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FORMER NAWA PROMOTER AND WRESTLER TONY 'CAPONE' MURA PASSES AWAY

PWInsider.com is saddened to learn that Anthony Mura, who wrestled as "The Godfather" Tony Capone and promoted The North American Wrestling Alliance out of New York passed away.  Condolences began to appear on his personal Facebook page on 5/5, but we are told he may have passed prior to that.

Capone attempted several runs with the NAWA with his first being a pair of 1992 TV tapings in his native Mount Vernon, NY using names like Sean Waltman, The Hater, Nikolai Volkoff, Tommy Dreamer, The Tasmaniac (Taz), Tony Rumble, Johnny Rotten (Mike Durham aka the future Johnny Grunge), Hercules Hernandez and more including himself billed as the NAWA Super Heavyweight Champion. 

He was able to procure a weekly series on Sportschannel America in the summer of 1992, but the series ended once the material from those tapings had been exhausted.  Those TV tapings would not only present Joey Styles as an announcer for the first time in his career but were also produced by Ron Buffone and Charlie Bruzzese, with their work there eventually helping to connect them to ECW a few years later.

Capone returned in 1999 with what was designed to be a TV taping in White Plains, NY at the Westchester County Center headlined by Shane Douglas unmasking after winning a battle royal for the NAWA title, then again in 2020 out of Florida with a live event that streamed on FITE TV.  From time to time, he would return to pro wrestling and run live events, but it never clicked in a consistent manner and as he got older, dealt with a number of health issues, including being burnt in a fire and a 2021 spinal surgery that required him to learn how to walk again. 

We are told Mura had been in a health care facility the last several years due to his fading health.  He was someone who truly loved being around the business and tried a number of times to make his way into promoting.  One common thing that was said about him today was how kind he was to everyone around him that he dealt with.

PWInsider.com sends our deepest condolences to Tony's family and friends.

 

 

 

 

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