The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to establish notability by adding reliable, secondary sources about the topic. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. (October 2011)

Ray Leppan (born 20 July 1979) is a South African professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Leo Kruger. He is signed to WWE, and wrestles in Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory, where he is a former two-time FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion.

Professional wrestling career[link]

South Africa[link]

Leppan debuted as a professional wrestler at the age of 16.^[3] He worked in South Africa with Paul Lloyd Jr., known as the tag team Pure Juice. He also wrestled as "Dameon Duke" in World Wrestling Professionals.^[1] While there, Duke won the WWP World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Tornado in 2007 and lost it to Fury the following year.^[4]

World Wrestling Entertainment[link]

After Leppan's United States work visa cleared, he was able to debut in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in 2010.^[1]

Florida Championship Wrestling (2010–present)[link]

Leppan debuted in FCW under his real name on 25 February 2010, in a losing effort against Curt Hawkins. Two weeks later, Leppan was defeated by Eli Cottonwood^[1]. The following week, Leppan changed his ring name to "Leo Kruger", chosen as a tribute to his relative and former President of South Africa Paul Kruger, before losing to Johnny Curtis.^[1][3] On 18 March, Kruger picked up his first win since joining FCW by defeating Jacob Novak.^[1] At the television tapings on 20 May, Kruger challenged the former Paul Lloyd, Jr. and fellow South African wrestler, Justin Gabriel to a match. At the television tapings on 10 June, Kruger lost to Gabriel, but in a rematch on 1 July, Kruger reversed the result.^[5] In mid-2010, Kruger formed a team with Derrick Bateman, known as The Handsome Man Express. The duo challenged Los Aviadores (Hunico and Epico) for the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship on 2 July, but were unsuccessful.^[6] On 8 July, Kruger teamed with Tyler Reks to challenge Los Aviadores again for the championship, but was unsuccessful. Kruger then went on a winning streak, defeating Big E. Langston, Bateman, Austin Watson, Husky Harris, and Wes Brisco, before finally losing in a mixed tag team match, when he and Kaitlyn lost to Brad Maddox and Jamie Keyes on 9 September. Kruger's final match in 2010 was at the television tapings on 23 September, when he lost to Bo Rotundo.^[5] Following the match, Kruger lost feeling in his arm, and it was discovered that he had broken his neck.^[2] While recuperating, Kruger became a commentator for the FCW television program.^[2]

After Bo Rotundo was injured in September 2011, his FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship was vacated and a tournament set up to determine the new champion.^[7] Kruger defeated Percy Watson to make it to the final, a fatal four-way match against Husky Harris, Damien Sandow, and Dean Ambrose.^[8] Kruger won the match and the championship, his first in FCW.^[9] Kruger then appeared in dark matches prior to the SmackDown television tapings on 20 and 27 September, losing to Trent Barreta and defeating Johnny Curtis respectively.^[10][11] Kruger successfully defended the championship against Harris on the 24 October episode of FCW television and on the 14 November episode of FCW television, Kruger defeated Harris and Richie Steamboat in a triple threat match to retain the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship.^[12][13] On the 18 December episode of FCW television, Kruger successfully defended the championship against Seth Rollins, after interference from Antonio Cesaro.^[14]

In late December 2011, Kruger appeared at several WWE house shows, losing to Alex Riley on 27 and 28 December.^[15][16] On 30 December, he teamed with Riley and Mason Ryan to defeat Tyler Reks, Curt Hawkins, and JTG in a six-man tag team match at a Raw brand house show.^[17] On 2 February 2012, Kruger lost the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship to Mike Dalton.^[18] He regained the championship from Dalton three weeks later on 23 February, but lost it that same night to Seth Rollins.^[9]

[edit] NXT (2012)

On May 17, 2012, Kruger debuted for WWE NXT at the inaugural tapings at Full Sail University. He wrestled two matches at te tapings, defeating Aiden English before losing to Richie Steamboat.^[19]

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • Dameon Device (Sharpshooter)^[1]
  • Dameon Driver (Cradle piledriver)^[1]
  • Sleeper hold^[12]

• Signature moves
  • Corner clothesline followed into a Bulldog^[1]
  • Diving crossbody^[1]
  • Diving elbow drop^[1]
  • Diving splash^[1]
  • Sitout Death Valley driver^[1]
  • Topé^[1]

• Nicknames
  • "South African Super Studd"^[2]

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• Florida Championship Wrestling
  • FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[9]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #342 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 2010^[20]

• World Wrestling Professionals
  • WWP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[4]

References[link]

Aaron Stevens
Ring name(s)	Aaron Stevens[1] Damien Sandow[2] Easter Bunny[3] Idol Stevens[1] Mr. Big Time[1]
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[2]
Billed weight	243 lb (110 kg)[2]
Born	(1982-08-03) August 3, 1982 (age 29)[1] Worcester, Massachusetts[1]
Resides	Detroit, Michigan[1]
Billed from	Reno, Nevada[1] North Oxford, Massachusetts[4] Palo Alto, California
Trained by	Killer Kowalski[1] Chaotic Wrestling[1]
Debut	2001[5]

Aaron Haddad^[1] (born August 3, 1982)^[1] is an American professional wrestler. He is contracted to WWE, appearing on their SmackDown brand under the ring name Damien Sandow.^[2] He previously appeared in WWE as Idol Stevens, and he has also competed for Ohio Valley Wrestling and Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council.^[6]

Among other championships, he is a former FCW 15 Champion and FCW Florida Tag Team Champion with Titus O'Neill.

