John Sutton: The guy fans loved to hate

Years before he broke into professional wrestling, young John Sutton was hanging around the locker rooms after a match when the legendary Richard (Dick the Bruiser) Afflis approached him.

"Red," he told the ginger-haired Sutton, "somebody's gotta make you a wrestling manager because all somebody's gotta do is look at you and they hate your guts."

Sutton didn't take offense. Instead, for 40 years the Richfield native capitalized on his rotundity and flowing red hair, entertaining hordes of wrestling fans in the role of one of the most hated men in the business -- bad guy "manager" Sir Oliver Humperdink.

But outside the ring, the man friends called "Hump" or "Red" was known for a heart as big as his barrel chest. He died March 20 in a Twin Cities hospice from complications from pneumonia related to bladder cancer. He was 62.

"It was outrageous; everybody absolutely loved him," said Roger Buck of Bloomington, Sutton's friend since the ninth grade at Richfield High. "One of his favorite sayings was, 'There's no such thing as too much fun.'"

Buck and Sutton were ushers at the old Metropolitan Stadium when they first became acquainted with professional wrestlers booked there. "It was like heaven" to the teenage boys, Buck said.

Sutton began working in the business and would occasionally referee until his big break in 1972, when a promoter asked him to act as bad-guy manager for the Hollywood Blonds duo in Grand Prix Wrestling, based in Montreal. They named Sutton the English-sounding Sir Oliver Humperdink, knowing it would incense the French-Canadian fans.

"He may have been the most hated guy in the state of Florida," said longtime wrestling announcer and journalist Mick Karch of Crystal, Sutton's friend for 40 years. "But when he would go to his conventions after retirement, people would flock to him. It completely belied what he did in the business. He loved being the bad-guy manager, and he did it well."

He was so popular that Florida blues musicians from the Johnny G. Lyon Band had a local hit with "House of Humperdink."

In the 1980s Sutton made it to the World Wrestling Federation -- the major leagues -- where for about a year he "managed" Bam Bam Bigelow before returning to the National Wrestling Alliance.

Buck said Sutton retired about 18 years ago and lived in the Florida Keys for a while before returning to Richfield, where he lived the past decade with one of his brothers. He never married or had children. Doctors diagnosed him with bladder cancer in January. Karch last spoke with his friend three days before he died.

"He straight-out said, 'The end is near, and I've made peace with it,'" Karch said. "I made some comment about how bad I felt, and he said, 'Don't. I've had two great lives in and out of wrestling.' He was ready."

A celebration of Sutton's life will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Knights of Columbus, 1114 American Blvd. W. in Bloomington.