| Peter Fatouros | |
| Birth Name: | Speros Peter Fatouros |
| Birth Date: | c. 1891 |
| Birth Place: | Greece |
| Death Date: | 1953 |
| Death Place: | Melbourne, Australia |
| Trainer: | Clarence Weber |
| Debut: | 1914 |
| Retired: | 1931 |
Peter Fatouros (1891 - 1953) was a Greek-Australian wrestler who was active in the 1920s and 1930s and was a contender for the Australian Heavyweight Championship. He was also known for running a fish and chips shop in Melbourne.
Fatouros was born in Greece in approximately 1891 and moved to Australia in 1912.[1] He began wrestling after arriving in Australia, training under Clarence Weber and Oscar Wasem, and he had matches in Melbourne in 1914 and 1915 however the First World War lead to a significant decline in the professional wrestling industry in Australia.[2] [3]
In the early 1920s Australian professional wrestling experienced a revival and Fatouros began training with visiting American Walter Miller and Con Keatos in 1924. In April that year he achieved a small level of fame when he secured a match against Australian heavyweight champion Billy Meeske,[4] [5] however the match was cancelled when Meeske injured his hand.[6] He did not have a match until September when he wrestled in a loss to Charles Honroth,[7] and afterwards he began training with Meeske.[8]
In April 1925 Fatouros assisted American wrestler Ted Thye when Thye toured Australia,[9] serving as a cornerman during his matches.[10] In July he was promoted as a sparring partner of Al Karasick,[11] and billed as the heavyweight champion of Victoria when he visited Queensland to wrestle Jim Sank in a victory.[12] [13] He next wrestled in Broken Hill, New South Wales, in January 1926 in a loss to Mahomet Ali Sunni,[14] then defeated Hughie Whitman in February.[15] While in Broken Hill he also worked with Billy Kopsch to perform wrestling exhibitions to promote the industry,[16] and wrestled in another loss to Sunni at the end of February.[17] He next wrestled in May in a draw with Sam Burmister in Melbourne.[18] As of November 1926 Fatouros had become the owner of a Cafe on Punt Road in Melbourne and that month he and two of his employees were involved in a brawl with four customers,[19] when Fatouros informed them they could not drink alcohol at the Cafe and they then refused to pay for their food.[20] He was not involved in wrestling publicly again until June 1927 when he gave a wrestling exhibition with Louis Pergantas,[21] to promote the fellow Greek wrestler who he was training.[22] In September he became manager of the Whiteway Fish Cafe on Sydney Road in Melbourne,[23] and he wrestled Burmister again this time in South Australia in a draw at the end of October.[24] In December he lost to heavyweight champion Billy Meeske in a match in Yarrawonga, Victoria.[25]
In January 1928 Fatouros wrestled in a loss to former heavyweight champion Clarence Weber in Tasmania,[26] and in April and May he wrestled losses to American Jack Sorensen in Newcastle.[27] [28] In June he wrestled in Newcastle again in a match billed as being for qualification for a title match against Meeske,[29] losing to Socks McKenna.[30] He wrestled in Newcastle again in July losing to Scotty McDougall however the match was described as a disappointment due to Fatouros dominating until losing in the final round,[31] and in October he wrestled in Sydney losing to Count Zarynoff.[32]
In February 1929 Fatouros publicly complained publicly about not being booked to wrestle,[33] and at the end of the month he organized a fundraiser for Jack Brown, a boxer who had become blind.[34] In July he wrestled in a draw against Bert Asker in Melbourne in what was his last match for a few years.[35] He returned to the ring for his last match in 1931 when he was booked to face heavyweight champion Billy Meeske in Brunswick,[36] however as he was known in the suburb for owning a local fish and chips shop the audience laughed when he was announced with the match, won by Meeske, being viewed as a comedy bout,[37] [38] and afterwards the promoter refused to pay Fatouros.[39]
After his match with Meeske Fatouros focused on his cafe but retained some fame with a visit he made to Broken Hill in 1945 receiving coverage in a local newspaper due to his former wrestling career.[40] He died in Melbourne in 1953.[41]