Petition Started To Build Statue For ‘Iron’ Mike Sharpe

The Hamilton Spectator reports that musician B.A. Johnston has started a petition to build a statue in honor of the late “Iron” Mike Sharpe in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario.

Johnston said: “I almost saw him as a symbol of the city itself — kind of like an avatar, or a walking Hamilton. It symbolized the dirty grittiness. His obliviousness to the fact that he was going to get pummeled was kind of Hamilton.”

You can find the petition here.

Sharpe passed away at the age of 63 last January. He was a second generation wrestler who had a lengthy run with the World Wrestling Federation in the 1980s. He was billed “Canada’s Greatest Athlete” and worked mostly as enhancement talent, losing undercard matches on TV and at live events while working as a heel. He wore a leather band around his forearm that he used to beat up opponents and sometimes load with a foreign object to steal wins. He went to the WWF in 1983 to challenge Bob Backlund for the title. He was managed by Lou Albano at the time and beat guys like Larry Sharpe, SD Jones, Johnny Rodz and Tony Garea to build him up for that match. His nickname came from Gene Kiniski, who was also labeled with it.