It is being reported through an email to the Cauliflower Alley Club from Penny Banner that Bronko Lubich passed away on August 11th.
Lubich was born in Hungary in 1925 and become a wrestler in 1948. He rose to prominence as Angelo Poffo’s manager. Lubich would soon begin tagging with Poffo and become a sort of tag team specialist.
On May 12, 1961, Lubich and Poffo won the Texas Tag Team titles from Pepper Gomez and Dory Dixon. The belts were vacated later that year.
Lubich left Texas and began competing (as a singles and tag team wrestler) in Georgia and Florida. In October of 1969, he and Chris Markoff won the NWA Florida Tag Team titles. They lost the belts in 1970 and Lubich and Markoff returned to Texas.
In August of 1971, Lubich and Markoff won the NWA American Tag Team titles from Tim Woods and George Scott. They would not have a long reign as they lost the belts to Wahoo McDaniel and Johnny Valentine the next month. By the end of the year, Lubich and Markoff had regained the gold and lost it back to McDaniel and Valentine. (Interestingly enough, these belts would wind up being transformed into the World Class Tag Team titles.)
Soon thereafter, Lubich retired from the ring and became a manager, guiding competitors such as the Spoiler and Boris Malenko before becoming a referee in 1973. One of his most high-profiles match was refereeing the 1973 bout where Jack Brisco defeated Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight title.
Lubich continued in the role he may be best remembered in today as a referee for the World Class Championship Wrestling territory. He can be seen in many matches airing now on WWE 24/7 in this role.
Lubich continued his referee career until 1990, when he retired at the same time as the World Class closure.
Lubich faced many medical problems in recent years as he developed prostate cancer and suffered several strokes and his wife Ela developed cancer in 1997. Ella had passed away in 2004.
Our thoughts are with Bronko Lubich’s family and friends at this difficult time
