professional Wrestlers

You may have thought there were only a few Jewish professional wrestlers, but just like the story of the Maccabee’s there is a miracle here of incredible Jewish superstars in and out of the ring!

This list came from a series of posts on Facebook from Josh Lipsky, a true American hero!

Night 1 – Scott “Raven” Levy (1964-)

Scott Raven Levy Jewish Professional Wrestlers ChiTribe

Raven is known for his “psychological heel tactics” and grunge-inspired gimmick. His feud with The Sandman in the mid-1990s has been described as “one of the most emotional rivalries in professional wrestling’s history”.

Championships held by Raven include the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, ECW World Tag Team Championship, NWA World Heavyweight Championship, WCW Light Heavyweight Championship, WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, WCW World Tag Team Championship and WWF/E Hardcore Championship. He is recognized as the most decorated wrestler in the history of WWE with 36 separate title reigns under the WWE, WCW and ECW banners, including a record 27 reigns as WWF/E Hardcore Champion.

Night 2 – “Diamond Dallas” Page Falkinburg (1956-)

Diamond Dallas Page DDP Jewish Professional Wrestlers ChiTribe

Over a decade in WCW, Falkinburg became a 3x WCW World Heavyweight Champion, 2x WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, 4x WCW World Tag Team Champion and one-time WCW World Television Champion. He is the fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the only United States Heavyweight Champion to defend the title in a pay-per-view main event, defeating Bret Hart at the 1998 World War 3.

On February 20, 2017, WWE announced that Page would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2017, and on March 31, 2017, he was officially inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Eric Bischoff.

Night 3 – Randy “Macho Man Savage” Poffo (1952-2011)

Macho Man Randy Savage Jewish Professional Wrestlers ChiTribe

Savage is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history; a number of peers have ranked Savage among the industry’s top performers of all time.He was recognizable by wrestling fans for his distinctively deep and raspy voice, his flamboyant ring attire, intensity exhibited in and out of the ring, his use of “Pomp and Circumstance” as his entrance music, and his signature catch phrase, “Oooh yeah!” For most of his tenures in the WWF and WCW, Savage was managed by his real-life wife, “Miss Elizabeth” Hulette.

He won 29 titles during a 32-year career, including two WWF World Heavyweight Championships and four WCW World Heavyweight Championships. A one-time WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion, Savage was named by WWE as the greatest titleholder of all time and was credited for bringing “a higher level of credibility to the title through his amazing in-ring performances”.

Aside from championships, Savage was the 1987 WWF King of the Ring and the 1995 WCW World War 3 winner. He headlined many pay-per-view events throughout his career, including WrestleManias IV, V and VIII (being part of a double main event at the last of those presentations), four of the first five SummerSlam shows, and the 1995 Starrcade. As WWF Champion, Savage held similar drawing power to that of Hulk Hogan. He was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015.

Night 4 – Dean Simon aka Dean Malenko (1960-)

Dean Malenko Jewish Professional Wrestler ChiTribe

Although never a world champion, Malenko achieved championship success in ECW, WCW and the WWF, winning 11 total titles between the three organizations. Pro Wrestling Illustrated named Malenko the #1 wrestler in the world in 1997, and he was inducted into the Hardcore Hall of Fame in 2015. Four-time WWE world champion Daniel Bryan said that his “number one guy, growing up, was Dean Malenko”.

In September 1998, Malenko became a part of the final incarnation of Ric Flair’s Four Horsemen faction (Four Horsemen, Night 4, see what I did there? Anyone still reading this???) They feuded with the New World Order (nWo), particularly Eric Bischoff. Malenko and Benoit (not a Jew!) also battled The West Texas Rednecks (Curt Hennig and Barry Windham) during this period. At SuperBrawl IX, they lost to the Rednecks in the finals of a tag team tournament for the vacant World Tag Team Championship. At Uncensored 1999, however, they defeated the Rednecks in a lumberjack match to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship.

Night Five – Glen Jacobs aka Kane (1967-)

Kane Jewish Professional Wrestler ChiTribe

Jacobs joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1995, where he played various characters until 1997, when he was repackaged as Kane, the mentally disturbed, pyromaniacal younger half-brother of The Undertaker, with whom Jacobs would alternatively feud or team as The Brothers of Destruction.

Following his debut, Kane remained a pivotal component of the WWF’s “Attitude Era” of the late 1990s and early 2000s, defeating the era’s “poster boy” Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship in his first pay-per-view main event at King of the Ring in June 1998. He has continued to headline PPV cards through 2018, and has appeared in more of such events than any other performer in WWF/WWE history.

Within WWE, Kane is a three-time world champion (having held the WWF Championship, ECW Championship and World Heavyweight Championship once each) and a 12-time world tag team champion (having held the World Tag Team Championship, WCW Tag Team Championship and WWE Tag Team Championships with various partners). He is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion and a Money in the Bank winner, as well as the third man to complete WWE’s Grand Slam. Kane holds the record for cumulative Royal Rumble match eliminations at 44. In a 2015 interview, veteran wrestler Ric Flair described Kane as “the best in the world”.

