{"id":1987,"date":"2020-04-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=1987"},"modified":"2020-06-12T15:28:04","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T15:28:04","slug":"john-lotz-wrestling-referee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=1987","title":{"rendered":"John Lotz, wrestling referee"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

John Lotz an American wrestling referee and actor died on April 18, 2020, due to complications from COVID-19 at the age of 86.\r<\/p>

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Lotz worked predominately for the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment). Lotz officiated at the first three WrestleMania events during the 1980s.\r<\/p>

\r<\/p>

Born in Yonkers, New York he started his career as an elevator assembly worker and later a truck driver for ‘Yonkers Butter and Eggs’. He enlisted in the US Navy and served in the Korean War between 1951 and 1954.\r<\/p>

\r<\/p>

Lotz had a 33-year career as a referee for the New York State Athletic Commission. He was the referee for Bob Backlund’s victory over Superstar Billy Graham in 1978 for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship as well as for Hulk Hogan’s victory over The Iron Sheik in 1984 for the same championship, then renamed the WWF Heavyweight Championship.\r<\/p>

\r<\/p>

Lotz refereed matches in the first three WrestleMania events, including the boxing match between Rowdy Roddy Piper and Mr. T at WrestleMania 2.\r<\/p>

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Outside of wrestling, Lotz appeared in the films Raging Bull and The Hurricane as well as the television drama, The Sopranos.\r<\/p>

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<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Lotz an American wrestling referee and actor died on April 18, 2020, due to complications from COVID-19 at the age of 86. Lotz worked predominately for the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment). Lotz officiated at the first three WrestleMania events during the 1980s. Born in Yonkers, New York he started his career […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[46,7019,15],"tags":[193],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/wp-content\/uploads\/imageholder\/uploads\/John_Lotz.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3131,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=3131","url_meta":{"origin":1987,"position":0},"title":"Mark Blum, actor","date":"March 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Mark Blum\u2013an American actor who worked in theater, film and television \u2013 died of Covid-19 on March 25, 2020. \u00a0 Blum found success with a lead role in the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan, which he followed up the next year with a supporting role in Crocodile Dundee. On the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Noteworthy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2501,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=2501","url_meta":{"origin":1987,"position":1},"title":"Kishen Bholasing, singer","date":"April 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Kishen Bholasing\u2013a Surinamese-Dutch singer and percussionist \u2013 died on 12 April 2020 after Covid-19 infection. \u00a0 Bholasing has been called one of the best interpreters of the Baithak Gana of his era. Bholasing played the Dholak and was lead singer in the formation Kishen & Friends. He has performed in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Netherland"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11375,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=11375","url_meta":{"origin":1987,"position":2},"title":"James Harris, WWE legend","date":"August 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"James Harris, a WWE legend, popularly known to fans as Kamala, passed away at age 70 from Covid-19-related complications on August 9, 2020. Behind the frightening face paint of Kamala, the 6-foot-7, 380-pound Harris battled the greatest Superstars in sports-entertainment history, including Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker and Andre the Giant.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Noteworthy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11823,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=11823","url_meta":{"origin":1987,"position":3},"title":"Donovan James Jones, Teenager","date":"November 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A Buckeye 13-year-old passed away last Friday following complications with COVID. Donovan James Jones was born with sickle cell anemia. His mother, Teresita Horne, believes when her husband came back from a trip with COVID, it spread to the rest of the family.","rel":"","context":"In "Sad But True"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Teen.jpg?fit=624%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9515,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=9515","url_meta":{"origin":1987,"position":4},"title":"Aleyamma John, Registered Nurse","date":"April 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Aleyamma John \u2013 a Registered Nurse at NYC Health+Hospitals\/Queens Hospital Center, New York City \u2013 passed away on 7 April, 2020, after suffering from COVID-19. John was 65 years old. She began her career at Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation, before moving on to the NYC Health\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Medics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1873,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=1873","url_meta":{"origin":1987,"position":5},"title":"Philip F. Foglia, lawyer and civic activist","date":"April 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Philip F. Foglia lawyer and civic activist, advocate for Italian American rights issues died from COVID-19 on April 21, 2020, at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Washington Heights, Manhattan, at the age of 69. Philip F. Foglia (November 27, 1950 \u2013 April 21, 2020) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, civic activist,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "High Profilers"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6258,"href":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987\/revisions\/6258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}