Wally Karbo
Walter Joseph Karbo (August 14, 1915 – March 23, 1993) was an American professional wrestling promoter and co-founder of the American Wrestling Association with Verne Gagne. A longtime promoter in the Minneapolis-area, Karbo was a close associate of Tony Stecher and attended the first meeting of the National Wrestling Alliance held by Stecher in 1948.

He was born and raised in northeast Minneapolis and graduated from De La Salle High school in 1934. He went to work as an assistant to Minneapolis boxing and wrestling promoter Tony Stecher in the 1930s. He eventually became a referee for wrestling matches and then evolved into a promoter.

In 1952, Tony Stecher sold a one-third interest in the Minneapolis Boxing and Wrestling club to Wally Karbo and his son Dennis Stecher. On October 9, 1954, Tony Stecher died and control of the promotion passed to Karbo and Dennis Stecher. In 1959, Dennis Stecher sold his majority stake in the Minneapolis Boxing and Wrestling club to Karbo and Gagne. They became co-owners of the promotion from that point onward.

Breaking away from the National Wrestling Alliance, he and Gagne established the AWA in 1960 and together operated the promotion for over thirty years. He would also appear as an on-air personality hosting the AWA's Saturday morning television show "All-Star Wrestling" before Karbo sold his interests to Gagne in 1985. Although retiring soon after, he did remain in professional wrestling, most notably appearing as the commissioner of the Ladies Pro Wrestling Association before his death from a heart attack on March 23, 1993.
Q131359
professional wrestling
Concept
Q721067
promoter
Concept
Q467330
American Wrestling Association
ORG
Q950279
Verne Gagne
PER
Q44547149
Tony Stecher
PER
Q1068680
National Wrestling Alliance
ORG
Q5961869
Ladies Pro Wrestling Association
ORG
Q12152
heart attack
Concept
Q7963407
Wally Karbo
PER
1915-08-14T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
August 14, 1915
DATE
1993-03-23T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
March 23, 1993
DATE
1948-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1948
DATE
1934-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1934
DATE
1930-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1930
DATE
1952-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1952
DATE
1954-10-09T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
October 9, 1954
DATE
1959-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1959
DATE
1960-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1960
DATE
1985-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1985
DATE
1993-03-23T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
March 23, 1993
DATE
sport
sport
sport
founded by
inception