5 Wrestlers who fought wild animals

#4 American wrestler Tuffy Truesdale wrestles an alligator

Pro-wrestler Tuffy Truesdale vs Rodney

Pro-wrestler Tuffy Truesdale claimed to be the final Middleweight Wrestling Champion of the United States of America, and also the first person to dare to wrestle alligators in order to earn a living. This article from February 23, 1970, goes into detail on the popular wrestler's battles with alligators, as well as other wild animals.

Tuffy wrestled an alligator named Rodney on various occasions, with many of his outings being advertised in news outlets at the time. Here's what Tuffy had to say about his wrestling experience with Rodney:

"The one thing going for you is gators are all the same. They got no personality. The only gator I ever had was any different was Rodney. He was a crazy gator. He had eyes that popped out of his head, and he was durable. During the time I had Rodney I must have gone through 50 backup gators. They won't eat; they don't care. But Rodney was mean. He would stalk me sometimes. It was great. If alligators was teachable you would teach them that. In Milwaukee, Rodney caught my head underwater and that was 40 stitches. And I still got these two stiff fingers from another bite he gives me," said Tuffy.

Alligators are one of the most dangerous carnivores on the planet, and the mere idea of having to wrestle one is enough to send shivers down one's spine. For Tuffy though, it was a gig that helped him earn a living for years on end.