Other partners included George Becker, Antonino Rocca, Sailor Art Thomas, Klondike Bill, Man Mountain Mike and "Coloured Heavyweight Champion" Luther Lindsay.

Best remembered by "modern" American wrestling fans as an undercard wrestler, he was the first opponent of "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair when making his debut in the promotion in 1974.

[7][8] Jacobs began weightlifting which, in addition to working on his family's ranch, would give him a distinct strength advantage when he started his amateur wrestling career as a teenager.

Although conventional wisdom discouraged weight training at the time, then believed that becoming "muscle bound" would slow speed and agility, Jacobs continued working out after reading a magazine article which claimed that the fastest Olympian was an Egyptian lightweight power lifter.

[8] He was invited to an Easter Camp, where amateur wrestlers had the opportunity to train with the 1952 light heavyweight Olympic Champion, but was forced to leave by the head of the wrestling association for his weightlifting.

[7][11] Jacobs made his professional debut against his trainer, the Zebra Kid, in Hastings in 1958;[5] substituting for George McKay, their match served as the main event.

[4][12] Three months later, he arrived in the continental United States and spent a year for Vince McMahon, Sr. in Capitol Sports,[8][12] then based in Washington D.C., and began appearing on their weekly television show in 1958.

[13][14] He took on the promotion's top "heel" NWA United States Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers that same year which saw Haystacks Calhoun interfere in the match.

[18] On 23 February 1959, Jacobs made his debut at its home arena at Madison Square Garden in New York City appearing on the undercard against kayfabe Nazi sympathizer Karl Von Hess defeating him via disqualification.

Together they won the NWA Los Angeles International Television Tag Team Championship from Sir Alan Garfield & Karl Von Schober on 31 October, and lost the titles to The Destroyer and Don Manoukian the following month.

[8] While in Nova Scotia, Jacobs teamed with and, at least on one occasion, wrestled another fellow New Zealander, Steve Rickard, while in Halifax, and later reunited in the Carolinas years later.

[6][8] He travelled an average of around 3,000 miles per week and headlined cards with some of the top wrestlers in Canada and North America including Lou Newman, "Big" Bill Miller, Buddy Rogers, Dick the Bruiser, Ray Stevens, Hans Schmidt, "Whipper" Billy Watson and Wilbur Snyder.

[18] He also met a number of NWA World Heavyweight Champions during this period including Gene Kiniski,[35] Dick Hutton, Buddy Rogers and Dory Funk, Jr.[36] during the mid-to late 1960s.

There were times when would be unable to compete in the country at all due to national origins quotas set by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service.

[21][39] One of his most favourite tag team partners during this period was Luther Lindsay[40] who, similar to Jacobs, was once billed as the "Coloured (or Negro) Heavyweight Champion".

They feuded with the masked tag team The Infernos with manager Jimmy Dykes, one of their matches nearly selling out the Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina,[9] as well as the Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Gene & Ole Anderson) during the late 1960s.

[42] Within a few years, however, Jacobs began cutting back on his ring schedule, making his last Japanese tour in 1973,[43] and settled down in the Carolinas, where he purchased a horse ranch,[18] and wrestled primarily for Jim Crockett for the rest of his career.

[4] Flair's victory over Jacobs, then an established veteran, was partially credited for the young wrestler's early success in the promotion and his eventually becoming one of its biggest stars during the next decade.

During one of these meetings, he and Roberto Soto defeated Savage and Bill Howard in a tag team match at the Atlanta City Auditorium on 3 June 1977.

[51] On 5 September edition of Georgia Championship Wrestling (1971–1982) on WTBS where he and Ken Hall unsuccessfully challenged NWA National Tag Team Champions Jimmy Snuka & Terry Gordy.

One of his last matches in the United States was against David Von Erich in Miami on 16 December 1981,[54] and made appearances for Steve Rickard's All Star Pro-Wrestling in New Zealand, before retiring that same year.

[8] Jacobs briefly came out of retirement for the first nine months of 1983 and wrestled a number of opponents including "Wild" Bill White, Ken Timbs, Masa Fuchi, Ricky Harris, Kelly Kiniski, The Magic Dragon, and John Bonello.

He also took part in tag team matches with Mark Fleming and Glen Lane against Frank Monte & Jim Dalton and Masa Fuchi & Ricky Harris respectively.

[55] In the years following his retirement, Jacobs remained in North Carolina and managed several gyms including Ricky Steamboat's facility in Charlotte.

[8] In recent years, he has also been interviewed by Wrestling Perspective Newsletter[58] and often made appearances at legend's reunions and conventions such as the annual Cauliflower Alley Club.

[4] In February 2008, Jacobs was among the Mid-Atlantic territorial wrestlers and wrestling personalities who attended the funeral of Johnny Weaver including Ivan Koloff, Sandy Scott, Wally and Don Kernodle, Rene Goulet, Nikita Koloff, Tony Romano, Bill White, Jim Nelson, Belle Starr, Jim Holiday, Rick McCord, George South, Mike Weddle, Penny Banner, wrestling broadcasters Bob Caudle and Rich Landrum, referees Tommy Young and Stu Schwartz, and a promoter Jackie Crockett.

[59] He had also been in attendance for the funeral of Mr. Wrestling several years earlier,[9] and quoted in The Post and Courier upon the deaths of George Becker,[27] Sailor Art Thomas,[29] Bronco Lubich[38] and Sandy Scott.

[28] Four months later, Jacobs was honoured by the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum and officially inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Hall of Fame along with Roddy Piper, Masanouri Saito, Penny Banner, Stu Hart, Ray Gunkel, and Leo Nomellini in a special ceremony held in Waterloo, Iowa.

[4][8][60][61] Bob Leonard wrote in a later editorial that Jacobs "proved to be a vibrant speaker, and a personable addition to the great social atmosphere of the event".

[9][65] Jacobs never revealed how to perform the Kiwi Leg Roll despite being asked by dozens of wrestlers, claiming in later interviews that he had forgotten how, and to date it has rarely been duplicated.