Professional wrestling career[link]

Early Career[link]

Stevens was trained by Chaotic Wrestling and debuted June 23, 2001 losing to Chris Harvey. Stevens formed a tag team with Edward G. Xtasy called One Night Stand and after two attempts beat Little Guido Maritato & Luis Ortiz for the Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Championship. They would lose the titles two months later to John Walters & Vince Vicallo. In the next few years before signing with WWE he had three title shots, two for the Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship and one for the Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship and would lose them all.^[7]

He made his World Wrestling Alliance debut on November 22 teaming with Edward G. Xtasy & Jimmy Snuka to defeat The Island Boys (Ekmo & Kimo) & Pat Piper. He would beat Danny Davis for the WWA Heavyweight Championship and would lose it to Jonah Adelman.^[7]

World Wrestling Entertainment (2002-2007)[link]

Ohio Valley Wrestling and Smackdown!(2002–2007)[link]

Stevens signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) after receiving numerous try-out matches on Heat against opponents such as Stevie Richards, Team Angle, Johnny Nitro and Maven.^[1][8][9] He also worked an angle where he had his fingers "broken" by Raven on Heat.

He later was reassigned to WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), dubbed Aaron "The Idol" Stevens.^[1] At a house show in 2004, Stevens and Nova beat Chris Cage and Tank Toland to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship.^[10]

On January 4, 2006, Stevens won the OVW Television Championship after replacing Ken Doane in a three-way dance with Brent Albright and then-champion CM Punk.^[11] Doane was injured halfway through the match and Stevens came out to replace him.^[12] After interference from Punk, who was eliminated earlier in the match by Albright, Stevens was able to pin Albright to win the title.^[12] At the March 8 television taping, Paul Burchill cost Stevens the Television Championship against Seth Skyfire.^[13][14]

On August 4, 2006, Stevens made his SmackDown! debut as "Idol Stevens" when he was introduced (along with KC James) by Michelle McCool as one of her favorite "Teachers Pets".^[15] The two went on to defeat Funaki and Scotty 2 Hotty with the help of McCool.^[15]

The following week, Stevens and James defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Paul London and Brian Kendrick in a non-title match.^[16] On the August 18 show, Stevens and James ambushed the Tag Team Champions.^[17] The two teams began feuding, with London and Kendrick bringing in Ashley Massaro to counteract McCool.^[18] The feud also briefly encompassed the team of Jamie Noble and Kid Kash, who also wanted a Tag Team title shot.^[19][20] Stevens and James got their Tag Team Championship shot against the tandem at No Mercy on October 8, but failed to win the titles.^[21][22] Soon after, both Stevens and James were taken off television and sent back to Ohio Valley Wrestling.^[1]

After being removed from the SmackDown! roster when Michelle McCool was hospitalized, Stevens returned to OVW. He would lose to Charles Evans upon his return and no mention of his tag team venture with KC James was made.^[1] On March 14, 2007 he defeated Paul Burchill to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship.^[23] On May 9, after title defences against Cody Runnels and Mike Mondo, Burchill defeated Stevens to regain the OVW Championship.^[24]The championship would then be vacated and Stevens would lose to Jay Bradley in a three way including Burchill. On June 8, Stevens defeated Burchill in a Number One OVW Heavyweight Contendership match.^[25] He used his title shot in a three way which would once again include champion Jay Bradly and Paul Burchill, however, the match would not only be for Bradley's title but also Stevens's car and Burchill's house, Bradley defeated both men and therefore winning all three items.^[26] His last match for OVW before being released would be a two rings steel cage flag match where along with Al Snow, Atlas DaBone, Chet The Jett, Colt Cabana would defeat Michael W. Kruel, Ramon, Raul, The Belgium Brawler & Vladimir Kozlov.^[26]

Independent circuit (2008–2010)[link]

Idol made his return to the independent circuit at NWA 60th Anniversary Show losing to Mike DiBiase II in a match for the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship. He would go on to appear for XCW Wrestling Mid-West and Derby City Wrestling for the next few months before re-signing with OVW. On November 7, 2008 he lost to Steve Boz at A Tribute Fit For The King, a tribute show for Jerry Lawler.

