Ventura Tenario (November 25, 1911 – November 13, 1984), better known by his ring name Chief Little Wolf (sometimes, Big Chief Little Wolf), was an American professional wrestler, who spent much of his professional career wrestling in Australia and New Zealand.Little Wolf with a big heart, The Age, (24 December 2004).
Family The second of four children of Jose Porfiria "Joe" Tenario (1884-1956), and Maria Soleila "Mary" Tenario (1890-1928), née Senas, Ventura Tenario was born at Hoehne, Colorado on 25 November 1911.In 1947, responding to claims that he, Ventura Tenario, was a Mexican, he responded: "My father is half-Spanish, half Indian; my mother is a full-blooded Indian. I was born in Colorado, so that makes me an American Indian." ('Punch', "Wolf Says He's Honest Injun", The (Adelaide News, (Friday, 1 August, 1947) p.9.York (2012) notes that his father, Porfiro, was "half Navajo-half Spanish", and that his mother, Soleila, was "a full-blooded Navajo Indian".Note that the wrestlingdata.com database () has his name as "Benny Tenario".
He married three times. His first wife was Irene Olive (1909-1998); his second wife was Dorothy Helen Pratt (1918-1972), whom he married in 1946; and his third wife was Australian-born Audrey Lillis "Dona" Corner (1923-2013) — with whom he had a daughter, Markeeta.
Markeeta Little Wolf Markeeta, born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on January 25, 1958, was a pop-star in Australia by the time that she was 16.Her LP record, "Sunbird", was released in 1975 (Kilby, David, and Kilby, Jordie, "RareCollections: Markeeta Little Wolf - Sunbird", 666 ABC Canberra, 20 June 2014). She later moved to the USA; and, having unsuccessfully tried to break into the American music industry and the Hollywood movie scene, she turned to real-estate, eventually moving to Waitsburg, Washington, where she married lawyer Michael Hubbard, became involved in local politics, joined the City Council, and served three terms as the city's Mayor.Quesner, Sara, "Former Australian Pop Star Who Found Her Home In Washington", Murrow News, Tuesday, 18 February 2020.O'Neal, Dori, "Little Wolf, Haberman Putting on 'Bitch is Back' ", Tri-City Herald, Friday, 21 October 2011.
Ernesto Tenario According to the Online World of Wrestling, Ventura's brother, Ernesto Tenario (1915-1998), wrestled under the name of "Chief Lone Wolf".Chief Little Wolf, at Online World of Wrestling.
Military service He enlisted in the United States Army in May 1943 and served until January 1945.Private Chief L.W. Tenario (39574701), U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.In His Element, The Sporting Globe, (Wednesday, 30 August 1944), page 16."Index Record for Chief Tenario (1911) Veterans Affairs Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem Death File", Fold3 by Ancestry.com website. Retrieved April 21, 2022. Enlistment Date is listed as "4 Jun 1943" and Release Date is listed as "27 Jan 1945".Chief Little Wolf Now Using Mat Tricks Against Germans, The (Washington) Evening Star, (Wednesday, 27 December 1944), page A13.Hayward, Steve, "Little Wolf Back for 1st Wrestle", The Herald, (Monday, 14 April 1947), page 15. He served in the European Theater of Operations in World War II.
Wrestling In his professional career, which lasted from 1932 to 1958, he fought in 1,141 matches for 501 wins, 178 draws, and 357 defeats; his opponents included: Lord James Blears, Warren Bockwinkel, Paul Boesch, Orville Brown, Jack Claybourne, Man Mountain Dean, Dean Detton, Yukon Eric, Ken Fenelon, Gorgeous George, Otto Kuss, Dave Levin, Ed Lewis, Jim Londos, Wild Bill Longson, Bobby Managoff, Mike Mazurki, Bronko Nagurski, Danno O'Mahoney, Harold Sakata, "Jumping Joe" Savoldi, Frank Sexton, Kinji Shibuya, Gus Sonnenberg, Sándor Szabó, Lou Thesz, and George Zaharias.Total Statistics for Chief Little Wolf, at wrestlingdata.com.
In 1946, having resumed his wrestling career post-war, and before returning to Australia, he sustained a double fracture of a leg in a match in Chicago; and, for a time, it was thought that he would not wrestle again.Hardy, Ken, "Talking of Sport", The Sydney Morning Herald, (Thursday, 29 August 1946), p9.
United States In February 1935, the (then) reigning heavyweight champion, Jim Londos was suspended in California, Illinois, and New York for failing to appear for his scheduled World Heavyweight Championship (Pacific Northwest) title defense against Tenario on 27 February 1935.Pacific Coast Mat Tourney aimed to Dethrone Londos: Wrestling Champ under Ban in California for Failure to Meet Little Wolf, The Bismarck Tribune, (Thursday, 18 April 1935), p.10.
On July 8, 1935, Chief Little Wolf wrestled against Daniel "Danno" O'Mahoney, at Yankee Stadium, New York, in a heavyweight title match. This was the first title defence for O'Mahoney, who had won the New York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship from Jim Londos twelve days earlier, on June 27, 1935. O'Mahoney eventually won the match, by a pinfall, after 28 minutes and 23 seconds.Wrestling, Townsville Daily Bulletin, (Saturday, 17 August 1935), p.10.Irish Matman Downs Indian In Title Bout, The Herald, (Wednesday, 10 July 1935), p.3.
