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Chicago
Chicago (
i/ʃɪˈkɑːɡoʊ/ or /ʃɪˈkɔːɡoʊ/) is the largest city in the US state of Illinois and the third most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. The city has around 2.7 million residents. Its metropolitan area, sometimes called "Chicagoland", is the third largest in the United States, with an estimated 9.8 million people. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, though a small portion also extends into DuPage County.
Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837, near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. Today, Chicago is listed as an alpha+ global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, and ranks seventh in the world on the 2012 Global Cities Index. The city retains its status as an international hub for finance, industry, telecommunications and infrastructure, with O'Hare International Airport being the second busiest airport in the world in terms of traffic movements. In 2008[update], the city hosted 45.6 million domestic and overseas visitors. Among metropolitan areas, Chicago has the 4th largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the world, ranking just behind Tokyo, New York City, and Los Angeles. Chicago is one of the most important Worldwide Centers of Commerce and trade.
wn.com/Chicago -
Hammerstein Ballroom
The Hammerstein Ballroom is a two-tiered, 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2) ballroom located within the Manhattan Center Studios on 311 West 34th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States of America. It is known for its elegant appearance and excellent acoustical design. The capacity of the ballroom is dependent on the configuration of the room; the ballroom seats 2,500 people for theatrical productions and musical performances, and several thousand for events held within a central ring. The two main balconies—which are unusually close to the ground and gently sloped—seat a total of 1,200. There are six shallow balconies which are normally used for celebrity guests. The floor slants down to the stage area to enable those in the back rows to see easily.
The Manhattan Center was constructed in 1906 by Oscar Hammerstein as the Manhattan Opera House, an alternative to the popular yet comparatively expensive Metropolitan Opera. In 1910, the Metropolitan Opera paid Hammerstein $1.2 million USD to stop operating the Manhattan Opera House as an opera venue for ten years. This led to the elaborately decorated theater being used for a variety of events, including vaudeville performances.
wn.com/Hammerstein_Ballroom -
Illinois
Illinois (
i/ˌɪlɨˈnɔɪ/ IL-i-NOY) is the 25th most extensive and the 5th most populous of the 50 United States, and is often noted as a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a broad economic base. Illinois is a major transportation hub. The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean; as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois River. For decades, O'Hare International Airport has ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics.
Although the state's largest population centers today are in northern Illinois, originally the state's population grew from south to north, with settlers arriving from Kentucky in the 1810s. In 1818, Illinois achieved statehood. Chicago was founded in the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago River, one of the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan. Railroads and John Deere's invention of the self-scouring steel plow turned Illinois' rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmlands, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars. The Great Migration established a large community of African Americans in Chicago that created the city's famous jazz and blues cultures.
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Madrid
Madrid (English /məˈdrɪd/, Spanish: [ma'ðrid]) is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third largest in the European Union after London and Paris. The city spans a total of 604.3 km2 (233.3 sq mi).
The city is located on the Manzanares river in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid (which comprises the city of Madrid, its conurbation and extended suburbs and villages); this community is bordered by the autonomous communities of Castile and León and Castile-La Mancha. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political centre of Spain. The current mayor is Ana Botella from the People's Party (PP).
Madrid urban agglomeration has the 3rd largest GDP in the European Union and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, environment, media, fashion, science, culture, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. Due to its economic output, high standard of living, and market size, Madrid is considered the major financial centre of Southern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula; it hosts the head offices of the vast majority of the major Spanish companies, such as Telefónica, Iberia or Repsol. Madrid is the most touristic city of Spain, the fourth-most touristic of the continent, and is the 10th most livable city in the world according to Monocle magazine, in its 2010 index. Madrid also ranks among the 12 greenest European cities in 2010. Madrid is currently a Candidate City for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
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The Mississauga News
The Mississauga News is an English language newspaper serving Mississauga, Ontario. It part of the Peel and Southwest Division of the Metroland Media Group, a Torstar company. Published twice a week, the Mississauga News is a perennial newspaper award winner, including best newspaper in Ontario and Canada, on several occasions. Most recently, The Mississauga News was named best all-round newspaper in the 2010 Canadian Community Newspaper Association Better Newspapers Competition.
The Mississauga News also publishes online at www.mississauga.com all days of the week, with new content being added 16 hours out of the day. The online offerings includes its print content along with video, blogs and multimedia galleries. The galleries cover news and events from Mississauga in pictures, video and slideshows.
Founded in 1965, the Mississauga News is characterized by its coverage of local issues, including those relating to civic politics, arts and entertainment, sports, crime, and recreation. "The Mississauga News" publishes two city-wide editions weekly, in addition to a weekly newspaper that targets apartments, condos and townhouses and The Mississauga Booster, a source of grass-roots information.
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Ace Steel
Chris Guy (born January 25, 1973) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Ace Steel. He is perhaps best known for his time with Ring of Honor and occasional appearances for World Wrestling Entertainment, as well as his stint with its Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental territory. He is a former 6 time ZCW World Heavyweight Champion.
Chris Guy became interested in professional wrestling after watching American Wrestling Association shows at the International Amphitheatre as a child. He debuted in October 1991 after training with Windy City Pro Wrestling, and began using the name "Ace Steel".
Steel eventually formed a tag team with Danny Dominion first known as the L.A. Connection in Windy City Wrestling then the "Hollywood Hardbodies". Along with Dominion, Steel operated the Steel Domain, a professional wrestling school and minor independent promotion, in Chicago between 1997 and 2001. Steel also wrestled for the Minnesota-based St. Paul Championship Wrestling promotion and the St. Louis-based promotion Mississippi Valley Wrestling Alliance.
wn.com/Ace_Steel -
Adam Birch
Adam Birch (born July 18, 1979) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler, also known by the ring names Joey Mercury and Joey Matthews. He is signed to WWE, and works as a trainer in WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling.
Birch was trained by fellow wrestler Jimmy Cicero and made his wrestling debut in October 1996, using the name Joey Matthews. The following year, he began competing for Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (MEWF), in which he began competing in tag team competition, where he captured the MEWF Tag Team Championship, alongside Christian York. Throughout the mid-1990s, Birch competed in various independent promotions, where he and York continued to work as a team. It was also during that time that he won various championships in singles and tag team competition.
In 2004, Birch signed with the WWE and was assigned to their developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky. While situated at OVW, he was placed in tag team competition, alongside Johnny Nitro, in which they won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship on one occasion. It was also during this time that he and Nitro, alongside their manager Melina, were known as the stable MNM.
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Adam Pearce
Adam Pearce (born June 24, 1978) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is a former four-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time PWG and NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion.
Pearce lettered in both football and baseball in high school. Between his junior and senior years, Pearce suffered from Acute Muscular Compartment Syndrome in both of his lower legs and underwent surgery. As a result, he had "pretty much learn how to walk all over again" and he stopped playing sports. During his convalescence, he met professional wrestling trainers Sonny Rogers and Randy Ricci, and began training with them in November 1995.
Pearce had his debut match on May 16, 1996, a few weeks before he graduated from high school. Pearce quickly began wrestling for independent professional wrestling promotions, especially in Milwaukee and Wisconsin. At this time, he also began traveling throughout Michigan with Dave Prazak, and he began working for Dan Curtis' Northern States Wrestling Alliance (NSWA). He was part of the "East Coast Invasion" angle where he had an early breakout match near Thanksgiving 1997 against Reckless Youth. Pearce sided with the local Michigan babyfaces charged with fighting off Youth, Don Montoya, Lance Diamond, and Twiggy Ramirez. A rematch between Pearce and Youth took place in Ian Rotten's Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA-Mid South) company, where Pearce had captured their IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship by defeating Cash Flo.
wn.com/Adam_Pearce -
Adrian Adonis
Keith A. Franke (September 12, 1954–July 4, 1988) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Adorable" Adrian Adonis.
Franke trained under Fred Atkins and debuted in 1974, wrestling under his own name. In the late 1970s, Franke adopted the ring name Adrian Adonis and the character of a brawling, leather jacket-clad biker.
In the late 1970s, Adonis joined the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based American Wrestling Association. In 1979, he formed a tag team with Jesse Ventura. The team was known as the East-West Connection on the basis that Adonis was from New York (in the East), while Ventura was billed as being from California (in the West). Adonis and Ventura were awarded the AWA World Tag Team Championship on July 20, 1980, when Verne Gagne, one half of the tag champions with Mad Dog Vachon, was unable to defend the title because he was vacationing in Europe. Adonis and Ventura held the belts until June 14, 1981, when they were defeated by Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell.
wn.com/Adrian_Adonis -
AJ Lee
April Jeanette Mendez (born March 19, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she wrestles as part of the SmackDown brand under the ring name AJ.
Mendez enrolled in a wrestling school in March 2007, and debuted six months later. In the following years, she performed for several Northeast-based independent promotions including Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU) as Miss April. In WSU, she was part of the AC Express alongside Brooke Carter and the duo held the WSU Tag Team Championship once. In May 2009, she signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's developmental promotion, using the ring name AJ Lee. In FCW, she was Queen of FCW and FCW Divas Champion, and was the first person to have held both titles. In 2010, she was part of the third season of NXT, having dropped her last name, and became part of WWE's SmackDown brand in May 2011, forming a tag team with Kaitlyn known as The Chickbusters.
wn.com/AJ_Lee -
Al Snow
Allen Ray Sarven (born July 18, 1963) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name of Al Snow. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment. Since 2010, Snow has worked as a road agent for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and with its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling, as a trainer and show producer.
Sarven attended a professional wrestling tryout camp held by Ole and Gene Anderson. There he met Jim Lancaster, promoter of Ohio's Midwest Championship Wrestling, who agreed to train him. Lancaster later described Sarven as "a leader in the ring" who "had drive and natural ability". He made his debut on May 22, 1982. Sarven defeated Lancaster on May 5, 1985 for the Midwest Championship Wrestling title.
Sarven wrestled in various independent promotions throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, capturing both tag team and singles titles, but failed to make any big breaks. He gained a reputation as "the best-kept secret in wrestling". Sarven helped train future Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Hall of Fame member and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dan Severn. During this time he would sometimes wrestle as Shinobi, a ninja-style masked gimmick. He wrestled in the November 19, 1994 tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but he lost to Chris Candido, the eventual winner of the tournament.
wn.com/Al_Snow -
Alberto Del Rio
Alberto Rodríguez (born May 25, 1977) is a Mexican professional wrestler signed to WWE, performing under the ring name Alberto Del Rio and appearing on the SmackDown brand. He is a former two-time WWE Champion, while also being the 2011 Royal Rumble winner, outlasting 39 other participants to win the largest Royal Rumble match ever, and 2011 Mr. Money in the Bank (Raw). Before working for WWE, Rodriguez used the name Dos Caras, Jr. as both a mixed martial artist and luchador in mostly Mexico and Japan. He worked in both of Mexico's main wrestling promotions and achieved success in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he is a former CMLL World Heavyweight Champion.
Son of noted luchador Dos Caras, nephew of Mil Máscaras and Sicodelico, and cousin to Sicodelico, Jr. and Hijo de Sicodelico, Rodríguez is part of one of the most well known Mexican wrestling families. The name Dos Caras translates to Two Faces, referring to the symbol of a double headed eagle on his mask.
Born in San Luis Potosí as the son of luchador Dos Caras. Rodríguez graduated from Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosí where he earned a degree in architecture. Growing up in a family of wrestlers Rodríguez decided to take up Greco-Roman wrestling, training under Leonel Kolesni and Juan Fernández. He earned a place on the Mexican national team in Greco-Roman wrestling and while competing on the national team obtained several accomplishments.[unreliable source?] In 1997, he placed third at the World Junior Championships, in the Czech Republic.[unreliable source?] He also won the Central American and Caribbean Games in his weight division three times and won a medal at the Pan American Games. Rodríguez was on track to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, but due to a lack of funding and support, Mexico did not send a wrestling team that year.
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Alex Riley
Kevin Robert Kiley, Jr. (born April 28, 1981) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Alex Riley. He is signed to WWE and he was a part of the second season of NXT.
In 2007, Kiley signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was assigned to their developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). On October 30, 2007, he debuted in a losing effort to Shawn Osbourne under his real name Kevin Kiley, and later faced off with wrestlers like Sebastian Slater and Jack Gabriel.
In September 2008, he changed his ring name to Carson Oakley. As Oakley he began teaming with Scotty Goldman, and the pairing unsuccessfully challenged TJ Wilson and David Hart Smith for the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship in November. In early, he underwent another name change, calling himself Alex Riley and developing the gimmick of a university jock, wearing a Letterman's jacket to the ring. He gained Beverly Mullins as a manager, and to fit with his jock gimmick, Mullins adopted the gimmick of a prom queen.
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Alicia Fox
Victoria Elizabeth Crawford (born June 30, 1986) is an American model and professional wrestler best known by her ring name Alicia Fox. She is signed to WWE where she performs on the SmackDown brand.
Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Crawford was a model. She signed a contract with WWE in 2006, and debuted in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a WWE developmental territory in July. That same year, on October 20, she won the OVW Women's Championship, but lost it the following day. Her reign is not officially recognized by OVW. The following year, she moved to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), another WWE developmental territory, where she competed regularly until 2009.
Crawford debuted on SmackDown in June 2008, using the name 'Alicia Fox' and the gimmick of a wedding planner. In November, she moved to the ECW brand, where she managed DJ Gabriel. As part of the Supplemental Draft, she moved back to SmackDown in April 2009, before being traded to the Raw brand two months later. Throughout the rest of 2009, Fox began unsuccessfully challenging for the WWE Divas Championship. She briefly managed Zack Ryder in May 2010, and the following month she won the Divas Championship for the first time. Fox held the championship until August 15. In late 2010, Fox appeared as a 'Pro' on the third season of NXT. She returned to the SmackDown brand in April 2011, as part of the 2011 supplemental draft.
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Amazing Red
Jonathan Figueroa (born April 26, 1982) is a professional wrestler better known by his ring name, (The) Amazing Red, or simply Red for short. He is best known for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is a former three-time X Division Champion, while also working on the American independent circuit. Figueroa is also one of the head trainers of the House of Glory wrestling school, based in Ridgewood, Queens, New York City. He is the cousin of wrestlers Joel and Jose Maximo and Rosita.
Figueroa originally wrestled as Red, but Savio Vega decided to expand his ring name to include the word "Amazing" while he worked for the International Wrestling Association in Puerto Rico, giving origin to his more common pseudonym, Amazing Red. Red, who was already known for his work in the United States independent circuit, joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling at its 2002 inception, quickly establishing himself in its X Division. During his first run in TNA Red held both the TNA X Division Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Jerry Lynn, simultaneously. While working for TNA he also wrestled for Ring of Honor as a member of the three man tag team The S.A.T. with cousins, Jose and Joel Maximo. Eventually he began to team with "The Phenomenal" A.J. Styles, becoming known together as Amazing Phenomenon. The team would go on to win the ROH Tag Team Championship from Christopher Daniels and Donovan Morgan.
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Amy Dumas
Amy Christine Dumas (born April 14, 1975), best known by her stage name Lita, is the lead singer for the band The Luchagors as well as a retired professional wrestler and WWE Diva active from 1999 to 2006.
After briefly working on the independent circuit and in Extreme Championship Wrestling, Dumas signed with World Wrestling Federation in 1999. Originally, she was paired with Essa Rios, but she achieved her greatest push alongside Matt and Jeff Hardy as Team Xtreme. Throughout her career, she won the WWE Women's Championship four times. During her tenure with the company she became arguably the most popular Diva in the company's history.
Dumas had an off-screen relationship with Matt Hardy, which ended in 2005 after an affair with Adam Copeland. WWE used the real-life drama between the trio as a storyline throughout 2005 and 2006, which led to Dumas being booed by the fans for the first time and her character becoming villainous on-screen. The relationship also led to the firing of Hardy in 2005, although he was rehired later in the year.
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André the Giant
André René Roussimoff (19 May 1946 – 27 January 1993), best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. His best remembered acting role was that of Fezzik, the giant in the film The Princess Bride. His size was a result of acromegaly, and led to him being called "The Eighth Wonder of the World".
In the World Wrestling Federation (now known as WWE), Roussimoff was a one-time WWF Champion and a one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. In 1993, he was the first inductee into the WWF Hall of Fame.
André Roussimoff was born in Grenoble, France to parents of Bulgarian and Polish ancestry. As a child, he very early displayed symptoms of his gigantism, reaching a height of 6'3" (190.5 cm) and weight of 240 pounds (110 kg) by age 12. Unable to fit on the school bus, he was driven to school by playwright Samuel Beckett, a friend of his father. Roussimoff was a good student, but he dropped out after the 8th grade since he did not think having a high school education was necessary for a farm laborer. He then worked on a farm, completed an apprenticeship in woodworking, and next worked in a factory that manufactured engines for hay balers. None of these brought him any satisfaction.
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Antonio Pugliese
Antonio Pugliese (1941–August 19, 2000), born in Cosenza, Italy, was a professional wrestler. He is better known by his ring name Tony Parisi. Pugliese was primarily a tag team wrestler, and he won tag team titles in several organizations, including the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), and World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). He held the WWWF World Tag Team Championship from 1975 to 1976. As a singles wrestler, he also won the WWF International Heavyweight Championship. After retiring from wrestling, Pugliese continued to work in the industry and also operated a hotel and restaurant. He died in 2000 after suffering a heart attack.
Pugliese made his professional wrestling debut in Detroit, Michigan in 1961. He soon began competing in Canada, where he was a popular babyface (fan favorite) wrestler. In one of his first matches, he faced Gino Brito, who later became his long-time tag team partner. Pugliese and Brito moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1962 to wrestle in a promotion operated by Nick Gulas; they won the promotion's tag team title within two weeks of their arrival. Throughout his career, Pugliese formed many tag teams in various promotions with other wrestlers of Italian descent, including Dominic DeNucci, Tony Marino, and David Sammartino (who competed as Bruno Sammartino, Jr.).
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Ariane Andrew
Ariane Nicole Andrew (born November 3, 1987) is an American professional wrestler and manager currently working for WWE performing on their Raw brand, under the ring name Cameron and competes in their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), under the ring name Cameron Lynn. In 2011, she was a contestant on Tough Enough.
Andrew graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in business marketing and a Bachelor of Science in psychology from California State University. She moved to North Hollywood, California, where she worked as a behavior therapist for autistic children.
In March 2011, Andrew was announced as one of the fourteen contestants for the revival of WWE Tough Enough as Ariane was the 1st contestant to be eliminated from the show because of her lack of passion for the wrestling industry.
Immediately after being eliminated on the revival season of Tough Enough, Andrew confirmed on her official Twitter account that WWE had signed her to a developmental contract as she would then make her debut in July 7, 2011 as a ring announcer at a FCW House Show. It was not until July 9 that she made her in-ring debut, under the new ring name Cameron Lynn, in a divas battle royal, which consisted of Audrey Marie, Caylee Turner, Kaitlyn, Maxine, Raquel Diaz, Sonia and Aksana, in which she was eliminated first.
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Austin Aries
Daniel Healy "Dan" Solwold, Jr. (born April 15, 1978) better known by his ring name Austin Aries, is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is the current and longest reigning X Division Champion. He is also known for performing in Ring of Honor, where he became the first and thus far only two-time ROH World Champion.
Solwold began training under Eddie Sharkey and Terry Fox in 2000 and debuted on November 11, 2000, facing "Sheriff" Johnny Emerald. He wrestled in the midwest for several years before his east coast wrestling career was jumpstarted after he progressed to the finals of the 2004 ECWA Super 8 Tournament, where he was defeated by Christopher Daniels.
From there, he joined Ring of Honor. Aries made his ROH main show debut at ROH: Reborn Stage 2 in Chicago Ridge, Illinois on April 24, 2004. Aries was unsuccessful, however, losing a four corner survival match also involving Jimmy Rave, Rocky Romero, and the winner, Nigel McGuinness. Aries was scheduled to return at the May 22 show, Generation Next, to compete in a one night series which would showcase young, upcoming ROH talent. Alex Shelley, however, hand-picked Aries, along with Roderick Strong and Jack Evans, as members of a new stable (also meant to promote young, upcoming ROH talent) who, instead of earning their spots, would simply take them. The group took the name Generation Next as their own.
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Bam Bam Bigelow
Scott Charles Bigelow (September 1, 1961 – January 19, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, best known by the ring name Bam Bam Bigelow. His professional wrestling career spanned twenty-one years. Bigelow had a distinctive flame tattoo that spanned most of his bald head and was known for being agile despite his size of nearly 400 pounds (180 kg).
Bigelow worked in major wrestling promotions, including the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), the original Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion, and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He held multiple championships in both ECW and WCW, and thirteen throughout his career. Among other accolades, he was a former world champion, having held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once, and a two-time WCW World Tag Team Champion. Although he never held any titles in the WWF, he main-evented multiple pay-per-views for the promotion, including WrestleMania XI.
In early 1987, Bigelow wrestled in the Continental Wrestling Association, teaming with Jerry Lawler to feud with Austin Idol and Tommy Rich.
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Barry Darsow
Barry Darsow (born October 6, 1959) is a former American professional wrestler who is known as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition, and as Krusher Kruschev, Repo Man, and The Blacktop Bully. Throughout his career he worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and several regional promotions in the 1980s and 1990s. He is a four-time former world tag team champion, winning three WWF World tag team titles as part of Demolition and one NWA World tag team title as part of a three-man team with Ivan and Nikita Koloff (although the NWA no longer recognizes any former tag team champions prior to 1992; Darsow's championship is considered part of the WCW World tag team championship lineage), and a one-time NWA United States tag team champion.
Darsow attended high school in Robbinsdale, Minnesota with six other future wrestlers: Curt Hennig, Richard Rood (Rick Rude), Brady Boone, Tom Zenk, John Nord (The Berzerker), and Scott Simpson (Nikita Koloff). He also worked as a bouncer with the Road Warriors, Hawk and Animal.
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Beth Phoenix
Elizabeth Kocianski Carolan (born November 24, 1980) is a Polish-American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Beth Phoenix. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand and is a former WWE Divas Champion.
Carolan had a successful amateur wrestling career in high school, before being trained by the All Knighters. After her debut in May 2001, she wrestled for numerous independent promotions, and was the inaugural GLORY Champion. She also appeared at the inaugural Shimmer shows. In 2004, she began working for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), and signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in October 2005. She first debuted on WWE's Raw brand in May 2006, but suffered a legitimate broken jaw the following month. As a result, she had numerous surgeries and returned to OVW for further training. While there, she twice won the OVW Women's Championship, although her second reign is not officially recognized.
She returned to the Raw brand in July 2008, and was heavily pushed, dominating the other WWE Divas and gaining the nickname, "The Glamazon". She won her first WWE Women's Championship at the No Mercy pay-per-view in October, and held it for six months. She then developed an on-screen relationship with Santino Marella, dubbed "Glamarella", and won the Women's Championship for a second time in August 2008, although she lost it in January 2009. In January 2010, at the Royal Rumble she became the second woman in history to enter the Royal Rumble match, and went on to win the Women's Championship for the third time in April, holding it for a month. In October 2011, Phoenix won the WWE Divas Championship for the first time.
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Big Show
{{Infobox professional wrestler | name = Captain Insano | names = Captain Insano
The Giant
Paul Wight | image = Big-Show-T4.jpg | caption = | height = 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | weight = 441 lb (200 kg) | birth_date = (1972-02-08) February 8, 1972 (age 40) | birth_place = Aiken, South Carolina | resides = Tampa, Florida | trainer = Larry Sharpe
Jim Duggan
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Wight made his first appearance at Slamboree in 1995 as an unknown giant at three foot seven man during the main event of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage versus Ric Flair and Vader. Wight debuted in WCW at The Great American Bash on June 18, 1995 as a plant during the match between Arn Anderson and The Renegade, who was accompanied by manager Jimmy Hart. Nearly a month later at a Main Event show, prior to Bash at the Beach, Wight interfered in an interview between Hulk Hogan and "Mean" Gene Okerlund. Wight introduced himself as The Giant, and claimed in the storyline to be the son of André the Giant and blaming Hulk Hogan for the death of his "father". The Giant joined the Dungeon of Doom, who were at war with Hogan and his allies, and immediately began a heated feud with Hogan. At Fall Brawl, after his team won a WarGames match, Hogan earned five minutes fighting the leader of the Dungeon of Doom, "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan, in the cage alone – at this point, Giant attacked Hogan, saving Sullivan.
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Bill Eadie
Bill Eadie (born December 27, 1947) is a professional wrestler who has competed under the names of Ax as part of Demolition and The Masked Superstar. He was a high school teacher and coach at Cambridge High School in Cambridge, Ohio, and at East Liverpool, Ohio.
Eadie started wrestling in 1973, making his debut in the Detroit territory of the Sheik (Ed Farhat). He wrestled under a mask as the tag team " Para-Medics". He then wrestled in Pittsburgh, Detroit, WWWF, and the IWA as Bolo Mongol, the new partner of his trainer, Geeto Mongol. He soon entered the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling territory and donned a mask as The Masked Superstar. Given the character at the advice of matchmaker George Scott. It was stated that he was an Olympic champion by various wrestling promoters.He challenged opponents with a $10,000 reward to whoever could break his Cobra clutch, as well as utilizing the deadly "Swinging Clothesline." The Masked Superstar was 6' 3" and weighed 300 lbs and created many mismatches due to his size, strength and catlike quickness. He had many bouts with the Mighty Igor, Paul Jones, Blackjack Mulligan, Mr. Wrestling II and "Wildfire" Tommy Rich, Dick Murdoch, etc. He was the first wrestler (Along with Blackjack Mulligan) to have 1 hour cagematches back in 1977.Then have a series of "12" ninety minute cage matches against Mulligan. It is believed that neither feat of hour or hour and half cage matches has since been performed by wrestlers. He is one of the first wrestlers to body slam André the Giant. Among other accomplishments, he won four Georgia Heavyweight titles and unified that title with the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. He also competed in the World Wrestling Federation against many top wrestlers in 1983-84. He fought against many top level opponents, including then WWF Champion Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan and the Iron Sheik, Jimmy Snuka and others.
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Bill Goldberg
William Scott "Bill" Goldberg (born December 27, 1966) is a former professional wrestler best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He is famous for his lengthy undefeated streak in singles competition) The official count is listed as 173-0, although some have disputed the legitimacy of that total.
Goldberg is recognized by WWE as a two-time world champion: a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and one-time World Heavyweight Champion, with both reigns represented by the Big Gold Belt. He was the first of four men to hold a version of the Big Gold Belt in both WCW and WWE, later followed by Chris Benoit, Booker T and Big Show. He is also recognized by WWE as a two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion and one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (with Bret Hart).
Before he was a professional wrestler, Goldberg was a football player. After retiring from wrestling, he began working as a commentator for the mixed martial arts promotion EliteXC until its closure. He is currently hosting the television show Garage Mahal on the DIY Network.
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Bob Backlund
Robert Lee "Bob" Backlund (born August 14, 1949) is an American professional wrestler with an in-ring career that spanned over 30 years. Over that time, he was a two-time WWWF/WWF Champion. Backlund holds the records for the second longest reign as WWE Champion in history, behind Bruno Sammartino.
Backlund was also an accomplished amateur wrestler wrestling for the North Dakota State University Bison in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Backlund continues to work in the pro wrestling business in various capacities. In 2000, Backlund unsuccessfully ran for a Connecticut seat in Congress on a Republican ticket.
In 1969 during his freshman year, Backlund was an All American in both football and wrestling (191 lbs finishing 3rd) while at Waldorf Junior College in Forest City, IA. During his sophomore campaign, Backlund focused on wrestling and once again earned All American Honors (190 lbs and National Runner Up). Backlund was an amateur wrestler at North Dakota State University, winning the Division II NCAA Championship at 190 pounds in 1971. In 1972 Backlund moved up to the Heavyweight class and finished 5th at the NCAA DII Nationals. Graduate of Princeton, MN High School where he was a state finalist in wrestling. He graduated from North Dakota State University with a degree in physical education.
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Bob Holly
Robert "Bob" Howard (born January 29, 1963) better known by his ring name Bob "Hardcore" Holly, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his 15-year stint with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
After debuting in 1990, Holly worked for Smoky Mountain Wrestling and other independent promotions, before joining WWE full-time in 1994. Initially portraying the character of a NASCAR driver, Thurman "Sparky" Plugg, his name was soon changed to Bob "Spark Plug" Holly, before forming a team with "Bodacious Bart", known as The New Midnight Express in 1998. After becoming known simply as "Hardcore Holly" in 1999, he was joined by on-screen cousins, Crash and Molly. In 2002, he suffered a broken neck, which sidelined him for over a year. Upon his return, he engaged in minor feuds with wrestlers such as Mr. Kennedy and Rob Van Dam, before forming a tag team with Cody Rhodes in 2007. Holly was released from WWE in 2009.
During his career, Holly has held the WWF/E Hardcore Championship seven times, the WWF/E Tag Team Championship three times (with 1-2-3 Kid, Crash Holly and Cody Rhodes), and the NWA World Tag Team Championship once with Bart Gunn.
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Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis "Ray" Heenan (born November 1, 1944), better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, is a former American professional wrestling manager and color commentator, best known for his time with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He was known for his skill in drawing heel heat for himself and his wrestlers, and for his on-screen repartee with Gorilla Monsoon as a color commentator. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, formerly WWF) has described Heenan as "one of sports-entertainment's best loved legends".
Heenan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004 by Blackjack Lanza.
