“Executioner”
Ernie Moore at the autograph table with Ms B Haven and Mayhem.
Ernie Moore Born December 21, 1939 in Hamilton, Ontario
AKA: The Executioner, The Hangman
The year was 1965 in Michigan, (two years after he was married, as Moore remembers it), and promoter Harry Light was in a quandary because one of The Hangmen couldn’t make it. He asked Moore to don one of the masks, and things changed.
“I near caused a riot,” recalled Moore. And more surprising for him, “I liked being a bad guy!”
He wasn’t one of The Hangmen very long.
Realizing the power of the hidden face, he created The Executioner and terrorized wrestling crowds across North America with his dark mask.
Moore is a devout Mormon and former bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He’s driven limousines and been a bodyguard for Sophia Loren, Tony Bennett and Harry Belafonte. For years, he worked weekends as a doorman at nightclubs such as The Junction and Mellows. Between checking IDs, Moore would stand in the doorway poring over the Book of Mormon. When there was a fight to break up, he’d put down the well-worn paperback copy and walk over to talk down the hotheads or drunks. If things got physical, he’d use a wrestling hold. But gentle yet firm words were usually enough. Moore always strived to let them leave with their dignity intact. hamiltonspectator.com
