Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion.

[4] Kiniski returned to Edmonton to play football for the Eskimos, and he suffered a torn kneecap in the team's first game against Saskatchewan in August 1952.

[citation needed] After retiring from football, Kiniski trained with Dory Funk and Tony Morelli for a wrestling career, eventually making his pro debut on February 13, 1952, in Tucson, Arizona, where he defeated Curly Hughes.

His first main-event match in the territory took place at Maple Leaf Gardens in January 1957, when he teamed with Buddy Rogers against Whipper Billy Watson and Pat O'Connor and saw the beginning of a lengthy feud with Watson that spanned across Canada; the Kiniski-Watson feud gained national exposure due to their matches sometimes being seen on CBC Television.

His feuds with Whipper Billy Watson, Yukon Eric, Édouard Carpentier, and Pat O'Connor pushed his career further.

The pinnacle of Kiniski's career finally came on January 7, 1966, when he defeated Thesz to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, in front of 11,612 fans at the Kiel Auditorium in St.

These included Bobo Brazil, Dick the Bruiser, Johnny Valentine, Bill Watts, Édouard Carpentier, Pat O'Connor, and the Funks, Terry and Dory, Jr., respectively.

He travelled worldwide to defend his title during his three-year reign as champion, including making frequent stops back in Vancouver to defend his title in NWA All Star, taking on challengers such as Lou Thesz, Don Leo Jonathan, Dutch Savage, Bill Dromo, Bearcat Wright, John Tolos, Chris Tolos, Abdullah the Butcher, Haystacks Calhoun, Bobby Shane, Dean Higuchi, Tex McKenzie and Paddy Barrett in the promotion.

[4] He later claimed for a WWE DVD that he lost accidentally, submitting early to the toehold while assuming the match was a two of three falls encounter.

Kiniski also wrestled for several months in 1970 and 1971 as a masked wrestler, "The Crimson Knight", on local TV (KPLR-TV) matches in St. Louis, Missouri.

Kiniski remained involved in the sport for a few more years, teaming periodically with his sons, Kelly and Nick, refereeing the main event of the inaugural NWA Starrcade (Ric Flair vs. NWA World Champion Harley Race in a steel cage) in 1983, and later promoting events for Stampede Wrestling and the AWA in Vancouver while occasionally stepping into the ring.

His final matches as an active wrestler took place in Winnipeg's West Four Wrestling Alliance on February 25, 1992, defeating "Bulldog" Bob Brown, Bob Ryan and Randy Rudd in singles matches, teaming with Chris Jericho and Lance Storm to battle Brown, The Natural and Gerry Morrow to a no-contest in a six-man match, and being the last man eliminated by Morrow in a battle royal to fill the vacant WFWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship at a WFWA TV taping in Winnipeg.

Kiniski went into acting on occasion, appearing in the 1978 Sylvester Stallone movie Paradise Alley, as well as Double Happiness (which also starred Sandra Oh) and the made-in-Vancouver cult film Terminal City Ricochet (with former Big Valley regular Peter Breck), playing a bit role as a policeman.

A celebration of his life was held on April 25, 2010, at Kiniski's Reef in Point Roberts, USA, where Gene often appeared at his son Nick's tavern.