Always a fan of wrestling growing up in Chicago and Indianapolis, Heenan started in the wrestling profession early on, carrying bags and jackets for the wrestlers, and selling refreshments at the events. Dropping out of school in the eighth grade to support his mother and grandmother, Heenan's first break in the wrestling business was as a heel manager and wrestler in 1965 when he was known as "Pretty Boy" Bobby Heenan. His gimmick over the years has more or less remained the same, a tough talking big mouth who cowered in fear when being physically confronted. At the time, heels were often given managers to speak for them in interviews, rile up the crowd during matches, and cheat on their behalf. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan went on to manage some of the most successful wrestlers in the world, creating "The Heenan Family", a stable that existed in several different incarnations and wrestling promotions for over 20 years. Heenan did not like the term "stable", stating that it should only refer to a place to keep horses.[citation needed]
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Bobby Lashley
Franklin Roberto "Bobby" Lashley (born July 16, 1976) is an American mixed martial artist, actor, and former collegiate amateur wrestler as well as a former professional wrestler. During his professional wrestling career, he was best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a one-time United States Champion and a two-time world champion, having had two reigns as ECW World Champion.
Lashley attended Missouri Valley College, where he won three national college amateur wrestling championships between 1996 and 1998 and placed fourth in 1995. In 1997 and 1998, he was the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Wrestling Champion. Lashley later joined the United States Army, where he continued to wrestle. He was training for the Olympics in 2003, when he suffered a knee injury while doing business at a bank where a robbery broke out. The injury ended his Olympic plans, and Lashley went into pro wrestling soon after.
In November 2004, Lashley began working in the professional wrestling area and signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. He was assigned to the development territory Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he was known as Blaster Lashley, and was a member of the Bolin Services stable along with Mike Mondo and Ken Doane. However during that time Bolin Services began to crumble with Lashley refusing to help Doane win matches, resulting in him turning face and going by his Bobby Lashley name.
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Brad Maddox
Brent Wellington is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE and works in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's developmental territory, as Brad Maddox. Alongside Briley Pierce he held the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship once. He is a former OVW Heavyweight Champion and OVW Television Champion
He dubuted on April 2, 2008 on the OVW tapings teaming up with Galvin Garrison against Dewey and Adam Revolver, which they lost, he used the name Brent Wellington. He won his first match at October 1, 2008 in an 8-Man Tag Team match, alongside Galvin Garrison and Moose, they called themselves Theta Lambda Psi. On December 24, 2008 Wellington had a title match for the OVW Heavyweight Championship against Aaron "The Idol" Stevens, which he lost.
After he was defeated he renamed himself to "Brent Beef Wellington" and changed his attitude, he had his first match under his new name at "OVW" Tapings January 14, 2009 winning with his Theta Lambda Psi team against Ted McNalerand Adam revolver which they won. The Theta Lambda Psi Tag team was split in April 2009 where Wellington first won a match against Moose then lost one where he was hit with a paddle. On July 26, 2009 he competed for the OVW Television Championship against Jamin Olivencia, he won the match to win his first Championship. His reign lasted 45 days when he was defeated by his former Theta Lambda Psi mate Moose at the "OVW" Tapings on September 9, 2009. On 27 February 2010 Wellington won the vacant OVW Heavyweight Championship by winning a Battle Royal. His reign lasted 90 days when he lost the title on 29 May 2010 to Mike Mondo.
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Brent Albright
Brent Alan Albright (born November 28, 1978) is an American professional wrestler, perhaps best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment, during which he appeared on Friday Night SmackDown! as Gunner Scott. He is a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, having defeated Adam Pearce in New York, New York at Ring of Honor's Death Before Dishonor VI event on August 2, 2008.
Albright signed a development contract in early 2004 and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling. During his time with Ohio Valley Wrestling, Albright was both OVW Heavyweight Champion and OVW Television Champion, as well as co-holder of the OVW Southern Tag-Team Championship with World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler Chris Masters. Albright was the first 'Triple Crown' winner in OVW, winning all 3 major titles.
Albright was the first-ever OVW 'Beat the Champ' TV champion, which is now simply called the OVW TV title. He defeated Seth Skyfire on January 26, 2005 to win the title. He held that title until April 30, 2005 when he won his first Ohio Valley Wrestling Championship by defeating Matt Morgan with the 'Crowbar'. Albright vacated the TV title shortly after winning the OVW title. He was also the first 'Dual Title Holder' in OVW history. He held the OVW championship until August 3, when he lost to Johnny Jeter.
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Bret Hart
Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian American writer, actor and retired professional wrestler currently signed with WWE under a Legends contract. Like others in the Hart wrestling family, Hart has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College. Along with his famed "Hit Man" nickname, Hart was known by the monikers "The Excellence of Execution", "The Best There Is, The Best There Was, and The Best There Ever Will Be" and "The Pink and Black Attack"—the latter being in reference to his ring attire, as well as his signature mirrored sunglasses, which he routinely gave away to a young audience member before matches.
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Briscoe Brothers
The Briscoe Brothers are the professional wrestling tag team of Jay and Mark Briscoe. They are currently wrestling for the American promotions Ring of Honor, Full Impact Pro, Combat Zone Wrestling, as well as occasionally for the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah.
Their wrestling careers have seen them work in promotions all over the United States and the world, beginning in the northeast United States with the East Coast Wrestling Association and Combat Zone Wrestling. They have won tag team championships in nearly every promotion they have worked for, and are seen as a consistent draw and one of the best tag teams on the independent circuit.
Best known for working in Ring of Honor (ROH), the Briscoe Brothers are the only wrestlers currently working for the company who were featured on its first-ever event in February 2002. Other than an 18-month absence from August 2004 to February 2006, the brothers have been focal points of the company throughout its history, feuding with some of their biggest stars and holding the ROH World Tag Team Championship a record seven times as a team. On December 29, 2007, during their fourth reign, the Briscoe Brothers became the longest reigning tag team champions in ROH history. The record was broken three years later by The Kings of Wrestling.
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Britani Knight
Saraya-Jade Bevis is an English professional wrestler better known by her ring name Britani Knight. She is signed to WWE, working in its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) under the ring name Paige.
Bevis is part of a professional wrestling family. Both her father and mother, known as Ricky Knight and Sweet Saraya respectively, are professional wrestlers, as is her older brother Zak.
Bevis was trained at the WAW Academy by her family and Jason Cross, and has also trained with Johnny Saint, Danny Boy Collins, Steve Grey, and Brian Maxine. She made her debut in 2005, and has wrestled throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.
Bevis, using the ring name Britani Knight, made her debut for the European all-female promotion on 8 May 2010, along with her mother Saraya Knight. She did not start well for the promotion; although she appeared in the main event at the first taping, she lost to Greek wrestler Blue Nikita. She also lost to Jetta in what was purportedly her opponent's last tour of wrestling. On 16 October 2010 she had her first win against Shanna. On 8 April 2011 she participated in a two-night tournament to crown the first ever Pro-Wrestling: EVE Champion. In the first night, she won a Last Chance Battle Royal, then defeated Jenny Sjödin in the quarter final match. The next day, she defeated Jetta in the semi-final match, and later in the finals defeated Nikki Storm to win the Pro Wrestling EVE Championship. On 4 June 2011 at the XWA War On The Shore 7 show, she lost the Pro Wrestling EVE Championship to Sjödin.
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Brock Lesnar
Brock Edward Lesnar (/ˈlɛznər/; born July 12, 1977) is an American professional wrestler, actor, former mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler, signed with WWE and appearing on its Raw brand. He is also a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and former #1 ranked mixed martial arts (MMA) Heavyweight by Sherdog; he was ranked #5 before he announced his retirement at the end of 2011. Lesnar is an accomplished amateur wrestler, winning the 2000 NCAA heavyweight wrestling championship and placing second in 1999, losing in the finals to 1999 world freestyle wrestling champion and future New England Patriots offensive lineman Stephen Neal.
He gained prominence in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from 2002 to 2004, where he is a former three-time WWE Champion, becoming the youngest WWE Champion at age 25 with his first reign. Lesnar was the 2002 King of the Ring and the winner of the 2003 Royal Rumble. After leaving WWE, Lesnar pursued a career in the NFL. He played during the preseason for the Minnesota Vikings, but ended up being a late cut. Lesnar returned to professional wrestling at the end of 2005, and joined New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in his first match. He was officially stripped of the title by NJPW in July 2006, and took the physical belt with him to Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), where he was still recognized as IWGP Champion until June 2007.
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Brodie Lee
Jon Huber (born 1979) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Brodie Lee. He is currently signed to WWE, working in its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) under the ring name Luke Harper. He is best known for his work on the North American independent circuit, working for promotions such as Alpha-1 Wrestling, Chikara, Combat Zone Wrestling, Dragon Gate USA, Jersey All Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor.
After being trained by Kirby Marcos and Rik Matrix in Rochester, New York, and Tony Mamaluke in Schenectady, New York, Huber made his professional wrestling debut for NWA Upstate on October 7, 2003, adopting the ring name Brodie Lee, which he got from the movie Mallrats by combining the names of actor Jason Lee and his character Brodie Bruce. Huber names Rick Rude, Jake Roberts and Big Show as his influences. He would go on to win multiple championships with NWA Upstate, including the Heavyweight Championship on two separate occasions and the No Limits Television Championship, which he would go on to unify with the Kayfabe Dojo Championship.
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Brodus Clay
George Murdoch (born February 21, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Brodus Clay. He is signed to WWE and its Raw brand. He was the runner-up on the fourth season of NXT.
Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Murdoch worked as a bodyguard for Snoop Dogg.
After signing a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Murdoch was assigned to Deep South Wrestling (DSW), a WWE developmental territory. He debuted in September 2006, and began using the ring name G-Rilla along with adopting the gimmick of a gangsta thug. In his first match for the promotion, he defeated Big Bully Douglas in a dark match on September 7. The following month, he became the enforcer for Urban Assault, a tag team composed of Eric Pérez and Sonny Siaki. On December 14, Urban Assault was joined by Afa Jr., and the following week, Perez, Siaki, and Afa Jr. attacked Murdoch, throwing him out of the group. The same month, Murdoch wrestled in two dark matches against Scotty 2 Hotty at SmackDown! house shows while using his real name, winning the first but losing the second. In early January 2007, G-Rilla feuded with Urban Assault, attacking the members during matches. He then formed a tag team with the Freakin' Deacon, with the pair defeating Urban Assault in their first match together. They went on to defeat teams including Frankie Coverdale and Bob Hoskins, the Samoan Fight Club of Siaki and Afa Jr., Shawn Osborne and Jon Bolen, and Robert Anthony and Johnny Curtis. In March, they faced and defeated the DSW Tag Team Champions, Team Elite (Mike Knox and Derrick Neikirk) in two successive non-title matches.
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Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (born October 6, 1935) is an Italian-American former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign in professional wrestling history.
Sammartino's wrestling style was more mat-oriented which was typical of wrestlers from his era. His brawling, power moves, and personal charisma helped him become the most popular American wrestler in the 1960s and 1970s.
Born in Pizzoferrato, Abruzzo, Italy on October 6, 1935, Sammartino was the youngest of seven brothers and sisters. Four older siblings died during his time in Italy. During his childhood, Sammartino's family hid from German soldiers in a mountain called Valla Rocca, during the latter stages of World War II. During this time, Sammartino's mother, Emilia, would sneak into their German-occupied town for food and supplies. She once was captured and another time shot in the shoulder during such trips. Eventually, Sammartino caught rheumatic fever but was nursed back to health by his mother with hot blankets and leeches. In 1950, he moved to the United States and settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his father had already lived for several years.
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Byron Saxton
Bryan Jesus Kelly (born August 20, 1981) is an American professional wrestler, manager, color commentator and former journalist. He is currently signed to WWE, working in their developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) under the ring name Byron Saxton. He was a competitor in the fourth season of NXT, and was competing in the show's fifth season, NXT Redemption. until his elimination on May 31, 2011.
Kelly was raised in Burke, Virginia and Orlando, Florida. He studied at the University of Florida, where he worked as a producer and a reporter for WRUF-AM, WUFT-FM and WUFT-TV. He graduated in 2003. Kelly worked for WJXT Channel 4 News in Jacksonville, Florida as an associate producer and was then promoted to work on camera as a traffic reporter.
He signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). Kelly, at first using his real name, made his FCW debut on October 13, 2007, losing to Hade Vansen. His next appearance was just over a week later on October 23, when he lost to "The Carnival Freak" Sinn Bowdee. Kelly competed sporadically in FCW over the next few months, winning a six-man tag team match against Vansen, Sheamus O'Shaunessy and Bowdee with Rycklon Stephens and Chet Douglas as his partners, but losing a singles match to Afa Jr. a few weeks later. He finished off 2007 with a win against Tommy Taylor on December 18.
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Camille Tourville
Camille Tourville (1927-December 24, 1985) was a professional wrestler and manager better known as Tarzan Tyler. He was one-half of the first WWF Tag Team Champions, along with Luke Graham. He died December 24, 1985 at the age of 58.
Tarzan Tyler began competing in the United States during the 1960s after having spent nearly 10 years wrestling in Canada. Tyler competed for World Championships against such stars as Verne Gagne, Lou Thesz, and Dory Funk, Jr. His greatest success came as a tag team competitor, as he and Crazy Luke Graham defeated the team of Dick the Bruiser and The Shiek in 1971 to become the first WWF World Tag Team Champions.
Tarzan Tyler died, along with fellow wrestler Pierre 'Mad Dog' Lefebvre and referee Adrien Desbois, in Laurentides Provincial Park upon returning from a wrestling event in Chicoutimi, Quebec on December 24, 1985, in a car crash.
He was a 3-time heavyweight champion for Grand Prix Wrestling in Montreal in the 1970s.
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Carlos Cabrera
Carlos Rodrigo Cabrera (born October 18, 1959) is a former newsman and currently employed with WWE, where he is one half of the company's Spanish announce team in which he is the play-by-play announcer. His longtime broadcast partner was the former Ecuadorian professional wrestler Hugo Savinovich, who was the color commentator on the announce team until October 2011. Currently, his partner is Marcelo Rodríguez.
Cabrera was born in Bogota, Colombia. During his career as a newsman and radio personality, Cabrera has obtained many coveted awards, including the ACE Awards both in Radio and TV categories. Cabrera has one of the most recognizable voices in both Spanish radio and TV in the United States and is constantly used as a voiceover announcer for many important corporations and brand names that wish to advertise their products nationally.
Cabrera has worked for WWE since 1993 and, alongside Hugo Savinovich and presently Marcelo Rodríguez, has been the Spanish announcer on Spanish language versions of Raw, SmackDown, Superstars, NXT, and pay-per-view (PPV) events. Their audio can be accessed in the United States via the SAP feature on most TV sets. Cabrera and Savinovich have a show on WWE.com called WWE En Español (WWE in Spanish), a thirty-minute program that serves as a recap of RAW, SmackDown, NXT, and pay-per-view events. The duo taped their one-hundredth episode in April 2006. Rodríguez was a frequent substitute host of the program until October 2011, when he became permanent co-host following the departure of Savinovich from the company. For a brief period, Cabrera and Savinovich starred in a Spanglish mini-show called 28 Segundos.
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Carly Colón
Carlos Edwin "Carly" Colón, Jr. (born on February 21, 1979) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler better known internationally by his ring name Carlito. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), but was released from his contract on May 21, 2010. In his native Puerto Rico, he is known as both Carly Colón and Carlito. Colón occasionally still performs in the World Wrestling Council (WWC). He is a 13-time WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion.
In 2003, Colón signed a developmental contract with WWE. He worked in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for sixteen months, mostly wrestling in tag team matches while making appearances in WWC. On October 7, 2004, Colón made his debut performing on the main event of SmackDown! as Carlito Caribbean Cool. Colón is a former United States Champion and Intercontinental Champion and has been part of both the Raw and SmackDown brands. He is the only wrestler to win a championship on two separate debuts in WWE and the second Puerto Rican to become Intercontinental Champion after Pedro Morales. At WrestleMania XXV, Colón and his brother, Eddie Colón, became the only tag team to unify the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship.
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Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson (born November 12, 1934) is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction. He was convicted of the murders through the joint-responsibility rule, which makes each member of a conspiracy guilty of crimes his fellow conspirators commit in furtherance of the conspiracy's objective.
Manson believed in what he called "Helter Skelter," a term he took from the song of the same name by The Beatles. Manson believed Helter Skelter to be an impending apocalyptic race war, which he described in his own version of the lyrics to the Beatles' song. He believed his murders would help precipitate that war. From the beginning of his notoriety, a pop culture arose around him in which he ultimately became an emblem of insanity, violence and the macabre. The term was later used by Manson prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi as the title of a book he wrote about the Manson murders.
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Charlie Haas
Charles Doyle "Charlie" Haas II (born March 27, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and former collegiate amateur wrestler. He competes on the independent circuit, and is signed to Ring of Honor (ROH). He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
Haas was an amateur wrestler in high school, and attended Seton Hall University on a wrestling scholarship, before becoming a stockbroker. He became a professional wrestler in 1996, and teamed regularly with his brother, Russ, with the two winning numerous championships on the independent circuit, including the CZW World Tag Team Championship and the JAPW Tag Team Championship. After signing contracts with WWE, The Haas Brothers were assigned to WWE's developmental territories, where they won the MCW Southern Tag Team Championship on three occasions. After Russ' death in 2001 due to a heart attack, Haas began wrestling in singles competition, winning the HWA Heavyweight Championship once.
Haas formed a team with Shelton Benjamin and the two debuted on SmackDown in December 2002. They won the WWE Tag Team Championship twice, and dubbed themselves The World's Greatest Tag Team before they split in 2004. Haas won the WWE Tag Team Championship once more with Rico, and gained Miss Jackie as a valet. Haas then transferred into singles competition before being released from WWE in 2005. After a short stint in Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) and other independent promotions, Haas was re-signed to WWE in April 2006. He formed a short-lived team with Viscera, before reforming the World's Greatest Tag Team with Benjamin. After Benjamin transferred to the ECW brand, Haas began wrestling with a comical luchador persona, before developing a character where he imitated other wrestlers and WWE Hall of Famers.
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Chris Benoit
Christopher Michael "Chris" Benoit (French pronunciation: [bəˈnwɑ]) (May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler whose career and life ended in a murder–suicide. During his professional wrestling career, Benoit worked for such major promotions as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE).
Among other accolades, Benoit is a two-time world champion: a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, one-time World Heavyweight Champion (tied for third longest reign in history). Both of his world title reigns were represented by the Big Gold Belt: Benoit is one of four men to have held the Big Gold Belt in both WCW and WWE, alongside Bill Goldberg, Booker T and Big Show. He is also a record-tying five-time WCW/WWE United States Champion, having held the championship twice in WCW, and three times in WWE. The twelfth WWE Triple Crown Champion and seventh WCW Triple Crown Champion, he is the second of four men in history to achieve both the WWF and WCW Triple Crown Championships.
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Chris Candido
Christopher Raulvtvtuy Candito (March 21, 1972 – April 28, 2005) was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Chris Candido. Throughout most of his career, he was accompanied by his high school sweetheart Tammy Lynn Sytch.
Candido held major titles in Extreme Championship Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation. His highest-profile role was in the World Wrestling Federation as Skip, part of the tag team known as The Bodydonnas with Zip, and his girlfriend and valet Sunny.
Candito was the grandson of "Popeye" Chuck Richards, a wrestler for the World Wide Wrestling Federation, a precursor to the WWF. He started training at age 14 with Larry Sharpe and wrestled for Sharpe's World Wrestling Association. He began using the alternate spelling of "Candido" for his ring name.
While in high school, he met and fell in love with Tammy Lynn Sytch, and the two began a lifelong relationship. Sytch would later become his valet.
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Chris Hero
Chris Spradlin (born December 24, 1979) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Chris Hero. He is signed to WWE, working in its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) under the ring name Kassius Ohno. Hero was previously a mainstay of many independent wrestling promotions, including Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Ring of Honor as well as Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan. He is also known from his time in Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South, Combat Zone Wrestling and Chikara, where he was the co-head trainer of the Chikara Wrestle Factory. Hero is also a former three-time world champion having held the CZW World Heavyweight Championship, the PWG World Championship and the wXw World Heavyweight Championship.
After graduating from Northmont High School in Clayton, Ohio, Spradlin decided to train as a professional wrestler in the summer of 1998. After undergoing some initial training in Middletown, Ohio, Spradlin debuted on September 12, 1998 in Xenia, Ohio wrestling Shawn "HeartThrob" Halsey in the Unified Championship Wrestling promotion. Spradlin's initial training in Middletown was under the supervision of a small time promoter named Gary Goffinet. Spradlin trained for a little while alongside his friend, Adam Ghazee, under a wrestler by the name of Bo Dacious. Bo had trained previously under Charlie Fulton at the Monster Factory. At the suggestion of Matt Stryker, Spradlin underwent further training at Les Thatcher's Cincinnati-based HWA Main Event Wrestling Camp between May 1999 and November 1999. In December 1999, he traveled to Ocala, Florida to train under Dory Funk, Jr. at the Funkin' Conservatory professional wrestling school.
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Chris Jericho
Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), known professionally as Chris Jericho, is an American-born Canadian professional wrestler, musician, media personality, actor, author and businessman. He is signed to WWE, appearing on its Raw brand in addition to being the lead singer of heavy metal band Fozzy. He is also well known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and internationally in Canadian, Mexican and Japanese promotions.
Jericho has won 30 championships between WWF/E, WCW, and ECW - the three most prominent American promotions in the 1990s and early 2000s. He is credited as being the first Undisputed WWF Champion, having unified the WWE Championship and World Championship (formerly the WCW Championship) in 2001.
In WWE Jericho is a six-time world champion, having won the Undisputed WWF Championship once, the WCW/World Championship twice and the World Heavyweight Championship thrice. He is also a record nine-time Intercontinental Champion, and the fourth WWE Grand Slam Champion.
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Chris Kanyon
Christopher Klucsarits (January 4, 1970 – April 2, 2010) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation, under the ring names Chris Kanyon (or simply Kanyon) and Mortis.
After college, he began training under Pete McKay Gonzalez, Ismael Gerena and Bobby Bold Eagle at the Lower East Side Wrestling Gym in Manhattan at some point between December 1991 and January 1992. He wrestled his first match on April 5, 1992 in Levittown, New York at the Island Trees Junior High School, and wrestled one match as Chris Morgan before adopting the ring name Chris Canyon and later changed it to Chris Kanyon. Kanyon worked as a physical therapist for the next three years, wrestling on weekends and in the evenings, before finally deciding to become a full-time professional wrestler in 1995. Early in his career, Kanyon formed a tag team with Billy Kidman which saw both men wrestle in the uniform of hockey players.
In late 1994, he made several appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as a jobber, facing wrestlers such as Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Tatanka and Bob Holly. His friend and future manager James Mitchell saw potential in him and sent him for training with The Fabulous Moolah in South Carolina and with Afa at the Wild Samoan wrestling School.
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Christopher Daniels
Daniel Christopher Covell (born March 24, 1971) is an American professional wrestler, best known in the United States by his ring name "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels. He is also known for performing under the ring name Curry Man. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is currently one half of the TNA World Tag Team Champions, while also working for several independent promotions. He has also worked with Ring of Honor (ROH) in the past, and between TNA and ROH has won 14 total championships, nine of which being tag team titles (seven in TNA, two in ROH).
He is known as The King of Indies for his work with independent promotions all over the world, including Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA), International Wrestling Cartel (IWC), and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG).
Daniels began his professional wrestling career at Windy City Pro Wrestling in Chicago during the early 1990s. In 2000, he tagged in the World Wrestling Federation with Aaron Aguilera as "Dos" one half of Los Conquistadores. He also challenged Taka Michinoku for the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort in his Fallen Angel gimmick on WWF Shotgun Saturday Night. He also wrestled for hardcore wrestling promotions XPW and ECW.
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Chuck Mosley
Charles Henry "Chuck" Mosley (born January 27, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. Mosley was the frontman of the band Faith No More for their first two albums, We Care a Lot and Introduce Yourself.
Mosley was born in Hollywood, California in January 1958, but raised in South Central Los Angeles and Venice. He was adopted at a very early age, as talked about in the Faith No More biography book.
Chuck first met Billy Gould in 1977, going to a The Zeros, Johnny Navotnee and The Bags show. He then went on to play keyboards in Billy's first band, The Animated, in 1979.
In 1984 he joined Haircuts That Kill, a post-punk band from the San Francisco area, which lasted up until Mosely's joining of Faith No More.
He joined Faith No More in 1985 replacing Courtney Love (Hole) who had a brief stint as lead singer. Chuck parted ways with FNM in 1988 for a number of reasons, including creative differences with his band members and rumors of substance abuse. His departure made quite a stir, when he sued the band for publishing rights, in an attempt to clear his name of the accusations of substance abuse.
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Chyna
Chyna (born Joan Marie Laurer; December 27, 1970) is a former American professional wrestler, actress, pornographic actress and former bodybuilder. She is best known for her career with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1997 to 2001, where she was billed as "Chyna: 'The Ninth Wonder of the World'" (André the Giant was already billed as the eighth). She began her WWF career as Paul "Triple H" Levesque's on-screen bodyguard, and the duo also dated in real-life. They were both members of the popular D-Generation X stable, a storyline alliance of several wrestlers, until 1999.
Chyna holds the distinction of being the only Diva in WWE history to compete, full time, in the men's division. She was the first woman to enter the Royal Rumble, qualify for the King of the Ring tournament, and be the number one contender for the WWF Championship. In 1999, she became the first and only woman to hold the WWF Intercontinental Championship, which she held twice. She also held the WWF Women's Championship once, before leaving the company in 2001. She claims that Levesque's affair with Stephanie McMahon, daughter of WWF owner Vince McMahon, was a factor in her departure. After originally retiring from professional wrestling in 2004, Chyna made a return in May 2011 by joining Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
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Claudio Castagnoli
Claudio Castagnoli (born December 27, 1980) is a Swiss professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, working in its SmackDown brand under the ring name Antonio Cesaro. He is best known for his work, under his real name, on the American independent circuit in promotions such as Chikara, Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and in Japan for Pro Wrestling Noah.
Castagnoli is an accomplished tag team wrestler, having won many championships with his partner Chris Hero as the Kings of Wrestling, as well as with his compatriot Ares as Swiss Money Holding. He has held Chikara's Campeonatos de Parejas with each partner once. With Ares, he is an eight-time Tag Team Champion having held the titles of Chikara, German Stampede Wrestling, International Pro Wrestling: UK, the Swiss Wrestling Federation and Westside Xtreme Wrestling. With Hero he is a six-time Tag Team Champion, having held the titles of Chikara, Combat Zone Wrestling, Juggalo Championship Wrestling and Ring of Honor, where their 364-day reign is the longest. They were also voted as the 2010 Tag Team of the Year by Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers.
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CM Punk
Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE and appearing on its Raw brand as the reigning WWE Champion.
In professional wrestling, Brooks is a seven time World Champion, having held the ROH World Championship and ECW Championship once, the World Heavyweight Championship three times and the WWE Championship twice.
In addition to these championships Punk has also won the World Tag Team Championship (with Kofi Kingston), and the WWE Intercontinental Championship making him the nineteenth WWE Triple Crown Champion and the man to achieve this honor fastest at 203 days. Between WWE and Ring of Honor (where he is also a two-time World Tag Team Champion), Punk has won a total of eleven championships. He was also the winner of the 2008 and 2009 Money in the Bank ladder matches (the only wrestler to win the match twice in a row), and was the 2011 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner.
Punk initially came to prominence through his career on the professional wrestling independent circuit, primarily as a member of the ROH roster, where he was the first head trainer of the ROH wrestling school as well as winning both of their championships. In 2005, Punk signed a contract with WWE and was sent to its developmental promotion, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he won every championship available in the promotion. Throughout his career, Punk has consistently used the gimmick of being straight edge, a lifestyle he follows in his actual day-to-day life. Depending on Punk's alignment as a crowd favorite or villain, he emphasizes different aspects of the culture to encourage the desired audience reaction.
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Cody Rhodes
Cody Runnels (born June 30, 1985) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Cody Rhodes. Runnels is signed to WWE where he wrestles on its SmackDown brand.
Runnels is the half-brother of Goldust as well as the son of Dusty Rhodes, and worked as a referee in his father's promotion during high school. Runnels started wrestling professionally in 2006, using his real name, wrestling for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). While situated at OVW, he won various championships, both in tag team and singles competition, including the OVW Heavyweight Championship. He made his WWE television debut on July 16, 2007, under the ring name Cody Rhodes. In December 2007, Rhodes captured his first title with the company, the World Tag Team Championship with Hardcore Holly, and the two held it for six months.
Rhodes formed a secret alliance with Ted DiBiase during 2008. In the course of a match held on June 29 he turned on Holly by switching sides to join DiBiase, with whom he became World Tag Team champion. The new champions dropped their titles in August, only to win them back a week later. Rhodes and DiBiase were joined by Manu shortly afterwards, forming a faction of multi-generation wrestlers, although this alliance was to be short-lived. In January 2009, Rhodes and DiBiase formed a new alliance, The Legacy, with Randy Orton. Rhodes was moved to the SmackDown brand in April 2010, as part of the Supplemental Draft, and won the WWE Tag Team Championship with Drew McIntyre in September of the same year. In August 2011, Rhodes won the WWE Intercontinental Championship, his first singles championship in WWE, holding it for over seven months until he lost it at WrestleMania 28. He won the title back one month later at Extreme Rules (2012).
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Colt Cabana
Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Colt Cabana. The current NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Colton is most notably known from his time in Ring of Honor. Colton also wrestled as Scotty Goldman in World Wrestling Entertainment and as old school masked wrestler Matt Classic in MTV's Wrestling Society X.
He began his professional wrestling career in ROH, where he was placed in a rivalry with CM Punk before uniting with Punk and Ace Steel to form the Second City Saints alliance. He later formed a tag team with Punk to win the World Tag Team Championship twice. He also had rivalries with Homicide and then-World Champion Bryan Danielson. He has also toured in countries outside of the United States, and he was a part of the short lived Wrestling Society X on MTV in late 2006, where he portrayed his "old school" wrestling persona, the masked "Matt Classic". In 2007, he left ROH to wrestle in Ohio Valley Wrestling, a developmental territory of World Wrestling Entertainment, where he won the Television Championship once and the Southern Tag Team Championship once with Charles Evans and once with Shawn Spears. He made several appearances, as Scotty Goldman, with WWE on its SmackDown brand before being released from his contract in February 2009. Colton is a former one-time JCW World Heavyweight Champion, a one-time RCW World Heavyweight Champion and two-time NWA World's Heavyweight Champion.
