Andreas Hemmingsen

Andreas Hemmingsen (August 1, 1925 – October 12, 2003) was a Danish-American professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Hemmingsen wrestling family. He was the owner of the NWA Deseret State/Salt Lake Wrestling/United States Wrestling Federation territory and the second Pro Wrestling USA promotion.

Early life
Hemmingsen was born on August 1, 1925 in,. His parents emigrated to the shortly after his birth, settling in, where they ran a farm.

Early career and training
While in the UK, Hemmingsen met Irish strongman-turned-wrestler Thomas Blanchfield, who trained him and offered Hemmingsen's services to Joint Promotions. Andreas was teamed with kayfabe "brother" Mattias Hemmingsen as a pair of "Nordic warriors". The duo took their act Stateside in 1954, performing mainly in Midwestern and Southwestern territories, including NWA Tri-State and Western States Sports, along with visits to the East Coast's World Wide Wrestling Federation and the South's Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. In 1958, Andreas stopped traveling outside of the Southwest, allowing former partner Mattias to use the name in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling/Jim Crockett Promotions.

1960s
In 1965, Hemmingsen established the -based NWA Deseret State promotion, initially holding events mainly out of the at the  as well as taping a Saturday morning show for  in that TV station's studio.

Retirement
In September 1979, Hemmingsen held his first retirement match against "The Big Man" James Sommerfelt in front of a sold-out crowd at the in Salt Lake City. In 1983, he held another "retirement match" against Lorenzo Abruzzo as part of the now-renamed United States Wrestling Federation promotion. The promotion was known for its high production values, use of entrance music and the use of television syndication. He wrestled his last match on November 8, 1985, defeating Adam George and Scott Hipkins in a handicap match by disqualification at a Friday night show at the in.

In 1990, he established the second promotion named Pro Wrestling USA, the first being a short-lived collective of several NWA territories in 1984-85. It attempted to compete with the and  on a national level with stars such as his sons, The Agents of Fortune, Butcher Kazuaki, Robert DeFelice and Damián Mansilla. Despite a reputation for high production values and strong television syndication, as well as a major home video deal with Monterra Entertainment, it ended up floundering by the mid-1990s and in September 1997 Hemmingsen sold the promotion and the archives of the Salt Lake territory and Pro Wrestling USA to the WWF.

Personal life and death
Hemmingsen died of lung and gallbladder cancer on October 12, 2003 at his home in the suburbs of. His body was cremated with his ashes interred in the same family cemetery as his parents.