Bob Della Serra
| Bob Della Serra | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Robert Dellaserra |
| Born | March 3, 1951 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Bob Della Serra Johnny Heffernan The UFO Karl Steiner |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 242 lb (110 kg) |
| Debut | 1972 |
| Retired | 1988 |
Robert Dellaserra is a retired Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known by his ring name Bob Della Serra, Johnny Heffernan and The UFO who spent his career in Montreal, Calgary, Japan, Germany, Puerto Rico and Portland (Oregon).[2]
Professional wrestling career
[edit]Della Serra born in Montreal made hsi wrestling debut in 1972 for Grand Prix in Montreal. In 1974, he worked for Eastern Sports Association in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
In 1976, he made his debut in Japan as the masked UFO for International Wrestling Enterprise. He worked there until 1979.
In 1981, he worked in Switzerland and in Germany for Catch Wrestling Association.
Then in 1982 he teamed up with Don Kent (wrestler) as the Fabulous Kangaroos, who Della Serra took changed his name to "Johnny Heffernan" (or "Bobby Heffernan" at times) - a storyline cousin of Roy Heffernan.[3] The team ended Terry and Dory Funk Jr.'s year and a half run with the WWC World Tag Team championship on 1 May 1982. Kent and Heffernan held the gold for less than two months before losing the WWC World Tag Team titles to Invader I and Pierre Martel.[4] After the tour in Puerto Rico, Kent and Heffernan worked for Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF). On 5 January 1983, the Kangaroos defeated Barry Windham and Ron Bass to win the NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship.[3] They held the titles four times between January and 13 April 1983, losing to and winning titles from such teams as Terry Allen and Scott McGhee, Terry Allen and The Midnight Rider, and Terry Allen and Brad Armstrong.[4]
In 1983, he debuted for Montreal's Lutte Internationale where he became a household name. He teamed up with his brother Rocky Della Serra.[5] In 1984, he worked in Japan's Universal Wrestling Federation (Japan) as The UFO and sometimes teamed with Rocky.
In 1985, he worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling as Karl Steiner (no relation to the Steiner Brothers). Also worked for Portland Wrestling form 1985 to 1986.
In 1987, Lutte Internationale folded and returned to Nova Scotia until 1988 where he retired from wreslting.
Personnel Life
[edit]Della Serra is the brother of Rocky Della Serra.[6]
Championships and accomplishments
[edit]- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA All-Star Wrestling
- NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) - with Igor Volkoff (1)[7]
- Pacific Northwest Wrestling
- World Wrestling Council
- WWC North American Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Don Kent (2)[4]
References
[edit]General
- Nevada, Vance (2022). (Un)Controlled Chaos: Canada's Remarkable Professional Wrestling Legacy. FriesenPress. ISBN 9781039154797.
Specific
- ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Bob Della Serra « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database".
- ^ Saalbach, Axel. "Bob Dellaserra". WrestlingData.com. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
- ^ a b Greg Oliver and Steve Johnson (2005). "The Love Brothers". The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams. ECW Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-5502-2683-6.
- ^ a b c d Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ Pat Laprade; Bertrand Hébert (2013). Mad Dogs, Midgets and Screw Jobs: The Untold Story of How Montreal Shaped the World of Wrestling. ECW Press. pp. 34, 42. ISBN 978-1-77090-296-1.
- ^ Oliver, Greg (19 August 2003). "What If? asks Rocky Della Serra". SLAM! Wrestling. Canoe.com. Retrieved 2003-08-19.
- ^ "NWA Canadian Tag Team Title". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
- ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. pp. 317–320. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.