Danny Hodge

At Perry High School in Oklahoma, Hodge won the 165-pound title at the state tournament in 1951. As a collegiate wrestler for the University of Oklahoma, Hodge was undefeated at 46–0, with 36 pins and reportedly was never taken off his feet during his collegiate career. He was a three-time Big Seven conference champ at 177 pounds (1955–1957), and won the 177-pound title at the NCAA championships those same three years, pinning all three of his finals opponents. (Hodge is only one of two three-time NCAA Division I champs to have done that, the other being Oklahoma A&M's Earl McCready in 1928–1930.) He is the only amateur wrestler to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated as an amateur wrestler.[3] He worked as a professional wrestler for eighteen years, and was a five-time USA Tag Team Champion, with Skandor Akbar, among others.

His reputation as a high school wrestler preceded him when he joined the US Navy in 1951. At Ames, Iowa, in April 1952, Hodge survived the US Olympic Trials, and was coached by Naval Academy Instructor Ray Swartz in the 174-pound division.[4] At the Helsinki Olympics, Hodge was defeated by USSR's David Cimakuridze. Going into May 1956 wrestling trials for US Olympic team, Hodge was middleweight favorite. He was eliminated on May 2 by William Smith. Smith was embroiled in controversy with the Central AAU and Hodge was his substitute.[4] After two Olympics appearances, Hodge placed 5th in 1952,[5] and won the silver medal in 1956, in Melbourne, Australia after being defeated at the final by Bulgarian Nikola Stanchev.[6]

The Dan Hodge Trophy, named after him, is the amateur wrestling equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.[7]

Danny Hodge
Hodge in the early 1970s
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Danny Hodge
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[8]
Billed weight	227 lb (103 kg)[8]
Trained by	Ed "Strangler" Lewis[8] Leroy McGuirk
Debut	October 7, 1959[8]
Retired	March 1976[8]

Trained by Leroy McGuirk and Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Hodge made his debut as a professional wrestler in October 1959.[4] Hodge's first major feud was with National Wrestling Alliance Junior Heavyweight Champion Angelo Savoldi. Hodge's rivalry with Savoldi led to a bizarre event. Hodge's father entered the ring during a boxing match on May 27, 1960, between Hodge and Savoldi, and stabbed Savoldi with a penknife.[4] Savoldi required 70 stitches at a local hospital, while Hodge's father was arrested.[9] On July 22, 1960, Hodge defeated Savoldi for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship at the Stockyards Coliseum in Oklahoma City. Hodge became McGuirk's principal headliner, and by 1962, Hodge was making upwards of $80,000 a year.[9]

Hodge was a perennial NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, holding the title eight times for a total of over ten years, longer than anyone else. In 2007, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. He made appearances in WWE on Raw in 2005 and 2012 in which he honored fellow Oklahoman Jim Ross.[10]

WWE Hall of Famer and seven-time world champion Bret Hart has referred to Hodge as "one of the greatest wrestlers in pro wrestling or amateur wrestling there’s ever been",[11] and described being in the same room as Hodge at the 2008 National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum's award ceremony as "a big, big honor for me".[11]

Danny won the 1958 Chicago Golden Gloves at Heavyweight, then won a Chicago-NY Intercity bout in October, beating Charley Hood. He finished his amateur career with 17 wins, no losses and 12 KO's. Convinced by boxing manager Art Freeman that he was a better prospect than Rocky Marciano, Hodge decided to become a professional boxer rather than pursue the opportunity to compete as a boxer and a wrestler at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy.[4] In his professional boxing debut, he scored a first-round knockout victory over Norm Jackson.[4] As a professional, he had a reported record of 8–2, although only 7 wins have been documented. He retired on July 9, 1959.[4]

On March 29, 2005, Hodge was honored by Oklahoma state lawmakers as an "Oklahoma Sports Hero".[12] He served as chairman of the Oklahoma Professional Boxing Commission, which regulates professional boxing, wrestling, and mixed martial arts in Oklahoma.[13]

Hodge died, aged 88, on December 24, 2020.[14]

• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Art Abrams Lifetime Achievement Award (2004)[15]
  • Lou Thesz Award (2007)[16]
  • Other honoree (1998)[17]
• George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2000[18]
• International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2021[19]
• Japan Wrestling Association
  • NWA International Tag Team Championship – with Wilbur Snyder[20]
• NWA Mid-America
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Mid-America Version) (1 time) – with Lester Welch[21]
• Trans-World Wrestling Association
  • TWWA Championship (1 time)[22]
• NWA Tri-State
  • NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Tri-State version) (3 times)[23]
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Tri-State version) (5 times) – with Skandor Akbar (2), Lorenzo Parente (1), Luke Brown (1), and Jay Clayton (1)
  • NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (7 times)[24]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Stanley Weston Award (1996)
• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
  • Class of 2007[25]
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)[26]

¹The records are unclear as to where two of Hodge's eight NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship reigns began. The records are also unclear as to which NWA affiliated promotion or promotions Hodge wrestled for when he won the championship on those two occasions.

• Boxing record for Danny Hodge from BoxRec
• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Hodge, Danny
• Danny Hodge's profile at Cagematch.net