 He never left the Midwest, as he was rooted in the area with his landscape business, wife, and three children.Early career highlights included several overseas trip to Japan beginning in 1972 where he worked 18 matches (including five cage matches), winning most of them.Later in 1976 he took on Muhammad Ali in a boxer vs wrestler bout that also featured Verne Gagne as the Referee, a match Kenny Jay considers one of the high points of his career.