Dick Steinborn, who was a great technical wrestler and a star from the mid-50s into the early 80s, passed away yesterday at the age of 86.
Steniborn was the son of Milo Steinborn, a major figure in the strength world in the early 1900s who became a wrestler and then promoted wrestling in Orlando. Steinborn was one of the first men to recognize and come up with the idea of the full squat at a power movement and was still doing squats with eight at the age of 90. I have no idea how.
Steinborn worked all over the world, perhaps best known in the 60s as the tag team partner of Ray Gunkel, billed as Dick Gunkel, against The Assassins. He also worked with Bret Hart and Dynamite Kid when they first became headliners in Calgary, and won championships all over the world. He was also a booker.
He held the NWA tag team title with Hiro Matsuda and the AWA tag team title with the original Doug Gilbert as Mr. Low in the tag team of Mr.High & Mr. Low, because Steinborn preferred wrestling on the mat.
His philosophy was about making a match look like a legitimate athletic contest. While a great worker, Steinborn’s reputation in some territories was not the best including criminal charges at one point being filed by Smith Hart against Steinborn who claimed he had stolen box office money from a show in the 80s on an overseas tour.