Peter Stilsbury (born 4 February 1958) is an Australian former professional wrestler, best known for appearing in the World Wrestling Federation as Outback Jack from 1986 to 1988. He portrayed a northern Australian bushman coming to America to compete in the WWF.
| Outback Jack | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Peter Stilsbury |
| Born | 4 February 1958[1] Victoria, Australia |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | The Mercenary Sgt. Green Outback Jack |
| Billed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[2] |
| Billed weight | 300 lb (140 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Humpty Doo, NT, Australia[2] |
| Trained by | Les Thornton[1] |
| Debut | 1986 |
| Retired | 1988 |
Professional wrestling career
Early career
Stilsbury started his career in Canada with Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling in November 1986.[1] He was brought into the WWF that month in response to the mainstream popularity of the Australian film Crocodile Dundee.[3] Wearing an Australian bush jacket,[4] he appeared in several vignettes hyping his debut by showing him in the wilds of the Australian Outback—specifically, the Northern Territory.[2][5] In the vignettes, he drove a Jeep and drank beer with cows.[5] In addition, as part of the storyline, he claimed to have learned survival skills from the Aborigines.[2]
World Wrestling Federation (1986–1988)
Stilsbury, as Outback Jack, made his WWF debut in November 1986.[6] His wins mainly came over jobbers such as Jose Estrada, Steve Lombardi, Barry O, Barry Horowitz and "Iron" Mike Sharpe.[1][7] However, Outback Jack also defeated well-known superstars such as Nikolai Volkoff and former WWE Champion The Iron Sheik.[8] Eventually, Stilsbury started becoming a jobber himself, losing matches to high-level superstars such as "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Rick Rude.[8] Outback Jack feuded with Frenchy Martin, and the two had matches featured on 4 May and 25 May 1987 episodes of WWF Prime Time Wrestling, both of which Outback Jack won.[9][10] During this time, he also feuded with Killer Khan.[8]
On 3 August episode of Prime Time Wrestling, Outback Jack rescued Tito Santana from an attack by Ron Bass, leading to a match between him and Bass later in the show, which Bass won.[11] The pair continued to face each other into the following year.[8][12] Outback Jack made one appearance on the interview segment The Snake Pit with Jake "The Snake" Roberts on 6 June.[1][13]
On 7 May 1988 episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Outback Jack competed in his final televised match, teaming with Brady Boone and Steve Blackman in a loss to The Islanders; this was the only match in which The Islanders competed as a team of three, as they were joined by new Islander Siva Afi.[1][14] On 15 May, Outback Jack wrestled his last match in Kissimmee, Florida, against Greg Valentine.[15] The outcome of his rematch with Valentine remains a mystery although Valentine had pinned him three days prior at the Columbus Municipal Auditorium.[12] The WWF had LJN Wrestling Superstars create an Outback Jack action figure to be produced and distributed worldwide.[5] His sudden departure from the WWF has led to him being described as "one of the most asked about people in the business".[16]
Personal life
Stilsbury is blind in one eye due to a helicopter crash, and has limited vision in his other due to diabetes.[17][18]
Awards and accomplishments
References
External links
- Peter Stilsbury at IMDb
- Outback Jack's profile at Cagematch.net , Internet Wrestling Database