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Consequences Creed
Austin Watson (born September 4, 1986) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Consequences Creed. He is signed to WWE, and works in its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling as Xavier Woods. He was formerly one-half of the FCW Florida Tag Team Champions with Wes Brisco.
He previously worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he was a two-time World Tag Team Champion--once with Adam "Pacman" Jones and Ron "The Truth" Killings as Team Pacman, and once with Jay Lethal as Lethal Consequences. He has also worked for NWA Anarchy and other independent promotions under the ring name Austin Creed. His wrestling persona is based on Apollo Creed from the Rocky movie series.
Watson was born in Columbus, Georgia in 1986 and graduated from Sprayberry High School in Marietta, Georgia in 2004. That same year he began studying psychology and philosophy at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Watson graduated from Furman University with two degrees a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and philosophy on May 29, 2008. At his time at Furman University, Watson had a brief stint as an accomplished cheerleader.
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Cryme Tyme
Cryme Tyme was a Face professional wrestling tag team that was signed to WWE.
The team consisted of JTG (born Jayson Paul on December 10, 1984) and Shad (born Shad Chad Javier Romane Chittick Gaspard on January 13, 1981), an over-the-top parody of stereotypical street thugs.
Of Haitian and Curaçaon descent, Shad Gaspard was born in Brooklyn, New York. Shad is the son of Benjamin Gaspard, a former street enforcer for street gangs and personal security guard in the early 1970s, who now owns Mcfay Contracting Inc. Shad is the third of six siblings.
At five years of age Gaspard's father began training him in boxing and at age eight he began training in a mixture of different martial arts, developing into a successful amateur fighter and earning the nickname "Beast" from his mother. By sixteen, Gaspard began prize fighting for promoter “Hardbody Harrison”, a former World Championship Wrestling wrestler and FX Tough Man Champion, in bar fighting tournaments such as Boxing, Kickboxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), and tough man competitions. Even though Gaspard was only sixteen years old, he competed against adults who were older than he was by five to twenty years. Gaspard holds won-loss records as a No Holds Barred fighter (35–7) and an amateur boxer (57–26).
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Curt Hawkins
Brandon Dennis Myers (born April 20, 1985) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Curt Hawkins. He is currently signed to WWE working on its Raw brand and on NXT as the tag team partner of Tyler Reks. For the majority of his career, Hawkins teamed with Zack Ryder, and they won several tag team championships together, including the WWE Tag Team Championship.
After being trained by Mikey Whipwreck, Myers made his debut in 2004, using his real name. He wrestled for the New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) promotion. By 2005 he began regularly teaming with Brett Matthews and the duo of Myers and Matthews went on to defeat the NYWC Tag Team Champions Dickie Rodz and Mason Raige by disqualification, for which titles do not change hands. At the next event on June 4 they won a rematch decisively to become Tag Team Champions. Later that month they were attacked by The Dead Presidents (Lo Lincoln and Boog Washington) to set up a feud where they eventually lost their titles against them in July. on August 27. On September 23 they were entered into a three way match with the champions but Team Tremendous (Dan Barry and Ken Scampi) ended up with the belts. After continuing to win matches they re-earned a match against Team Tremendous and won the titles for the second time on January 25, 2006. They held the titles until they faced the B.S. Xpress (Tony Burma & Mike Spinelli), who defeated them for the gold on March 26.
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Curt Hennig
Curtis Michael "Curt" Hennig (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003) was an American professional wrestler, manager and color commentator who performed under his real name for the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). In the WWF, he found his greatest success as Mr. Perfect, a nickname introduced in his second run with the company which gradually became his official ring name as use of his real name was phased out; Hennig used the same ring name in his third and final run, however his real name was widely acknowledged. He was the son of wrestler Larry "The Axe" Hennig, and father to current WWE (formerly the WWF) superstar Michael McGillicutty.
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Daffney
Shannon Claire Spruill (born July 17, 1975) is an American professional wrestler and valet. She is best known for her appearances with World Championship Wrestling between 1999 and 2001 under the ring name Daffney and for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where she used the ring name "The Governor", a caricature of Alaska governor and former United States Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, before returning to her Daffney ring name and gimmick.
A "military brat", Spruill was born on the Wiesbaden Army Airfield, a United States Air Force base in Wiesbaden, West Germany where her father was stationed. In 1976 the family returned to the United States, residing first in Salt Lake City, Utah, then in Savannah, Georgia and finally on the Scott Air Force Base in St. Clair County, Illinois. They later relocated to Oxford in the United Kingdom for three years, before moving to the Ramstein Air Base in Germany until 1987, when her father, by then a Lieutenant Colonel, retired.
Spruill graduated from Georgia State University in March 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Video production, with minors in Acting and Music. She went on to work in Media Production before becoming an actress.
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Daniel Bryan
Bryan Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE and appearing on its SmackDown brand. Danielson works with WWE under the name Daniel Bryan. He has also been known by the ring name, and later nickname, the American Dragon.
In professional wrestling, Danielson is former Ring of Honor World champion, a two-time Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World champion, a one-time Westside Xtreme Wrestling Heavyweight champion, a one-time FIP Heavyweight Champion and a one-time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE.
As well as these World Championships, Danielson also won the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship once in Pro Wrestling Noah and is officially recognized as the final ROH Pure Champion, as he unified the Pure Title with the ROH World title in 2006. He also won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in New Japan Pro Wrestling with Curry Man.
Until 2009, Danielson primarily competed on the independent circuit. ROH was generally regarded as his home promotion[citation needed], but he also worked in FIP, PWG, and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He has also worked internationally, most notably in Pro Wrestling Noah through ROH's involvement in the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance, a global organization of cooperative promotions that allow their competitors to travel abroad to other companies. He also competed in a handful of matches in WWE before signing an actual contract with the company in 2009.
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Danielle Moinet
Danielle Moinet (born November 28, 1983) is a model and former American football player who played with the Chicago Bliss of the Lingerie Football League. She also is a professional wrestler, currently working for WWE in their developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) performing under the ring name Summer Rae.
Moinet played with the Chicago Bliss of the Lingerie Football League from 2008 to 2011. She played as a cornerback and was the team's captain. She was also one of the faces of the company in America and "the" face internationally. On June 30, 2011, Moinet played in the LFL All-Star Game at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario. It was her final game in the LFL. She was one of two players in the game from the Chicago Bliss.
Moinet made her debut on the November 17, 2011 for FCW house show as the valet for Abraham Washington. Moinet would then make her debut in a ringside promo with Washington on the December 18th edition of FCW. On the March 11 episode of FCW, Moinet became the FCW General Manager under the name Summer Rae, replacing the former general manager Maxine.
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Dave Batista
David Michael Bautista, Jr. (born 18 January 1969), is a former American professional wrestler, bodybuilder and actor best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment. In WWE, he became a six-time world champion, winning the World Heavyweight Championship four times, and the WWE Championship two times. He is the longest-reigning World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history. In addition to these championships, Batista has won the World Tag Team Championship three times (twice with Ric Flair and once with John Cena) and the WWE Tag Team Championship once (with Rey Mysterio). Batista was also the winner of the 2005 Royal Rumble match.
After trying out at World Championship Wrestling's Power Plant, Batista signed a contract with the WWF in 2000 and was sent to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he won the OVW Heavyweight Championship.
Batista was born to David Michael Bautista, the son of Filipino immigrants to America and Donna Raye Bautista, who is Greek. His parents separated (and eventually divorced). His paternal grandparents were from the Philippines as his grandfather served in the military, worked as a taxicab driver, barber, and other jobs to feed the family. Batista says he is not ashamed to admit he lived in poverty.
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Dave Finlay
David John "Fit" Finlay, Jr. (born October 20, 1958) is a Northern Irish professional wrestler and road agent. He is perhaps best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and WWE (formerly known as World Wrestling Federation) as an active wrestler and later as a road agent. Finlay has held over twenty championships around the world throughout his career, including the WCW World Television Championship and the WWE United States Championship.
Finlay's first match was for his father's promotion in Glynn in 1974, when he filled in for a wrestler who no-showed. He began wrestling on a full-time basis in Carrickfergus and throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland for the next four years before moving to England in 1978. In England, he wrestled for various companies under the Joint Promotions banner. Finlay defeated Alan Kilby on June 9, 1982 to win his first title, the Joint Promotions British Heavy Middleweight Championship. At this time, Finlay's then-wife, Princess Paula became his manager.
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Dave Meltzer
David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist covering professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher/editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON). Meltzer has also written for the Oakland Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Yahoo! Sports, and The National. He has extensively covered mixed martial arts since UFC 1 in 1993.
Meltzer was born in New York City, lived in upstate New York until he was ten, before his family settled in San Jose, California. Meltzer earned a journalism degree from San Jose State University and started out as a sports writer for the Turlock Journal. He demonstrated an interest in professional wrestling and a journalistic approach to it early in life. Meltzer wrote several wrestling-related publications that predate WON, dating back to 1971. The most notable of these was the California Wrestling Report, ca. 1973–1974, which reported on the still-extant National Wrestling Alliance territories operating out of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
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Dave Prazak
Dave Prazak is a professional wrestling manager and commentator. He works for many independent wrestling promotions in America. He is the founder of the all female wrestling promotion Shimmer Women Athletes.
Prazak worked as a manager from 1996 until 2002, at one point managing Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA Mid-South) IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion CM Punk.
In late 2004, he began making appearances for Full Impact Pro (FIP) as a manager, forming the stable (faction), DP Associates. He first recruited Jimmy Rave and Eddie Vegas at Fallout: Part 1 in November, and recruited Insane Dragon later that same month. In January 2005, LaDuke Jakes was announced as the newest member of DP Associates. On April 22, 2005, at The Usual Suspects, Prazak was in the corner of Rave and Vegas, when they became the first FIP Tag Team Champions. Two months later in June, CM Punk announced that he had made a deal with Prazak, and had sold his stable, consisting of Samoa Joe and Azrieal to DP Associates, although Azrieal refused to join. Throughout 2005, more wrestlers, including Adam Pearce, Jay Lethal, Bryan Danielson, and Austin Aries became associated with Prazak.Mr. Milo Beasley became the Vice president of DP Associates in late 2005. In 2006, B.J. Whitmer and Jack Evans joined DP Associates.
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Davey Boy Smith
David "Davey" Boy Smith (November 27, 1962 – May 18, 2002) was a British professional wrestler, also known as (The) British Bulldog, who was born in Golborne in North West England, United Kingdom. Smith is known for his appearances with Stampede Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Described by WWE (previously the WWF) as "one of the most physically impressive individuals in WWE history", Smith found success as both a singles and tag competitor, holding every major title in the organization except the WWF Championship. Smith competed in multiple pay-per-view main events in the WWF and WCW, and challenged for the top titles of both promotions.
Smith was trained by Ted Betley in Winwick, England before relocating to Calgary, Alberta, Canada to further his training under Stu Hart. While training with Hart, Smith met Stu and Helen Hart's youngest daughter Diana, whom he married in 1984. They had two children, Harry (born on August 2, 1985) and Georgia (born on September 26, 1987). He and Diana were divorced in 2000.
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Davey Richards
Wesley David "Davey" Richards (born March 1, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to Ring of Honor. He also wrestles for several independent promotions, including Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) and Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW).
Aside from his work in the United States, Richards has also worked internationally, most notably in Pro Wrestling Noah, through ROH's involvement in the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance, a global organization of cooperative promotions that allow their competitors to travel abroad to other companies, and currently New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion.
Richards is a four-time World Champion, having won the ROH and PWG World Championships once and the Full Impact Pro (FIP) World Heavyweight Championship twice, and a five-time World Tag Team Champion, having won the PWG World Tag Team Championship three times in PWG (with Super Dragon twice and Roderick Strong once), as well as winning the ROH Tag Team Championship twice (once with Rocky Romero and Eddie Edwards respectively). Richards and Romero are also former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Richards was the winner of several tournaments that highlight the top performers of the region: East Coast Wrestling Association's (ECWA) Super 8 Tournament in 2006 and PWG's Battle of Los Angeles in the same year.
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David Otunga
David Daniel Otunga, Sr. (born April 7, 1980) is an American lawyer, professional wrestler, and former reality television actor. He is signed to WWE, appearing on the Raw brand under his real name. He's a two-time WWE Tag Team Champion, having one reign each with Michael McGillicutty and John Cena. He was the runner-up on the first season of NXT. Otunga was also the last original member of The Nexus and The New Nexus.
David Otunga is the son of a Kenyan father, Moses, and white American mother, Billie, both of whom were educators. He is the youngest of three children. Otunga graduated from Larkin High School in 1998, with mostly A-grades. Otunga holds a Bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Illinois. Following his graduation, he moved to New York City, where he worked at Columbia University as a lab manager in a cognitive neuroscience center. He later attended Harvard Law School, and passed the bar exam in Illinois . Following his graduation, he worked for the Sidley Austin LLP law firm.
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Dean Higuchi
Dean Higuchi is a retired American professional wrestler, known by his ring name Dean Ho, who competed in North American regional promotions including Pacific Northwest Wrestling, the World Wide Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance, specifically the Hawaii-based Big Time Wrestling during the 1960s and 1970s. A longtime veteran of the Vancouver's NWA All-Star Wrestling, he feuded with Terry Adonis, The Brute and former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Gene Kiniski.
After graduating from President Theodore Roosevelt High School, Higuchi was one of Hawaii's prominent bodybuilders during the 1950s winning the title "Mr. Hawaiian Islands" competition in 1956 and finishing sixth place in the "Mr. America" competition in Philadelphia.
He opened his gym on Kalakaua Avenue in 1957, and it was a popular training center for both bodybuilders and professional wrestlers. Many of the areas top bodybuilders such as Mike Brown and professional wrestlers trained for decades including Don Muraco, Beauregarde,Rene Goulet and Karl Gotch.
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Diamond Dallas Page
Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg, Jr.; April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name "Diamond" Dallas Page (DDP), is an American retired professional wrestler, fitness instructor and actor, signed to WWE in a Legends contract[citation needed]. In the course of his wrestling career, which spanned two decades, Page has wrestled for mainstream wrestling promotions World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Page first broke into the wrestling business in 1988, as a manager in the American Wrestling Association, where he worked for nine months before signing with WCW in 1991. There, he continued as a manager until late 1991, when he became a wrestler. Over a decade in WCW, Page became a three-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, four-time WCW World Tag Team Champion and one-time WCW World Television Champion. He is the fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion.
After WCW was sold in 2001, Page signed with the WWF, where he became a one-time WWF European Champion and one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. Due to a series of injuries, he allowed his contract with the company to expire in 2002. He worked for TNA from 2004 to 2005. Page is now an actor in small-budget films, as well as a fitness guru and motivational speaker.
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Dick Murdoch
Hoyt Richard "Dick" Murdoch (August 16, 1946 – June 15, 1996) was an American professional wrestler.
A second-generation wrestler, the son of 1950s Texas wrestler Frankie Hill Murdoch, Dick Murdoch grew up with fellow second-generation wrestlers Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk, watching their fathers fight all around Texas. Frank Murdoch held the NWA Southwest Junior Heavyweight Championship three times in his career.
Dick Murdoch started wrestling in 1965 as Ron Carson in a tag team with Don Carson. He soon started wrestling under his real name. In 1968, he formed a tag team that would continue throughout the early 1970s with Dusty Rhodes called "The Texas Outlaws". After splitting with Rhodes, he wrestled for Florida Championship Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance, and Mid-South Wrestling.
His most noted work as a wrestler came in Mid-South Wrestling in the early 1980s, where he teamed with Junkyard Dog. The pair was the most popular champions in the region, attracting the hardcore, working class white fans with his "Captain Redneck" persona and JYD drawing the support of the black fan base. Their feud with the Fabulous Freebirds was perhaps Mid-South's most compelling storyline.
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Dino Bravo
Adolfo Bresciano (August 6, 1948 – March 10, 1993) was an Italian-born Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his work as Dino Bravo, self-proclaimed as "Canada's Strongest Man".
Bresciano began wrestling in 1970, taking the "Dino Bravo" moniker from a wrestler from the early 1960s who had teamed with Dominic DeNucci as the Bravo brothers, Dino and Dominic. He was trained by Gino Brito and often worked in a tag team with his mentor, billed as Brito's cousin. Bravo worked in a number of other tag teams, partnering with, among others, "Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods and DeNucci.
Bravo held the Jim Crockett Promotions version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Woods, winning the title from Gene and Ole Anderson and eventually losing the title to the Andersons. Bravo also had a major program with Blackjack Mulligan, pinning Mulligan twice in a televised non-title match to set up a series of matches for Mulligan's United States title. Bravo did not win the U.S. title from Mulligan, but did receive several shots at NWA World Champion Harley Race during his tenure with Crockett.
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Dolph Ziggler
Nicholas Theodore "Nick" Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, who is contracted to WWE. He wrestles on the Raw brand under the name Dolph Ziggler. He is also known for his performances with WWE as Spirit Squad member Nicky in 2006.
Nemeth signed a development contract with WWE in 2004, and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). He was brought up to the Raw brand in 2005 as Kerwin White's sidekick. He was, however, sent back to OVW shortly afterwards, where he joined the Spirit Squad. They debuted on Raw in January 2006, and won the World Tag Team Championship once before returning to OVW that November.
In September 2007, Nemeth was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he formed a tag team with Brad Allen. The pair won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship once, and Nemeth later won the championship for the second time with Gavin Spears as his partner. He returned to Raw as Ziggler in September 2008, and was drafted to the SmackDown brand in April 2009. At the SmackDown tapings on July 28, Ziggler won the WWE Intercontinental Championship for the first time. He held the championship for five months, until January 2011. He was awarded, and lost, his first World Heavyweight Championship on February 15, 2011. That March he returned to the Raw roster, and won the WWE United States Championship for the first time three months later.
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Dominic DeNucci
Dominic DeNucci is an Italian-American professional wrestler. He is also an accomplished trainer, counting former World Heavyweight champions Mick Foley and Shane Douglas, as well as referee Brian Hildebrand, among his students.
Teamed with the original Dino Bravo as Dominic Bravo forming a kayfabe brother tag team with him.
On June 18, 1971, DeNucci won his first WWWF title, the WWWF International Tag Team Championship, with Bruno Sammartino by defeating The Mongols. They lost the title back to The Mongols three days later.
On May 13, 1975, DeNucci and Victor Rivera won the WWWF World Tag Team Championship from Jimmy and Johnny Valiant. In June, however, Rivera left the WWF, and Pat Barrett became DeNucci's replacement partner. They lost the title approximately three months later to The Blackjacks on August 26.
DeNucci became a second time WWWF World Tag Team Champion when he and his partner Dino Bravo defeated Professor Tanaka and Mr. Fuji on March 14, 1978. They held the title until June 26 when they dropped it to The Yukon Lumberjacks.
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Don Muraco
Donald Muraco (born September 10, 1949), better known by his ring names "The Magnificent Muraco" and "The Rock" Don Muraco, is a retired American professional wrestler. Wrestling from the 1970s to the 1990s, Muraco is a former two time WWF Intercontinental Champion, a former two time ECW Heavyweight Champion, one Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship, and was the 1985 King of the Ring, the first-ever in WWF/WWE history.
A former state champion in amateur wrestling in Hawaii in 1967, Muraco chose professional wrestling over football and spent the first year of his career learning the ropes in Vancouver, Portland, Florida and Los Angeles before he got his first break, accepting an offer from Verne Gagne to work in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). A fan favorite at this early stage of his career, Muraco formed a tag team with Jimmy Snuka and squared off many times with the likes of Larry Hennig, Ivan Koloff and Dusty Rhodes. In 1973 Muraco left the AWA for the San Francisco territory, having become tired of life in Minneapolis.
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Donovan Morgan
Andrew Vassos (born January 10, 1976) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Donovan Morgan. Best known for his appearances with Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan and Ring of Honor in the United States, Morgan received tryouts with World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation in 1997 and 1998, but was not hired.
Vassos graduated from Ripon Christian High School in 1994 at the age of eighteen, and attended Modesto Junior College for a year before deciding to become a professional wrestler. He left college at the age of twenty and attended the APW Boot Camp in Hayward, California where he was trained by Michael Modest and Ric Thompson for two years. He debuted in All Pro Wrestling on June 29, 1996 in Hayward, California as "Donovan Morgan", facing Dwayne Jones.
Soon after his debut, Morgan began feuding with his trainer, Michael Modest. Morgan's first title win in APW was on January 25, 1997, when he and his partner, Robert Thompson, defeated Modest and Steve Rizzono for the APW Tag Team Championships in a Two out of three falls match, winning two straight falls. They held the titles until August 1, when they lost to Tony Jones and Jay Smooth. Morgan continued his feud with Modest, and on July 7 they faced one another in a match for the vacant APW Universal Heavyweight Championship. Modest was victorious, but Morgan continued to pursue the title, eventually defeating Modest for the Universal Heavyweight Championship on September 5 in what was considered a major upset. Modest regained the title less than a month later on October 3.
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Drew Hankinson
Andrew "Drew" Hankinson (born December 22, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he appeared under the ring names Festus and Luke Gallows. Drew Hankinson currently wrestles on the Independent Circuit as Keith Hanson.
Hankinson was also known for his appearances as an impostor of the wrestler Kane, before his role as Festus, the tag team partner of Jesse, while they were part of the tag team Jesse and Festus on the SmackDown brand, from June 2007 until the WWE's annual draft saw the team separated during the spring of 2009. After a few months, he reappeared as the enforcer and "disciple" of CM Punk, sporting a cleaner, militant look, with the Festus character's "real identity" revealed as Luke Gallows.
Hankinson began his career in West Virginia with Mason Dixon Wrestling and in Pennsylvania with the World Star Wrestling Federation (AWA/World Star Wrestling), Summit Wrestling Association of Southern Pennsylvania, and Maryland-based promotions National Wrestling League and the Eastern Wrestling Alliance, wrestling as Dorian Deville, and for West Virginia's Championship Pro Wrestling as the masked wrestler, Dargon. In April 2005, despite failing to make it as one of the final ten contestants on the $1,000,000 Tough Enough, he was signed to a contract by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was assigned to the Deep South Wrestling (DSW) developmental territory where he formed a partnership with Palmer Cannon. Hankinson wrestled in DSW as Deacon Deville before changing his ring name to The Freakin' Deacon.
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Drew McIntyre
Andrew "Drew" Galloway (born June 6, 1985) is a Scottish professional wrestler signed with WWE, where he wrestles on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Drew McIntyre.
He began training from the age of 15 in England, before moving back to Scotland to begin his career. Before long he became a regular in British Championship Wrestling (BCW) using the gimmick "Thee" Drew Galloway, winning their Heavyweight Championship twice along with the Heavyweight Championship of Insane Championship Wrestling. He also found success abroad in Irish Whip Wrestling, winning their top title. During this time he completed an undergraduate degree in criminology.
After touring the independent circuit around the British Isles, Galloway moved to the United States in 2007 to sign with WWE. Along with a brief stint on the SmackDown brand, he spent time in developmental territories Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling, winning the Heavyweight and Tag Team Championships later, before returning to SmackDown and quickly winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship. In 2010, he held the WWE Tag Team Championship with Cody Rhodes.
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Dustin Rhodes
Dustin Patrick Runnels (born April 11, 1969) is an American professional wrestler. Runnels is best known for performing as Goldust in WWE and is also known for performing in various companies such as World Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as Dustin Rhodes. Among the other names Runnels has performed under are Black Reign and Seven.
Runnels is the son of "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes and the half brother of Cody Rhodes.
Between WWF/E and WCW, Rhodes won 17 total championships. In World Championship Wrestling, he was a two-time United States Champion, a one-time Six-Man Tag Team Champion, a two-time World Tag Team Champion, and a one-time NWA World Tag Team Champion. In World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment, he is a three-time Intercontinental Champion, a seven-time Hardcore Champion, and a one-time World Tag Team Champion.
Rhodes debuted as a fan favorite in the World Wrestling Federation in late 1990, wrestling as Dustin Rhodes. In December 1990, Rhodes defeated Ted DiBiase in a televised ten-minute challenge match. On January 19, 1991 at the Royal Rumble, Rhodes and his father Dusty lost to Ted DiBiase and Virgil in a tag team bout, and left immediately after.
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Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler who is signed to WWE, appearing on the Raw brand. He is often credited as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
Johnson was a college football player. In 1991, he was part of the University of Miami's national championship team. He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, and was cut two months into the 1995 season. This led to his decision to become a professional wrestler like his grandfather, Peter Maivia, and his father, Rocky Johnson. He gained mainstream fame as a wrestler in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1996 to 2004, and was the first third-generation superstar in the company's history. Johnson was quickly given a push as a heroic character in the WWF, originally billed as "Rocky Maivia", and then as "The Rock". He would subsequently turn into a villain as a member of the Nation of Domination in 1997. Two years after he joined the WWF, Johnson won the WWF Championship, and became one of the most popular wrestlers within the company's history for his engaging interviews and promos. Johnson is regarded by many as one of the greatest talkers in professional wrestling history, Rock was voted third by the fans for his microphone ability behind Roddy Piper and Stone Cold Steve Austin who were second and first respectively.
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Eddie Colón
Edwin "Eddie" Carlos Colón (born December 21, 1982) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is currently signed by WWE wrestling on its Raw brand as Primo. He is the son of Carlos Colón, Sr. and the younger brother of wrestlers Stacy and Carly Colón, better known as Carlito in WWE. He began wrestling in the World Wrestling Council, where he won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship five times, as well as numerous secondary and tertiary titles.
In 2007, Colón signed a developmental contract with WWE, being assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling. In this promotion he was teamed with Eric Pérez, forming a tag team known as The Puerto Rican Nightmares. On February 23, 2008, they became the first wrestlers to hold the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. Upon being promoted to the main brand, he was teamed with his brother. Subsequently, The Colóns became the first team to hold the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship at the same time, making them the first Unified WWE Tag Team Champions.
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Eddie Guerrero
Eduardo Gory "Eddie" Guerrero Llanes (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005) was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into the Guerrero wrestling family. He wrestled in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions. In the United States, Guerrero wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Guerrero's gimmick was that of "Latino Heat", a crafty, resourceful wrestler who would do anything to win a match. His catchphrase became "I Lie! I Cheat! I Steal!," which was used in one of his entrance themes. Guerrero partly used this phrase in his autobiography Cheating Death, Stealing Life.
Despite being a villain for most of his career, he got over in and outside the ring being the youngest, yet most popular and successful of the Guerrero brothers. Guerrero was widely regarded as one of the most respected and gifted technical wrestlers in history. Throughout his career, Guerrero encountered various substance abuse problems outside of wrestling, including alcoholism and an addiction to painkillers. His real-life problems were sometimes integrated into his storylines. Notwithstanding these issues, Guerrero won 23 titles during his career, including the WWE Grand Slam Championship.
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El Generico
Rami Sebei (born July 12, 1984) is a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name El Generico. Sebei uses the gimmick of a luchador from Mexico. His character's catch phrase, "Olé!", is particularly made popular by the opening vocals of his theme song, "Olé!" by The Bouncing Souls.
He is a former two-time PWG World Champion and 5-time World Tag Team Champion, twice with "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen and once with Quicksilver, Human Tornado and "Intrepid Traveler" Paul London. He has also held the ROH World Tag Team Championship with Steen. He is also a former ROH World Television Champion and the winner of the 2011 Battle of Los Angeles.
Generico prominently made his name in the Canadian-based wrestling promotion International Wrestling Syndicate. In 2004, members of the IWS started making regular appearances in the United States, which helped him get noticed by the popular independent company Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Since then, Generico has been a PWG regular. He has held the PWG World Tag Team Championship five times with four different partners: with Human Tornado as 2 Skinny Black Guys, Quicksilver as Cape Fear, Kevin Steen and Paul London as ¡Peligro Abejas!.
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Eli Cottonwood
Kipp Christianson (born September 30, 1974) is an American professional wrestler and former basketball player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he works in their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) and was part of the second season of NXT under his ring name Eli Cottonwood. The Soup awarded him for the "Best Description of a Mustache By Somebody Who Really, Really Wants To Be a WWE Superstar" award in 2011 which he accepted in-person.
Christianson attended River Falls High School and later St. John's University in Minnesota. While attending St. John's, he averaged 20 points and eight rebounds, and in his junior season there, he led the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in field goal percentage. During his basketball career, Christianson played in several countries, including Lithuania and China. He played in the International Basketball Association and Continental Basketball Association, for both Quad City Thunder, Yakama Sun Kings, and Sioux Falls Skyforce. He attended a camp for the Milwaukee Bucks in 1998, and played for the Dallas Mavericks team in the NBA Summer League. On March 16, 2004, he signed a contract with the Charleston Lowgators.
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Elijah Burke
Elijah Samuel Burke (born May 24, 1978) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the name of "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero; a gimmick in which he portrays a Harlem street preacher. He is also known for wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment, on its SmackDown and ECW brands under his real name.
Burke is a former officer for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office in Florida who would become an amateur boxer in Jacksonville's Club 5 and Club Plush where he claims to have had a 98–1 win/loss record. According to his WWE.com profile, Burke has a record of 103–1 with 102 knockouts in his amateur career. Both of these records are unsubstantiated. Still, according to WWE, the only loss he sustained was a disqualification, after he knocked his opponent out and refused to back down to his corner. Before each of his matches he writes the phrase "4-Up" on his wrist tape, and in an interview with WWE Magazine, Burke stated that this came from the phrase "I'm going to give you five upside your head," used by comedians such as Redd Foxx. However, when you punch somebody, it's more accurately four upside the head. On the "Right After Wrestling" program on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 98, Burke told hosts Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas that early in his pro wrestling career, he never threw "worked" punches due to having difficulty pulling his punches.