Ohio Valley Wrestling Return (2008-2009)[link]

Idol returned to OVW once again on November 12, 2008 surprising and defeating OVW Heavyweight Champion, Anthony Bravado, in a non-title bout. This win guaranteed him a title shot. On November 26, he won the Championship, becoming a two time champion.^[23] On December 3, 2008 he teamed up with U-Gene to take part in OVW Southern Tag Team Championship number one contendership tournament, in round one they defeated Theta Lampda Psi. However a week later the team would lose to Anthony Bravado & The Buck. He lost the title to Vaughn Lilas at the January 14, 2009 television taping. In February 2009, he lost to Mike Mondo in an OVW Television Championship match which included Johnny Punch. His last match for OVW came on February 11, in a rematch for the championship where Mondo was once victorious.^[26]

World Wrestling Council (2009-2010)[link]

Idol returned to Puerto Rico, but in a different promotion, the World Wrestling Council, where he was the "protegido" of Jose Chaparro and a member of the "American Family". He debuted on February 28, 2009, defeating Angel. He defeated BJ for the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship,^[6] before losing it to Shane Sewell. On August 15, 2009, Stevens and Shawn Spears defeated Thunder and Lightning to become the new WWC World Tag Team Champions. Later Stevens feuded with Shawn Spears which ended at Euphoria 2010. Stevens won the WWC Tag Team Champion with King Tonga Jr. by defeating Thunder and Lightning. On October 31 Stevens and Spears lost the Tag Team Championship back to Thunder and Lightning. On February 20, 2010, Chicano named Stevens his new Tag Team Championship partner to replace Bryan. On March 13 Thunder and Lightning defeated Stevens and Chicano to win the titles. After Stevens regained the titles with King Tonga Jr., the duo lost them to Los Aerios (Carlitos and Hiram Tua) on April 24, 2010.^[27] Stevens regained the Tag Team Championship from Los Aerios on June 11, 2010, this time teaming with Abbad and lost it to Thunder and Lightning in a three-way match, also involving BJ and Chicano, on July 11, 2010.^[28] His last match for WWC before signing with WWE cam on July 31, losing to Joe Don Smith.

Return to WWE[link]

Florida Championship Wrestling (2010–present)[link]

On July 14, 2010, it was reported that Stevens had signed a new developmental deal with the WWE, and had changed his ring name to Damien Sandow.^[29] On December 3, Sandow won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship with Titus O'Neill by defeating Xavier Woods and Mason Ryan in a match for the vacant championship.^[30] They lost the championship to Richie Steamboat and Seth Rollins on March 25, 2011.^[31] After losing the title, Sandow turned on O'Neill and joined the group formed by Lucky Cannon, Aksana and Maxine.^[32] On September 22, Sandow defeated Seth Rollins to win the FCW 15 Championship.^[33] On December 6, prior to the WWE SmackDown tapings, Sandow was given a tryout dark match against Yoshi Tatsu, but lost. On January 13, 2012, Sandow lost the FCW 15 Championship to Richie Steamboat.^[34]

SmackDown (2012-present)[link]

The character of Damien Sandow, an arrogant intellectual, first appeared in WWE on the April 6, 2012 episode of SmackDown in a pre-taped interview denouncing today's pop culture and extolling his virtues.^[35] After weeks of vignettes, Sandow debuted on the May 4 episode of SmackDown but refused to compete in his scheduled match against Derrick Bateman, claiming that the audience would neither learn nor benefit from him facing an inferior opponent.^[36][37] On the May 18 episode of SmackDown, Sandow again refused to wrestle against Yoshi Tatsu and then attacked him after Tatsu called him a chicken.^[38] The following week, Sandow made his in-ring debut, defeating Tatsu.^[39]

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • As Damien Sandow
    • Cross-armed neckbreaker^[39] – WWE
    • Curb Stomp (Standing surfboard followed into a head stomp)^[40] – FCW
    • M14 (Snap swinging neckbreaker)^[41] – FCW
  • As Aaron Stevens
    • Idolizer (Snap swinging neckbreaker)^[1]

• Signature moves
  • As Damien Sandow
    • Russian legsweep^[39][42]
  • As Aaron Stevens
    • Idol Lock (Figure four leglock)^[1]

• Nicknames
  • "Mr. Big Time"^[1]
  • "The Idol"^[1]
  • "The Intellectual Savior of the Masses"^[43]

• Managers
  • Shelly Martinez^[44]
  • Beth Phoenix^[44][45]
  • Michelle McCool^[1]
  • Aksana^[32]
  • Lucky Cannon^[32]
  • Maxine^[32]

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• Chaotic Wrestling
  • Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[46]
  • Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Edward G. Xtasy^[47]

• Florida Championship Wrestling
  • FCW 15 Championship (1 time)^[33]
  • FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Titus O'Neill^[30]

• International Wrestling Association
  • IWA Hardcore Championship (1 time)^[48]

• Ohio Valley Wrestling
  • OVW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[23]
  • OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Nova^[10]
  • OVW Television Championship (1 time)^[11]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #277 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011^[49]

• World Wrestling Council
  • WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • WWC World Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Shawn Spears (1), Chicano (1), King Tonga Jr. (1), and Abbad (1)

References[link]