SLAM! Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame: Killer Karl Krupp
REAL NAME: George Momberg
BORN: May 13, 1934 in Holland
DIED: August 24, 1995 in Moncton, N.B.
AKA/NICKNAMES: Dutch Momberg
Dutch Momberg found his gimmick as Killer Karl Krupp, a stereotypical German.
He was always grinning, coming to the ring with a riding crop and wearing an eye piece and a bald head or brush cut. Like most German gimmick wrestlers, he used an iron claw to the face as a finisher.
Krupp wrestled a lot out on the East Coast of Canada (where he made his home). In southern Ontario he had a big feud with
Angelo Mosca.
He was also a success in Japan, most often in tag teams with other heels like Fritz von Erich.
In Scott Teal's Whatever Happened To... #41 newsletter, Ed 'Moondog' Moretti explained that Krupp had difficulty separating his wrestling character from real life.
"Killer Karl Krupp... what a nice guy. I love him to death, but I think he actually believed he was Killer Karl Krupp. He had a partner in the Maritimes named Hans Hermann, who wrestled in Calgary as Butch Moffitt, the Jackal. We were at home and Krupp was telling him ... this is in a German accent now ... 'You cannot go outside. You cannot be seen at the beach with your family. You are a German wrestler and need to live this gimmick twenty-four hours a day if you want to get over."
Memories
Crazy guy, but terrific. ... Big heart, he had a big heart. ... The only thing I remember about Karl Krupp, we're in Japan and the bus driver stopped to get something from a restaurant, and we're all in the bus. Karl Krupp got behind the wheel and tried to hide the bus. You know in Japan, the streets were no wider than the bus. He got the bus stuck up a street and you couldn't get the doors open on the bus! That's chaos, boy!
Geto Mongol (Newt Tattrie)
What I remember best about Killer Karl Krupp is from his days
wrestling here in Halifax with Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling, and how he
would start every interview with Bill McCullach with that great
accent he had, "Miisster Mc Cluck Cluck". Eventhough that was probably
15 years ago, whenever I ask someone if they remember Killer Karl Krupp,
the first words out of their mouths are "Miisster Mc Cluck Cluck".
Brian Habib, Halifax, NS
First time I saw him at the Windsor Exhibition Arena, we snuck backstage
to see the wrestlers. We opened his door and he flashed the german claw
at us. Made us cry and I loved him ever since.
mike cross, bedford, ns
He was my all time favorite. In Lubbock, Texas in the early 70's he would
seem to always jump the opposing wrestler before the bell. He would finish
them off in less than a couple of minutes if it was a rookie wrestler and, I
must admit, in a very impressive fashion.
I used to love to watch him throw his opposition against the ropes and give
them them one of his big black boots to the face as they bounced off. He was
an imposing figure. I also remember him jumping his hated rivals in front of
the camera while they were giving interviews. It was great. I would pay more
than good money today to see it again. It was great entertainment.
A lot of the WWII veterans in the early 70's had a real hatred for the man.
If anyone knows where to find videos on his matches I would dearly like to
know where to get them.
Falcontex@aol.com
I vivid remember going to Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling shows in Amherst,
NS with my grandmother. She was a huge wrestling fan as was the entire
family. We knew many of the wrestlers and would often get into the action.
I remember one Saturday night that Krupp was fighting Joe LeDuc in a No DQ
match. LeDuc looked out at us and pointed in at my Grandmother who told us
all to move out of the way. We did and in an instant Joe smashed Krupp's
head off of the chair I was sitting on. He started to juice and I will
never forget my grand mother's response at the top of her lungs with a wink
and a smile to me. She yelled, " Oh my God, the blood is all over me!" This
received a huge pop from the ringside fans. Now that my grandmother has
passed on the most special memories all of the grandchildren have is of her
sitting ringside on Saturday's with all of us in toe to see the stars of
Grand Prix like, Krupp, LeDuc,
Leo Burke, Bob Brown, etc.
F. Norman Robitza
Myself and my friend consider ourselves Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling historians. Watching the legendary Killer Karl Krupp be it in Windsor
Nova Scotia or Sussex New Brunswick the greatest all-time bitter rivalry had to be between Killer Karl Krupp and The Great Mulumba. In classic
Krupp interview fashion he would exclaim, "Mr Mc Cluck Cluck I will get that Mulumba Bumba with my claw my German Claw. That dancin
disco duck." As European Champion Krupp never surrendered his title and he was a key component in making AGP the greatest Wrestling
Federation of all time.
Doug Gator Wilson and James Charters
Killer Karl Krupp was the all-time wrestler who mostly impressed me.
He had that stereotype sadistic German smile, and he was scary, talk about
an impact character. I remember around 1979, with my mother's permission
staying up late Saturday night to watch AGPW with a match against
Stephen Petitpas. Stephen Petitpas was bloodied up but won by
disqualification. The Killer Karl Krupp character was a classic if he would
of wrestled today, he would be more popular than Stone Cold or
The Rock, I guess I sadly miss him
almorais@hotmail.com
I remember going to see AGP wrestling in Truro with my dad and as a
little kid I was terrified of Killer Karl Krupp. One particular night he
was wrestling Big John Quinn in a no DQ match that spilled out into the
stands. They battled their way right up to where we were sitting and
pounded the blood out of each other. My dad still recalls that it was
the most realisitic wrestling fight he ever saw and a far cry from the
"drag your opponent around the arena matches" of today's stars like
Steve Austin.
darlene.s@ns.sympatico.ca
I remember some of Hercules classic battles with Killer Karl Krupp in
the Halifax Forum. Krupp would drop the claw on Herc and then Herc would
reverse it and put Krupp into a bearhug at which point someone would
enter the ring and all hell would break lose. Boy do I ever miss those
battles. Hercules was in my opinion a very good wrestler. At 260 pounds
he was very quick and agile and could tangle with the best villains
Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling had to offer. I had talked to Emile Dupre
this past summer with the hopes that Hercules might make a legends
return but he told me he couldn't pull it off. Maybe next year.
Terry Wright
Krupp (George) was a real sweetheart of a guy. He could do anything in the ring and was always right there for the hot come-back or whatever. I don't believe I ever saw him step on a spot, or blow a finish. But I do believe the one act he did to bring his career to an early end was done in Tulsa, Ok.
Krupp and Tommy Gilbert where having a feud in LeRoy McGuirk's territory. This was after the McGuirk / Watts split and the territory had been burned to some degree. The feud was just beginning to heat up when Krupp and Gilbert wrestled a semi-main at the Tulsa Fair Grounds. Tommy was doing the U.S.A. flag gimmick and of course, Krupp was doing the German thing. Tommy hit the ring carrying a flag and Krupp attacked him, knocking the flag from Tommy's hands (a shoot). While Tommy is selling the attack of the Iron Boots of Krupp, Krupp is stomping on the American Flag in front of some 2,500 wrestling fans. The fans got deathly quiet and still. You could hear a pin drop! I know, I was the ref on this match. The dressing rooms emptied and in the aftermath that followed, the match was thrown out and nobody ever heard about Krupp again, at least around the NWA.
G. Black
