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I am very saddened to report that former WWF referee John "Jack" Lotz, the third man in the ring to count the pinfall when Hulk Hogan pinned The Iron Sheik to capture the WWF Championship, passed away on Saturday 4/18 at the age of 86.
A native of Yonkers, NY, Lotz fought in the Korean War before entering professional wrestling. He refereed for over three decades, primarily for the WWWF and WWF. Lotz officiated the first three Wrestlemania events. Lotz was one of the top referees for the New York State Athletic Commission (so they, not WWE would book him for events) and was their top regular referee at Madison Square Garden. He counted the pinfall when Bob Backlund defeated Superstar Billy Graham for the WWWF Championship and oversaw the 9/22/80 bout featuring NWA World Champion Harley Race vs. WWF Champion Backlund.
Likely the most well known bout overseen by Lotz was the 1/23/84 MSG event, making the three count for Hulk Hogan as he defeated The Iron Sheik to officially usher in the Hulkamania era and WWF's national expansion, a match that has been seen countless times over the last three decades plus via VHS, DVD and streaming releases.
Lotz also refereed the Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper boxing match at Wrestlemania 2 as he was also a trained and licensed boxing referee.
Beyond pro wrestling, Lotz acted in a number of films, including Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull, The Siege, and the Ruben Carter bio film The Hurricane. Lotz also made numerous appearances on HBO's The Sopranos. He also worked as a stunt driver for a number of film and TV productions.
After his time in professional wrestling, Lotz worked on a number of causes, including as a leader for the Yonkers Central Committee of Veterans Organizations, the New York State Korean War Veterans organization, and the Korean War Veterans. He organized and created a number of funds, one to support homeless veterans via the Yonkers Veteran Posts and was involved with landing a permanent location for the Yonkers Veterans Museum, among of veteran-related causes.
Lotz was named to the Westchester County Senior Citizens Hall of Fame Class of 2016. In 2017, Lotz was honored by New York State as part of that year's Senior Citizens Day Celebration in Albany, NY.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Lotz's memory may be made to either the N.Y.S. Veterans' Home at Montrose, 2090 Albany Post Rd., Montrose, N.Y. 10548 or the Tower of Hope, 228 Park Ave. South, New York, N.Y. 10003. Lotz' funeral will be private due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
On behalf of everyone at PWInsider.com, we'd like to express our condolences to Lotz's family, friends and fans.
Lotz' obituary can be found online at this link.
Thanks to Sal Corrente.
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