Early career (1970–1973) Both Ken and his brother Johnny (who was also a professional wrestler) started amateur wrestling while in high school in California, before moving to Texas. Mantell began his career in
Florida in 1970, wrestling under his real name. Mantell eventually lost the title to
Hiro Matsuda in
St. Petersburg, Florida on June 14, 1975. Danny Hodge would go on to defeat Matsuda for the title, becoming a seven-time champion. He retired as champion on March 15, 1976 after a car accident thus making Mantell the last person to ever defeat Hodge for the championship.
Tag Team success (1975–1976) Five months after losing the World Junior Heavyweight Championship Mantell won gold again, when he and
Ron Bass won the
NWA World Tag Team Championship in November 1975. They defended the titles in the
Central States Wrestling territory before dropping the belts in February the following year. Mantell then travelled to NWA: Georgia and again found tag team success, winning the
NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship with former
WWWF World Tag Team Champion Dean Ho on July 2, 1976.
Heavyweight title victories (1976–1980) Having been a junior heavyweight competitor for most of his career, Mantell competed as a heavyweight for the later part of the 1970s. He won the
NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship on October 15, 1976 in the
Los Angeles territory, when he defeated
Chavo Guerrero. The pair had a memorable rivalry for the Americas Championship for the following year, with Guerrero eventually recapturing the gold. Following this, Mantell travelled to the NWA
Gulf Coast territory, where he became the
NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Champion on March 22, 1977, defeating
Wrestling Pro in
Mobile, Alabama. Mantell and Pro would headline several events for the territory, feuding over the title in 1976-77, when Wrestling Pro eventually recapturing the championship in
Dothan. Mantell captured his final title in wrestling on July 25, 1980 when he defeated
Wahoo McDaniel in a tournament final to become the
NWA Mid-South Louisiana Heavyweight Champion in
Shreveport,
Louisiana. A serious accident to WCCW's top star
Kerry Von Erich kept him out of action for a year and a half, which effectively lead to World Class's major decline, only a few months out from still being a highly successful territory
Wild West Wrestling and ownership of WCCW (1987–1988) It wasn't long before the oil recession hit Bill Watts in Oklahoma and he eventually sold the UWF to Jim Crockett in 1987. Mantell went on to form his own promotion based in the Dallas/Fort Worth territory called "Wild West Wrestling". Meanwhile, Crockett's circuit was sold to
Ted Turner and eventually became
World Championship Wrestling. Ken Mantell has since largely retired from the professional wrestling business. His brother "Cowboy" Johnny Mantell is the current president of the
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in its new location of
Wichita Falls, Texas. ==Championships and accomplishments==