Gypsy Joe Passed Away at 82

[Big Red Machine]

Source: www.F4WOnline.com

By Dave Meltzer | @davemeltzerWON | Jun 16, 2016 10:41 am

Gilberto Melendez, who for years was known as the oldest active pro wrestler, passed away last night at the age of 82.

Melendez wrestled regularly until about five years ago and was one of the few people who wrestled in seven different decades.

While there was a Gypsy Joe who preceded him and who his records are sometimes confused with, he was a legitimate name from throughout the 60s, the 70s, the 80s and into the early 90s when he worked under a mask as El Grande Pistolero.

He was best known as a mid-card regular in the 70s and early 80s with All Japan Pro Wrestling, with his gimmick being his toughness, and his ability to absorb wicked hard chair shots, often to the back but sometimes to the head. He was also a training fanatic who maintained an impressive physique into his late 50s and to a degree into his early 70s.

He wrestled regularly in Japan from 1977 to 1993, starting in the IWE promotion where he had bloody matches with Rusher Kimura, including being the first person to come off the top rope in a cage match. After the IWE went down, he began as a regular with All Japan, working mostly mid-card matches. At the end he was working for the W*ING promotion, although he wrestled as late as 2002 in Japan. He was known for Hardcore brawling and bloody style matches.

He was best known as a journeyman wrestler in Tennessee, with his best success being from 1977 to 1980, working for Nick Gulas, where he held a multitude of tag team championships with Frankie Martinez under a mask as The Blue Infernos.

He started wrestling in 1951 in Puerto Rico, and came to the U.S. in 1963, working for the WWWF.

Joe had serious health issues with gout in recent years, including having his right foot amputated in 2013.

He wrestled under a number of other names, including Gene Madrid, but he was not Jan Madrid, nor was he the Gypsy Joe who was a junior heavyweight star in the Midwest in the 50s.