Anthony White better known by his ring name Tony Atlas is an American
bodybuilder, powerlifter, and professional wrestler who has held
multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his
bodybuilding title, "Mr. USA", the nom de guerre the "Black Superman", as well
as an alter ego named Saba Simba. He returned as an on screen manager for
WWE, appearing on its now-defunct ECW brand. He re-signed with WWE in a
Legends deal in mid-2012. Professional wrestling career
= 1970s–1990s= Atlas started wrestling in 1974 for the
National Wrestling Alliance World Wide/Mid Atlantic area. His debut, on
July 10, was a tag team match with Bob Bruggers against Art Neilson and The
Blue Scorpion. The match finished with Atlas winning the fall for his team with
a sleeper hold on the Blue Scorpion. Throughout his career he worked for
World Championship Wrestling, the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions, the World
Wrestling Council, World Class Championship Wrestling, the American
Wrestling Association, and the World Wrestling Federation. Among his regular
partners were Tommy Rich, Dick Murdoch, and Rocky Johnson. He was also the very
first man to press slam and pin Hulk Hogan though Hogan's foot was on the
rope and the referee didn't see it. During his time with the NWA, Atlas
captured the NWA Georgia Tag Team Title with Tommy Rich. He later teamed with
Mr. Wrestling II, Thunderbolt Patterson, Kevin Sullivan, and Rocky Johnson. In
the WWF, Tony teamed with Rocky Johnson to defeat The Wild Samoans to win the
WWF World tag team title, becoming the first Afro-American team to hold the
belts. After losing the titles to Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch, Johnson soon
departed. WWF management was prepared to offer Atlas a run as the company's
Intercontinental champion, but a burgeoning drug problem led to Atlas
missing dates and becoming unreliable both inside and outside the ring. Atlas
was thus shunted to the mid card in the WWF in short lived tag teams with Ivan
Putski, Lanny Poffo and George Wells. He was also used as a jobber to the stars,
putting over newly arriving talent like King Kong Bundy and Harley Race, as well
as a series of matches with other muscle bound strongmen such as Hercules and
"The Worlds Strongest Man" Ted Arcidi. In 1987, Tony left for the Texas based
World Class Championship Wrestling where he adopted the moniker of "The Black
Superman". He had almost instant success when he teamed with Skip Young to win
the World Class Texas Tag Team Title. Atlas left the company in 1988.
On July 16, 1988, Atlas was appearing at a WWC event in Bayamón, Puerto Rico,
where he was witness to the fatal assault on wrestler Bruiser Brody. José
Huertas González a.k.a. the Invader, a fellow wrestler and booker, asked Brody
to go into the shower to discuss business. Brody entered the shower stall
and a few minutes later a scuffle ensued, followed by two groans, loud
enough for the entire locker room to hear. Atlas ran to the shower and saw
Brody bent over and holding his stomach. Atlas then looked up at González and saw
him holding the knife. When the paramedics arrived, Atlas carried Brody
downstairs to the waiting ambulance, as, due to Brody's enormous stature,
paramedics were unable to lift him. González, who always maintained his
innocence, was initially charged with first-degree murder but was later
reduced and tried for involuntary homicide.
Atlas then moved on to the Northeast independent area in late 1988. He joined
International Championship Wrestling where he turned heel and under the
management of The Duke won the ICW Heavyweight title from Joe Savoldi.
Atlas lost the belt to Vic Steamboat in Middletown, NY. But after a few months,
he regained the belt from Steamboat. That match became infamous because of
the number of times it was shown on the IWCCW syndicated show.
In late 1990 following a battle with drug addiction, a rejuvenated Atlas
returned to the WWF, reinvented as Saba Simba and was a competitor in the 1991
Royal Rumble. On December 13, 2010, Tony appeared on Right After Wrestling and
credited the Saba Simba character with saving his life as he was homeless and
living on a park bench before getting a phone call from Vince McMahon. He played
a warrior of a Ugandan tribe, but the gimmick was unpopular at best, and
racist at worst. He left and returned to IWCCW shortly thereafter and then in
1992 he left IWCCW and went to WCW, and in 1994 for the American Wrestling
Federation. He briefly showed back up in the WWF around Wrestlemania 13 being
spotted in the crowd and cheering for Rocky Maivia.
Atlas was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006.
= Return to WWE= Atlas appeared on the July 8, 2008,
airing of ECW where Theodore Long appointed him the special guest ring
announcer for the main event featuring Tommy Dreamer with then-babyface, Colin
Delaney in his corner against then-heel, Mark Henry. Atlas attacked Delaney,
which in turn distracted Dreamer, allowing Henry to gain the victory.
