He was training in a gym when he was noticed by a visiting American wrestler, Lou Newman, who served as a mentor during Kontellis's early career.
[1] In 1966, Tony Kontellis returned to Australia and New Zealand, facing such wrestlers as Czaja, The Great Zorro, Wadi Ayoub and Steve Rickard.
[1] He also won the Australasian Tag Team titles on 5 April with Pat Barrett by defeating George Barnes and Bobby Shane in a tournament final.
[citation needed] The pair held the title for 6 months and successfully defended the belts on 8 separate occasions before Rikishi famously turned on Kontellis at Summerslam, hitting him with the infamous ‘Stink Face’ finisher.
[citation needed] Kontellis came out of retirement in 2008 and re-ignited his feud with King Kong Czaja in front out a capacity crowd at Acer Arena.