He was famous for the ability to crush apples with one hand,[1] a feat which he demonstrated live on ESPN during the 2006 NCAA Wrestling Championships.

[2] Dan Allen Hodge was born and raised in Perry, Oklahoma,[3] the son of an alcoholic father and a mother who dealt with severe depression.

[7] He was a three-time Big Seven conference champ at 177 pounds (1955–1957), and won the 177-pound title at the NCAA championships those same three years, pinning all three of his finals opponents.

At Ames, Iowa, in April 1952, Hodge survived the US Olympic Trials, and was coached by Naval Academy Instructor Ray Swartz in the 174-pound division.

[10] At the Melbourne Olympics freestyle middleweight, he won the silver medal, losing the final to Bulgarian Nikola Stanchev.

[10] Trained by Leroy McGuirk and Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Hodge made his debut as a professional wrestler on October 9, 1959.

[4][10] Hodge's first major feud was with National Wrestling Alliance Junior Heavyweight Champion Angelo Savoldi.

[14] On July 22, 1960, Hodge defeated Savoldi for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship at the Stockyards Coliseum in Oklahoma City.

[14] Hodge was a perennial NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, holding the title eight times for a total of over ten years, longer than anyone else.

[16] On March 15, 1976, after wrestling that evening in Houma,[4] Hodge was driving his car when he fell asleep at the wheel causing him to crash through a bridge and into a lake.

[9] He made appearances in WWE on Raw in 2005 and 2012 in which he honored his close friends and fellow Oklahoman Jim Ross.