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Albert Henry Vass, who wrestled as Al Samson before moving into refereeing for the WWWF and WWF as Al Vass, passed away at the age of 86 on 10/30. There was no announced cause of death.
Vass broke into the business while working out in Brooklyn, NY at the Adonis Health Club and trained with the late Abe Coleman. He began wrestling in the late 1950s and moved into refereeing in 1964 for the New York State Athletic Commission, who at the time, licensed and assigned the referees. Vass worked regularly for the WWWF and WWF in New York with Bruno Sammartino specifically requesting Vass work his matches since he was a former worker and could be especially trusted. Vass also worked a number of other promotions, mostly refereeing in the New York City metropolitan area.
Vass moved on from refereeing in 2001 when most promotions began using their own in-house crews, moving on to work at the the St. George branch of the New York Public Library as a security guard with the location hosting exhibitions of his wrestling memorabilia and hosting talks where Vass discussed his time in the wrestling business.
According to his online memoriam, Vass was buried earlier today at St. John's Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens, NY.
SILive.com featured an in-depth look at Vass' life and passing at this link.
On behalf of everyone associated with PWInsider.com, we'd like to express our deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of Al Vass.
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