In March 2017, Jacobs announced that he was running for the mayoral seat of Knox County, Tennessee as a Republican. On May 1, 2018, he won the Republican primary election for the mayoral seat of Knox County, and on August 2, went on to win the general election.

Night Six – Barry Horowitz (1959-)

Barry Horowitz Jewish Professional Wrestler ChiTribe

Barry Horowitz joined WWF in late 1991, where he was used to help put talent over. Horowitz appeared on televised events and came out on the losing end in matches against Legion of Doom, Greg Valentine, Bret Hart, Kerry Von Erich, Owen Hart, Tito Santana,Shawn Michaels, Jeff Jarrett, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Savio Vega, Kane, Farooq, Goldust, The Rock, Cactus Jack, and others at WWF Superstars and WWF Challenge tapings.

Despite his status as a jobber, Horowitz would occasionally wrestle in matches of greater prominence. He was instrumental in starting the feud between reigning tag team champions, The Quebecers, and the “1-2-3” Kid.

Finally, on the July 9, 1995 airing of The Action Zone, Horowitz received the first push of his WWF career, beginning with pinning Bodydonna Skip to gain his first win over a WWF star on television, leading to commentator Jim Ross shouting “Horowitz wins! Horowitz wins!” into his microphone in disbelief. Horowitz faced Skip on the August 5 episode of WWF Superstars after the Body Donna said that Horowitz could not last ten minutes in a match. Horowitz avoided a pinfall for the ten minutes, leading to a third televised match between them at SummerSlam 1995. Horowitz won this encounter, gaining his first ever pay-per-view victory. These wins led to Horowitz becoming a popular underdog with WWF fans. During this time, the WWF played up Horowitz’s Jewish heritage, introducing a Star of David on his wrestling trunks and making his entrance theme an upbeat version of the Jewish folk song Hava Nagila.

Night Seven – Paul Heyman (1965-)

Paul Heyman Jewish Professional Wrestler ChiTribe

Paul Heyman is a producer, writer, performer, marketer, promoter, professional wrestling manager and commentator currently signed to WWE on the Raw brand. He has shunned the label of “manager” for decades, using the name “The Advocate” or “agent” for his work with Brock Lesnar, and also in the past calling himself “agent” or “CEO of The Dangerous Alliance”.

Heyman owned and was the creative force behind the Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion from 1993 until its closure in 2001. Before running and owning ECW, he was a manager under the ring name Paul E. Dangerously in World Championship Wrestling and other promotions.

In WWE, Heyman has managed a record five WWE Champions: Brock Lesnar, Big Show, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, and CM Punk. Critics have praised his abilities at managing and on the microphone. Heyman has also competed sporadically in the ring, most notably when he participated in the WWE Championship main event match in 2002 Rebellion pay-per-view.

Night Eight – Barbara Jean Blank aka Kelly Kelly (1988-)

Kelly Kelly Jewish Professional Wrestler ChiTribe

In 2006, Blank was signed to a contract by WWE and, after training in Ohio Valley Wrestling, she debuted on the ECW brand in June 2006 as ‘Kelly Kelly’. Primarily appearing in non-wrestling role, she was a member of Extreme Exposé with Layla and Brooke Adams. Beginning in late 2007, she began participating in more wrestling matches, and unsuccessfully challenged for both the WWE Divas Championship and the WWE Women’s Championship on multiple occasions.

On May 22, 2011, at the Over the Limit pay-per-view, Kelly unsuccessfully challenged Brie Bella for the WWE Divas Championship. The following month, on the Power to the People special edition of Raw on June 20, Kelly won a fan vote to determine the challenger for the Divas Championship that night. Kelly went on to win her first WWE Divas Championship by defeating Bella. Her win later garnered her a Slammy Award for Divalicious Moment of the Year.

The Shamash – Bill Goldberg (1966-)

Goldberg Jewish Professional Wrestler ChiTribe

Regarded as one of the most popular professional wrestlers of the late 1990s, Goldberg was the top star and public face of World Championship Wrestling at the peak of the Monday Night Wars. Goldberg rose to fame in WCW with a lengthy undefeated streak in singles competition from 1997 to 1998, which was considered the longest winning streak in professional wrestling until Asuka surpassed it in 2017. During this time, he became a two-time United States Heavyweight Champion and one-time World Heavyweight Champion. He was also a one-time World Tag Team Champion (with Bret Hart), making him along with Hart the fifth WCW Triple Crown winner.

Following WCW’s closure in 2001, Goldberg wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling between 2002 and 2003, and for WWE between 2003 and 2004, becoming a one-time World Heavyweight Champion in the latter. After twelve years away from the company, he returned to WWE in 2016 and headlined Survivor Series against Brock Lesnar and Fastlane against Kevin Owens, where he won the Universal Championship, his third world title. Goldberg headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WCW and WWE, including twice closing WCW’s premier annual event Starrcade. He is the only person to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, WWE’s World Heavyweight Championship, and the WWE Universal Championship. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2018 the weekend of WrestleMania 34.

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