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Ettore Ewen
Ettore Ewen (born March 1, 1986) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE where he is working in their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) under the name Big E Langston. He is also an accomplished competitive powerlifter.
Ewen was born in Tampa, Florida to Afro-Caribbean immigrants. He graduated from Wharton High School and attended the University of Iowa, where he played football as a defensive lineman.
In 2009, Ewen signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and was assigned to its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) as Big E Langston. On December 17, 2009 he made his FCW debut teaming with Justin Gabriel, Skip Sheffield & Titus O'Neill to defeat Dawson Alexander, Donny Marlow, Jimmy Uso & Lennox McEnroe. On May 12, 2011, Langston and Calvin Raines defeated Richie Steamboat and Seth Rollins to win the Florida Tag Team Championship. On July 21, Langston and Raines lost the Florida Tag Team Title to C.J. Parker and Donny Marlow. He participated in Super Eight Tournament but was knocked out in the first round by Husky Harris. Langston would team up Nick Rogers to beat the debuting Jiro and Sakamoto, this would lead into a shot at the Florida Tag Team Champions Brad Maddox and Briley Pierce which the team lost. In February Langston participated in FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship number one contendership battle royal which was won by Seth Rollins.
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Evan Bourne
Matthew Joseph Korklan (born March 19, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, also known as Matt Sydal and Evan Bourne. He is signed with WWE and wrestles on its Raw brand under the ring name Evan Bourne.
Before signing with WWE, Korklan wrestled on the independent circuit for promotions such as IWA-Mid South, Ring of Honor and the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate under the ring name Matt Sydal. Korklan also had a tenure in the short-lived Wrestling Society X promotion and was featured on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's early pay-per-view events. Korklan is known for his high flying, lucha libre-inspired style of wrestling.
Korklan was on his high school's wrestling team. While he was a senior in high school, Korklan began training with the St. Louis, Missouri-based Gateway Championship Wrestling (GCW) promotion. After three months of training, Korklan began wrestling for GCW on October 20, 2000, becoming the first person under the age of 18 to receive a wrestler's license in Missouri. Prior to this, Korklan had briefly performed under the ring name Lance Sydal in the Saint Peters Wrestling Organization.
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Eve Torres
Eve Marie Torres (born August 21, 1984) is an American dancer, model, and professional wrestler. She works for WWE on its Raw brand as Eve Torres, or simply Eve.
Torres began her career as a model and dancer. She danced for The Southern California Summer Pro League and went on to become a member of the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers Spirit Dance Team for the 2006–2007 season. She has also appeared on several television shows, including Show Me the Money, Sunset Tan, and Deal or No Deal.
In 2007, she won the 2007 Diva Search, earning a contract with WWE. She first appeared on WWE programming as a backstage interviewer in 2008, and also appeared in non-wrestling contests such as bikini contests and dance competitions. She later became a full-time wrestler in 2009, and was involved in feuds with Michelle McCool, Layla and Natalya. She also managed the tag team of Cryme Tyme. After being traded to the Raw brand in late 2009, she managed Chris Masters before winning the WWE Divas Championship in April 2010. She held the championship for 69 days, before losing it in June. After acting as the valet for R-Truth in late 2010, she won the Divas Championship for the second time at the 2011 Royal Rumble in January. Her second reign lasted until April 2011. In April 2012, she was appointed as Executive Administrator of Raw and SmackDown by General Manager John Laurinaitis.
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Ezekiel Jackson
Rycklon Stephens (born April 22, 1978) is an American bodybuilder and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, working on its SmackDown brand under the ring name Ezekiel Jackson. He is a former WWE Intercontinental Champion. He is also a former one-time world champion, having won the ECW Championship in February 2010, and is recognized by WWE as the final ECW Champion.
Stephens signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment in March 2007 and debuted in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in late June. In his debut match on June 27, he teamed with Keith Walker to defeat Kofi Kingston and Eric Pérez. He continued to compete in the promotion in both tag team and singles matches. On February 8, 2008 he competed in a match with tag partner Bryan Kelly in a losing effort against Steve Lewington and Heath Miller in a mini-tournament to face WWE Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz. On May 6, 2008, Stephens wrestled his final match in FCW before being called up to WWE's main roster.
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Gene Okerlund
Eugene "Mean Gene" Okerlund (born November 29, 1942) is a semi-retired American professional wrestling interviewer and announcer. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 by Hulk Hogan. He is currently signed to lifetime employment with WWE and works for promotional programs mostly for television shows on WWE Classics On Demand and occasionally makes special appearances and also the host of WWE Vintage Collection.
He left the radio industry for a position at the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in the early 1970s, where he occasionally filled in for ailing ring announcer and interviewer Marty O'Neill, eventually becoming O'Neill's permanent replacement by the end of the decade.
He would stay with the AWA until the end of 1983, when he was one of many AWA personnel to join the expanding World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He would stay with the WWF for nine years as their top interviewer, and was host of such WWF shows as All-American Wrestling and Tuesday Night Titans.
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Gene Snitsky
Eugene Alan "Gene" Snisky (born January 14, 1970) is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Snitsky, who is best known for his time spent with World Wrestling Entertainment. He had played college football at the University of Missouri and was on the pre-season roster in 1995 for the Birmingham Barracudas of the Canadian Football League. He was released from his contract in 2008 and has since been seeking a role in acting.
Snitsky wrestled in Ohio Valley Wrestling as "Mean" Gene Mondo, the brother of Mike Mondo. He signed with Allentown, Pennsylvania based World Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) under the name "Mean" Gene Snitsky (a name inspired by "Mean" Gene Okerlund) and won the tag-team championship along with his partner Robb Harper as the Twin Tackles. When he entered singles competition, he won the WXW Heavyweight Championship.
Snitsky had a tryout match with the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) the day after winning the WXW Championship on October 20, 2003 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania at a Raw taping. Snitsky, wrestling as Gene Snisky, was defeated by fellow WXW wrestler "Smooth" Tommy Suede. It was following this match that he was sent to OVW for a developmental deal.
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Gino Brito
Louis Gino Acocella (born May 18, 1941), better known by his ring name Gino Brito is a Canadian professional wrestler. He was a popular wrestler in Montreal, and was one of the promoters in the city in the 1980s. As Louis Cerdan, he was a WWWF Tag Team Champion, teaming with fellow Canadian-Italian wrestler Tony Parisi.
Brito was the son of wrestler Jack Britton, who was organized a central booking office for midget wrestlers in the 1950s. Brito had a job for the promotion shuttling the wrestlers from city to city. Before becoming a professional wrestler at the age of seventeen, Brito was an amateur wrestler. At age seventeen, he was trained by George Cannon. He began working with Detroit promoters Bert Ruby and Harry Light over a year later.
He first teamed with Tony Parisi in Tennessee, where the duo won the tag titles in Nick Gulas's promotion within two weeks. The two also won the WWWF Tag Team Championship in 1975 from Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza. They later lost the title to The Executioners. Brito continued to wrestle through the mid-80s.
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Grady Johnson
James Grady Johnson (February 5, 1940 – June 23, 2006) better known as professional wrestler Crazy Luke Graham, was a member of the Graham family, a storyline family of wrestlers.
He began his career as the storyline brother of Dr. Jerry Graham after fellow wrestler Freddie Cain (The Great Mephisto)suggested they resembled each other. They began wrestling together in 1963 in Stampede Wrestling. Later that summer, Johnson wrestled a series of matches against Chief Big Heart.
He wrestled in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) with Jerry Graham beginning in 1964. They won the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship from Don McClarity and Argentina Apollo, holding it for eight months, before losing the belts to another heel tagteam, Gene Kiniski & Waldo Von Erich. It was during this time that he became known as "Crazy" Luke Graham.
Graham enjoyed most of his success for the Los Angeles territory in the mid to late 1960s. He held the WWA World Title for that office in 1965. He dropped the belt to Pedro Morales. In the late 60s, he was a mid card performer for Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association (AWA) out of Minneapolis.
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Greg Valentine
John Wisniski, Jr. (born September 20, 1951) is an American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine.
Born in Seattle, Washington, Valentine traveled around Texas in his teens with his father. During a summer vacation, he decided to drop out of college and become a wrestler. His father initially tried to deter him, but eventually ceded to his wishes and sent him to Canada in 1970 to train under Stu Hart in Calgary. Wisniski remained in Canada for a year, wrestling his debut match in July 1970 against Angelo "King Kong" Mosca (he lost in around five minutes). Six months later, Wisniski relocated to Detroit to complete his training under The Sheik.
Initially reluctant to take his father's ring name, Wisniski wrestled as Baby Face Nelson before becoming Johnny Fargo, one half of The Fargo Brothers with Don Fargo between 1971 and 1974. The Fargo Brothers initially competed in the Buffalo and Cleveland based National Wrestling Federation before moving on to Texas. They split in 1974 and Wisniski went to Florida, where he began performing as Johnny Valentine, Jr., hopeful that he could live up to his father's legacy. He later changed his ring name to Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, and was billed as Johnny Valentine's brother, not his son, because of fears that the elder Valentine would be thought of as too old to be a legitimate threat. Valentine remained in Florida for a year while also working in Los Angeles and in Japan under Antonio Inoki in 1975 and early 1976.
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Gregory Helms
Gregory Shane Helms (born July 12, 1974) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) where he wrestled as The Hurricane and Gregory Helms. He is also known for his time with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he wrestled as "Sugar" Shane Helms.
Helms first began wrestling in 1991 at the age of 16, and wrestled in numerous independent promotions, including the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts, winning numerous light heavyweight and tag team championships. In 1999, he signed with WCW, and gained fame as "Sugar" Shane Helms, a member of 3 Count. During his time there he won both the WCW Hardcore Championship and the WCW Cruiserweight title. When WCW was bought by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) (now WWE), Helms' contract was kept by WWF. Helms renamed himself "The Hurricane" and won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. He later picked up a sidekick, Rosey, and they won the World Tag Team Championship together.
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Gregory Iron
Gregory Allen Smith (born October 12, 1986), better known by his ring name Gregory Iron, is an American professional wrestler, who performs regularly in Absolute Intense Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Ohio, AAW, and Chikara promotions.
Gregory Smith was born in 1986 in Cleveland, Ohio. Born one month prematurely and weighing one pound at birth, Smith was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, which has left his right arm withered and with extremely limited range of motion. Says Smith, "the only time it bothers me is little stuff like if I need to open a bag of pretzels. I can't do it."
As a child he was subject to bullying, which Smith today attributes to other children not being unable to understand his condition. He developed his own unique set of coping skills for dealing with bullying, centered on his being willing and able to tell his own story, and to do it in a self-effacing and sometimes humorous manner.
At the same time, his family life left him with little support. While his father, Dwane, worked to support the family, Dwane's wife Gloria became addicted to drugs and would sell off family possessions, and use rent money, to purchase drugs. The couple separated, and Greg, in Gloria's custody, was left to raise his two younger brothers, until Gloria went to jail and Dwane won custody of the boys.
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Heath Slater
THE CHICK FROM WENDY'S (born July 15, 1983) is an American professional wrestler working for WWE. He performs on the SmackDown brand under the name Heath Slater. He was a contestant in the first season of WWE NXT, where he finished fourth. He is a former FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion and three-time WWE Tag Team Champion, with Justin Gabriel.
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Hillbilly Jim
Jim Morris (born July 5, 1952), best known to fans as Hillbilly Jim, is an American professional wrestler and disc jockey. He was one of the World Wrestling Federation's most popular wrestlers of the mid-to-late 1980s.
Before appearing in the WWF (now WWE) as Hillbilly Jim, Morris wrestled with the Continental Wrestling Association in the Memphis area under the name Harley Davidson, a biker gimmick. While there, Morris formed a popular tag team with Roger Smith, who went by the ring name "Dirty Rhodes" because of his resemblance to Dusty Rhodes.
In late-1984, Morris first appeared in the WWF as a wrestling fan who routinely sat in the front row of live events and who eventually decided to try his hand at wrestling himself. A series of vignettes were aired on WWF's TV programming in the early weeks of 1985, showing Hulk Hogan training Jim and providing him with his first set of wrestling boots. This introduced the character of Hillbilly Jim; a simple-minded, shaggy-bearded Appalachian hillbilly clad in bib overalls, and hailing from Mudlick, Kentucky. Hillbilly Jim appeared in a few tag team matches with friend Hulk Hogan, and had his first high-profile singles match at The War to Settle the Score event on February 18, 1985 in which he defeated Rene Goulet. Unfortunately, Morris was sidelined by an injury a few days later. At a show in San Diego, he appeared in Hogan's corner in a match between Hogan and Brutus Beefcake. While chasing Beefcake's manager Johnny V around ringside, Morris slipped on a wet spot and (legitimately) broke his leg. To help fill in the seven months during his recovery, similarly-dressed "family" members Uncle Elmer, Cousin Luke, and Cousin Junior were introduced for Morris to accompany to ringside as a manager.
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Hornswoggle
Dylan Postl (born May 29, 1986) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Hornswoggle. He is employed by WWE, appearing on its SmackDown brand. In WWE, he was the last Cruiserweight Champion before the belt was retired.
Prior to joining World Wrestling Entertainment, Dylan appeared with NWA Wisconsin in 2005 as "The World's Sexiest Midget" $hortstack, where he won the NWA Wisconsin X Division Championship.
He also would go on to capture the SSW Tag Team Championship with Devin Diamond from "The Pretty Hott Thangs" Ryan Kross and Josh Maxim on May 19, 2006 in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, but relinquished the belt due to having signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.
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Howard Finkel
Howard Finkel (born June 7, 1950) is a professional wrestling ring announcer working with WWE in a variety of roles. Hired in 1975 by Vincent J. McMahon's World Wide Wrestling Federation, "The Fink" was the first person brought in to Vincent K. McMahon's nascent World Wrestling Federation and is widely credited as WWE's first and longest lasting employee.
Finkel, a native of Newark, New Jersey, began announcing wrestling shows at Madison Square Garden in 1977. By 1979, he was hired as the first employee of WWE (formerly WWF), and he was made lead ring announcer for the WWF's biggest events. Across three decades, Finkel's distinctive voice was one of the trademarks of WWF programming, and was sometimes used in the packaged intros for the company's weekly programming. Finkel's signature call was his announcement of a new champion following a change in titles, in which he would place increased emphasis while stretching out the word "New" in order to draw the greatest reaction from the crowd. Finkel also suggested the well-known pay-per-view name "WrestleMania," (he got it from The Beatles' theme in the 1960s BeatleMania) which owner Vince McMahon immediately accepted. Finkel also came up with Ricky Steamboat's "Dragon" nickname.
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Hulk Hogan
Terry Gene Bollea (born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Hogan enjoyed mainstream popularity in the mid 1980s through the early 1990s as the all-American character Hulk Hogan in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF—now WWE), and was notable in the mid-to-late 1990s as Hollywood Hogan, the villainous nWo leader, in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Following the closure of WCW, he made a brief return to WWE in the early 2000s before revising his heroic character by combining elements of his two most famous personas.
Hogan was later inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005. He is a 12-time world champion being a six-time WWF/WWE Champion, six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, as well as a former WWE World Tag Team Champion with Edge. He won the Royal Rumble in 1990 and 1991, making him the first to win two consecutive Royal Rumbles. He was also the first WWE wrestler to win the WWE Championship three times. In his first reign as WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Hogan held the title for 469 days from July 17, 1994 to October 29, 1995—the longest ever reign for this championship.
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Hunico
Jorge Arias (born August 5, 1977) is a Mexican American professional wrestler, who is currently signed by WWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand under the ring name Hunico. Prior to signing with WWE, Arias was better known under the ring name Incognito, under which he mainly worked for the professional wrestling promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) in Mexico and Chikara in the US as well as working for various independent promoters along the US/Mexico border. Arias originally wrestled under the name "Místico", making his debut under that name around the same time as the much more well known Místico of Mexico City. At times he is billed as either "Mystico" or "Mistico de Juarez".
Born to Mexican immigrant parents in El Paso, Texas, Arias began wrestling in Burges High School where he was an accomplished state champion multiple times. He then embarked onto a professional career, as he managed to continue working for his family's funeral home and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico in the early 2000s under the ring name "Mistico". This masked ring persona may or may not have preceded the debut of Místico (Luis Urive) in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) around the same time period, but CMLL won the legal rights to the name "Místico" some time in 2005, forcing Arias to change his name to "Mystico" or "Mistico de Juarez". On February 2, 2004 he defeated Nicho El Millonario to win the WWA Middleweight Championship but was stripped of the title in March when he had to stop wrestling in the Tijuana, Baja California area where the World Wrestling Association was based.
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Ian Rotten
John Benson Williams (born June 1, 1970) is an American professional Wrestler better known by his ring name Ian Rotten. He has wrestled in Global Wrestling Federation (GWF), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and his own wrestling promotion IWA: Mid-South.
After becoming a fan of Dusty Rhodes and "Superstar" Bill Dundee while growing up in Florida and Baltimore, Maryland, John Williams, began his career under the name Johnny Lawler, the storyline illegitimate son of Jerry "The King" Lawler. However, after heat from Jerry Lawler and a short stint as hockey gimmick Zach Blades, Williams went to wrestle for Skandor Akbar in the Global Wrestling Federation.
After Brian Knighton suggested they become "brothers", they became Ian and Axl Rotten, the Bad Breed. The Bad Breed defeated the Texas Mustangs (Bobby Duncum, Jr. & Johnny Hawk) for the GWF Tag Team Championship in January 1993. In June 1994 in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), the Bad Breed started a feud with Public Enemy over the ECW Tag Team Championship, but never won the title.
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Iron Sheik
Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri (Persian:حسین خسرو علی وزیری) (born March 15, 1943) is a semi-retired Iranian professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name The Iron Sheik. He is known for ending the near six-year World Wrestling Federation Championship reign of Bob Backlund, and for being the man Hulk Hogan defeated for his first WWF Championship.
A heel throughout the 1980s, he later gained popularity on Opie and Anthony, Kidd Chris, The Howard Stern Show, and on the internet due to his shoot interviews and outbursts on the wrestling industry and the hatred he expressed for various wrestlers.
Khosrow was born in Tehran, Iran. He made a name for himself as an amateur wrestler, and also worked as a bodyguard for Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his family for several years.
Khosrow competed to become part of the Iranian Olympic Greco Roman team for the 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico.
After this, he moved to the United States and became the assistant coach of two US Olympic squads in the 1970s. In 1971, he was the Amateur Athletic Union Greco-Roman wrestling champion at 183.5 pounds. He was assistant coach to the USA team for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
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Ivan Koloff
"The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff (born Oreal Perras on August 25, 1942, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a former Canadian professional wrestler who once held the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.
Perras was raised on a dairy farm in rural Ontario along with his six brothers and three sisters.
Since first watching professional wrestling on TV at the age of eight, he wanted to become a wrestler, and would often wrestle with his brothers growing up. At age 18, he left high school and joined Jack Wentworth's wrestling school in Hamilton, Ontario, where he would lift weights and learn wrestling holds. Ivan stood 5' 7 1/2" tall, and weighed approximately 270 pounds. Towards the end of his career he dropped a considerable amount of weight and was tipping the scale at 205 pounds.
Perras debuted as an Irish rogue heel character named Red McNulty, billed from Dublin, Ireland and wrestling with an eyepatch. For the next three years, he wrestled around the Toronto area, eventually quitting his regular job to wrestle in the north-western area of Canada. There, Perras acquired much wrestling experience, and from there he made his first trip to Japan.
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Ivan Putski
Józef Bednarski (born January 21, 1941), is a Polish former professional wrestler and bodybuilder. He is known by the ring name Ivan Putski and was given the nicknames "The Polish Hammer" and "Polish Power".
Putski is a former WWF World Tag Team Champion with Tito Santana. Ivan was known to have an ongoing feud with another professional at the time, "Superstar" Billy Graham over the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, who also had an incredible physique and strength, which led to many pose-downs, arm wrestling bouts, and long, physical matches between the two. Other rivals included Iron Sheik, Ivan Koloff, and Jesse "The Body" Ventura, who when commentating for the WWF would refer to Putski as "Puduski" in much the same way he would later refer to Tito Santana as "Chico".
Putski was born in Poland and migrated to the United States at a young age. He and his family arrived in Texas, where Putski began his professional wrestling career. Ivan stood 5'6" and weighed around 225 pounds. In his earlier days he was weighed in at the 250 pound mark.
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Jack Doan
John Michael "Jack" Doan (born June 12, 1972) is a veteran professional wrestling referee currently signed with WWE.
Doan joined WWE in October 1991 as a truck driver. From there, he took robes from Superstars at ringside, played music at shows, worked as part of the ring crew, and continued to drive the company's trucks from town to town. After a while, he became a part time referee, immediately taking advantage of several opportunities to fill in whenever he could. Shortly after, Doan's referee status changed to full time.
One of the more notable incidents in Doan's career came when he participated in an angle on the January 22, 1996 episode of Raw, where Vader made his World Wrestling Federation (WWF) television debut following his debut at the Royal Rumble the prior night. Vader punched Doan twice in the face, picked him up and power-bombed him to the mat. When on-screen WWF president Gorilla Monsoon intervened, Monsoon picked Doan up off the mat and placed him in the corner. While Monsoon tended to the wounded official, Vader avalanched both of them, kayfabe knocking Doan into unconsciousness. He was out of action for several weeks, selling the injuries he received at the hands of Vader, but, eventually reappeared at WrestleMania XII, in, coincidentally enough, a Vader match.
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Jack Swagger
Jacob "Jake" Hager, Jr.is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jack Swagger. He is signed to WWE where he works on the Raw brand.
Hager attended the University of Oklahoma as a two-sport athlete, participating in both football and wrestling. He switched to wrestling full-time in his sophomore year, and in 2006, set the record for most pins in a season with 30 as an All-American. Following a try-out, Hager signed a WWE contract in mid-2006. He made his debut for the WWE developmental territory Deep South Wrestling in September, and was moved to the Ohio Valley Wrestling territory in January 2007. A few months later, Hager debuted for Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he was the final FCW Southern Heavyweight Champion and the inaugural FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion.
In late 2008, he debuted for the ECW brand under the name Jack Swagger, and in January 2009, he won his first world championship, the ECW World Championship defeating Matt Hardy. In March 2010, while a member of the Raw brand, he won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI, and cashed it in later that week on SmackDown, defeating Chris Jericho to become the World Heavyweight Champion. In January 2012, he won the United States Championship, defeating Zack Ryder.
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Jacques Rougeau
Jacques Rougeau Jr. (born June 13, 1960) is a retired French-Canadian professional wrestler from Saint-Sulpice, Quebec, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s with the World Wrestling Federation under his own name, and as The Mountie. Rougeau has held fifteen championships during his career. Among other accolades, he is a former Intercontinental Champion and three-time World Tag Team Champion (with Carl Ouellet) in the WWF.
The Rougeau family as a whole has been very involved in professional wrestling; Jacques is the younger brother of Raymond Rougeau, the son of Jacques Rougeau, Sr., and the nephew of Jean "Johnny" Rougeau, all of whom have worked as professional wrestlers and promoters of wrestling matches. Jacques' sister Johanne also promoted wrestling matches in Montreal, and brother Armand wrestled for smaller federations.
Jacques Rougeau began his career in 1977, working in Stu Hart's Calgary, Alberta based Stampede Wrestling promotion. In the 1980s he began wrestling in the United States, achieving success in Alabama and Tennessee, and in 1985 he and Ray were signed by the World Wrestling Federation.
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Jamie Noble
James Howard Gibson (born December 23, 1976) better known by his WWE ring name Jamie Noble, is an American former professional wrestler working for WWE as a producer. He is best known for his work from 2002 to 2009 when a severe back injury forced him to retire from competition. He is also known for his appearances in World Championship Wrestling in its cruiserweight division under the names Jamie-San and Jamie Knoble and is a one time Cruiserweight Champion. Gibson also wrestled in Ring of Honor as James Gibson and is a one time world champion, having won the ROH World Championship during his time in that organization.
In 2000, Gibson got his first national exposure in World Championship Wrestling. He wore a mask to hide the fact that he was Caucasian and was called Jamie-San; as part of Leia Meow's Jung Dragons with Jimmy Yang and Kaz Hayashi. They feuded with 3 Count ("Sugar" Shane Helms, Shannon Moore and Evan Karagias). While known as Jamie-San, he also had a stint in Independent Professional Wrestling, winning their Light Heavyweight title. He eventually unmasked and became Jamie Knoble to form a tag team with Karagias. After WCW closed, he wrestled in the Heartland Wrestling Association and became the Cruiserweight Champion.
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Jeff Hardy
Jeffrey Nero "Jeff" Hardy (born August 31, 1977) is an American professional wrestler, painter, poet, singer-songwriter and musician who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He is also known for his stint with the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWE).
Before gaining prominence in WWE, Hardy performed for the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA), a promotion he ran with his brother Matt. After being signed by WWE, the brothers worked as jobbers, before gaining notoriety in the tag team division, partly due to their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. With the addition of Lita, the team became known as Team Xtreme and continued to rise in popularity. As a tag team wrestler, Hardy is a six-time World Tag Team Champion and a one-time WCW Tag Team Champion. Noted for his seemingly fearless airborne moves, Hardy's offensive toolbox more resembles a stunt man's than a pro wrestler's.
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Jeff Jarrett
Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born April 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), an organization he co-founded along with his father, Jerry. He is currently heading TNA's off-shoot promotion Ring Ka King in India. He is well-known from his multiple runs in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF) during the 1990s.
A third-generation wrestler, Jarrett has held seventy championships in various promotions throughout his career. Within TNA, he is currently recognized as an eleven-time world champion, having been a six-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, four-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and one-time AAA World Heavyweight Champion. He has also accumulated five additional world title reigns, being a three-time USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion and two-time WWA World Heavyweight Champion. He achieved notable championship success in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), becoming a six-time Intercontinental Champion (a record from 1999–2004), and one of three men to hold both the Intercontinental and European Championships simultaneously. While he never captured the WWF Championship, Jarrett challenged for the title and is recognized by the promotion as a four-time world champion, given his four reigns with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which is now a WWE (formerly WWF) trademark. He is the first wrestler to be a two-time King of the Mountain, and also won Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración's (AAA) Rey de Reyes tournament in 2004. Between the WWF, WCW, and TNA, Jarrett has held twenty-two total championships as well as other numerous regional titles.
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Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional wrestler. He also wrestles and occasionally commentates for the Memphis Wrestling promotion.
Lawler has held 168 championships throughout his career. Overall, Lawler has held more championships than any other current WWE performer, though he has never won any WWE championships since joining the company.
While working in Memphis, Tennessee as a disc jockey, Lawler's artistic ability attracted the attention of local wrestling promoter Aubrey Griffith. The two made an agreement in which Lawler would give Griffith free publicity in exchange for free wrestling training. Lawler debuted as a wrestler in 1970 and won his first championship in September 1971 by winning a battle royal. He soon won the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship under the managerial service of Sam Bass with partner Jim White. In 1974, Lawler began feuding with Jackie Fargo, who had been his trainer and mentor. This led to a match for the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship. On July 24, 1974, Lawler was booked to win the belt and the title of "King of Wrestling." While Lawler began his career as a heel, he became a face after splitting from Bass at the end of 1974. On November 12, 1979, while working in the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), Lawler defeated Billy Graham to become the CWA World Champion. In 1980, his career was put on hold due to a broken leg, but he returned to the ring after several months.
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Jerry Lynn
Jeremy "Jerry" Lynn (born June 12, 1963) is an American professional wrestler. He has worked for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and Ring of Honor (ROH). Lynn is a two-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once and the ROH World Championship once.
Lynn started wrestling in March 1988 in various independent promotions in the Minnesota and Michigan areas, one being Pro Wrestling America, and a brief stop in the Tennessee-based Smoky Mountain Wrestling. After the PWA folded, Lynn wrestled for the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF) based in Dallas, Texas. While in GWF, Lynn captured the GWF Light Heavyweight Championship. Lynn also engaged in a two year feud with The Lightning Kid which gave both men considerable exposure.
Lynn first became known to a larger wrestling audience in World Championship Wrestling as the masked Mr. J.L. The high-flying Lynn joined the WCW cruiserweight division, where he competed against the Mexican luchadores and a variety of wrestlers from around the world such as Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Sabu, Chris Jericho and Alex Wright. Lynn suffered a broken arm on December 18, 1995, in a match against Dean Malenko that would air one week later on Nitro on Christmas night. He also wrestled a couple of matches on Saturday Night as himself, most notably wrestling Lex Luger. One of his last major matches took place at the Clash of the Champions XXXV, where he suffered a six-man tag team loss while teaming with Konnan and La Parka against Chris Jericho, Super Calo and Chavo Guerrero, Jr.. While he was injured, Eric Bischoff fired him from WCW.
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Jim Duggan
James Edward Duggan (born January 14, 1954), better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment in the 1980s, when it was known as World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). His best known character is that of an American patriot, which sees him use a 2x4 length of wood as a weapon, the battle cry "Hooo!" and the U-S-A! cheer.
Duggan is a survivor of kidney cancer, an illness he was diagnosed with during his time with WCW. Duggan has claimed to have wrestled in all 50 States in America as well as in the countries/territories of Australia, Austria, The Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guam, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Scotland, England and Wales (In The United Kingdom.)
In the WWF, Duggan was the winner of the first-ever Royal Rumble match in 1988 and in WCW, he was a one time United States Heavyweight Champion and a one time (and the final) World Television Champion.
