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Jan. 27, 2004. 01:00 AM 
 
Promoter Jack Tunney dies at 68

Brought WWF to GTA wrestling scene 

His tag-team gamble in 1984 paid off

GEOFF BAKER
SPORTS REPORTER

A slick business move two decades ago helped Toronto promoter Jack
Tunney become a household name to millions of professional wrestling
fans.

Tunney, who died of a heart attack in his sleep on Saturday at age 68,
teamed with Vince McMahon Jr. in 1984 to bring the World Wrestling
Federation to Toronto. That same year, Tunney became "president" of
the WWF, a largely symbolic title used in television plotlines, but
one that made him a familiar face on screens across North America.

Hooking up with the controversial McMahon was the biggest gamble of
Tunney's career and forged his lasting legacy. Critics worried that
McMahon was stretching himself too thin in expanding his fledgling WWF
across the United States and also feared the new partnership would
hurt the struggling Canadian wrestling scene.

But from a business standpoint, Tunney's timing couldn't have been
better.

"The timing was perfect,'' said Billy Red Lyons, the longtime
wrestling star from Dundas, Ont., who worked as a WWF television
commentator at the time of the deal.

"Vince (McMahon) had started to make his move all over the United
States. He had big ideas and everybody thought he was just crazy, but
not Jack. He saw what kind of an opportunity it was.

"Thank God the WWF did come in here because the business was dead in
Toronto.''

Local wrestling cards had been drawing just 3,000 a night while the
WWF was on the cusp of a popularity explosion when Tunney latched on.
It had been barely a year since Tunney had taken over the Queensbury
Athletic Club, a pioneer in Toronto wrestling promotions, from his
late uncle, Frank.

The union between Tunney and McMahon crushed other wrestling
promotions in Canada as critics had feared it would. All-Star
Wrestling in Vancouver went bust, the AWA stopped holding bouts in
Manitoba, while Stampede promotions in Calgary also couldn't compete.

Toronto became a highly successful stop on the WWF tour. McMahon named
Tunney president that same year and he held the title until retiring
in 1995.

On April 1, 1990, the WWF and Tunney staged WrestleMania VI at the
SkyDome in front of a crowd of more than 67,000.

"He did have the biggest show ever in Toronto and he put Toronto on
the wrestling map as far as I'm concerned,'' Tunney's daughter,
Jackie, said yesterday. "Heaven will be a much funnier place.''

Jackie said her father, who has a second daughter, Jane, had been
completely out of the spotlight since his retirement, preferring to
spend time with his grandchildren and longtime companion, Patricia.
Tunney's wife, Ann, died in 1991.

The Tunney family's promotions, led by Frank and later by Jack and his
cousin, Eddy — a silent partner — had been synonymous with Toronto
wrestling long before the WWF. Right up until the WWF deal, the Tunney
family promoted about 20 events a year at Maple Leaf Gardens.

"I grew up watching wrestling in Toronto and many times, I'd watch the
cards that were produced by the Tunneys,'' said Carl DeMarco,
president of World Wrestling Entertainment Canada (formerly the WWF),
who succeeded Jack Tunney upon his retirement. "It's a sad day for the
whole wrestling community.''

A funeral mass is to be held at 10 a.m. today at Holy Rosary Roman
Catholic Church, 354 St. Clair Ave. W.


--- Internet Rex 2.29