Emile Czaja

Emile Czaja (15 July 1909 – 16 May 1970), better known by his ring name King Kong, was an Australian-Indian professional wrestler and actor born in Hungary in 1909. He was active from 1929 until 1970. He wrestled mostly in Japan, Singapore, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia. In professional wrestling, his arch rivals were Aslam Pahalwan, Hamida Pahalwan, Sheik Ali and Dara Singh.

Early life The Hungarian born Emile Czaja started wrestling in Europe. At the age of 18, he was participating in important matches all over Europe. He excelled in all styles of wrestling and soon become a formidable opponent for all the top contenders.

Professional wrestling career Czaja started his professional career in India in 1937. He was given the name "King Kong" after playing the part of King Kong in an Indian movie. He frequently wrestled for over 100,000 fans. They later vacated the title after the tag team split up. His matches against Hamida, Goonga, Aslam Pahalwan, Seelie Samara, Tor Johnson and Tiger Joginder Singh are still talked about.

After marrying in 1956, he continued his pro-wrestling career using Sydney as his headquarters. He broke gate records in Australia and wrestled Rikidozan of Japan for hours before losing the bout by a lone fall. He met and beat some of the best in the world. Some of the well-known names that were beaten by this man mountain are Tiger Holden, Harban Singh, Syed Saif Shah, George Pencheff, Big Bill Verna, George Zbisco and many others. He wrestled Lou Thesz for the world title in Singapore in 1958. He wrestled in the East, Europe and United Kingdom throughout the mid-1960s and fans saw the Mighty King Kong in action again.

Bouts with Dara Singh

Of all his fights, the ones that caught imagination of the public in South Asia were his bouts with Dara Singh. Dara Singh's act of flooring King Kong remains embedded in Indian legend.

Death While traveling back to Singapore after a match in Penang, Malaysia, Czaja was badly injured in a car crash in Ipoh on 12 May 1970. He died in Singapore on 16 May 1970, aged 60. Australian Junior Heavyweight Championship