“The Duke of Dorchester,” Pete Doherty has died.
The popular talent, who spent his entire career wrestling for the McMahon family, has died at the age of 81, according to the Cauliflower Alley Club.
“A true character in professional wrestling who brought charisma along with a larger-than-life personality to every arena he stepped into,” the club said. “We send our sincerest condolences to his family and friends.”
A native of Dorchester, Massachusetts, he was most known for his “Duke” moniker, but also wrestled under a mask as The Golden Terror with manager Captain Lou Albano.
The Duke’s career began around 1973 and lasted nearly two decades, and he stayed in the northeast wrestling for Vince McMahon Sr. and, later, his son, according to PostWrestling.com.
May 15, 1983, he challenged Bob Backlund for the WWWF title at a high school in Torrington, Connecticut, and it is the only world championship he is listed as wrestling for, according to John Pollock, owner of PostWrestling.
Doherty has the distinction of wrestling in the final match of the night on the debut edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event in May 1985.
Despite Hulk Hogan vs. Bob Orton Jr. serving as the real main event, Doherty and Junkyard Dog went on last on a show that generated an 8.8 rating as the WWF became a fixture on NBC for the next six years.
Forty years ago Boston radio icon Eddie Andelman (who just died a few days ago) was promoted for a match with Bruno Sammartino on the inaugural King of the Ring event in Foxboro, Massachusetts.
Andelman, who is credited with conceiving the King of the Ring concept, was replaced by “The Designated Hitman” against Sammartino and played by Doherty.
One of his notable upset wins occurred on July 14, 1990, when he got his shoulder up at the last second to score the cover on Haku at the Boston Garden.
In 1991, he participated in the non-televised King of the Ring tournament, losing to eventual winner Bret Hart in thirty-three seconds.
He was booked by the WWF as late as the summer of 1992 and was brought back as a guest for the WWF’s final show at the Boston Garden on May 13, 1995.
Doherty was inducted into the New England Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2010.
He attended Hyde Park High School, served in the Army, and later earned an associate degree in business from Newbury College.
A play based on Doherty’s life appeared at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2013.
