Ramos grew up in Houston and attended wrestling matches with his uncle and father. In the early 1960s, his uncle suggested that Ramos enter the profession. He, however, was boxing at the time and turned down the idea. He later met Paul Boesch, a wrestling promoter, who helped him get into wrestling. He entered the professional wrestling business in 1964 and was trained by Danny McShain, Cyclone Anaya, and David Weinstein. In Los Angeles, he feuded with Mil Mascaras. It culminated in a Hair vs Mask match, which Ramos lost, causing him to have his head shaved. He later had a short run in the World Wide Wrestling Federation, managed by Col. Homer O'Dell, as an opponent to the champion Bruno Sammartino. Sammartino defeated Ramos by submission in defense of the title, in the first show held at the "new" Madison Square Garden in 1968. In the Pacific Northwest, Ramos feuded with Dutch Savage, a feud that lasted approximately five years. He also feuded with Ricky Hunter in the Pacific Northwest. Ramos became a popular heel in Oregon after breaking Lonnie Mayne's arm, causing the bone to stick out of the skin. In the same territory, Ramos won tag team gold with future governor Jesse Ventura. He wrestled until the 1980s.
Gimmick
When he first began wrestling, promoters wanted him to wrestle as an Italian named John Albano, but Ramos rejected the idea. When he first began wrestling, Ramos only weighed 200 lbs. He continued to gain weight throughout his career, weighing 350 pounds at his heaviest. Ramos weighed over 300 pounds and was strong on promos. As a result, he was able to draw massive heat during his matches. He began his career wrestling as Bull Ramos, a Native American character. In the 1970s, Wrestling World magazine wrote about Ramos in kayfabe, saying that Ramos was born in “an adobe hut on the San Carlo, New Mexico, Indian reservation” and was a “redskinned dynamite, dressed in an Indian vest and wearing an Indian headhand. He even invented a match that today is known as the Texas Bullrope Match, where one is tied to his opponent using rope and must drag him to all 4 corners of the ring.”
Personal life
In addition to English, he was fluent in Spanish. After he quit wrestling, Ramos ran a towing service in Houston. He learned about the business from a fellow wrestler named Nick Kozak. He already had a daughter, Julia Ramos, and sons, Manuel Ramos, Jr., and John "Bull" Bush prior to marrying his wife named Brenda Jean Long. He took her with him on his first tour of Australia, but she returned to the United States to birth their first child, Angelina Ramos, followed by their second child, Amanda Ramos. Ramos suffered from diabetes, which caused him to go blind. He had a big toe amputated due to an infection caused by a piece of glass. In addition, he was on kidneydialysis three times a week. He lost over 100 pounds because of his diabetes. On May 27, 2006, Ramos died at the age of 68 due to a massive shoulder infection.
In popular culture
Ramos is the subject of a song by The Mountain Goats, titled "The Ballad of Bull Ramos", on their 2015 album Beat the Champ - a concept album about professional wrestling.
