Family And Friends Remember "Sicilian Beast" Ken Cerminara

by Trapper Tom, Editor, KSWA Digest 

“We knew him before he had hair on his back,” noted a lifelong friend of “The Sicilian Beast” Ken Cerminara at a Celebration of Life Ceremony on Saturday, November 15. Cerminara passed away on September 25 at the age of 71, and just a few months after his beloved wife, Cindy.

A few days earlier, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Scotty Miller was in the same room at the Masonic Hall in Ross Township, speaking to a rapt audience about his career as a Super Bowl champion. The packed room on Saturday listened to family and friends reminiscing about the long-time professional wrestler with even more interest.

John Cerminara met with a lot of family and friends, including “Irish” Red Walsh. John unbuttoned a dress shirt to show off a “Sicilian Beast” t-shirt that he recently found in a closest. For his part, Walsh talked about the experiences he and “the Beast” shared at Geeto Mongol’s ring inside a barn near Butler on Rt. 8.

Ken’s son Michael Cerminara shared a fun and emotional slide show about his father’s wrestling career. “There were really notable figures,” he said. “There was a bear. Ginger the Bear.”

According to his son, “The Beast” wrestled in the Tri-State area and used to talk of a Canadian tour that Geeto booked him on in the early days. Michael then showed a photo of a “Beast” match on December 3, 1981. “What’s special about December 3^rd, 1981?” Michael Cerminara humorously detailed that he was “four days old” when The Beast was grappling.  

Professional wrestling was always big in the Cerminara family. The Beast grappled in what was then the WWF in the early 80’s, losing to the likes of Tony Altimore, The Hangman and drawing Bobby “Hurricane” Hunt on undercards with Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund.

The Beast became friends with Sgt. Slaughter, who created a core memory by telephoning Michael Cerminara on his birthday. “It was the most aggressive birthday message,” he joked.

The Beast travelled from his Dormont home and wrestled in a church not far from his grandmother’s home as well as the old Civic Arena. He remembered lying on the canvas with the Arena’s roof open and stars shining in the evening in Pittsburgh.

Cerminara was featured in newspaper articles over the years and was a popular wrestling personality and his family was always proud of his achievements. He wrestled on cards with Ivan Putski, Jesse Ventura, Baron Mikel Scicluna, among others.

There were matches at St. George’s Schram Hall with Walsh where he Main Evented and tagged with Dominic DeNucci and “managed” by B-94’s Tank Sherman.

The Beast wrestled in the 80’s, 90’s, took some breaks in action and wrestled “Jumpin’” Johnny DeFazio in his last match at Shaler High School in March 1988. “It’s viral,” Michael joked. “It has more than 5,000 views.”

Cerminara’s family and friends told stories of how he would always go out of his way to make them feel special.

After his wrestling days, “The Beast” lived in Ohio and managed at Rubber City (RCW) Wrestling. He was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2020. The independent wrestling group had a great showing. In addition, veteran photographer Wayne Palmer was also in attendance.

Keystone State Wrestling Alliance (KSWA) Hall of Famers “The Mercenaries” Nick Crane and The Sniper were on hand, as was Kristen Klebanski Collingwood, a friend and sister of KSWA Hall of Famer Dave “Klubber” Klebanski was among those who paid their respects.