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Jim Ross
James William "Jim" Ross (born January 3, 1952) is a professional wrestling commentator, referee, restaurateur, occasional wrestler, and former company executive of WWE, where he currently works as a talent relations consultant and on WWE NXT as a Play-by-Play announcer. Ross was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest commentators in wrestling history. He is known affectionately by wrestling fans as Good Ol' JR. In recent years, he has developed his own brand of barbecue sauces and cookbooks.
While attending Westville High School, Ross was the first baseman on the Westville baseball team. Ross was a two-time all-conference football player for the Westville Yellowjackets in 1968–69. His maternal grandparents owned a general store in Westville, Oklahoma and his paternal grandfather Dee Ross owned an off-sale beer store and was a carpenter. Ross was also President of the Student Body, a 4 year letterman in basketball, and State Vice President of the Future Farmers of America where he was State Speech Champion in 1968. Ross was also named Honorable Mention on the 1969 High School All State Football team by the Tulsa World as a center.
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Jimmy Hart
James "Jimmy" Ray Hart (born January 1, 1944) is a professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling under his nickname "The Mouth of the South." He has managed many professional wrestlers, including Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Ted DiBiase, and The Honky Tonk Man. He is a one-time AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion.
Before becoming involved with professional wrestling, Hart was a member of rock band The Gentrys, best known for their 1965 top five Billboard Hot 100 hit, "Keep on Dancing".
Jimmy Hart was brought into wrestling by Jerry "The King" Lawler, with whom he had attended Memphis Treadwell High School. Having been asked to sing back-up with Lawler, Hart later became Lawler's manager.
After splitting from Lawler, Hart created a stable known as Hart's First Family of Wrestling to attack Lawler, which among others included King Kong Bundy, "Ravishing" Rick Rude, Lanny Poffo, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Ox Baker, Kamala, Randy Savage, "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, The Iron Sheik and Kevin Sullivan.
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Jimmy Jacobs
Chris Scobille (born February 17, 1984) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jimmy Jacobs. He is best known for his time in Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a four-time World Tag Team Champion. He is currently working for ROH (where he recently returned), Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW), and various independent promotions
Scobille first became involved in the wrestling industry in June 1998 as a general assistant for Pro Wrestling Worldwide (PWW), a promotion based in Grand Rapids, Michigan where his brother, Nick, was working. Scobille spent nine months performing various tasks, including providing color commentary and acting as the company webmaster. After PWW folded, Scobille began working for the Lakeshore Wrestling Organization (LsWO), and was made a referee on March 6, 1999, substituting for a referee who was on vacation. He began training as a wrestler under veteran Joe "El Tejano" Ortega, a former student of Jose Lothario and the founder of the LsWO, in Holland, Michigan in March 1999, and wrestled his debut match on May 1, 1999 at the age of fifteen as "Jimmy Jacobs", losing to Michael Stryker. Scobille completed his training in August 1999 and went on to wrestle for various independent promotions in the Michigan area on the weekends, while attending high school and working as a furniture mover during the week. After graduating, he attended college for three years before deciding to focus on his wrestling career as a full-time job in May 2005.
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Jimmy Rave
James Guffey (born December 8, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Jimmy Rave. He is best known for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He is currently working regularly for Rampage Pro Wrestling, where he leads the Jimmy Rave Approved stable.
Trained by Murder One, Guffey debuted in October 1999 as the masked Mr. XTC. He later adopted the ring name Jimmy Rave. Rave wrestled for numerous professional wrestling promotions on the independent circuit, amongst them Combat Zone Wrestling, Full Impact Pro and NWA Wildside, where he won both the NWA Wildside Junior Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship twice, toured Japan with the Dragon Gate promotion on two occasions and competed in the Best of the Super Juniors for New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2008, and made several appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as well as an appearance on World Wrestling Entertainment's Sunday Night Heat program in March 2005.
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Jimmy Snuka
James William "Jimmy" Reiher (born May 18, 1943) is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka was the first ECW Heavyweight Champion and held the title on two occasions. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the early to mid-1980s and is credited with introducing the high-flyer style of wrestling to the WWF. His children Jimmy Reiher, Jr. and Sarona Reiher are also wrestlers.
Reiher was active in amateur bodybuilding in Hawaii in the 1960s. He also enjoyed some success as a professional bodybuilder, earning the titles of Mr. Hawaii, Mr. Waikiki and Mr. North Shore. Reiher opted to go into the more lucrative career of professional wrestling due to his uncertainty of making a living in bodybuilding. While working at Dean Ho's gym in Hawaii, Snuka met many of the wrestlers who worked in the South Pacific region and decided to try the sport. Snuka made his debut as Jimmy Kealoha fighting Maxwell "Bunny" Butler in Hawaii in 1970. He later moved to the mainland and wrestled for Don Owen’s NWA Pacific Northwest territory where he held the belt as Heavyweight Champion six times. He first won the title by pinning Bull Ramos on November 16, 1973. It was in this territory, that Reiher transformed himself into Jimmy Snuka. Snuka also held the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship six times with partner Dutch Savage. Snuka also had a two year feud with another rookie, Jesse "The Body" Ventura.
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Jimmy Valiant
James Harold Fanning (born August 6, 1942) is a former professional wrestler and author better known as Jimmy Valiant.
Jimmy Valiant was born in Franklin County, Tennessee, near Tullahoma as the youngest of five children of James and Effie Fanning. He later incorporated the names of his four sisters - Louise, Christine, Charlena and Patrica - into the spider web tattoo on his upper arm.
He later moved to Willingboro, New Jersey. He married Clara, with whom he fathered three children: Robin, Rhonda, and Dana. With Felicia, he has his youngest son Handsome. He is now married to Angel. He has 6 grandchildren: Lonna, Jenae, Beau, Chassie, Clarissa, and Delilah.
He started wrestling in 1964 as Big Jim Vallen. He went to the World Wide Wrestling Federation in the 1970s as Handsome Jimmy Valiant and formed a team with Johnny Valiant that would dominate the tag team scene for a while as WWWF Tag Team champions.
During the late 1970s - early 1980s, Valiant was a central player in the Memphis, Tennessee wrestling scene. He feuded regularly with Jerry Lawler and teamed with Bill Dundee to dominate the tag team matches of that time. He even recorded a song, "The Ballad of Handsome Jimmy" that began, "I've been rolling into Mempho ... TWA ... [T]ell all the women Handsome Jimmy's on the way..." The song was used in wrestling arenas as his entry music, and it became a mainstay on some Memphis radio stations for a few years. Despite the Memphis promotion desperately wanting to keep him in Memphis full-time, even offering to buy him a house in Memphis according to Jerry Lawler's biography, Valiant decided to move on after holding the AWA Southern Heavyweight title for roughly a year. Valiant also spent a brief amount of time in Jim Crockett Promotions in the late 1970s as the heel King James Valiant managed by Lord Alfred Hayes.
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Jinder Mahal
Yuvraj "Raj" Dhesi (born July 19, 1986), better known by his ring name Tiger Raj Singh, is an Indian-Canadian professional wrestler signed to WWE, competing on their SmackDown brand under the ring name Jinder Mahal.
While most Calgary wrestlers train at the infamous Dungeon, Dhesi began his wrestling career at the Martial Arts Fitness Center in Calgary, Alberta training with former WWE superstar "Razor" Rick Titan and Premier Martial Arts Wrestling (PMW) working as Raj "The Future" Dhesi. He then went on to train with "Champagne" Jerry Morrow and Bad News Allen at the New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo. In Canada's Stampede Wrestling, After working for a time with Hybrid Wrestling Coalition (HWC), Dhesi teamed with his cousin Gama Singh, Jr., as The Karachi Vice, and Sikh n' Destroy. In March 2005, the team won the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship, holding it for eight months. They won the title for a second time in December of that year, holding it until November of the following year. He also worked for the Prairie Wrestling Alliance, where he was the PWA Champion from 2008 until January 2010, and also a three time tag team champion. Dhesi also competed for Great North Wrestling (GNW), where he feuded with such wrestlers as Samoa Joe and Hannibal. Dhesi wrestled his final match for GNW, a victory over McCully, on February 27.
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Joey Styles
Joseph Carmine Bonsignore (born July 14, 1971) better known by his ring name Joey Styles, is an American professional wrestling play-by-play commentator and former professional in the field of advertising sales. He currently works for WWE as the Vice President of Digital Media Content for WWE.com.
Styles is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling during most of its entire run, from 1993 to its 2001 bankruptcy. He debuted at the Super Summer Sizzler Spectacular show in Philadelphia, PA on June 19, 1993. Styles was the sole host of ECW Hardcore TV and spent the early portion of the run as the promotion's only announcer. Providing both play-by-play and color commentary during television and pay-per-view broadcasts, Styles added his wrestling knowledge, enthusiasm, and comedy timing to the program. At Barely Legal, he became the first and only wrestling announcer in history to call a live pay-per-view event solo. Later on in the promotion, he was joined on commentary by Rick Rude on Hardcore TV, Joel Gertner for ECW on TNN, and later Cyrus for pay-per-views.
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John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena (/ˈsiːnə/; born April 23, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its Raw brand.
In WWE, Cena has won 19 championships in total, including 12 world titles (having won the WWE Championship a record 10 times and the World Heavyweight Championship twice). In addition, Cena has also won the WWE United States Championship three times, and is a four-time Tag Team Champion, having held the World Tag Team Championship twice (once each with Shawn Michaels and Batista), and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice (once each with David Otunga and The Miz). Cena also won the 2008 Royal Rumble match, and is a two-time Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner (2009 and 2010). He also has the fourth highest number of combined days as WWE Champion behind Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino.
Cena started his professional wrestling career in 2000, wrestling for Ultimate Pro Wrestling, where he held the UPW Heavyweight Championship. In 2001, Cena signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) where he held the OVW Heavyweight Championship and the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (with Rico Constantino).
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John Cone
John Cone is an American professional wrestling referee currently working for WWE.
Cone started refereeing independent wrestling matches in August 1995. He worked for Harley Race World League Wrestling from 1999 to 2006 and got his big break when a WWE official attended a match he refereed. Cone tried out for WWE and was quickly signed. He was sent to WWE developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling and later Deep South Wrestling. John was one of the first referees to work for all three WWE brands ECW, SmackDown, and Raw. Since signing with WWE, John has refereed in 15 countries and on 5 continents.
He is also the official referee for smartwrestlingfan.com.
John has said he is most proud of his performance in the boxing match between Matt Hardy and Evander Holyfield, which took place in August, 2007 in front of a sold out crowd at Madison Square Garden. Other notable moments include:
In 2009 Cone was featured in the documentary, KC on the Mat: The History of Professional Wrestling in Kansas City.
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John Laurinaitis
John Joseph Laurinaitis (born July 31, 1965), also known as Johnny Ace, is an American professional wrestler and executive, currently employed by WWE. He performs in the on-screen role of General Manager of both the Raw and SmackDown brands. He formerly served as Executive Vice President of Talent Relations.
He has wrestled for such promotions as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and WWE, and is credited as the inventor of the "Cutter" maneuver, dubbed by Laurinaitis as the "Ace Crusher". He is also the younger brother of Joe Laurinaitis (Road Warrior Animal; one half of the wrestling tag team The Road Warriors), and the uncle of James Laurinaitis, former Ohio State standout and current linebacker for the St. Louis Rams. Prior to joining WWE, Laurinaitis worked as an executive for WCW.
John Laurinaitis started wrestling in 1986 as Johnny Ace. At first, while wrestling in Florida Championship Wrestling Ace frequently teamed with his brother The Terminator. Later, when he wrestled for NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions he formed a tag team with Shane Douglas called "The Dynamic Dudes". They were managed by Jim Cornette until Cornette turned on them for Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane's version of The Midnight Express. Prior to entering the competition as one of The Dynamic Dudes at the NWA, he appeared as a flagbearer for the team of The Sheepherders. In his last televised WCW match, Ace lost to Mean Mark Callous, later known as The Undertaker, at Capital Combat on May 19, 1990.
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John Layfield
John Charles Layfield (born November 29, 1966) is an American professional wrestler, a former commentator/host for mixed martial arts promotion Vyper Fight League and financial analyst for Fox News. Layfield is best known by his ring names, Bradshaw, John "Bradshaw" Layfield or JBL while working for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was the longest reigning WWE Champion in SmackDown history with a reign lasting 280 days.
Layfield's main gimmick as John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) – a wealthy, gladhanding, big-mouthed, fiery-tempered businessman – was based on Layfield's real-life accomplishments as a stock market investor. Layfield is a regular panelist on Fox News Channel's The Cost of Freedom, has appeared on CNBC, and has written a best-selling book on financial planning called Have More Money Now. (ISBN 0-7434-6633-0). Layfield also hosts a weekend talk radio program, syndicated nationally by Talk Radio Network, in which he discusses his conservative political views. Layfield is also employed by Northeast Securities as its Senior Vice President.
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Johnny Curtis
Curtis James Hussey (born July 22, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He works for WWE on its SmackDown brand, and also competes on NXT Redemption under his ring name Johnny Curtis.
Hussey began his professional wrestling career in 1999, and worked for several promotions beginning in September 1999. He competed in several Independent promotions in New England winning the PLW New England Championship, PWF Northeast Tag Team Championship with Kenn Phoenix on more than one occasion, NCW New England Championship and Tag Team Championship with Damian Houston, and the SCCW Lightweight Championship.
In 2006, Hussey signed a development contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, and was assigned to Deep South Wrestling (DSW), WWE's developmental territory. He was then moved to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in June 2008, where he won the Florida Tag Team Championship on more than one occasion with Tyler Reks and Derrick Bateman. In December 2010, he competed in the fourth season of NXT, later winning the competition and becoming WWE's next Breakout Superstar.
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Johnny Jeter
John "Johnny" Jeter (born December 14, 1981) is an American professional wrestler best known for his appearances in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Spirit Squad member Johnny on the Raw brand in 2006.
Jeter was trained by professional wrestler Nick Dinsmore, and made his wrestling debut in 2001. He began working for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), which led to him signing a developmental contract with WWE in 2003. In 2004, while at OVW, he began competing in tag team competition with Matt Cappotelli where they were known as the Thrillseekers. The team won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, but would lose it in April 2005. Three months later, Jeter focused on singles competition, winning the OVW Heavyweight Championship, and disbanding his association with Cappotelli. After losing the OVW Heavyweight Championship, Jeter became part of the Spirit Squad. The team debuted on Raw in January 2006, and won the World Tag Team Championship once.
The following year, Jeter had brief stints with OVW, SmackDown, and ECW, and was later released from his WWE contract before January 2008. After his release, he returned to OVW.
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Johnny Kashmere
Johnny Kashmere (born November 6, 1978) is an American professional wrestler, best known as one half of The Backseat Boyz, along with the late Trent Acid. Kashmere has competed in Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Unplugged, Combat Zone Wrestling, Assault Championship Wrestling, Premier Wrestling Federation and in Japan.
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Johnny Weiss
Johnny Weiss (born February 19, 1963) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Johnny Hotbody. He is best known for his work in the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance and Extreme Championship Wrestling where he became the first ECW Triple Crown Champion.
Johnny Hotbody broke into professional wrestling in the late 1980s after completing his training at The Monster Factory, operated by Larry Sharpe. He made a name for himself in several Pennsylvania and New Jersey- based independent promotions before signing with Philadelphia's Tri-State Wrestling Alliance (TWA) in 1990. Hotbody had a long-running feud with Tony Stetson. The TWA closed its doors suddenly in 1991, but was soon replaced by Eastern Championship Wrestling (later Extreme Championship Wrestling), run by Tod Gordon. On April 26, 1992, Hotbody won the ECW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Jimmy Snuka. He held the title for nearly three months, before losing it back to Snuka on July 14. Later that year, on August 12, he became the first ever ECW Television Champion by defeating Larry Winters. He was later forced to relinquish the title on September 12, 1992, after sustaining a legitimate broken ankle.
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Jon Moxley
Jonathan Good (born December 7, 1985) is an American professional wrestler known by his ring name Jon Moxley. He is signed to WWE, wrestling in their developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), under the ring name Dean Ambrose. Moxley is best known for his work in Heartland Wrestling Association, CHIKARA, International Wrestling Association, Combat Zone Wrestling, EVOLVE, Dragon Gate USA, and Insanity Pro Wrestling. Moxley is also a five time World Champion as he has held the CZW World Heavyweight Championship twice, the IPW World Heavyweight Championship twice, and has held the FIP World Heavyweight Championship once. In April 2011, Moxley signed with WWE.
Moxley got his start in Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) in 2004. He started training under the tutelage of Cody Hawk and Les Thatcher. In June 2004, Moxley made his debut. Not even a year into his career, Moxley teamed up with Jimmy Turner as Necessary Roughness, and on May 11, 2005, they defeated the team of Mike Desire and Tack to win the HWA Tag Team Championship. After Quinten Lee and Ala Hussein, who made up the team Foreign Intelligence, beat Necessary Roughness for the HWA Tag Team Championship, Moxley started teaming with Ric Byrne in a team known as Heartland Foundation. They beat Foreign Intelligence for the title on August 19, 2005. On the same day, Heartland Foundation was stripped of the title for unknown reasons. Brock Guffman awarded the title back to Foreign Intelligence, and this was Moxley last stint in the tag team division for a period of time.
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Josh Mathews
Josh Matthew Lomberger (born November 25, 1980) is an American presenter, announcer, and former pro wrestler, better known by the ring name Josh Mathews. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment as a commentator/interviewer on all major programming (Raw, SmackDown, WWE Superstars, and PPV).
Lomberger was a runner-up to Maven and Nidia in the first WWE Tough Enough in 2001. After Tough Enough, Lomberger gained some in-ring experience on the independent circuit and in the X Wrestling Federation, which was run by WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart.
Lomberger was eventually hired by World Wrestling Entertainment, and began using the name "Josh Mathews". In December 2002, he began appearing as the backstage interviewer for the SmackDown! brand and as an announcer on WWE Velocity. He also hosted the WWE webcast Byte This! after Kevin Kelly was released. He later hosted several shows on WWE's official website including Weekly Top 5, The WWE Experience, and WWE After Burn, the latter two of which are televised internationally.
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JTG
Jayson Anthony Paul (born December 10, 1984) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name JTG (Just That Gangsta). He is currently signed to WWE wrestling on its Raw brand.
Paul began his career in 2006, working in the WWE developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) under the ring name "The Neighborhoodie". While there he was placed into a tag team with Shad Gaspard, and, calling themselves "The Gang Stars", they held the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship on two occasions.
In 2006 the team was promoted from OVW to the Raw brand under the name "Cryme Tyme", with Paul changing his name to JTG (Jayson That Gangster). On September 4, 2006, a series of vignettes start airing on Raw, hyping the debut of Cryme Tyme. On the October 16, 2006 edition of Raw, Cryme Tyme debuted and defeated two members of the then World Tag Team Champions, the Spirit Squad (Mikey and Johnny), in a non-title match. In November 2006, at Cyber Sunday, Cryme Tyme defeated Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, Charlie Haas and Viscera and The Highlanders in a Texas Tornado match (as voted by the fans). As part of their gimmick, Cryme Tyme regularly stole items belonging to other wrestlers and on-air personalities, and sold them to fans. and sold false entry numbers at the Royal Rumble. A few months later at the New Year's Revolution pay-per-view, Cryme Tyme won a Tag Team Turmoil Match against The Highlanders, The World's Greatest Tag Team, Cade and Murdoch, and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and Super Crazy, earning them a shot at the World Tag Team Championships. They then competed mainly on Heat for the next few months, although they made a backstage appearance at WrestleMania 23. They also took part in the tag team battle royal on April 2.
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Jules Strongbow
Frank Hill is a former professional wrestler, who is best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where he used to wrestle as Chief Jules Strongbow or simply Jules Strongbow, the brother of Chief Jay Strongbow.
Jules made his wrestling debut in the 1970s using his real name. In 1982, he entered the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and teamed with Chief Jay Strongbow, assuming his most famous ring name and billing himself as Chief Jay's brother. They formed a noted tag team, known as The Strongbows. On June 28, 1982, Strongbows defeated the team of Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito for their first WWF Tag Team Championship. On July 13 edition of Championship Wrestling, Strongbows lost the belts back to Fuji and Saito. On October 26 edition of Championship Wrestling, Strongbows defeated Fuji and Saito for their second tag title reign. They were defeated for the belts in Allentown, Pennsylvania on March 8, 1983 edition of Championship Wrestling by The Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika). Shortly after losing the titles, Jules left the WWF.
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Justin Gabriel
Paul Lloyd, Jr. (born March 3, 1981) is a second-generation South African professional wrestler. He is signed with WWE, and performs on the SmackDown brand under the name Justin Gabriel. He was a contestant in the first season of WWE NXT, where he finished third, before joining The Nexus stable on Raw. He has held the WWE Tag Team Championship alongside Heath Slater on three occasions. He is also a former FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion.
Lloyd made his professional wrestling debut at the age of 16 and was originally trained by his father Paul Lloyd, Sr., a promoter and wrestler in South Africa who also went by the ring name "The Pink Panther". His grandfather was a professional boxer and amateur wrestler. Lloyd grew up watching his father wrestle and in the early part of his training he used to practice in the backyard of his home, in which two rings were positioned. Lloyd went by the ring name PJ Black. He formed a regular tag team with Ray Leppan (who went by the name Presley Jackson, now known as Dameon Duke) called Pure Juice. During Lloyd's final year in high school, his father died, and a year later, he moved to the United Kingdom for five years.
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Justin Roberts
Justin Jason Roberts (born December 29, 1979) is an American professional wrestling ring announcer, currently working for WWE appearing on its Raw brand.
Roberts began watching wrestling, after he saw an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event and met Kerry Von Erich and The Ultimate Warrior at a hotel in Wisconsin. The combined events inspired Roberts to become a fan of professional wrestling. He also briefly trained as a referee so he could be in the same ring as Curt Hennig, of whom he was a big fan.
Roberts began ring announcing at age 16 for local professional wrestling promotion Pro Wrestling International, and announced his first match in November 1996. While studying Media Arts and Communications at the University of Arizona from 1998 to 2002, Roberts worked for other independent promotions such as the American Wrestling Alliance, All Pro Wrestling, and Impact Zone Wrestling. During this time, he also announced for the Toughman Contest.
In 2002, Roberts was hired by World Wrestling Entertainment as a backup announcer for SmackDown, followed later by a move to the Raw brand. He also worked on Velocity and Heat shows while touring as the full time Raw live event announcer. In 2005, he announced part of Vengeance 2005, including the main event. Most notably, Roberts announced the ECW show each week on the Sci Fi Network until September 2007, before swapping with SmackDown's Tony Chimel. Roberts reached the peak of his profession when he announced the main event of WrestleMania XXIV between Edge and The Undertaker on March 30, 2008. In addition to announcing SmackDown and pay-per-view matches, Roberts would also announce on WWE Superstars, including its inaugural episode on April 16, 2009.
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Karl Istaz
Karl Istaz (August 3, 1924 - July 28, 2007) was a professional wrestler and trainer born in Antwerp, Belgium, best known by his ring name Karl Gotch. The German suplex is named after Gotch.[citation needed]
In Japan, Gotch was known as "God of Pro Wrestling" due to his influence in shaping the Japanese professional wrestling style.
Gotch was born in Antwerp.He grew up with his family, who were the well known "Istaz family". He learned Greco-Roman wrestling in his early years and from the beginning he was a very well known sportsman. He wrestled in "The Hippodroom", a notable sports center in Antwerp, where amateur fights like boxing matches and wrestling matches were fought.
Karl Gotch excelled in amateur wrestling and experienced a major breakthrough in his career by competing as Charles Istaz for Belgium in the 1948 Olympics in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. Gotch also trained in the Indian martial art of Pehlwani. This training led to Gotch's regime of calisthenic bodyweight exercise, which were used by Indian wrestlers and other athletes to build leg endurance and strength. He also adopted other Indian exercises, such as the bridge, Hindu squats, and Hindu press ups in his wrestling. Gotch's philosophy was later passed on to several of his students.
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Kelly Kelly
Barbara Jean "Barbie" Blank (born January 15, 1987) is an American model, professional wrestler, and professional wrestling valet better known by her ring name Kelly Kelly. She is working for WWE on its Raw brand.
Blank has a background in gymnastics and cheerleading. She studied broadcast journalism, hoping to become a television anchor, and worked as a model for Venus Swimwear and Hawaiian Tropic. In 2006, Blank was signed to a contract by WWE and sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling, a WWE developmental territory. She debuted on the ECW brand in June 2006 as 'Kelly Kelly', with the character of an exhibitionist and performing a striptease. She continued her stripteases, in a segment known as Kelly's Exposé, weekly on ECW, and also became the valet of her on-screen boyfriend Mike Knox. The following year, she formed Extreme Exposé with Layla and Brooke Adams, and the trio performed a regular dance segment on ECW. They later became involved in a storyline with The Miz, which led to the dissolution of the group.
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Ken Patera
Ken Patera (born November 6, 1942 in Portland, Oregon) is a former professional wrestler, Olympic weightlifter, and Strongman competitor.
Patera is a former Olympic weightlifter and American powerlifter. He competed at Brigham Young University and won several medals at the Pan American Games (including gold), and finished second in the 1971 World Weightlifting Championships. He was the first American to clean and jerk 500(503½) lbs (227 kg), which he accomplished at the 1972 Senior Nationals in Detroit. He was also Mr. USA in weightlifting. He is also the only American to clean and press 500 lb (230 kg), and was arguably the last American to excel at weightlifting on an international level. He was a serious competitor to the Soviet legend Vasily Alexeev at the 1972 Summer Olympics, but he failed to total and was not among the medal recipients. After the press (a lift in which Patera was disproportionately talented) was eliminated from competition, Patera retired from weightlifting. He also competed in the Shot Put, finishing 6th in the 1968 Olympic Trials.
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Ken Shamrock
Kenneth Wayne Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick; February 11, 1964) is an American mixed martial artist, UFC Hall of Famer and professional wrestler. Shamrock emerged as one of the biggest stars in the history of mixed martial arts, headlining over 15 main events and co-main events in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships during the course of his career and set numerous pay per view records with his drawing power. Shamrock is widely considered to be a legendary figure and icon in the sport of mixed martial arts. Shamrock was named The World's Most Dangerous Man by ABC News in a special entitled "The World's Most Dangerous Things" in the early part of his UFC career, a moniker which has become synonymous as his nickname.
Shamrock became known early on in the UFC for his rivalry with Royce Gracie. After fighting to a draw with Gracie in the inaugural Superfight, he became the first UFC Superfight Champion after defeating Dan Severn at UFC 6; the title was eventually renamed the UFC Heavyweight Championship when weight categories were introduced to the UFC. He was also the first foreign MMA Champion in Japan, winning the title of King of Pancrase. During his reign as the UFC Superfight Champion, he was widely considered the #1 mixed martial artist in the world. Shamrock was also ranked by Inside MMA as one of the top 10 greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all time.
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Kenny Dykstra
Kenneth George Doane (born March 16, 1986) is an American professional wrestler best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) where he wrestled on its Raw and SmackDown brands under the ring names Kenny and Kenny Dykstra.
Doane was trained by former professional wrestler Killer Kowalski, and made his wrestling debut at the age of fifteen in 2001. He began working for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), per WWE request. In May 2003, Doane made his WWE television debut as "Ken Phoenix". During his time in OVW, he won the Television Championship once. After losing the title, Doane became part of the Spirit Squad faction. The team debuted on Raw in January 2006, and won the World Tag Team Championship three months later.
Following the split of the Spirit Squad, Doane was the only member to remain on WWE television. He debuted to a new ring name "Kenny Dykstra". In June 2007, he was drafted to the SmackDown! brand, but was released from his WWE contract in November 2008. He later began working on the independent circuit, wrestling for promotions including Dragon Gate USA and Evolve.
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Kerry Von Erich
Kerry Gene Adkisson (February 3, 1960 – February 18, 1993) was an American professional wrestler under the ring names Kerry Von Erich, The Modern Day Warrior, and The Texas Tornado and was part of the Von Erich family of professional wrestlers. He is best known for his time with his father's promotion World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), where he spent eleven years of his career, and his time in World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Adkisson held forty championships in various promotions during his career. Among other accolades, he was a five-time world champion: a four-time WCWA World Heavyweight Champion and one-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and a one-time WWF Intercontinental Champion.
Kerry was the son of wrestler Fritz Von Erich. His brothers, David, Kevin, Mike, and Chris, were also wrestlers. Kerry was also a standout in high school track and field and possessed a record-breaking discus throw. He debuted in his father's promotion, NWA Texas/Big Time Wrestling on June 17, 1979 against Gary Hart. In Big Time Wrestling, he held many Texas Tag Team and American Tag Team titles.
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Kevin Fertig
Kevin Matthew Fertig (born January 17, 1977) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for working with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under the ring names Mordecai and Kevin Thorn.
Fertig made his professional wrestling debut in 2000, and quickly began working for the Memphis Championship Wrestling promotion in his hometown, under the ring name Seven. There he won the Hardcore, Southern Tag Team and Southern Heavyweight Championships. He signed a contract with WWE in April 2002, and was assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). He competed in OVW for two years, winning the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship with Travis Bane, before being called up to the SmackDown brand as Mordecai, a religious zealot. The character only lasted a few months, and he returned to OVW before being released in mid-2005.
He competed on the independent circuit for the next year, before returning to WWE to wrestle on its ECW brand as Kevin Thorn, a vampire. He gained Ariel as a valet, and later joined the New Breed faction in early 2007. After Ariel was released in mid-2007, Thorn continued to wrestle on ECW, but was sent to OVW in late 2007, after undergoing an image change. He wrestled in both OVW and WWE's other developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling, until January 2009, when he was released from his contract. He then returned to the independent circuit, and also wrestled in Europe as Seven Thorn.
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Kevin Nash
Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American professional wrestler and actor. As of 2011, Nash is signed to a five year contract with WWE under their WWE Legends program. Nash has wrestled under several ring names, but is most notably known by his real name in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF)/World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE, where he has also been billed as Diesel.
