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John DeFazio, former Allegheny County Council president and pro wrestler, dies | TribLIVE.com
Allegheny

John DeFazio, former Allegheny County Council president and pro wrestler, dies

Paul Guggenheimer And Michael Divittorio
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Tribune-Review
John DeFazio in 2014.
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Tribune-Review
John DeFazio (center) in 2019

Former professional wrestler Johnny DeFazio, who parlayed his athletic prowess into a seat on the Allegheny County Council, died Friday morning. He was 80 and lived in Shaler. A cause of death was not yet known.

DeFazio first made a name for himself as “Jumping Johnny DeFazio” on the popular “Studio Wrestling” program hosted by Bill Cardille on channel 11 back when its call letters were WIIC-TV. A four-time winner of the World Wide Wrestling Federation’s Junior Heavyweight Championship, DeFazio was part of a famed stable of big-name wrestlers that included Bruno Sammartino and George “The Animal” Steele.

DeFazio was elected to Allegheny County Council as an at-large member at its inception in 1999, going on to become its first president. He lost his seat in the 2019 Democratic primary to first-time candidate Bethany Hallam. DeFazio served for decades at the United Steelworkers of America, as an international staff representative and later a district director.

“It’s hard for me to believe that John has passed. He was a larger-than-life presence,” said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. “John was a mentor, a friend, a colleague and a guiding voice who taught me about what it is to be an elected official. For all of us who served on that first council, he taught us about this new government that he had helped shepherd in that so many of us now take for granted.”

Fitzgerald called DeFazio one of the funniest men he knew, “a giant personality” and said that it was a “sad day for Allegheny County.”

Other local leaders took to social media to offer their condolences.

“Today we lost a Pittsburgh legend,” state Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, said in a tweet. “Johnny was a valued public servant in our community — first as a union leader for the United Steelworkers, representing every steel worker in Pennsylvania and eventually as a County Councilman.”

DeFazio once wrestled with Charles Martoni, who also served on Allegheny County Council. Martoni was known professionally as “Cannonball” and “The Masked Marvel.”

“We wrestled as a tag team once against these two people, and we were throwing them back and forth,” DeFazio told the Tribune-Review in a 2019 interview. “He threw one of them into me, and I lifted my knee up, and I must have hit an artery. There was blood everywhere, all over the mat. There was a doctor in attendance, but he couldn’t stop the bleeding. They took him to the hospital and Chuck and I felt bad about it.”

DeFazio and Martoni were inducted into Pittsburgh’s Keystone State Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame in 2014. Martoni died in 2019.

Longtime KSWA ring announcer “Trapper” Thomas Leturgey said he last spoke with DeFazio in January.

“ ’Jumpin’ Johnny was very gracious any time I talked to him,” Leturgey said. “Sadly, I saw him at the funerals for Bruno Sammartino and Bobby ‘Hurricane’ Hunt. He was always very pleasant to talk with. He came to the KSWA Hall of Fame event. He stayed around after the ceremony to watch some of the matches. I just spoke to him last month, and he was the same ‘Jumpin’ Johnny.”

KSWA Owner Bobby Orkwis said he grew up watching DeFazio wrestle.

“It was great to know him a little,” Orkwis said. “The KSWA was very proud to induct him into our Hall of Fame to honor not only his contributions to wrestling in Pittsburgh and beyond, but to also acknowledge his contributions to the community. It was very sad to hear of his passing.”

Allegheny County Council President Pat Catena called DeFazio an invaluable leader in county government.

“He was an expert in delicately balancing the values and needs of all members, regardless of party affiliation,” said Catena. “He will always be remembered as an inaugural member of the newly created Council who helped shape the government that we know today.”

Hallam, in a statement on Twitter, said, “I am so sorry to hear about the passing of my esteemed predecessor, The Hon. John DeFazio. He dedicated so much of his time to serving Allegheny County, and he will be truly missed. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this time.”

DeFazio is survived by his wife Marsha and six children.

All county flags were ordered to be flown at half-staff in DeFazio’s memory.

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