Spiros Arion

From Phantis
Revision as of 14:15, January 31, 2006 by Lazarus (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Spiros Arion
Spiros Arion, the Iron Greek

Spiros Arion (real name Andreas Labrakis), born 1940 in Athens Greece, was a professional wrestler and earned the nickname Iron Greek. He began his professional career in 1961 in Paris and wrestled around Europe for a few years before settling in Australia.

In July 1965, Spiros Arion arrived on the Australian wrestling scene and quickly became a favorite among the Greek fans. In August of the same year, Spiros Arion won his first of many IWA World titles and Austra-Asian titles in Australia. He held the World title 10 times during the first 14 years of Australia's World Championship Wrestling.

In 1975, Spiros Arion headed to America to work for the WWWF as Bruno Sammartino's "protege." He was eventually turned heel by the influence of manager Fred Blassie to feud with Bruno Sammartino.

Among his professional wrestling titles are:

  • 3-Time WWE United States Tag-Team Champion
  • 2-Time NWA Australian Champion
  • 1-Time NWA Australian Tag-Team Champion
  • 5-Time IWA Champion
  • 1-Time IWA Tag-Team Champion

Spiros Arion died May 1997 at age 57.