Between WWE, WCW, and TNA, Nash has won a total of 21 championships. He is a six-time world champion: a five-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and one-time WWF Champion. He was the longest-reigning WWF Champion of the 1990s, having held the title for 358 days. He has achieved notable success in the tag team division as well, being a twelve-time world tag team champion: a nine-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, two-time WWF World Tag Team Champion and one-time TNA World Tag Team Champion. He is also a one-time WWF Intercontinental Champion and a two-time TNA Legends Champion. In addition to championships, he won the 1998 WCW World War 3. Nash was a member of The Kliq, a group which included Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman. He is also one of the three founding members of the New World Order (nWo), along with Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall.
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Kevin Steen
Kevin Steen (born May 7, 1984) is a Canadian professional wrestler, currently performing for various promotions on the independent circuit, most notably California-based Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Ring of Honor. He is currently in his first reign as the ROH World Champion and in his third reign as the PWG World Champion.
Steen first developed an interest in professional wrestling after watching a match between Shawn Michaels and Diesel at Wrestlemania XI at the age of 11. Three years later, his parents allowed him to start training with Serge Jodoin, a wrestler based in Quebec. The following year, he began training with Jacques Rougeau. Steen had his first match on his sixteenth birthday in L'Assomption, Quebec on May 7, 2000. Steen trained with Rougeau and wrestled for Rougeau's promotion for four years, before beginning to wrestle with several other Canadian promotions, including the International Wrestling Syndicate.
Steen made his Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) debut on September 10, 2004 at the High Stakes event. He lost in a fatal four-way match featuring El Generico, Excess, and SeXXXy Eddy, the latter of which was victorious in that match. He continued to make appearances with CZW and soon began teaming with El Generico against Super Dragon and Excalibur.
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Kia Stevens
Kia Michelle Stevens (born September 4, 1977), better known by her ring names Amazing Kong, Awesome Kong and Kharma, is an American professional wrestler who is signed with WWE. She is a five time World Champion, having won the WWWA World Championship, NWA World Women's Championship and AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Women's Championship and a two-time TNA Knockout Champion. Her success is not limited to singles wrestling, as she frequently teamed with Aja Kong to form the tag team Double Kong who held tag team championships in four different promotions, along with winning the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship with Hamada. She was also ranked first in the inaugural list of Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 50 Females.
She began her professional wrestling career in 2002 after appearing on a reality television show. She primarily wrestled in Japan for the first five years of her career, holding numerous championships there. In 2006 she began wrestling in her native United States again, appearing on the independent circuit before appearing on national television with TNA Wrestling where she was a driving force in the foundation of their Knockout division.
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King Curtis Iaukea
Curtis Piehau Iaukea, III (September 15, 1937 – December 4, 2010) was a professional wrestler better known as King Curtis Iaukea. Iaukea won championships in several of the major regional US promotions, both as a single and in various tag team combinations, during the 1960s. He then competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) where he won the WWF Tag Team Championship. He was also later The Master of the Dungeon of Doom in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Under the name "Iau Kea" he appeared in the film The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze with Moe Howard declaring "That's not a man! That's a committee!".
He was the great grandson of Colonel Curtis Iaukea, a vice chamberlain and diplomat to the court of King Kalākaua and Queen Liliuokalani and later Sheriff of Honolulu and son of a Honolulu Police Department Inspector also named Curtis Iaukea. He attended Punahou School and the University of California Berkeley as an economics major where he lettered as a lineman until he dropped out. He played as a tackle for the BC Lions from 1958-1959.
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Kofi Kingston
Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981), is a Ghanaian American professional wrestler signed to WWE and appearing on its Raw brand under the ring name, Kofi Kingston. He and R-Truth are the current WWE Tag Team Champions. Since debuting with WWE, he has won the Intercontinental Championship three times, the United States Championship twice, the World Tag Team Championship once with CM Punk and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice, once with Evan Bourne and once with R-Truth.
He made his official wrestling debut in 2006, when he faced Tony Omega at Chaotic Wrestling on February 24th. He faced Evan Siks on June 4 for the PWF Mayhem Heavyweight Championship. He competed primarily in the New England area, including stints in National Wrestling Alliance – New England, Millennium Wrestling Federation, New England Championship Wrestling, the Eastern Wrestling Alliance, and Chaotic Wrestling.
In September 2006, he signed a developmental contract with WWE and was assigned to Deep South Wrestling (DSW), a Georgia based developmental federation. He debuted in the new company, as Kofi Nahaje Kingston, in a dark match loss to Montel Vontavious Porter on September 21. For the rest of 2006 and the beginning of 2007, he appeared in DSW, as well as its Kentucky based sister promotion Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he was in a tag team dubbed the "Commonwealth Connection" with Harry Smith. In 2007, under the ring name "Kofi Nahaje Kingson", he had his first exposure to the main WWE roster, when he worked dark matches on March 5 and 26 before episodes of Raw against Charlie Haas and Trevor Murdoch, respectively. When he returned to the developmental federations, he shortened his original ring name to "Kofi Kingston" and continued to use both ring names throughout his duration there. He also worked live events, defeating Shelton Benjamin on May 5, and Val Venis on May 6.
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Kurt Angle
Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968 in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania) is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and actor. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is a former five-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion. He is also known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (WWF/E), and for being the only Olympic gold medalist in the history of professional wrestling.
Angle was involved in amateur wrestling during both high school and college. In college at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, he won numerous accolades, including being a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion. After graduating, he won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1995 World Wrestling Championships. Angle then competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he won a gold medal in heavyweight freestyle wrestling. Kurt Angle is also one of only four people to complete a Grand Slam in amateur wrestling which is the junior nationals, the NCAAs, the World Championships and the Olympics. He was named the greatest shoot wrestler and one of the top 15 college wrestlers of all time by USA Wrestling.
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Lance Storm
Lance Evers (born April 3, 1969) known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler, currently appearing in the Ring of Honor promotion. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling. He runs a pro wrestling school the, Storm Wrestling Academy, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Lance Storm was trained by Ed Langley and Brad Young of the Hart Brothers Wrestling Camp at the Silver Dollar Action Centre in Calgary where he became friends with fellow student Chris Jericho. Jericho has stated that despite the name of the school, the only involvement any of the Hart brothers had in their training was a "thirty-minute cameo" by Keith Hart to collect the student's fees. Lance would later debut against Jericho in 1990 as Lance T. Storm. Early on, he mainly wrestled in Calgary but also spent time in Japan in Wrestling Association "R". Along with Jericho, Storm debuted in Smoky Mountain Wrestling in 1994, forming a tag team known as the Thrillseekers. After Jericho was injured, Storm continued to compete in singles competition for a few months, even winning the "Beat the Champ" TV Title. He then left SMW and moved on to a Winnipeg-based West Four Wrestling Alliance, where he teamed once again with Jericho.
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Larry Zbyszko
Lawrence "Larry" Whistler (born December 5, 1951) is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino during the early 1980s.
Zbyszko's ring name has in the past been misspelled Zbysko or Zybysko. The correct spelling of the name, Zbyszko, is derived from the name of Polish wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko.
Whistler trained under Bruno Sammartino and debuted in 1973 as the babyface "Larry Zbyszko", with his name a tribute to 1920s Polish American wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko. He initially wrestled in the Pittsburgh area, appearing on the local wrestling program Studio Wrestling, before receiving bookings in Vancouver. He spent three years in the World Wide Wrestling Federation before traveling to California in 1975.
Zbyszko was one of the attractions in the 1976 Latin America Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight championship, held in Guatemala City, under Jose Azzari promotions. Three days after the end of the tournament (Mil Máscaras won the title, defeating Jose Azzari in the final), an earthquake destroyed much of that Central American nation.
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Layla El
Layla El (born 25 June 1978) is an English dancer, model and professional wrestler of Moroccan descent. She is signed to WWE as a WWE Diva and appears on the SmackDown brand as Layla. She is the reigning WWE Divas Champion.
After attending a performing arts college, El was a dancer for Carnival Cruise Lines, the Miami Heat franchise of the National Basketball Association, and also danced for Kanye West at the MTV Video Music Awards. In 2006, she was a contestant in the 2006 WWE Diva Search, which she won to earn a contract with the company.
Initially appearing on the SmackDown brand, she was moved to the ECW brand in January 2007, where she formed the Extreme Exposé dance troupe with Kelly Kelly and Brooke Adams. In 2008, she was drafted to the Raw brand, where she began managing William Regal. The following year she returned to the SmackDown brand, where she formed an alliance with Michelle McCool known as Team Lay-Cool. In May 2010, Layla won the WWE Women's Championship for the first time, making her the first British woman to hold the championship. She is also the first Diva Search winner to have won the championship, and the final recognized WWE Women's Champion as the title was retired in 2010. In April 2012, Layla won the WWE Divas Championship upon her return from a year-long absence due to injury.
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Leo Kruger
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.
Leppan debuted as a professional wrestler at the age of 16. 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. While there, Duke won the WWP World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Tornado in 2007 and lost it to Fury the following year.
After Leppan's United States work visa cleared, he was able to debut in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in 2010.
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Lex Luger
Lawrence Wendell "Larry" Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by his ring name Lex Luger, is an American former professional wrestler and football player currently working with WWE on their wellness policy. He is best known for his work with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
Among other accolades in professional wrestling, Luger is a three-time world champion, having held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice and the WWA World Heavyweight Championship once; a record-tying five-time NWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Champion who owns the record for consecutive days and most total days spent as champion; and the 1994 WWF Royal Rumble winner (with Bret Hart). Readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated voted Luger the Most Popular Wrestler of the Year 1993.
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Lilian Garcia
Lilian Annette García (born August 19, 1966), is a Spanish-American singer and ring announcer. She is signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) where she performs on the SmackDown brand as ring announcer. During her first stint in WWE, she became the first WWE Diva to remain with the promotion for ten years.
García was born on August 19, 1966, in Madrid, Spain. She spent the first eight years of her life in the country due to her father's employment with the American Embassy, and was educated on an American military base, leading her to describe herself as a "military brat". Upon returning to the United States, Garcia graduated from Irmo High School in Columbia, South Carolina. She went on to attend the University of South Carolina, graduating cum laude. Lilian's family comes from Spain and Puerto Rico.
García was a top ten finalist in the Miss South Carolina beauty pageant. Garcia was also one half of a popular morning show on radio station WYYS,"YES 97" in Columbia with Chuck Finley in the early '90s. She was a VJ in Atlanta, Georgia, where she also had a drive-time afternoon radio show. She also served as karaoke host at the Nitelites nightclub in the Embassy Suites Hotel in Columbia, South Carolina, and later at the West Columbia Ramada.
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Low Ki
Brandon Silvestry (born September 6, 1979) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known under his ring names Low Ki and Senshi in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and Kaval in World Wrestling Entertainment. He is a former one-time PWG World Champion and a former ROH Champion. In addition, he has won a number of tournaments and other championships on the independent circuit, and was the winner of the second season of WWE NXT in 2010.
Silvestry began wrestling in late 1998 under the ring name Low Ki, which he admits came from the lyrics of the song "No Diggity". He began wrestling for Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) in 1998, challenging Homicide and Kane D for the JAPW Tag Team Championship. The following year he challenged for the JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship twice, unsuccessfully, but defeated Crazy Ivan and Judas Young to win the second Best of the Light Heavyweights tournament.
In 2000, he began making several appearances in the World Wrestling Federation on their programs Metal and Jakked, where he competed against the likes of Raven, Crash Holly, Christian and Essa Ríos. The following year he made it through to the finals of All Pro Wrestling's King of the Indies tournament, losing the crown to American Dragon. It was also during 2001 that he defeated Nick Berk and Homicide in separate matches on the same evening to win both the JAPW Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Titles; he would successfully defend both titles in separate matches at their Fourth Anniversary Show later that month in July. He lost both titles in a Three Way match the following month to Homicide, with Xavier as the other competitor.
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Mae Young
Johnnie Mae Young (born March 12, 1923) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and currently WWE Ambassador.
Young was an influential pioneer in women's wrestling, helping to increase its popularity during World War II and training many generations of wrestlers. She wrestled throughout the United States and Canada, and won multiple titles in the National Wrestling Alliance.
Beginning in 1999, Young had a high-profile "second career" in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Young was part of a recurring comedic duo with best friend The Fabulous Moolah in appearances on WWE televised events. She is a member of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and the WWE Hall of Fame. Young holds the distinction of being the only professional wrestler to wrestle documented matches in nine different decades, having her first in 1939 and her latest match in 2010.
Johnnie Mae Young was an amateur wrestler on her high school's boys' wrestling team at the age of fifteen. Her brothers Fred, Eugen, Lawarence, and Everett taught her to wrestle and helped her join the team. She was the youngest of eight children (one died at birth). Her mother Lilly Mae Young was a single mother (her partner left to find work and never returned) living during the Great Depression. Young's oldest sister Inie was severely disabled by whooping cough at a very young age. Young also played softball with Tulsa's national championship team. While still in high school, Young went to a professional wrestling show and challenged then-champion Mildred Burke when she visited Tulsa to wrestle Gladys Gillem. Because the promoters told her she could not wrestle the champion, she wrestled Gillem in a shoot fight, beating her within seconds. After the fight, promoter Billy Wolfe wanted Young to become a professional wrestler. She left home two years later to wrestle professionally.
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Marc Mero
Marc Mero (born July 9, 1963) is an American retired amateur boxer and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as Marc Mero and with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Johnny B. Badd. In 2007 he founded the non-profit organization Champion of Choices.
Mero was born in Buffalo, New York. His parents divorced when he was eight years old, with his mother supporting him and his three siblings by working two jobs. At the age of 12, Mero began playing hockey, eventually becoming his league's Most Valuable Player. In 1973, Mero's family relocated to Liverpool, New York, where Mero played for the Mid State Youth Hockey League. At age 15, Mero began playing for the Syracuse Stars Junior Hockey Team.
Mero began playing football in his senior year, with his high school team winning the New York State Title under the tutelage of future University of Central Florida coach George O'Leary. In the same year, Mero began training as a boxer under Golden Gloves coach Ray Rinaldi. Mero went on to win four New York State titles, including the New York Golden Gloves tournament. Mero intended to become a professional boxer, but his career was sidelined after his nose was broken in an accident. He briefly pursued a bodybuilding career, placing third in the Mr. New York State bodybuilding contest.
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Marcelo Rodríguez
Marcelo Antonio Rodríguez Laprea is a Venezuelan actor and professional wrestling announcer currently working for the international Spanish versions of WWE shows Raw, SmackDown, NXT, Superstars, and pay-per-view (PPV) events alongside Carlos Cabrera as color commentator.[1] .Rodríguez started working for WWE by the end of 2000 and appeared only occasionally at that time, filling in for Cabrera or former color commentator Hugo Savinovich. He commentated in every international version of RAW and SmackDown, while both Cabrera and Savinovich alternately broadcasted alongside him. In October 2011, Savinovich left WWE and Rodríguez became a full-time Spanish commentator for all programs and PPV events. In October 2011, Rodríguez and Cabrera were at ringside for the tapings of Raw and SmackDown in Mexico City, Mexico.
Rodríguez was also frequent substitute co-host of WWE en Español until October 2011, when he became permanent co-host with Carlos Cabrera following the departure of Hugo Savinovich from the company. He had not made any appearance on PPV since working for WWE until SummerSlam 2011. Rodríguez hosts The WWE Experience for Latin America introducing clips and recaps from the previous week's episodes of Raw, SmackDown and NXT.
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Maria Kanellis
Maria Louise Kanellis (born February 25, 1982) is a singer-songwriter, actress, model, and professional wrestler, also known simply as Maria. She is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment, and is working for Ring of Honor as the valet of real life boyfriend Mike Bennett.
Kanellis's career began as a contestant on the reality show Outback Jack in 2004. In the same year, she placed fifth in the Raw Diva Search, but was later hired by WWE as a backstage interviewer. Kanellis began competing in the ring as a wrestler in 2005. She also posed for the April 2008 cover of Playboy magazine, which was incorporated into a storyline on Raw. She released her debut album Sevin Sins on April 13, 2010 on iTunes.
Kanellis was born in Ottawa, Illinois. She has two younger siblings; a brother named Bill and a sister Janny. Kanellis grew up with an interest in playing sports, particularly volleyball, basketball, and softball and graduated from Ottawa Township High School in 2000, before spending some time as a student at Northern Illinois University. Before her career in wrestling began, Kanellis regularly competed in beauty pageants.
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Mark Henry
Mark Jerrold Henry (born June 12, 1971) is an American powerlifter, Olympic weightlifter, strongman, and a professional wrestler with WWE, where he performs on its SmackDown brand. He is a 1992 Olympian, and winner of the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic. Since joining the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) in 1996, he has become a one-time WWF European Champion and a two-time world champion, having held the ECW Championship in 2008, and the World Heavyweight Championship in 2011.
Henry was a weightlifter, and competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, where he placed tenth in the super heavyweight division. Three years later, at the 1995 Pan American Games, Henry won a silver medal in the super heavyweight division. The following year, he became a North America, Central America, Caribbean Islands (NACACI) champion. In 1996, Henry signed a ten-year contract with the WWF. Henry was trained by former Canadian professional wrestlers Stu and Bret Hart and Leo Burke. He made his television wrestling debut in September 1996. In January 1998, Henry joined the stable Nation of Domination. After the disbanding of the group, he acquired the moniker "Sexual Chocolate", which led him to participate in controversial angles.
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Marty Jannetty
Frederick Marty Jannetty is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation as part of tag team The Rockers with partner Shawn Michaels, and later as a singles competitor. While in the WWF, he became a one time Intercontinental Champion and a one time Tag Team Champion with the 1-2-3 Kid. With Michaels, The Rockers became two time World Tag Team Champions in the American Wrestling Association.
Jannetty began his wrestling career in April 1984, wrestling in the National Wrestling Alliance's Central States division. He wrestled in singles and tag team competition with various partners, including "Bulldog" Bob Brown and Dave Peterson and with Tommy Rogers as the Uptown Boys, until joining forces with fellow rookie Shawn Michaels in late 1985. The two teamed as The Midnight Rockers and quickly won the Central States Tag Team Championship from The Batten Twins.
In 1986, the duo left the NWA for the American Wrestling Association. In the AWA, Jannetty and Michaels quickly built a reputation as a talented tag team, performing many acrobatic moves in tandem and electrifying crowds with their athleticism. The two won the World Tag Team Championship twice, first defeating Buddy Rose and Doug Somers and then Original Midnight Express for their second and final reign. They also won the Southern Tag Team Championship twice after defeating the Rock 'n' Roll RPMs on two separate occasions before jumping to the World Wrestling Federation in 1988.
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Masa Saito
Masanori Saito (斎藤 昌典, Saitō Masanori?) (born February 1, 1942) is a former Japanese professional wrestler better known as Mr. Saito or Masa Saito (マサ 斉藤?). He wrestled for several years in various promotions operated by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He later joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where he teamed with Mr. Fuji to hold the World Tag Team Championship twice. He also won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1990. In Japan, Saito wrestled for both All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Saito gained notoriety for his arrest after throwing a boulder through the window of a McDonald's restaurant in Waukesha Wisconsin and for a match wrestled against Antonio Inoki on a deserted island in Japan.
Saito competed in freestyle wrestling for Japan in the 1964 Olympic Games, placing seventh, making him one of the Top 10 Olympic wrestlers that year.
He began his pro wrestling career in 1965 and quickly established himself in both Japan and the United States. Nicknamed "Mr. Torture" for his punishing and sadistic style, Saito held numerous titles while wrestling in North America and Japan.
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Masato Tanaka
Masato Tanaka (born February 28, 1973) is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling in Japan and in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the United States where he was a one-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once. He is currently splitting his time working for New Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Zero1, where he is currently one half of the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champions.
Tanaka trained under Atsushi Onita, and debuted on July 23, 1993 in Saga City, facing Ricky Fuji. He quickly began working for FMW, widely regarded as the most hardcore professional wrestling promotion in Japan. Wrestling in matches featuring explosions and barbed wire, Tanaka earned a variety of scars, and the nickname "Dangan", which he would often shout during his matches. By 1996 he was one of the promotion's major stars, and had feuded with such luminaries as Mr. Pogo, Mr. Gannosuke, Terry Funk and Mike Awesome. His feud with Awesome would eventually span ten years and two continents. In December 1999, he left FMW for ECW, after he and Tetsuhiro Kuroda lost to H and Mr. Gannosuke.
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Mason Ryan
Barri Griffiths (born 13 January 1982) is a Welsh professional wrestler and former Gladiators competitor, also known as Goliath and by his ring name Mason Ryan. He is signed to WWE, where he wrestles on the Raw brand.
Griffiths studied construction management at Cardiff University, before working as a trainee carpenter and in his family's funeral home. He also played as a centre-back for Porthmadog F.C., but a knee injury curtailed his career. Griffiths appeared as "Goliath" on Gladiators in 2009.
Griffiths began training to be a professional wrestler in 2006, and competed around Europe for the next three years. In 2009, he signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and debuted in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's developmental territory, in January 2010 using the name 'Mason Ryan'. In July, he won the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship and held the championship until February 2011. Griffiths debuted as Mason Ryan on the Raw brand in January 2011, where he aligned himself with The New Nexus.
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Matt Bloom
Matthew Jason "Matt" Bloom (born November 14, 1972) is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE and working on its Raw brand under the ring name Tensai. Between 1997 and 2004, Bloom wrestled for World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment under the ring names Prince Albert, Albert, and A-Train. During his time in the promotion, he became a one time Intercontinental Champion. After leaving WWE, Bloom, adopting the ring name Giant Bernard, began working for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he became a two time IWGP Tag Team Champion, holding the record for both the longest reign and the most title defenses alongside Karl Anderson as Bad Intentions. Bernard and Anderson are also one time GHC Tag Team Champions in Pro Wrestling Noah. He holds notable wins over current WWE Champion CM Punk and 12 time World Champion John Cena.
Bloom attended Peabody High School, where he earned three letters in football and basketball, two in track and field, and one in baseball. He went on to attend the University of Pittsburgh, where he played American football as an offensive tackle and an offensive guard.
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Matt Cappotelli
Matthew Lee "Matt" Cappotelli (born November 12, 1979) is an American professional wrestler, last working in Ohio Valley Wrestling, which was the primary developmental territory for World Wrestling Entertainment until February 7, 2008. He has postponed his career due to a malignant brain tumor, which has been fully removed.
Cappotelli, along with John Hennigan, won a WWE contract by winning Tough Enough III.
He was then sent to OVW in order to continue his training and work on his vocal skills. In OVW, Cappotelli formed a fan favorite tag team known as The Thrill Seekers with Johnny Jeter.
Cappotelli was embroiled in controversy when one of the former Tough Enough trainers, Bob "Hardcore" Holly, worked stiff on the unsuspecting Cappotelli during a practice match, leaving him bruised and bloody. Holly later accidentally concussed Cappotelli while wrestling him at a live event on April 24, 2004.
On July 31, 2005, Cappotelli suffered a broken fibula during a match against The Blond Bombers (Chad and Tank Toland) at an Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) event in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, when he landed awkwardly after a suplex. He was out of action for approximately eight weeks.
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Matt Hardy
Matthew Moore "Matt" Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stints in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Before signing with WWE, Hardy, with his brother Jeff, founded a wrestling organization called Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA). While there, Hardy held many championships including the Heavyweight and Tag Team Championship, which he held with Jeff. The promotion folded in October 1999 when they signed contracts with WWE. The Hardys gained notoriety in WWE's tag team division due to their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. As a tag team wrestler, Hardy is a six-time World Tag Team Champion, a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion, and a one-time WCW Tag Team Champion.
Apart from his success as a tag team wrestler, Hardy is a one-time world heavyweight champion, having won the ECW Championship in 2008. He also has won other singles championships, having held the Hardcore, European, Cruiserweight, and United States Championship on one occasion each. All totaled, Hardy has won 13 championships in WWE.
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Matt Hyson
Matthew "Matt" Hyson (born August 13, 1970) is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his performances in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Spike Dudley and in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Brother Runt.
In ECW, he was a two-time Tag Team Champion. In WWE, he was a one-time Cruiserweight Champion, a one-time Tag Team Champion with Tazz, a one-time European Champion and a seven-time Hardcore Champion.
Prior to his wrestling career, Hyson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, and was a third grade English teacher. During the documentary Beyond the Mat, a heavily bleeding Hyson delivers the line "I shall, I do" (Henry IV of England's response to a request by Sir John Falstaff in the Shakespearean play Henry IV, Part 1).
In May 1993, Hyson entered All Pro Wrestling's "Boot Camp" in Hayward, California to train as a referee and manager. He quickly began training to be a wrestler as well, and spent the next three years wrestling on the California independent promotions.
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Matt Striker
Matthew Kaye (born June 26, 1974) is an American actor, wrestling commentator and semi-retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Matt Striker. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as the Host of WWE NXT.
After obtaining a Master's degree in educational psychology, Kaye began working as a high-school teacher. He also began a career in professional wrestling, and made his debut in 2000 after being trained by Johnny Rodz. In his first year as a wrestler he won 10 different championships, and went on to become a mainstay on the independent circuit in the New York region. He toured Japan with the Pro Wrestling Zero1 promotion in late 2004 and early 2005. In early 2005, Kaye quit his full-time teaching job at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, when the school board found out that he had been using sick days as a way to pursue his wrestling career.
Kaye signed a contract with WWE in mid-2005, calling himself Matt Striker, and quickly developed a persona of a heel (villainous) teacher. He started out on the Raw brand, where he hosted a segment known as Matt Striker's Classroom, before moving to the ECW brand in 2006. There he joined the New Breed alliance and was involved in a scripted rivalry with the ECW Originals. After this, he began managing wrestler Big Daddy V until 2008. In August 2008, Striker began working as the color commentator on ECW and, alongside his commentary partner Todd Grisham, won the 2008 Slammy Award for Announce Team of the Year. Striker was then moved to the SmackDown brand where he commentated from October 2009 to January 2011.
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Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard (born December 8, 1968) better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator and occasional wrestler currently signed to WWE where he serves as a commentator. He is also a former news journalist.
Coulthard began his career in the media as a journalist, working for CBS Radio. His first high-profile assignment was to cover the failed 1988 US presidential campaign of Democratic Party nominee Michael Dukakis. In 1992, he reported on the presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. Coulthard covered the 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993. The following year, he spent nine months covering the Yugoslavian civil war. In 1995 he was also selected to cover the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. He returned to the presidential campaign trail in 1996 to cover the failed campaigns of Steve Forbes and Sen. Bob Dole.
Cole came to the World Wrestling Federation in mid-1997 and started using the stage name "Michael Cole." He provided voice-overs for promotional videos and later became the host of LiveWire show alongside Jim Cornette. Coulthard first appeared on screen at SummerSlam, and replaced Todd Pettengill as a backstage interviewer, who left the WWF after the event. In late 1997, Cole became one of the three announcers for the first hour of Monday Night Raw, alongside Jim Ross and Kevin Kelly. Eventually Cole was permanently replaced by Jerry Lawler later in the year. In 1999, Cole became the regular play-by-play announcer for Monday Night Raw subbing for Jim Ross when Ross was devastated by Bell's palsy.
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Michael Hutter
Michael Hutter (born March 18, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He works for WWE, on its SmackDown brand, and also competes on NXT Redemption under the ring name Derrick Bateman.
Hutter began his professional wrestling career in 2002, and worked for several promotions beginning in October 2006. In July 2006, Hutter signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, and made his first appearance on the July 24 episode of Raw. In March 2007, he was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), WWE's developemental territory. Although he was signed to WWE, Hutter competed in several Independent promotions winning the AIW Absolute Championship, BCCW Euro-Canadian Championship, and the Firestorm Pro Heavywight Championship. In February 2009, Hutter was assigned by WWE to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), another developemental territory, where he won the FCW Tag Team Championship with Johnny Curtis. In December 2010, he competed in the fourth season of NXT to become the next WWE Breakout Superstar, and made it to the final three before being eliminated from the competition. He returned in June 2011, competing in the fifth season of NXT, known as NXT Redemption.
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Michael McGillicutty
Joseph Hambert "Joe" Hennig (born October 1, 1979) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment and working on the Raw brand, under the ring name Michael McGillicutty. He previously wrestled at their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He was part of the second season of WWE NXT.
Hennig made his professional debut on July 13, 2007 in Waterloo, Iowa for World League Wrestling (WLW), teaming with Ted DiBiase, Jr. to defeat Dinn T. Moore and Branden Tatum by disqualification. Hennig later went on a nine-month winning streak in WLW before suffering his first singles loss to "Wild" Wade Chism.
On March 31, 2007, Hennig along with his mother, siblings, and his grandfather represented his father "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig at the 2007 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony by accepting the award on his behalf. On the October 26, 2007 episode of SmackDown, Hennig teamed with Steve Fender in a loss to Jesse and Festus.
Hennig signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and was assigned to its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). On September 11, 2008, Hennig and Sebastian Slater defeated Nic Nemeth and Gavin Spears to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. On October 30, Hennig and Slater lost the Tag Team Championship to The New Hart Foundation (DH Smith and TJ Wilson).
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Michael Tarver
Tyrone Evans (born March 8, 1977) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with WWE as Michael Tarver.
Evans defeated Brandon X in a match at an NWA East event on February 19, 2005. Evans defeated Daron Smythe for the Pro Wrestling Express (PWX) Brass Knuckles Championship on April 2, 2005. On June 11, Venom defeated Evans for the Brass Knuckles Championship. After the title loss, Evans challenged Brandon K for the territory's Heavyweight Championship on September 8, 2006, and was unsuccessful. Later that year, he wrestled for Dan Severn's Price of Glory Wrestling, where he participated in an elimination match won by N8 Mattson.
