Baron Mikel Scicluna, Who?

Not many people are familiar with this name, Baron Mikel Scicluna. He hailed from the Isle of Malta, just south of Sicily. His frame was larger than life itself. Those facts aren't particularly expected to be known, but his accomplishements, which are plentiful, shouldn't be overlooked. He started out his three-decade career in Canada under his legal name Mike Valentino. Before long, he wound up in the Northeast under the reign of promoting giant Vince McMahon Sr. The light blue cape he draped over his shoulder to signify Maltese ancestry. He was a villain, therefore, he carried an illegal object to the ring. His perfered choice for a weapon was a roll of coins which he bashed his opponents over the head with. His first Championship claim was with Smasher Sloan when they executed a victory to gain the WWWF United States Championships. They held the titles for just a little over two months before dropping them. The them of Scicluna and Curtis Iaukea went on to a achieved a bigger goal by gaining the World Tag Team Championships. In just over a month, they lost the titles to the acclaimed team of Professor Tanaka and Mr. Fuji. In Australia, Scicluna also had instant success by winning a Australian World Title. also from time to time, he would attempt to de-throne the WWWF World Champion. Maybe his most memorable moment was in 1976 when he was pitted up against Gorilla Monsoon. He left the ring after being dominated and suffered a countout loss. Muhammad Ali then jumped in the ring and attempted to attack Monsoon who gave an airplane spin to the esteemed boxer. The confontation led to a match between Japanese wrestling pioneer Antonio Inoki and Muhammad Ali. The next eight years of his career were relatively quiet until his 1984 retirement. The most overlooked fact of this common unknown is taht in 1996 he was inducted into WWF's Hall of Fame and was proudly welcomed. Several years after fame, he can now be found residing in Philadelphia. Scicluna is only one of several overlooked legends that never get recognition. Hopefully someday he will be remembered for his successes in the business that he loved.