Title History
- Kansas State Heavyweight title defeating Allen Eustance (January ??, 1933);
- MWA (Kansas) World Heavyweight title defeating Bobby Bruns (June 13, 1940);
- MWA (Ohio) World Heavyweight title defeating Dick Shikat (June 27, 1940);
- NWA World Heavyweight title Awarded (July ??, 1940);
- MWA (Kansas) World Heavyweight title defeating Lee Wyckoff (October 16, 1941);
- MWA (Kansas) World Heavyweight title defeating Tom Zaharias (June 25, 1942);
- MWA (Kansas) World Heavyweight title defeating Lee Wyckoff (February 18, 1943);
- MWA (Kansas) World Heavyweight title defeating Lee Wyckoff (June 17, 1943);
- MWA (Kansas) World Heavyweight title defeating Swedish Angel (December 9, 1943);
- MWA (Kansas) World Heavyweight title defeating Lee Wyckoff (August 16, 1944);
- MWA (Kansas) World Heavyweight title defeating Bobby Bruns (August 8, 1946);
- MWA (Kansas) World Heavyweight title defeating Roy Graham (April 10, 1947);
- MWA (Kansas) World Heavyweight title defeating Tug Carlson (December 26, 1947);
- NWA World Heavyweight title Awarded (January 5, 1948);
- MWA (Kansas) World Heavyweight title defeating Bobby Bruns (May 4, 1948);
Career Highlights
- Orville Brown, born March 10, 1908, at Sharon, Kansas, was the youngest of five children of Clarence and Ellen Brown..
- Orville Brown attended grade school in a one room school called Hillside, which on Sundays was used as a church.
- Orville Brown’s family raised large gardens and farmed wheat with horses and mules..
- Orville Brown’s job of hauling water to the engine which consumed large quantities in the production of power.
- Orville Brown was orphaned at the age of eleven years and lived with his eldest brother, Gaines..
- Orville Brown (age 12) was breaking horses to work and ride and was soon riding in Rodeo contests throughout the area.
- 1927 At the Briggs Ranch near Protection, Kansas, Orville became the first person to bulldog a buffalo from a horse.
- October 13, 1927: Orville Brown married Grace Charlotte Springer.
- Orville Brown grew too heavy for bronco riding and became a blacksmith at Wallace, Kansas.
- A wrestling coach saw his powerful body and encouraged him to start training to become a wrestler.
- Orville worked his job plus 6 miles of running every day & trained in a little sod house where the coach had placed a wrestling mat.
- 1932 Orville Brown had defeated all opponents in the area and was well known throughout the midwest..
- Orville Brown won the Kansas State Title from Allen Eustace..
- Orville Brown began travelling the continent wrestling matches in Eastern USA & Canada in Madison Square Garden..
- Orville Brown fought and defeated all the prominent wrestlers of his time including Ed Lewis, Ray Steel, John Pesek, and Lou Thesz..
- May 19, 1942: Orville Brown defeated Dick Shikat in Louisville, Kentucky, for the World’s Heavyweight Championship.
- Orville Brown was the reigning Midwest Wrestling Association’s World Heavyweight Champion..
- Orville Brown was awarded the NWA World Heavyweight title when the MWA was absorbed into the NWA.
- 1949: Orville Brown successfully defended his title until a near fatal auto accident forced his retirement..
- Orville Brown retired undefeated..
- Orville Brown later became a successful promoter of wrestling matches until his retirement in 1964.
- Orville Brown & Grace have one son, Richard, and two grandchildren, Douglas and Dorinda.
- Orville Brown and Grace lived in John Knox Villiage at Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
- Orville Brown died on January 24, 1981 at the age of 71..