Evans also wrestled for several Cleveland, Ohio-based promotions. In March 2006, Evans debuted for the Main Event Wrestling League in Ohio, teaming with Kato to defeated Chris Kole in a handicap match. In December, Evans challenged Robby Starr for the MEWL Championship, but lost the match by disqualification. A rematch in March 2007, saw Starr defeat Evans again. At MEWL's Honky Tonk Saturday Night show the following month, however, Evans defeated Starr and won the MEWL Heavyweight Championship. In July 2006, Evans beat Savage at an Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW) show. He returned to AIW in May 2007, losing to Thrillbilly, and in September 2007, where he defeated Eddie Kingston by submission in the third round of their 'Strong Style' Challenge match. In April 2007, Evans challenged Jason Bane for the Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling (CAPW) Television Championship, but was unsuccessful. On May 6, at May Meltdown, The B.E.T. (Evans and Josh Emmanuel) defeated Jeff Brooks and Kid Hybrid in a tag team match, and the following month at A Hot Summer's Night The B.E.T. defeated The Clash of Ernie Ballz and Brian Bender.
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Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. (born June 7, 1965) is a American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he shares with Terry Funk. He is currently signed to a Legends contract with WWE, where he makes special guest appearances and serves as an ambassador.
Throughout his wrestling career, Foley has wrestled both under his real name and under various personas (most notably Dude Love, Cactus Jack and Mankind). He is a four-time World Champion (three WWF Championships, and one TNA World Heavyweight Championship). He is an 11-time Tag Team Champion (eight WWF Tag Team Titles, two ECW World Tag Team Titles, and one WCW World Tag Team Championship). He was also the first WWF Hardcore Champion, and held the TNA Legends Championship (now known as the Television Championship) once. Following his retirement from wrestling full-time, Foley appeared occasionally with WWE as a special guest referee and later as a color commentator for the SmackDown brand. Upon his departure from WWE in 2008, he signed with TNA, where he was a storyline stock holder of the company. All totaled, Foley has won 17 championships between WCW, ECW, WWF/E, and TNA.
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Mickie James
Mickie Laree James (born August 31, 1979), is an American professional wrestler and singer of mixed Native American-Caucasian descent, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where she is a former two-time TNA Women's Knockout Champion.
James began her professional wrestling career in 1999 as a valet on the independent circuit, where she was known under the name Alexis Laree. She trained in several camps to improve her wrestling abilities before working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in June 2002, where she gained national attention. After only a few appearances, she joined a stable called The Gathering and was written into storylines with the group. She is also the only woman to be involved in Clockwork Orange House of Fun matches.
James appeared in WWE in October 2005 and was placed in a storyline with Trish Stratus, in which James' gimmick was that of Stratus' biggest fan turned obsessed stalker, an angle which lasted almost a year. She received a push, and she won her first WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 22, a title she has held a total of five times. James also won her first Divas Championship at Night of Champions in 2009 to become the second Diva to hold both the Women's and Divas titles. She, however, was released from the company on April 22, 2010, after which she returned to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Between WWE and TNA, James is an eight-time champion, and is also the only female to hold the WWE Women's, WWE Divas and TNA Knockout Championships in wrestling history.
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Mike Awesome
Michael Lee Alfonso (January 24, 1965 – February 17, 2007), better known by his ring name Mike Awesome, was an American professional wrestler best known in America for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and in World Wrestling Federation and also in Japan for his work with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling under the name The Gladiator. Mike Awesome was a two-time World Heavyweight Champion.
Alfonso moved on to Japan, joining Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in September 1990 and using the name The Gladiator. In 1993, he joined forces with Ricky Fuji, Big Titan, and Dr. Luther in the original Team Canada stable; the stable disbanded in 1994.
In 1993, Alfonso appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) for a short period (as "Awesome" Mike Awesome) before returning to FMW. In 1994, the Gladiator captured his first title, teaming with Big Titan to defeat Atsushi Onita and Katsutoshi Niyama in the finals of the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship Tournament. They lost the title that April, but Awesome won them again with new partner Mr. Pogo in October. In 1995, he joined the group, Lethal Weapon, reuniting with Ricky Fuji. As the Gladiator, he faced and defeated Hayabusa for his first major singles title, the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship in September 1995, but was forced to vacate it due to a legitimate injury the next February. In May 1996 he won the title for a second time, then unified it with the FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship after defeating W*ING Kanemura in that December. The next August, teaming with Hisakatsu Oya and Mr. Gannosuke he won the vacated FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag-Team Titles, holding all three belts at once, but within a month lost all three during a feud with Masato Tanaka.
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Mike Chioda
Michael Joseph "Mike" Chioda (born August 1, 1964) is a senior referee who is currently signed to WWE. While not refereeing, Chioda, as well as the other referees in WWE, help set up the arena before shows, constructing the ring and stage areas.[citation needed]
As a young man, Chioda lived close to the Marellas (Gorilla Monsoon and his son Joey), who helped him break into the wrestling business. Being trained as a referee, Chioda first began to appear in WWE in 1989, when it was known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), most notably at Survivor Series 1989. After taking a hiatus from refereeing following WrestleMania VII, he began to reappear on camera around 1993.
Chioda has also competed in an actual wrestling match, teaming with Chris Jericho and The Rock to take on the team of The Dudley Boyz and referee Nick Patrick on an episode of SmackDown! in 2001. Chioda actually scored the pinfall victory after delivering his version of "The People's Elbow" to Nick Patrick.
During the WWF tenure, he officiated matches such as Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV, Triple H vs. Vince McMahon at Armageddon 1999, The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8.
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Mike Knox
Michael Shawn Hettinga (born July 17, 1978) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment as Mike Knox. He is also an avid fisherman, and fishes in his spare time.
Hettinga worked for Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) in 2000. He tagged with Samoa Joe at UPW Proving Ground on December 12, 2000 in the Galaxy Theatre of Santa Ana, California and defeated the debuting Al Katrazz with Basil. He also wrestled at UPW live against Samoa Joe for the Heavyweight Championship, but was unable to win the title.
After being trained by Steve "Navajo Warrior" Islas, Knox started wrestling for Islas' organization Impact Zone Wrestling in 2002. He was booked to win the Heavyweight Championship on two occasions and the Tag Team Championship with friend and rival Derek Neikirk on one occasion.
Knox was signed to a World Wrestling Entertainment developmental deal in February 2005, and made a handful of appearances on WWE shows, including one appearance as a masked "jihadist" for Muhammad Hassan, in the infamous segment that led to Hassan's ousting from WWE.
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Mikel Scicluna
"Baron" Mikel Scicluna (July 29, 1929 – March 20, 2010) was a Maltese-born professional wrestler who gained his fame during the 1960s and 1970s.
Scicluna started wrestling during the 1950s, and used the name Mike Valentino early in his career. Scicluna worked primarily in Canada until 1965, when he ventured to the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), now known as WWE, using his most famous moniker "Baron" Mikel Scicluna.
Scicluna was famous for entering the ring with a royal blue cape over his shoulders, indicating that he was of Maltese royal descent. Scicluna was also known for being a master of the "foreign object", mainly utilizing a roll of coins to bash opponents out of sight of the referee. He enjoyed success as a tag team wrestler, winning the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship with Smasher Sloan on September 22, 1966 in Washington, D.C. (though they eventually lost the belts in the same city to Spiros Arion and Antonio Pugliese), then the WWWF World Tag Team Championship with King Curtis Iaukea on February 1, 1972 in Philadelphia.
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Mikey Whipwreck
John Watson (born June 4, 1973), better known by his ring name Mikey Whipwreck, is a American professional wrestler best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling where he became the third ECW Triple Crown Champion.
Whipwreck was part of the ECW ring crew. Whipwreck joined Extreme Championship Wrestling. Booker Paul Heyman hired him after he watched Whipwreck practice a variety of aerial maneuvers before the show began (Joey Styles states on an episode of The History of ECW it was he who suggested that Heyman check Whipwreck out). The short, lightly built Whipwreck made a natural underdog who would absorb a great deal of damage in the course of his matches. Despite this, his great technical in-ring skills led him to success. While in ECW, he received further training from fellow ECW wrestlers Taz, Perry Saturn, Tommy Dreamer and Mick Foley among others. On May 15, 1994, Whipwreck defeated Pitbull #1 for the World Television Championship, his first title in ECW. He would hold the title until August 13 of that year.
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Monty Brown
Monty Brown (born April 13, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and former National Football League linebacker, also known as Marcus Cor Von. He is best known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment, where he wrestled on its ECW brand under the ring name Marcus Cor Von. In both companies, he utilized the nickname "The Alpha Male". Brown has also wrestled for a number of independent promotions, including Blood, Sweat and Ears, Juggalo Championship Wrestling and the Universal Wrestling Alliance.
Brown attended Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, where he was an All-American American football linebacker, breaking and setting several defensive records. Talent spotters recruited him to the Buffalo Bills, and he played football professionally for five years, competing in Super Bowl XXVIII for the Bills in 1994. On April 17, 1996, Brown signed with the New England Patriots as a restricted free agent, and Brown immediately became a starter as the right outside linebacker. In just two games for the Patriots, Brown made 23 tackles. Brown stated that one of his reasons for signing with the Patriots was to be closer to the World Wrestling Federation headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. He stopped playing football due to an ankle injury, and decided to train as a professional wrestler.
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Monty Sopp
Monty Kip Sopp (born November 11, 1963) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known under the ring name Billy Gunn and for his eleven year long tenure in the World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment. He has also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Kip James. In WWE, Sopp was a one time Intercontinental Champion, a two time Hardcore Champion, and the 1999 King of the Ring, but found his greatest success as a tag team wrestler, becoming a ten time World Tag Team Champion.
When Sopp first arrived in the World Wrestling Federation, he used the name Billy Gunn and teamed with his on-screen brother, Bart Gunn, as The Smoking Gunns. In early 1995, they won their first Tag Team Championship by defeating the makeshift team of Bob Holly and The 1-2-3 Kid. They held the titles until WrestleMania XI when they were defeated by the team of Owen Hart and Yokozuna. They won the titles again in September 1995.
On February 15, 1996, the Gunns vacated the title because Billy was in need of neck surgery. After Billy returned from hiatus, The Smoking Gunns won the Tag Title for the third time by defeating The Godwinns in May. After the match, The Godwinns' manager Sunny turned on her team in favor of the Gunns. On September 22 at In Your House: Mind Games, the Gunns lost the Tag Team Title to Owen Hart and The British Bulldog. After the match, Sunny abandoned The Gunns, saying that she would only manage title holders. Billy, frustrated with losing both the championship and Sunny, walked out on Bart, breaking up The Smoking Gunns.
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Místico
Luis Ignascio Urive Alvirde (born December 22, 1982) is a Mexican luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE, working on its SmackDown brand under the name Sin Cara (Spanish for "Faceless"). He is best known for his time in the lucha libre promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) under the ringname Místico, where since 2006 he was the main técnico (face/storyline hero) in CMLL and the biggest box office draw in all of Mexico. Místico is Spanish for "Mystic", a religious ring character who is the storyline protégé of the wrestling priest Fray Tormenta. Upon signing with WWE in January 2011, Urive was repackaged as Sin Cara.
Urive is the son of Manuel Almanza, who wrestled under the ring name "Dr. Karonte", the brother of wrestlers Astro Boy, Argos, Argenis and an unspecified member of Los Mini Psycho Circus, the cousin of wrestler Magnus and the nephew of CMLL booker Tony Salazar.
Urive was trained for his professional wrestling debut by his father and his uncle Tony Salazar who is a retired wrestler that works as a booker for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, Mexico's oldest and largest wrestling promotion. Místico made his debut on April 30, 1998 working as "Dr. Karonte, Jr." at the age of 15. In 2000 he changed his ring name to "Astro Boy" in honor of his older brother who had died months earlier, who had worked as the original Astro Boy. Later on he was joined by another brother who worked as "Astro Boy II" to form a tag team. In 2003 Místico travelled to Japan to work for Michinoku Pro where he was billed as "Komachi", a ring persona he took over from fellow luchador Volador, Jr. who had played the part for about a year.
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Naomi Knight
Trinity McCray (born November 30, 1987) is an American dancer, model and professional wrestler who is currently working for WWE performing on their Raw brand and competes in their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). She is better known by her ring name Naomi. In 2010, she was part of the third season of NXT, where she came second to Kaitlyn. She is a former FCW Divas Champion and was the inaugural champion.
McCray was born and raised in Sanford, Florida. Ever since she was 10 years old, she knew she wanted to be both a performer and entertainer. She first became a cheerleader for the Orlando Magic basketball team. She has also starred as a background dancer for American rapper Flo Rida.
In August 2009, WWE signed McCray to a developmental contract and would report to their developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling. She would make her FCW debut as a face at the September 3, 2009 FCW TV taping as a Lumberjill for the Queen of FCW match between then-reigning queen Angela and Serena Mancini. She later became a heel, teaming with Rosa Mendes, Alicia Fox, Maxine, and Courtney Taylor against the likes of Angela, AJ and Aksana. However due to her persona, fans would often cheer for her despite the fact she was a heel. She soon turned face again by defeating Maxine and Savannah in tournament qualifying matches to eventually defeat Serena in the finals on June 20, 2010 to become the first ever Florida Divas Championship.
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Naruki Doi
Naruki Doi (土井 成樹, Doi Naruki?, born October 4, 1980 in Ikoma, Nara, Japan) is a Japanese wrestler for Dragon Gate. He also wrestled for Ring of Honor, where he is a former World Tag Team Champion with Shingo Takagi, as well as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Doi debuted in Toryumon Japan as part of the T2P. As one of his family members was a player for the Japanese baseball team the Yomiuri Giants, he was given a baseball gimmick and the name of Second Doi.
Doi was originally groomed as the top face for T2P, but injuries forced him to debut in Japan late and his growth was slightly stunted. He joined the Toryumon Japan roster, and Shin M2K as T2P ended its run, later joining Final M2K.
Doi continued on in Final M2K. At the end of 2004, he abruptly dropped the baseball gimmick and started competing under his real name.
In January 2005, Doi turned heel and joined CIMA's new faction Blood Generation. He gained more rank then, and rose to be something of a second-in-command for the stable. He also became the first Open the Brave Gate Champion on March 13, and would hold it until November 13, when he lost it to Dragon Kid.
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Necro Butcher
Dylan Keith Summers (born July 13, 1973) is an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name (The) Necro Butcher. Throughout the years he has worked for various promotions, including Beyond Wrestling, Firestormpro, Ring of Honor, Full Impact Pro, IWA-Mid South, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Big Japan Pro Wrestling, and Combat Zone Wrestling.
Summers is well known for his willingness to participate in a creative and dangerous mix of hardcore wrestling, deathmatches, and brawls, as well as his appearance in the 2008 film The Wrestler.
In 1998, Summers made his professional wrestling debut after teaming with Aaron White to take on Victor Pain and Canyon. Summers, enlisted in the United States Army, continued to work small independent shows across Texas as "Michael Van Slyck", later changed to Sanders. On March 16, 1999, as Necro Butcher, he won his first professional wrestling championship, after defeating Damon Richards to become IHW Hardcore champion. Butcher's popularity continued to dominate Texas wrestling, and at his debut in TCW, he defeated rival Jay Diego to become the company's Hardcore champion. His success in TCW came to a halt after a dispute with its promoter. He lost the Hardcore title to Hellhammer before leaving the company. Butcher continued to build up his reputation as the most violent Death Match wrestler in Texas. On October 10, 1999, Butcher faced "Mad" Man Pondo for the first time.
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Nick Dinsmore
Nicholas "Nick" Dinsmore (born December 17, 1975), better known by his ring names Eugene and U-Gene, is an American professional wrestler. Best known for his work for World Wrestling Entertainment, Dinsmore is currently working on the independent circuit for promotions such as Juggalo Championship Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling.
Dinsmore debuted in 1997, and soon began wrestling in the United States Wrestling Association.
In Ohio Valley Wrestling, he formed a successful tag team with Rob Conway, called The Lords of The Ring. The team had a record ten reigns as Southern Tag Team Champions. Dinsmore also held the OVW Heavyweight Championship a record ten times. While still in OVW, Dinsmore also made some appearances as a jobber in the World Wrestling Federation, first on an episode of Shotgun Saturday Night in 1999. He wrestled in the WWF as Doink the Clown on two later occasions, and as one half of Los Conquistadores (with Rob Conway). Dinsmore also appeared in World Championship Wrestling, wrestling on two episodes of Thunder (losing to Ernest Miller and Kanyon), and on two episodes of Nitro (first teaming with Lenny Lane to lose a handicap match to Scott Steiner, then losing a singles match to Wrath).
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Nigel McGuinness
Steven Haworth (born January 23, 1978) is an English retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring names Desmond Wolfe and Nigel McGuinness. As McGuinness he first gained notoriety working for Ring of Honor (ROH) in the United States and Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan. He was the longest reigning ROH Pure Champion, holding the title for 350 days, while also being a former ROH World Champion, holding the championship for 545 days. In October 2009 Haworth signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he worked as Desmond Wolfe until June 2011. The following August, Haworth, once again working as Nigel McGuinness, returned to ROH to work as a color commentator. Haworth retired from in-ring competition on December 17, 2011.
Haworth, born in London, grew up in Staplehurst, Kent, where he attended Maidstone Grammar School. Haworth was a wrestling fan from the age of twelve, particularly enjoying The Hart Foundation and The British Bulldogs, and attended SummerSlam 1992 while wearing Ultimate Warrior face paint. After attending Les University, Haworth relocated to America in the 1990s in order to attend Kent State University, and graduated in 1997 with a degree in chemistry.
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Nikolai Volkoff
Josip Nikolai Peruzović (born October 14, 1947), better known by his ring name of Nikolai Volkoff, is a professional wrestler who is best known for his performances for the World Wrestling Federation. Although the Volkoff character is portrayed as Russian, Peruzović actually originated from Croatia and had a mixed background that was not entirely Russian.
Peruzović grew up in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, which was then part of the Yugoslavia, a Communist country. His mother is Italian and his father was Croatian. He was on the Yugoslavian weightlifting team until 1967, when he defected to Canada while at a weightlifting tournament in Vienna, Austria. He received training in Calgary from the legendary Stu Hart, followed by his arrival in the United States in 1970.
As soon as he arrived, he began wrestling in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) (currently known as WWE). Wrestling as Bepo Mongol, managed by "Captain" Lou Albano and partnered with Geto Mongol, he captured the WWF International Tag Team Titles from Tony Marino and Victor Rivera on June 15, 1970. After losing the titles to Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler in a match that unified the WWF International and WWF World Tag Team Titles, Peruzovic went on to singles competition under the name Nikolai Volkoff.
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Norman Smiley
Norman Anthony Smiley (born February 28, 1965) is a British-born professional wrestler best known for his appearances in World Championship Wrestling. As of 2007, Smiley has been employed by WWE as a trainer and an on–air authority figure for Florida Championship Wrestling.
Norman Smiley trained under Rusty Brooks and Boris and Dean Malenko before making his debut in 1985 on the Floridian independent circuit, originally known as Black Magic, then as the hated Lord Henry Norman. Smiley wrestled in the Japanese shootstyle group UWF International (UWFi) in 1988 and 1989. In 1990 Smiley competed at the National Wrestling Alliance/World Championship Wrestling Starrcade 1990 event teaming with Chris Adams against the team of Konnan and Rey Misterio, Sr. In 1992, he began wrestling for CMLL in Mexico as Black Magic, winning the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship and holding it until losing to Silver King in 1994. In 1995 and 1996, he briefly competed in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion.
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Owen Hart
Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a Canadian professional and amateur wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and most notably, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where he wrestled under both his own name, and ring name The Blue Blazer. A member of the Hart wrestling family, Hart was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada the youngest of 12 children to Stampede Wrestling promoter and WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart and Helen Hart.
Among other accolades, Hart was a one-time world champion: a one-time USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion; a two-time WWF Intercontinental Champion; one-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion; one-time WWF European Champion and four-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. He was also the winner of the 1994 WWF King of the Ring. Hart has been cited by a number of peers as one of the WWF's greatest professional wrestlers.
Hart died on May 23, 1999 when an equipment malfunction occurred during his entrance from the rafters of Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S., at the WWF's Over the Edge pay-per-view event.
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Pat Barrett
Patrick "Pat" Barrett (born: 4 September 1941) is a former Irish professional wrestler who is best known for his time with NWA and WWWF. He has wrestled in many areas which include Ireland, Pacific Islands, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and United States of America.
The Irish wrestler Pat Barrett started wrestling in 1960 as Paddy Barrett. He was a successful Irish wrestler. He started his early years wrestling in Ireland and in 1963, he joined National Wrestling Alliance where he had a successful career. During this time he also appeared as the voice of doctor octopus in the animated series spider man returns again.
In 1963, he sailed from Ireland to the United States where he joined the sanctioned body of promotions in the U.S., National Wrestling Alliance. He was an international wrestler. He first toured Canada where he created a successful tag team with Tim Geoghegan.
Barrett and Geoghegan defeated Art Nelson and Ivan Kameroff on 8 November 1965 to win the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship. They lost their titles to John Tolos and Black Terror on 4 January 1966 but defeated them back for the titles on 28 February 1966.
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Paul Burchill
Paul Birchall (born October 8, 1979), better known by his ring name Paul Burchill, is an English professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he signed after training and debuting for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance in his home country.
Birchall is a former primary school teacher from Surrey, but got into professional wrestling in 2001 after walking into the Frontier Wrestling Alliance's (FWA) Academy and quickly impressing the man running the camp, Mark Sloan.
While training at the Academy under Sloan's guidance, Birchall made his debut in August 2002 using the slightly modified spelling of his name Paul Burchill. In mid-2002, Burchill began to appear in the FWA by interfering in matches or before them, making unscheduled appearances and beating other wrestlers leading to October at Uprising when he took out both members of The New Breed (Ashe and Curve) singlehandedly before their match. He went on interfering in matches, even taking out all four competitors in a four-way match until May when he made his first scheduled appearance at Frontiers of Honour, jointly held between FWA and Ring of Honor (ROH). Debuting with manager 'Twisted Genius' Dean Ayass he defeated the tag team of Double Dragon (Raj Jordon and Ross Jordan), in his first sanctioned match by double knockout. Burchill went on an undefeated streak in handicap matches against tag teams for the rest of the year, often running into the Duke of Danger (who he'd taken out in the four way) and Andy Simmons, part of the aristocrat themed group Hampton Court. He cemented this winning streak in a moment voted thirteenth on the FWA's Top 20 Moments when he interrupted the Duke's thrashing of peasants (squashing jobbers) at Hotwired in September and performed a double rolling fireman's carry slam before debuting his C-4 finishing move. By the end of 2003 he was voted Rookie of the Year by both Total Wrestling and 1 Stop Wrestling.
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Pedro Morales
Pedro Morales (born October 22, 1942) is a retired Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He began his wrestling career as a teenager in 1959 and continued through to the late 1980s. Morales was the first man in wrestling history to win all three major men's titles in the World Wrestling Federation: the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, the Intercontinental Championship and the WWF World Tag Team Championship. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1995. Morales was also the first Latin American and Hispanic wrestler to win the WWWF Championship and the WWF Intercontinental Championship and to enter the WWF Hall of Fame.
Morales debuted in 1959 at the Sunnyside Gardens, beating Buddy Gilbert. He wrestled on the West Coast during the 1960s, taking on regional stars of the day such as Fred Blassie and The Destroyer, the latter from whom he took the World Wrestling Association's World Heavyweight Championship on March 12, 1965. Morales lost the title on July 23 to "Crazy" Luke Graham, but took it back from him on October 17. He held the title for nine months before being defeated by Buddy Austin on August 5, 1966. Morales then concentrated on tag team wrestling, co-holding the WWA tag belts four times during 1966-68, with four different partners: Luis Hernandez, Mark Lewin, Victor Rivera, and Ricky Romero. During a stint in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), Morales held the Hawaiian U.S. title for two months in 1969.
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Percy Watson
Nick McNeil (born August 19, 1981) is an American professional wrestler and former professional football player. He works for WWE on its SmackDown brand, and also competes NXT Redemption under the ring name Percy Watson.
Nick McNeil graduated from Western Carolina University with a bachelor's degree in computer information systems. He was a 3 time All-Southern Conference selection at left end for the Catamounts. As a sophomore, he led the Southern Conference in sacks with 10. As a junior, he led the conference in fumble recoveries. He finished his career tied for 4th all time on the WCU tackles-for-loss list with 45. He finished 6th on the WCU all-time sack list with 18.5. McNeil had experience in professional football, playing in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers and the Washington Redskins.
McNeil signed a developmental deal with World Wrestling Entertainment in 2009 and began training with their developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He made his FCW debut in September 2009 under his real name Nick McNeil, however shortly after that he tweaked his name to Chris McNeil. On October 1, 2009, he re-introduced himself as Percy Watson along with his tag team partner Darren Young and they called themselves the South Beach Party Boys.
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Randy Orton
Randal Keith "Randy" Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand. Orton is a third-generation professional wrestler; his grandfather Bob Orton, Sr., father "Cowboy" Bob Orton, and uncle Barry O all competed in the professional wrestling industry.
Before being promoted to the main World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) roster, Orton trained in and wrestled for Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association-Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling for a month. He was then sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where Orton held the OVW Hardcore Championship on two separate occasions.
After signing with WWF, Orton became a member of the stable Evolution, which quickly led to a WWE Intercontinental Championship reign, his first title with the company. Orton also acquired the moniker "The Legend Killer" during a storyline where he began disrespecting Hall of Famers and physically attacking veterans of the industry outside of appropriate restrictions. At age 24, Orton became the youngest person ever to hold the World Heavyweight Championship. With this win, Orton departed from Evolution and a feud with his former stablemates began. In 2006, Orton joined forces with Edge in a tag team known as Rated-RKO. Together, Orton and Edge held the World Tag Team Championship. After the team disbanded, during mid-2007, Orton gained two WWE Championship reigns in one night. Orton formed the group The Legacy with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase in 2008, however, they would disband in 2010 with Orton returning to singles competition. Overall, Orton has won eleven total championships in WWE, including being a nine-time world champion, having won the World Heavyweight Championship three times and the WWE Championship six times. He is also the winner of the 2009 Royal Rumble match.
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Randy Savage
Randy Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
Savage held twenty championships during his professional wrestling career. He held six world heavyweight championships between the WWF and WCW, having won the WWF Championship twice and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship four times. In addition, he won the ICW World Heavyweight Championship three times and the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship once. Also a one-time WWF Intercontinental Champion, WWE has mentioned Savage as the greatest Intercontinental champion and credited him for bringing "a higher level of credibility to the title through his amazing in-ring performances." Aside from championships, Savage was the 1987 WWF King of the Ring and the 1995 WCW World War 3 winner. For much of his tenures in the WWF and WCW, he was managed by his real life wife, "Miss Elizabeth" Hulette.
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Raquel Diaz
Shaul Marie Guerrero (born October 14, 1990) is a Mexican-American singer, model, professional wrestling valet, and professional wrestler contracted to WWE. She competes in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's developmental territory under the ring name Raquel Diaz and she is the current longest reigning FCW Divas Champion.
On March 15, 2012, FCW General Manager Summer Rae deactivated the Queen of FCW crown, leaving Raquel Diaz as the last champion with her reign ending at 119 days. Guerrero is part of the Guerrero family, and is the daughter of Eddie and Vickie Guerrero.
On May 17 2012, Diaz debuted for WWE NXT at the inaugural tapings at Full Sail University.
In October 26, 2010, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) signed Guerrero to a developmental contract, and she reported to Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory. She made her debut in December 2010 in an appearance ringside for a FCW Divas Championship match between AJ Lee and Naomi Night. She made her in-ring debut at the February 11, 2011 in Gainesville, Florida FCW television under the ring name "Raquel Diaz", teaming with Naomi losing to AJ and Aksana after the match Diaz mother Vickie Guerrero came out and helped Diaz and Noami aganist General Manager Maxine. She acted as the manager for wrestler Alexander Rusev, before joining The Ascension faction, with Conor O'Brian, Kenneth Cameron, and Tito Colon, all of whom she began managing. On November 11 episode of FCW Televison, Diaz teamed up with Caylee Turner and Leah West in losing effort to Cameron Lynn, Sofia Cortez and Audrey Marie after Lynn pinned West.
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Ray Traylor
Raymond Walter Traylor, Jr. (May 2, 1963 – September 22, 2004) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Big Boss Man (sometimes spelled Big Bossman) and World Championship Wrestling under various ring names, most notably Big Bubba Rogers.
Traylor, a prison guard in Cobb County, Georgia, made his debut in 1985, initially working in Jim Crockett's World Championship Wrestling promotion as an enhancement talent under his full name, Raymond Traylor. Seeing potential in Traylor, head booker Dusty Rhodes pulled him off TV for 12 weeks in order to repackage him as Big Bubba Rogers, a silent bodyguard for Jim Cornette, who along with the Midnight Express, was feuding with the James Boys (Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T.A. under masks). He got a solid push as a seemingly unstoppable villain and feuding with Rhodes, who was the top babyface at that time in a series of no holds barred battle royals called The Bunkhouse Stampede, in 1986. After the series, both he and Rhodes were tied in wins, which led to a tiebreaking cage match in which Rhodes came out victorious. In 1987, he won the Universal Wrestling Federation title from One Man Gang, who was dropping his belt after signing with Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation.
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René Goguen
René Goguen (born December 15, 1983) is a French Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name René Duprée. Goguen is best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment, where he is a one-time World Tag Team Champion with Sylvain Grenier as the tag team La Résistance and a one time WWE Tag Team Champion with Kenzo Suzuki. Upon winning both titles, Goguen became the youngest wrestler in WWE history to win the World Tag Team Championship (at age 19) and the WWE Tag Team Championship (at age 20). His World Tag Team Championship win also made him the youngest man in WWE history to win any title. He is also the son of celebrated Canadian Maritimes wrestling promoter Emile Duprée.