Atlas then announced Henry the winner of the bout, although the official result
was a double countout. This is also the first time since his brief stint in WCW
in 1992 that Atlas has worked as a heel. Atlas also accompanied Henry to the ring
at The Great American Bash. Atlas helped Mark Henry retain his title at
SummerSlam, attacking Matt Hardy once a win by Hardy appeared to be imminent.
Henry was also able to retain his ECW Championship on the August 19, 2008
episode of ECW due to an outside interference from Atlas. At Unforgiven,
Atlas was there to support Henry in retaining his Championship in the ECW
Championship Scramble, although Henry lost the title to Hardy after Hardy got
the last fall. On December 9 edition of ECW, Atlas wrestled in a WWE ring for
the first time in 17 years in a tag team match, where they defeated Finlay and
Hornswoggle. Tony also wrestled Evan Bourne on the June 9, 2009 episode of
ECW in a losing effort. Henry was then traded to the Raw brand on June 29,
resulting in Atlas no longer managing him.
On September 1, 2009, Atlas re-appeared as the announcer for "The Abraham
Washington Show" segment. He would portray Abraham's sidekick and laugh at
his jokes with a forced, uproarious laugh and would also be the butt of some
of Washington's jokes and abuse. Most of the guests would side with Tony and
stick up for him. One time after Atlas tried to bring up with past with
Barretta and Croft, the two verbally attacked Atlas, with Washington stepping
in saying "You don't abuse Tony Atlas! That's MY job!" After ECW ended, he and
Washington became free agents. Atlas was released from his WWE contract
on April 30, 2010. However, he made a brief appearance on the Old School Raw
episode on November 15, 2010. On December 12, 2011, he made a brief
appearance to co-present the Slammy Award for "Trending Superstar of the
Year." On April 10, 2012, Atlas made an appearance on WWE Smackdown: Blast from
the Past. In 2014, Atlas was regular cast member
on the WWE Network original reality show, Legends' House.
Books "ATLAS: Too Much, Too Soon" Crowbar
Press Personal life
White is currently married to a woman named Monika. He has one child, Nikki,
who resides in Alabama with former wife, Joyce
In wrestling Finishing moves
Bearhug Military press slam
Signature moves Headbutt
Africa Drop Shoulder block
Managers The Duke
Cactus Jack Tony Rumble
Dawn Marie Psaltis Wrestlers managed
Mark Henry Takeshi Morishima
Abraham Washington Championships and accomplishments
Americas Wrestling Federation AWF North American Heavyweight
Championship Century Wrestling Alliance
CWA Heavyweight Championship Eastern Wrestling Alliance
EWA Heavyweight Championship Georgia Championship Wrestling
NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship – with
Tommy Rich, Mr. Wrestling II, Thunderbolt Patterson, and Kevin
Sullivan International World Class Championship
Wrestling IWCCW Heavyweight Championship
International Wrestling WCWA Brass Knuckles Championship
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Championship NWA Tri-State1NWA West Virginia/Ohio
Heavyweight Championship New England Pro Wrestling
NEPW Heavyweight Championship New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame
Class of 2009 Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year PWI ranked him #64 of the 500 best
singles wrestlers of the year on the PWI 500 list in 1996
PWI ranked him #171 of the top 500 wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
Southwest Championship Wrestling SCW Southwest Brass Knuckles
Championship Universal Superstars of America
USA Tag Team Championship - with S.D. Jones
World Class Wrestling Association WCWA Television Championship
WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship – with Skip Young
World Wide Wrestling Alliance WWWA Intercontinental Championship
World Wrestling Council WWC North American Tag Team Championship
– with Miguel Pérez, Jr. World Wrestling Federation / World
Wrestling Entertainment WWE Hall Of Fame
WWF Tag Team Championship – with Rocky Johnson
World Bodybuilding Guild WBBG Hall Of Fame
1This promotion is not to be confused with the NWA Tri–State promotion founded
by Leroy McGuirk in the 1950s. This promotion would eventually be taken over
by Bill Watts in 1979 and renamed Mid-South Wrestling Association. The
promotion would eventually be renamed Universal Wrestling Federation.
References Notes
Mick Foley. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks. HarperCollins. p.
511. ISBN 0-06-103101-1. External links
WWE Hall of Fame profile Tony Atlas Facebook page