Australia and New Zealand Tenario arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, from Vancouver, Canada, on 28 June 1937.The First Red Indian Wrestler to Visit Auckland, The New Zealand Herald, (Tuesday, 29 June 1937), p.6. In his first match in New Zealand, he was defeated (on points) by Sammy Stein;Wrestling Contest, The New Zealand Herald, (Thursday, 1 July 1937), p.12. and, in his last match on his first visit to New Zealand,He was unable to compete in his last scheduled match, against Lofty Blomfield, due to an "indisposition": Wrestling, The Auckland Star, (Friday, 13 August 1937), p.9. against Earl McCready on August 9, 1937, he was disqualified in the seventh round.Wrestling: Sensational Bout: Little Wolf Disqualified, The Hokitika Guardian, (Tuesday, 10 August 1937), p.6.
At the time of his first Australian appearance, on August 28, 1937 in a match against Hal Rumberg,Hal Rumberg, at wrestlingdata.com. at West Melbourne, the press noted that "Chief Little Wolf is at present ranked third on the list of world heavy weights".Red Indian Wrestles: Australian Debut Against Rumberg: Does Not Want Referee in Ring, The Age, (Saturday, 28 August 1937), p.31.
In 1947, the wrestling journalist, "Ringmaster", noted that "his capacity for absorbing punishment seems to be unlimited, and he has the power and stamina to keep handing it out indefinitely".'Ringmaster', "Meehan Meets Little Wolf: Irish Canadian Appears Again", The Sport, (Saturday, 4 October 1947), p.20. In Australia, from 1937 to 1958, "he fought more than a hundred individual wrestlers in more than a thousand contests";York (1998), p.29. and, in addition to his stadium wrestling he had a travelling tent-show, in which he demonstrated professional wrestling holds, told Navajo stories, and performed horse-riding tricks,Big Chief Little Wolf will show 'em how at the shows, The Argus, (Friday, 30 September 1949), p.16. with which he toured most of Australia — claiming, in 1953, that seventy-five percent of the Australian people had physically seen him either as a wrestler or as a tent-show performer.Circus Tour Will Mark Little Wolf's Farewell, The Sporting Globe, (Wednesday, 13 May 1953), p.16.
In his last match in Australia, he teamed with "Great Zorro"Hans Mortier, at wrestlindata.com. in a tag-team match, at West Melbourne Stadium on November 10, 1956. They defeated the team of "Lucky" Simunovich"Lucky" Simunovich, at wrestlindata.com. and Dr. Jerry Graham, two falls to one.Balfe, Harold, "Wolf and Zorro in Tag Win", The Argus, (Monday, 12 November 1956), p.15.
Retirement He wrestled twice more in the USA:Chief Little Wolf, at wrestlingdata.com. February 26, 1957 (Syracuse, New York): teamed with Bob Leipler (a.k.a. "Duke Hoffmann"),Duke Hoffmann, at wrestlingdata.com. he lost a tag-team match against "Mr. Hito" and "Mr. Moto"Mr. Moto, at wrestlingdata.com. in 24 minutes 17 seconds. March 5, 1957 (Syracuse, New York): he was defeated by Dick Beyer in 15 mins 7 seconds.
Tenario suffered a debilitating stroke "that badly affected one side of his body and face" in 1958.York (1998), p.35. He retired from wrestling, and never worked again. He lived at Mount Royal Special Hospital for the Aged, in Parkville, Victoria, from 1961 to 1980, when he returned to the United States.Sullivan (1980).
Australian Folk-Hero In his 1998 article, "Big Chief Little Wolf: Wrestling, Radio and Folklore in Australia", Barry York — at the time a Research Fellow at the Australian National University — describes how, in the months following his (1994) appeal for information from the public on Bert Newton's Good Morning Australia, he received more than 700 letters from "former wrestlers who had wrestled him, … nurses who had nursed him … and hundreds of people who had seen him wrestle or caught his side-show, or who had just met him by chance in the street or in a restaurant, pub, shop or cinema".York (1998), p.30. Their letters represent a folkloric understanding of the Chief. They indicate the qualities that individual writers wanted to believe were his qualities. Even the most exaggerated letter is a valuable source in identifying why so many people cherish him without even necessarily really knowing him personally. If I were to sum up from the entire collection of 700 letters, I would say that Chief Little Wolf is a folk-hero because of the following perceived qualities …: he came from underprivileged origins and, despite success and celebrity status, identified with the common folk; he was an exceptionally kind-hearted human being: active and generous in helping others less fortunate than himself; he was excellent at what he did; he was regarded as possessing super-human qualities; he suffered a quick and tragic decline; and he was exotic — an acceptable outsider, a foreigner of the non-threatening kind.York (1998), p.34.
Captain Tom Bairnsfather During the sixth round of a fierce best-of-three-falls match against Terry McGinnis,Terry McGinnis at wrestlingdata.com. at Leichhardt Stadium, on Saturday, September 7, 1940 with each wrestler having scored a fall, Tenario was thrown from the ring by McGinnis. McGinnis, who had lost his temper, refused to allow Tenario to re-enter the ring, and went on to attack the referee; and, for this, he was disqualified.Wrestling: Turned on Referee: Disqualified, The (Sydney) Sun, (Sunday, 8 September 1940), p.38.
On October 24, 1940, Thomas Duncan Bairnsfather (1897-1949)Radio Stars at Funeral, The (Sydney) Sun, Wednesday, 20 April 1949), p14. — brother of Bruce Bairnsfather, Leichhardt Stadium's ring announcer, and, as "Captain Tom Bairnsfather", the ring-side wrestling commentator for the Sydney radio station 2KY (2KY listeners were assisted by the I.A.W. chart) — lodged a Supreme Court writ for £2,000 against Tenario, McGinnis, and New Leichhardt Stadium, Ltd., alleging that, "on September 9 last, when Chief Little Wolf and McGinnis were wrestling at Leichhardt Stadium, McGinnis threw Little Wolf out of the ring on top of Bairnsfather, causing him considerable Injury".The Daily Telegraph, (Thursday, 24 October 1940), p.10.