Don Kent (wrestler)
Don Kent (wrestler)
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Don Kent (wrestler)

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Don Kent (wrestler)

Leo Joseph "Joe" Smith Jr. (June 24, 1933 – June 7, 1993) was an American professional wrestler who wrestled as Don Kent and also as The Black Dragon, Doug Kent, Joe Smith and Super Medico III during his 36 years in professional wrestling.

Don Kent is one half of The Fabulous Kangaroos alongside partners Al Costello, Bruno Bekkar or Johnny Heffernan. Despite being born in America, Kent was billed as Australian when he competed as a Kangaroo using the Kangaroos' "Ultra Australian" gimmick, complete with boomerangs, bush hats and "Waltzing Matilda" as their entrance music.

When Kent was not one half of the Kangaroos, he mainly worked as "Bulldog" Don Kent in NWA Mid-America and Big Time Wrestling in the singles and the tag team divisions until his retirement in 1986.

Kent attended St. Philip Catholic Central High School in Battle Creek, Michigan. He was recruited by the Boston Red Sox as a catcher right out of high school. Kent's father thought that Kent was too young to play professional baseball and insisted that he go to St. Benedict's College in Kansas. After graduating, Kent worked at a Veterans Administration Medical Center in his hometown of Battle Creek while being trained by Leapin’ Larry Chene for a professional wrestling career.

Kent made his professional wrestling debut in 1956 working under such names as "Don Kent", "Joe Smith" and "The Black Dragon", generally working as a heel (bad guy) in the Michigan area. In the first half of the 1960s Don Kent went to Arizona and worked in the local wrestling promotion, where he was booked as a sadistic heel. In Arizona, Kent worked a storyline that drew full houses at the Phoenix Madison Square Garden against local face (good guy) Tito Montez. The two faced off week after week in a variety of specialty matches such as a chain match, "Arizona death match" and falls count anywhere match. The angle ended with a steel cage match that saw Montez win after overcoming Kent's cheating ways. One week after the storyline ended, attendance dropped by half and Don Kent soon left the area.

In 1967, Al Costello reformed the tag team The Fabulous Kangaroos with Ray St. Clair who retired after six months with knee problems. A few months after St. Clair retired, Costello found Don Kent to don the bush hat. Kent, who was from Michigan, adopted the Ultra-Australian gimmick (but retained his American accent) and a second version of the Fabulous Kangaroos was formed. Costello and Kent teamed together on a regular basis from 1968 until 1974, approximately the same amount of time that Costello spent teaming with his original partner Roy Heffernan. The Kangaroos won their first tag team championship a few months after teaming up, during a tour of Japan for International Wrestling Enterprise. Over the years, they defended their title in promotions around the globe. In Canada, they were the first Eastern Sports Association International Tag Team Champions; in the World Wrestling Association, they held the WWA World Tag Team Championship twice. In addition to winning titles all over North America, they also made appearances for the World Wide Wrestling Federation (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment.

The Kangaroos frequented NWA Detroit, where they held the Detroit version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship for most of 1971. By the end of 1972, the Kangaroos began working for Nick GulasNWA Mid-America. In Mid-America, they held the local version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, the Mid-America version, on three occasions.

After a match in the Cincinnati Gardens in 1974, Costello's hip was damaged when an enraged fan threw a fire extinguisher from the balcony. Costello had hip replacement surgery later that year. The fan was arrested, served 15 days in jail, and was fined fifty dollars for damaging the fire extinguisher. With Costello unable to compete, the Fabulous Kangaroos split up. After the Kangaroos went their separate ways Don Kent returned to NWA Mid-America as a singles wrestler.

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