[Breaking News] Arnold Skaaland Passes Away

From wwe.com:

“Golden Boy” Arnold Skaaland, a WWE Hall of Famer and a member of the WWE family for over a half-century, passed away Tuesday at the age of 82, with his wife, Betty, by his side.

Arnie was involved in virtually every aspect of sports-entertainment, from grappling to managing to promoting. During the era of the World Wide Wrestling Federation, Skaaland was a stockholder of Capitol Wrestling Corporation, and a producer of live events at the Westchester County Center.

As a wrestler, Skaaland was fearless, taking on much larger men and always giving them a fight. In 1967, he and Spiros Arion won the now-defunct WWE United States Tag Team Championship. He also served as the referee for the famous 1962 match in Japan between “Classy” Freddie Blassie and Rikidozan.

Another generation of fans may remember Skaaland as a manager. He regularly accompanied Bruno Sammartino to the ring during his reigns as WWWF Champion, and later led Bob Backlund to the same title. Perhaps Skaaland’s most controversial moment occurred while managing Backlund; on Dec. 23, 1983, he threw in the towel for Backlund after the Iron Sheik trapped the titlist in the camel clutch – ending the clean-living kingpin’s long reign as WWE Champion.

Skaaland was a legend in all facets of sports-entertainment, and in 1994, he became a member of the first full class inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Skaaland was a respected member of the Legends Championship Wrestling Board of Directors. LCW Chairman of the Board Christian Calaway said backstage at LCW Showdown when informed of the passing, "This is a huge loss to professional wrestling and the LCW Board of Directors. Skaaland was a member of the prestigious Board because, as far as the on-screen storyline goes, those are the elite of their generation and they act to keep the evil Chairman, yours truly, in check; my recent suspension from LCW being a prime example. But Skaaland was an honorable man and that's exactly why he was in that position and in that role as a member of the Board. He will be greatly missed."