Title History
- NWF (Cleveland/Buffalo) North American Heavyweight title defeating Johnny Powers (Febuary 17, 1973);
- WWC (World Wrestling Council) Puerto Rican Heavyweight title defeating Jose Rivera (December 25, 1976);
- NWA Florida Tag Team titles w/Pak Song defeating Bobby Duncum Sr. & Killer Karl Kox (October 14, 1978);
Career History
- August 1, 1934: Solvang Hansen was born in Odense, Denmark and emigrated to Canada in the Mid-50s..
- Solvang Hansen began wrestling with a straight Viking gimmick as a heel known as Eric the Red..
- ~~~Eric the Red wore viking horns and was billed from Denmark..
- Late 1960s: Eric the Red wrestled for Frank Tunney in Maple Leaf Wrestling based out of Toronto, Canada..
- Early 1970s: Eric the Red rose to prominence with Pedro Martinez’s NWF in Buffalo and Cleveland..
- 1973: Eric the Red became a stronger heel as Eric the Animal, carrying a bone to the ring..
- ~~~The bone would be hung on the turnbuckle and be available when the referee’s back was turned..
- 1973: Eric the Red defeated Johnny Powers for the NWF North American title, losing it back to him a few weeks later..
- 1973: Eric the Red dad main event matches at Maple Leaf Gardens against The Sheik and NWA world champion Jack Brisco..
- November 1978: Eric the Red held the Florida tag titles with Pak Song when he was killed after being hit by a car..
- ~~~Solvang Hansen left behind a wife (Ignor) and five kids (who still live in Canada) at the time of his death..Special thanks to Anja Pedersen, a relative of Solvang Hansen for helping with the details of this profile..
Bruce Metcalfe wrote: …I grew up in Grimsby Ontario in the 70’s,which was a homebase for many wrestlers.Mr. Hansen (Eric the Red) lived in one of the large older red brick house in East Grimsby.I can’t recall ever seeing him in town though.
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