| Peter Fatouros | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Speros Peter Fatouros |
| Born | c. 1891 |
| Died | 1953 Melbourne, Australia |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Trained by | Clarence Weber |
| Debut | 1914 |
| Retired | 1931 |
Peter Fatouros (1891 - 1953) was a Greek-Australian wrestler who was active in the 1920s and 1930s and was a contender for the Australian Heavyweight Championship. He was also known for running a fish and chips shop in Melbourne.
Fatouros was born in Greece in approximately 1891 and moved to Australia in 1912. [1] He began wrestling after arriving in Australia, training under Clarence Weber and Oscar Wasem. He had matches in Melbourne in 1914 and 1915, however the First World War led to a significant decline in the professional wrestling industry in Australia. [2] [3]
In the early 1920s, Australian professional wrestling experienced a revival, and Fatouros began training with visiting American Walter Miller and Con Keatos in 1924. In April that year he achieved a small level of fame when he secured a match against Australian heavyweight champion Billy Meeske, [4] [5] however the match was cancelled when Meeske injured his hand. [6] He did not have a match until September when he wrestled in a loss to Charles Honroth, [7] and afterwards he began training with Meeske. [8]
In April 1925, Fatouros assisted American wrestler Ted Thye when Thye toured Australia, [9] serving as a cornerman during his matches. [10] In July he was promoted as a sparring partner of Al Karasick, [11] and billed as the heavyweight champion of Victoria when he visited Queensland to wrestle Jim Sank in a victory. [12] [13] He next wrestled in Broken Hill, New South Wales, in January 1926 in a loss to Mahomet Ali Sunni, [14] then defeated Hughie Whitman in February. [15] While in Broken Hill he also worked with Billy Kopsch to perform wrestling exhibitions to promote the industry, [16] and wrestled in another loss to Sunni at the end of February. [17] He next wrestled in May in a draw with Sam Burmister in Melbourne. [18]
As of November 1926, Fatouros had become the owner of a Cafe on Punt Road in Melbourne and that month he and two of his employees were involved in a brawl with four customers, [19] when Fatouros informed them they could not drink alcohol at the Cafe and they then refused to pay for their food. [20] He was not involved in wrestling publicly again until June 1927 when he gave a wrestling exhibition with Louis Pergantas, [21] to promote the fellow Greek wrestler who he was training. [22] In September he became manager of the Whiteway Fish Cafe on Sydney Road in Melbourne, [23] and he wrestled Burmister again this time in South Australia in a draw at the end of October. [24] In December he lost to heavyweight champion Billy Meeske in a match in Yarrawonga, Victoria. [25]
In January 1928 Fatouros wrestled in a loss to former heavyweight champion Clarence Weber in Tasmania, [26] and in April and May he wrestled losses to American Jack Sorensen in Newcastle. [27] [28] In June he wrestled in Newcastle again in a match billed as being for qualification for a title match against Meeske, [29] losing to Socks McKenna. [30] He wrestled in Newcastle again in July losing to Scotty McDougall however the match was described as a disappointment due to Fatouros dominating until losing in the final round, [31] and in October he wrestled in Sydney losing to Count Zarynoff. [32]
In February 1929 Fatouros publicly complained publicly about not being booked to wrestle, [33] and at the end of the month he organized a fundraiser for Jack Brown, a boxer who had become blind. [34] In July he wrestled in a draw against Bert Asker in Melbourne in what was his last match for a few years. [35] He returned to the ring for his last match in 1931 when he was booked to face heavyweight champion Billy Meeske in Brunswick, [36] however as he was known in the suburb for owning a local fish and chips shop the audience laughed when he was announced with the match, won by Meeske, being viewed as a comedy bout, [37] [38] and afterwards the promoter refused to pay Fatouros. [39]
After his match with Meeske Fatouros focused on his cafe but retained some fame with a visit he made to Broken Hill in 1945 receiving coverage in a local newspaper due to his former wrestling career. [40] He died in Melbourne in 1953. [41]