Another wrestling pioneer has sadly passed away. On Friday evening, former NWA legend and tag team architect, "Fantastic" Bobby Fulton, announced the passing of his former friend and mentor, "Flying" Fred Curry (real name Fred Koury Jr.), on X [formerly known as Twitter].In the post, Fulton wrote, "The legendary 'Flying' Fred Curry, one of the first 'high flyers' in wrestling has passed! He helped me with many opportunities! He'll be deeply missed & my heart is broken! My prayers for his wife, children & family! I'll have further details of his life on my Facebook!"Born on June 12, 1943, Curry was a second-generational wrestler. His father, "Wild Bull" Curry, would show him the ropes, not knowing that his son would generate highly acclaimed praise and admiration for years to come. Curry was a trailblazer in the 1960s and 1970s, as he was credited as the first real high-flyer of the sport. Many proclaimed that not only was he the greatest high-flyer of all time, but also a bar setting dropkicker, as he was known to execute 15 to 20 dropkicks in a matter of 10 seconds in one of his illustrious matches. Famous rivals of his included The Sheik. He was chosen the most popular wrestler in the world in 1972.Outside of the setting unachievable records still not seen today, Curry was a multi-time tag team, a one-time former junior heavyweight, and heavyweight champion for multiple territories, including NWA Detroit (Big Time Wrestling), NWA Big Time Wrestling (would later become World Class Wrestling Association), 50th State Big Time Wrestling, and National Wrestling Federation. He was inducted into the Ohio Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.From all of us here at Wrestling Inc., we would like to extend our deepest condolences to "Flying" Fred Curry's family, friends, and colleagues.
