Sam Sheppard never dressed up like a giant chicken
while in the wrestling business. He never claimed to be from the future,
nor did he have a horrible entrance theme. He really didn't have anything
that would be considered an odd gimmick...except for his actual life
story.
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In 1954, Cleveland osteopath Doctor Sam Sheppard's wife, Marilyn, was killed while asleep. After some time, with a massive amount of media coverage, the blame eventually fell on Sheppard himself, though he maintained that he had confronted and fought the attacker. Convicted of the crime, Sam spent 10 years of his life sentence behind bars, until freed in '64 when it was ruled the media had tainted the original trial. A second trial found him acquitted of any wrong-doing. Now comes the really interesting parts. A year before his release, a new television program had begun, one that would gain immense popularity. And it rang chillingly familiar to those who knew about the case. It was called The Fugitive. The parallels were unmistakable (well, outside of the fact that Sheppard never escaped the law and went on his own manhunt for the real killer). |
Anyway, shortly after his acquittal, Sheppard went back into the medicinal practice, only to lose his business due to a malpractice suit. With no other real options, the doctor did what any semi-celebrity would do: He became a professional wrestler.
Dr. Sam Sheppard only wrestled for less than two years, but wrestle he did. Billed in most places as "Dr. Sam Sheppard" (though some promoters had the questionable taste to bill him as "Killer Sheppard") his gimmick was that he had a precise knowledge of various body parts and nerves. In fact, his contribution to the ring wouldn't become totally evident until thirty years later. In need of a new finisher, Mick Foley hit up Jim Cornette for ideas. Cornette, a fountain of knowledge on the subject, suggested that Foley try the "nerve hold" that Sheppard had developed...The Mandible Claw.
Sheppard died in
1970, of apparent liver failure