As his father Emile was a wrestling promoter, Goguen was exposed and encouraged into wrestling at a young age. Goguen became a professional wrestler in 1997 at age 14, and began working for his father's Grand Prix Wrestling promotion. A few years later, he signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling to further develop his skills.
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Rey Mysterio
Rey Gutierrez Mysterio Jr. (born December 11, 1974) is a Mexican American professional wrestler in World Wrestling Entertainment currently wrestling on the RAW Brand. In WWE, Gutierrez was trained by his uncle Rey Misterio, Sr. and wrestled early on in Mexico where he learned the Lucha Libre high flying style that has been his trademark.
Gutierrez originally worked for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) in Mexico, from 1992 to 1995. He wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 1996 and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1996 to 2001, as Rey Misterio, Jr./Rey Mysterio, Jr. but dropped the "Junior" from his name when he began working for WWE in 2002.
Mysterio is known for having a high flying style, which helped kick-start the cruiserweight wrestling revolution in the United States in the late 1990s during his time in WCW. In WCW he won the WCW World Tag Team Championship three times, and the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship once with Billy Kidman as part of the Filthy Animals. In WWE, Mysterio is a three time world champion having held the World Heavyweight Championship twice, the WWE Championship once and is currently listed as the lightest world champion in WWE history. He has also held the WWE Tag Team Championship a record-tying four times, and the WWE Intercontinental Championship twice. He also held the WCW/WWE Cruiserweight Championship a record eight times (five times in WCW, three in WWE). All totaled, he has won 21 titles between WWE and WCW. Mysterio was the 21st person to win the WWE Triple Crown Championship, and was the winner of the 2006 Royal Rumble.
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Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time with a professional career that spans 40 years. He is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and is noted for his lengthy and highly decorated tenures with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (now known as WWE). Flair is officially recognized by WWE, TNA and PWI as a 16-time World Heavyweight Champion (seven-time NWA Champion, seven-time WCW Champion and two-time WWF Champion) although his actual tally of World Championship reigns varies by source—Flair considers himself a 21-time world champion.
In World Championship Wrestling (WCW), he also had two stints as a booker—in 1989–1990 and 1994. Flair also became the first and only man to have won the WWF Championship in a Royal Rumble match, when he accomplished this in the 1992 edition of the event. In 2012, Flair became the first ever double inductee in the WWE Hall of Fame, first inducted in 2008 for his individual career, and for a second time in 2012 as a member of the Four Horsemen. He is also an NWA Hall of Famer (class of 2008). Flair's hair styles and mannerisms are based on those of Buddy Rogers, who previously and famously used the "Nature Boy" gimmick in the 1950s and '60s. Coincidentally, Flair also followed Rogers in becoming the second man to win both the WWF and the NWA World Heavyweight Championships.
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Rick Martel
Richard Vigneault (born March 18, 1956) is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) between 1980 and 1995 under the ring name Rick Martel. He is also known for his two-year long reign as AWA World Heavyweight Champion.
Martel is from a family of wrestlers, and made his professional debut at age sixteen when his brother Michel, a wrestler, asked him to replace an injured wrestler. Martel was already a skilled amateur wrestler, and quickly adapted to professional wrestling.
Martel wrestled throughout the world, winning titles in Canada (in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling and Vancouver-based NWA All Star Wrestling), New Zealand and Puerto Rico. His first real success in America came in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s Portland affiliate, Pacific Northwest Wrestling, where he became a top talent, holding the Canadian and PNW tag team titles simultaneously. He left PNW on August 16, 1980, when he lost a Loser Leaves Town match to Buddy Rose. Martel also served a stint as a booker for a wrestling territory in Hawaii.[clarification needed]
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Rick Rude
Richard Erwin Rood (December 7, 1958 – April 20, 1999), better known by his ring name "Ravishing" Rick Rude, was an American professional wrestler who performed for many promotions, including World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), in the 1980s and 1990s.
Among other accolades, Rude was a four-time world champion (three-time WCW International World Heavyweight Champion, and one-time WCWA World Heavyweight Champion), one-time WWF Intercontinental Champion, and one-time WCW United States Champion.
The self-proclaimed "Sexiest Man Alive", Rude was noted for his chiseled physique as well as being one of the greatest talkers in the history of professional wrestling. He is also notable for being a member of the original incarnation of D-Generation X, alongside Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Chyna.
Born in St. Peter, Minnesota, Rood attended Robbinsdale High School in Robbinsdale, Minnesota with Tom Zenk, Brady Boone, Nikita Koloff, Curt Hennig, John Nord, Joseph Laurinaitis and Barry Darsow, all of whom later became professional wrestlers.
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Ricky Reyes
Ricky Reyes (born August 28, 1978) is a Cuban professional wrestler. Known for his appearances in Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and various other independent promotions, he is currently primarily working for the World Wrestling Council.
Reyes is one half of the Havana Pitbulls with Rocky Romero. At Ring of Honor (ROH)'s Reborn: Stage One, the Havana Pitbulls made their ROH debut against then tag champions The Briscoe Brothers in a non title match, which they lost. They later joined Homicide's alliance, The Rottweilers. The group also featured Julius Smokes, who would manage Reyes along with the rest of the members.
Reyes and Romero wrestled for the ROH Tag Team Championship at Testing The Limit against the champions CM Punk and Colt Cabana. They won the match and became the new champions. They eventually lost the title to Maff and Whitmer.
Reyes took part in the Trios Tournament in 2005 with partners Romero and Homicide. They won the tournament defeating Generation Next in the final match. The three winners of this tournament got to choose any match they wanted. While Homicide and Romero went after the World Title, Reyes wanted a tag title shot against Tony Mamaluke and Sal Rinauro. He picked Homicide as his partner, but they did not win.
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Ricky Steamboat
Richard Henry Blood (born February 28, 1953), better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is a retired American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE working as a road agent. He was one of the few wrestlers who stayed a babyface throughout his career.[citation needed] He is best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
In the NWA and WCW, he was a one-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, a four-time United States Heavyweight Champion, a four-time World Television Champion, a twelve-time World Tag Team Champion (eight-time under the WCW banner,one-time (though unofficial) under the NWA banner, and three-time under the Mid-Atlantic banner), and a two-time Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion. In the WWF/E, Steamboat was a one-time Intercontinental Champion and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.
While little is known about Steamboat's personal life, it is a known fact that he went to high school in New York. He was a two time New York State Wrestling qualifier.
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Rico Constantino
Americo Sebastiano Costantino (born October 1, 1961) is a retired Italian American professional wrestler and wrestling manager. He is best known by his ring names Rico Costantino and Rico in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from 2001 to 2004. He is currently an Officer for the Nevada Taxi Cab Authority.
Prior to embarking on his wrestling career, Costantino entered Northwestern Military & Naval Academy. He graduated near the top of his class and at one point considered enrollment at West Point. Instead, Costantino returned to Las Vegas and settled into a career as a paramedic. This led to enrollment in the police academy, from which he graduated first in the entire state of Nevada. Costantino was also on the SWAT team at one point, paving the way for his next career as a bodyguard.
Costantino was a contestant on American Gladiators. He was challenged by Gemini (Michael Horton) to find out if "he had what it took" to be a contestant for the show. He would end up defeating Gemini in his best event, the Joust, one of the few contenders to do so (Horton lost only 8 of his 50 Jousts on his three seasons of AG).
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Rob Conway
Robert Thomas Conway (November 28, 1972), better known as Rob Conway, is an American professional wrestler best known for his seven year stint with World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently employed by Juggalo Championship Wrestling.
Rob Conway began his career in Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW) and Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), teaming with Nick Dinsmore under the names Limited Edition (MCW), the Borkcin Brothers, and the Lords of the Ring (OVW). While in OVW, he and Dinsmore were also members of Kenny Bolin's Bolin Services along with The Prototype, Bull Buchanan, and Mark Henry. As the Lords of the Ring, Conway and Dinsmore won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship on 10 occasions and captured the MCW North American Tag Team Championship once. On April 28, 1999 Rob Conway defeated his partner Nick Dinsmore to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship, but lost it back to him the next week. Conway won the OVW Heavyweight Championship a second time on August 17, 1999, pinning Damaja. He lost the title to Rico Constantino on November 10, regaining it on September 6, 2000, with another victory over Dinsmore.
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Rob Van Dam
Robert Alexander Szatowski (born December 18, 1970), better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (RVD), is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment, and Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Szatkowski has held 22 championships between ECW, WWE and TNA, as well as several regional titles in various promotions during his career. He is a former WWE champion, ECW champion and the TNA World Heavyweight champion once each. On the independent scene he has also won the World Heavyweight Championships for both American Wrestling Rampage and World Stars of Wrestling once each. He is the only man to achieve both WWE and ECW's version of the Triple Crown. Part of ECW's Triple Crown included the ECW World Television Championship, of which RVD's 700 day reign was the longest.
Szatkowski grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan and graduated from Pennfield High School. Rob made his first appearance on WWF television in 1987 in a skit with "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. At the time, DiBiase was selecting plants from the audience and offering to pay them to perform degrading acts and offered the 16 year old Szatkowski $100 to enter the ring and kiss his foot, which he did. This early appearance was later included as a bonus feature on WWE's Before They Were Superstars DVD and on WWE's Rob Van Dam: One of a Kind DVD.
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Rocky Johnson
Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles; August 24, 1944) is a retired Canadian professional wrestler. Quite popular in his own right in the 1970s and 1980s, he is also known for being the father of actor and professional wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. During his wrestling career he became a 1-time National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Georgia Champion and also became a 1-time NWA Southern Heavyweight Memphis Champion as well as winning many other championships. Along with his partner Tony Atlas, Johnson was a part of the first black tag team to win the World Tag Team championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
Rocky Johnson was born Wayde Douglas Bowles in Amherst, Nova Scotia, where he was raised, the fourth of five sons of Lillian and James Henry Bowles. A Black Nova Scotian, he is descended from slaves who escaped from the American South. At the age of 16, Johnson moved to Toronto, Ontario, where he began wrestling and worked as a truck driver. Initially, he trained to be a boxer and eventually sparred with greats such as Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, but he was always fascinated by wrestling.
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Rocky Romero
John R. Rivera (born on October 28, 1982) is a Cuban American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Rocky Romero and as the fourth incarnation of Black Tiger. As Romero he was one half of the tag team The Havana Pitbulls (formerly Los Cubanitos), along with Ricky Reyes. He also was a member of the No Remorse Corps in Ring of Honor with Roderick Strong and Davey Richards. Romero and Richards are former ROH World Tag Team Champions in the stable and in 2011 revived the name in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where they went on to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. Romero's wrestling style based around stiff shoot-style kicks and multiple armlock variations.
Romero debuted in 1997. He has received training in the New Japan Dojo in Los Angeles and for some time now has been a regular trainer there. His career has taken him through promotions in the Southern California region to Mexico, where he competed successfully for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (the country's longest-running promotion) and in Japan where he has worked most notably in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he was chosen to become the fourth incarnation of Black Tiger, the villainous gaijin opponent of Tiger Mask (in this case Tiger Mask IV). On October 8, 2005, Romero, as Black Tiger IV, defeated Tiger Mask IV for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. After a four month reign, Tiger Mask IV regained the title from his nemesis.
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Roddy Piper
Roderick "Roddy" George Toombs (born April 17, 1954), better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE. Although he is Canadian, due to his Scottish heritage, he was billed as coming from Glasgow in Scotland and was known for his signature kilt and bagpipe entrance music. He earned the nickname "Rowdy" by displaying his trademark "Scottish" rage, spontaneity and quick wit. Despite being a crowd favorite for his rockstar-like persona, he often played the villain. He was also nicknamed "Hot Rod". Never a world champion, he accumulated 34 championships in various promotions during his career. Piper was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.
Toombs was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He attended Windsor Park Collegiate. His father was an officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police while they lived in The Pas, Manitoba. After being expelled from junior high[citation needed] and having a falling out with his father, Piper hit the road and stayed in youth hostels wherever he could find them.
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Roderick Strong
Chris Lindsey (born July 26, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Roderick Strong. Strong currently competes in several independent promotions, most notably Ring of Honor (ROH), Full Impact Pro (FIP), and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG).
He initially debuted as The Jester on the Floridian independent circuit, before quickly changing his name to Roderick Strong. He worked for IPW Hardcore and NWA Florida, before debuting for ROH in September 2003. In mid-2004, Strong joined forces with Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, and Jack Evans, collectively known as Generation Next. As part of Generation Next, Strong won the ROH World Tag Team Championship with Aries. Strong later turned on Aries, forming a new faction, the No Remorse Corps with Davey Richards and Rocky Romero. During this time, he was also competing for ROH's sister promotion, FIP, and debuted for PWG. Strong also toured Japan with Dragon Gate and had a brief stint in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2005.
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Ron Killings
Ronnie Aaron "Ron" Killings (born January 19, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on its Raw brand and is one half of the Tag Team Champions alongside Kofi Kingston. Since working for the company, he has also been a one time United States Champion under the ring name R-Truth and a two time Hardcore Champion under the ring name K-Kwik. Killings has also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as K-Krush and later as Ron "The Truth" Killings, where he became the first African-American NWA World Heavyweight Champion, a title he held on two occasions, in addition to becoming a two time NWA World Tag Team Champion and a one time TNA World Tag Team Champion.
Jackie Crockett of the National Wrestling Alliance first tried to convince Killings to become a professional wrestler, but he was determined to focus on his music career. Killings spent two years working on his music career and then contacted Crockett once more and expressed an interest in becoming a wrestler. Crockett, by now the senior cameraman for World Championship Wrestling, took Killings to several WCW and Pro Wrestling Federation events, introducing him to wrestling personalities.
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Rosa Mendes
Milena Leticia Roucka (born October 25, 1979) is a Canadian professional wrestler, valet, and former model of Czech and Costa Rican descent. She is signed to WWE, and works as Rosa Mendes on the SmackDown brand. Her last name is pronounced roh-tskah.
Roucka studied business at the University of British Columbia, but left to pursue a modeling career. She won several competitions, including the 2004 Piel Dorada, and also acted in commercials.
In mid-2006, Roucka participated in the 2006 edition WWE Diva Search. Despite finishing fourth, she was hired by WWE, and assigned to train in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) using the ring name 'Roucka'. On September 19, 2007, Roucka won the OVW Women's Championship, which she held for five months until February 20, 2008. The following month, Roucka transferred to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's new developmental territory.
In November 2008, Roucka began appearing on Raw, where she became associated with Beth Phoenix and Santino Marella. The following October, she was moved to the ECW brand and started an on-screen relationship with Zack Ryder, who she began to manage. The pair returned to the Raw brand in February 2010, and Mendes was drafted to SmackDown in April. In November, Mendes won the Queen of FCW title in FCW, and held it until February 2011.
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Ryan Nemeth
Ryan Phillip Nemeth (born November 4, 1984) is an American professional wrestler and writer, currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and working in their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) under the name Briley Pierce.
Nemeth won the promotion's first ever Breakout competition and received a one year paid scholarship with Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). In 2010, Nemeth made his professional debut for OVW as "Ryan Nemeth". On January 8, 2011, Nemeth and Christopher Silvio defeated The Elite (Ted McNaler and Adam Revolver) to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship in Louisville, Kentucky.
On February 2, 2011, After Nemeth was attacked by Fighting Spirit (Christopher Silvio and Raphael Constantine), Jim Cornette vacated the titles. On the same night, Nemeth and Paredyse defeated Fighting Spirit (Christopher Silvio and Raphael Constantine) in a tag team elimination match to win the vacated Tag Team Championship. On March 5, 2011, Nemeth and Paredyse lost the Tag Team Championship to Fighting Spirit (Christopher Silvio and Raphael Constantine).
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Sal Rinauro
Salvatore "Sal" Rinauro (born September 12, 1982) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Ring of Honor and Full Impact Pro in addition to being a member of The Embassy.
After honing his skills at NWA Wildside as well as winning the promotion's Junior Heavyweight Championship, Rinauro debuted under the name "Mellow" as a member of Special K in Ring of Honor. After beating Antonio Blanca earlier in the show, Rinauro (now using his real name) competed for and won a Ring of Honor Contract by defeating Steve Madison, Claudio Castagnoli, and Jerelle Clark at Do or Die 5 on August 20, 2005. Rinauro, along with Tony Mamaluke, won the ROH World Tag Team Championship at the show Joe vs. Kobashi on October 1, 2005 by defeating B.J. Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs. During their reign, they successfully defended against teams such as Whitmer and Jacobs, Homicide and Ricky Reyes, and Colt Cabana and Milano Collection A.T.. They lost the title to Austin Aries and Roderick Strong of Generation Next at Final Battle 2005 on December 17, 2005. Rinauro also appeared at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Slammiversary event in 2005, as a fan who was attacked by Jeff Jarrett before the King of the Mountain match, causing Jarrett to be (storyline) arrested.
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Samoa Joe
Nuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa (born March 17, 1979) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Samoa Joe. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Before debuting in TNA in June 2005, Seanoa competed in the Ring of Honor (ROH) independent promotion, where he held the ROH World Championship for a record 21 months. Upon joining TNA, Seanoa embarked upon an 18 month-long undefeated streak, in which he never lost a match by pinfall or submission. That streak came to an end at the Genesis event in 2006, when he tapped out to Kurt Angle's ankle lock submission hold.
Throughout his career, Seanoa has won numerous championships, including the Ring of Honor World championship and the Pure championship. Within TNA, he is a former TNA World Heavyweight Champion, a four-time TNA X Division Champion, and a two-time TNA World Tag Team Champion. He has also won the 2005 Super X Cup Tournament, the 2008 King of the Mountain match (the only one to retain the world championship in the match), and the TNA Triple Crown.
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Santino Marella
Anthony Carelli (born March 14, 1979) is an Italian-Canadian professional wrestler,mixed martial artist and judoka, better known by his ring name Santino Marella. He is currently signed to WWE, competing on its Raw Brand, where he is the reigning United States Champion. He is a two-time Intercontinental Champion and former Tag Team Champion with Vladimir Kozlov.
In the United States, Carelli took wrestling classes at and worked for the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) a developmental territory for the national World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Upon joining OVW, Carelli was given the ring name Johnny Geo Basco. While there, he was involved in an infamous incident with Jim Cornette, the company's head booker and part-owner. After a storyline where he was supposed to act afraid of the Boogeyman but instead laughed, Cornette yelled at and slapped Carelli, leading to Cornette being removed from his position as booker of OVW by WWE.
Paul Heyman was appointed OVW booker to replace Cornette and changed Carelli's ring name from Johnny Geo Basco to Boris Alexiev, giving him a Russian shoot fighter gimmick. As Alexiev he made his debut on April 12, 2006 along with his manager and "comrade", Mr. Strongko. With his new gimmick he was booked to dominate opponents with stiff strikes and submission style wrestling, including a 10-second win over a wrestler named Dewey. He signed a developmental deal with WWE on August 11, 2006, and continued working in OVW.
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Sarona Reiher
Sarona Reiher (born January 10, 1978) is a professional wrestler who is currently signed to WWE, where she is performing on the SmackDown brand, using the ring name Tamina Snuka. She is the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and the younger sister of former WWE performer, Sim Snuka.
Sarona first began in wrestling after she received the first Lia Maivia Scholarship to train in professional wrestling career at the Wild Samoan Training Center.
On December 26, 2009 it was reported through WXW's official twitter account that WWE signed Reiher to a developmental contract and would report to their farm territory Florida Championship Wrestling for further training. Reiher would then report to FCW on March 19th competing in a six diva tag team match at a house show. Reiher would then transition to managing the Uso brothers even competed in the tournament to determine the new FCW Divas Champion.
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Scott Hall
Scott Oliver Hall (born October 20, 1958) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF ̶ now WWE) in the early and mid 1990s under the ring name Razor Ramon, as well as for his period in the mid 1990s and early 2000s with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his real name. Since the late 2000s, Hall has become known for his much publicized battles with alcoholism and drug addiction, which he initially struggled with in the late 1990s during his time in WCW.
Hall began his career in 1984 in Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF), before working in territories across Jim Crockett Promotions as part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). In 1985, Hall moved to the American Wrestling Association (AWA), winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship once with Curt Hennig in January 1986. Following further stints in the NWA and the World Wrestling Council - where he would briefly hold the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship - Hall signed with the World Wrestling Federation in 1992. Hall would wrestle as Razor Ramon, a Latino-heel persona modeled after the characters of Tony Montana and Manny Ribera from the movie Scarface. While in the WWF, Hall would win the WWF Intercontinental Championship four times, before leaving for WCW in 1996.
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Scott Stanford
Scott Stanford is a sports anchor and commentator. He is the weekend sports anchor at New York City's NBC affiliate, WNBC-TV. He is a play-by-play commentator for the Monday Night Raw portion of WWE's internationally syndicated program, WWE Superstars, an interviewer for Monday Night Raw, and host for various WWE programming.
At WCBS Newsradio 880, Stanford received the 2002 and 2003 "AIR Award," which recognized him as the best radio sports anchor in the New York City market. Stanford is also four-time New York Emmy Award-winning sportscaster for "On-Camera Achievement." In 2003, he joined the WWOR-TV My9 News Team, and for the following 6 years was an anchor/reporter, which included hosting duties for the popular Geico Sunday Sports Rap. In 2008, he also started working for WNYW-TV, where he was the post-game reporter for the New York Yankees baseball team, along with hosting/reporting duties for the New York Giants Football pre-game kickoff shows. Scott's "Know Your Foe" Giants quiz segment has also received an award from the Associated Press. He also acts as a play-by-play announcer for college basketball and arena football.
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Scott Steiner
Scott Carl Rechsteiner (born July 29, 1962) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Scott Steiner. Steiner is perhaps best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling alongside his older brother Rick as the Steiner Brothers and as a member of the New World Order. He is also known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions, the World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
While in WCW, Steiner became a one time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, a two time WCW United States Champion, a two time WCW World Television Champion, and won the WCW Triple Crown Championship. He won a second world championship, the WWA World Heavyweight Championship, in 2002.
Steiner's greatest success has come as a tag team wrestler, as he is a twelve time World Tag Team Champion (seven times in World Championship Wrestling, two times in the World Wrestling Federation and two times in New Japan Pro Wrestling with Rick and one time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling with Booker T), a one time U.S. Tag Team Champion with Rick in WCW, and a one time Ring Ka King Tag Team Champion with Abyss. All totaled, between WCW, WWF/E, NJPW, and TNA/Ring Ka King, Steiner has won 19 championships.
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Sean Morley
Sean Allen Morley (born March 6, 1971) is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by his ring name Val Venis, during his time with World Wrestling Federation, later known as World Wrestling Entertainment. He has also worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
During his career in WWF/E, Morley held the Intercontinental Championship twice, the European Championship once, and the World Tag Team Championship once with Lance Storm. In Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, he is a one time World Heavyweight Champion.
He began his wrestling training in the early 1990s under the tutelage of Jason and Dewey "The Missing Link" Robertson and debuted on the Canadian independent circuit before making his way to the international circuit, finding work with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in Japan, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico, and World Wrestling Council (WWC) in Puerto Rico where he was one half of a tag team known as the Canadian Glamour Boys with Shane Sewell. In Japan, he was known as Sean Morgan as the name Morley was difficult to pronounce due to the lack of phonetic differences between the L and R in Japanese. In Mexico, he adopted a robot-like mask and gimmick, changed his name to Steele, and won the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship.
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Sean Waltman
Sean Michael Waltman (born July 13, 1972) is an American professional wrestler currently signed with WWE in their developmental program. He wrestled there under the ring names 1–2–3 Kid and X-Pac off and on from 1993–2002, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Syxx, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Syxx-Pac and also under his real name. Waltman is the only wrestler in history to have held the TNA X Division Championship, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, and the WWE Light Heavyweight Championship. Waltman is a member of the group known in wrestling as The Kliq, which also consists of Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall.
After being trained by former professional wrestling brothers Boris and Joe Malenko, Waltman began his career as The Lightning Kid, working his way through various independent organizations such as Pro Wrestling America (PWA) and the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF), winning the PWA Light Heavyweight title, the PWA Iron Horse TV Title and the GWF Light Heavyweight Championship. Throughout the early part of his career, Waltman worked extensively with wrestler Jerry Lynn in both North America and Japan. The duo even teamed up to win the PWA Tag Team titles twice in 1993.
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Serena Deeb
Serena Deeb (born June 29, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. She is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment, appearing on the SmackDown brand and also known for her time with the developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling. under the ring name Serena. Deeb also made appearances in Ohio Valley Wrestling, where she was a six-time Women's Champion, and in Shimmer Women Athletes.
Deeb started her wrestling career in the OVW Wrestling School, training from March until November 2005 after relocating on her own money from Virginia to Kentucky to attend the school. She debuted on the November 4 OVW house show, teaming with Fuji Cakes in a losing effort against Shelly Martinez and Beth Phoenix. Phoenix and Martinez also defeated her in the beginning of January even with the new tag team partner of Venus (Rosa Salvage). She picked up her maiden victory over Martinez in a singles match in February and then Phoenix the following month. Her misfortune in tag team action continued though, as she and Fuji Cakes lost to Cherry Pie and Roni Jonah. Unhappy with the loss, Deeb changed her partners and teamed with Roadkill and Kasey James for a mixed tag team match with The Untouchables, including Cherry Pie, but lost once more. Later that month, a dark match between her and Phoenix went to a no contest after interference and was changed into a tag match, where Deeb alongside Martinez lost to Phoenix and Maria.
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Shane Douglas
Troy Shane Martin (born November 21, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name "The Franchise" Shane Douglas. In the course of his career, which has spanned nearly three decades, Douglas has wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling and briefly in the World Wrestling Federation. Martin later worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Martin is former four time ECW World Heavyweight champion and one-time NWA World Heavyweight champion.
Martin was born one of six children, the son of a veteran of World War II, who died in 1991. He graduated cum laude from Bethany College in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in history and political science. He is an alumnus of the Psi Chapter of Beta Theta Pi. After earning his degrees, he was offered to join the Saba University School of Medicine but declined in order to continue wrestling.
Martin was trained by Dominic DeNucci in the Pittsburgh suburb of Freedom, Pennsylvania, alongside Mick Foley in the mid-1980s. He had been wrestling professionally to earn money since 1982. When he started, he used the character of Troy Orndorff, the fictional nephew of Paul Orndorff. In 1986, he wrestled Randy Savage at a WWF Superstars of Wrestling taping using his real name. He would also wrestle "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff in the debut episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge, once again using his real name. Later that year, he began wrestling as a fan favorite for the Universal Wrestling Federation using the name Shane Douglas, which was given to him by "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt ("Shane" coming from Martin's middle name, and "Douglas" from Michael Douglas, who at the time had just appeared in Wall Street). Douglas defeated Gilbert for the World Television Championship on August 3, 1987, but did not rise above mid-card status. Douglas soon lost the title on September 2 to Terry Taylor.
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Shannon Moore
Shannon Moore (born July 27, 1979) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1999 and 2001 and with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for several years in the 2000s. He has also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Moore befriended Matt and Jeff Hardy as a child, and they later trained him to wrestle. He debuted in 1995, and competed for several North Carolina-based promotions, winning several Light Heavyweight Championships. He also wrestled for the Hardys' promotion, Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA), where he won the OMEGA Light Heavyweight Championship twice and the OMEGA New Frontiers Championship once. In 1999, he signed with WCW, and became part of 3 Count, a boy band parody. The three members of 3 Count jointly won the WCW Hardcore Championship in 2000. In 2001, he briefly held the NWA Wildside Tag Team Championship with Shane Helms.
He later joined the then-WWF in 2001, and was assigned to Heartland Wrestling Association, a developmental territory, where he won the HWA Tag Team Championship with Evan Karagias. After debuting on the SmackDown brand, he became a follower of 'Mattitude' and appeared regularly as Matt Hardy's sidekick. Between late 2003 and 2005, Moore was used mainly in WWE's cruiserweight division, until his release in July 2005. After a stint on the independent circuit, Moore joined TNA in December 2005. In March 2006, he re-signed with WWE, initially appearing on the ECW brand, before returning to SmackDown in 2007. He formed a tag team with Jimmy Wang Yang, and the pair challenged unsuccessfully for the WWE Tag Team Championship on several occasions. Following his release in August 2008, he once again returned to the independent circuit, before rejoining TNA in January 2010. He soon formed a tag team, known as Ink Inc., with Jesse Neal in April.
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Shawn Michaels
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is a retired professional wrestler, and an American television host. He is currently signed to WWE, where he has served as an ambassador for the company since December 2010. Hickenbottom consistently wrestled for WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1988 until his first retirement in 1998, due to injury. He appeared in non-wrestling roles from 1998 to 2000, and resumed his in-ring career in 2002, retiring in 2010. He also hosts the show MacMillan River Adventures, airing on the Outdoor Channel.
Hickenbottom began his wrestling career with Mid-South Wrestling, now known as Universal Wrestling Federation, and American Wrestling Association (AWA). During his time with AWA, he performed in partnership with Marty Jannetty, as The Midnight Rockers; winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship twice. Hickenbottom and Jannetty briefly signed with World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1987, while in contract with AWA. They returned to AWA, only to go back to the WWF in 1988.
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Sheamus
Stephen Farrelly (Irish: Stíofán Ó Fearghaile) (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish professional wrestler and actor, best known by his ring name Sheamus. He is signed with WWE and competes on the SmackDown brand as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion.
Prior to joining WWE, Farrelly was also a two-time International Heavyweight Champion during his tenure in Irish Whip Wrestling. He is a three-time World Champion, having held the WWE Championship on two occasions and is the current World Heavyweight Champion in his first reign. He also won the King of the Ring in 2010 and the Royal Rumble in 2012, as well as the WWE United States Championship once.
Farrelly was born in Cabra, Dublin and was raised within the city. His father, Martin, was an amateur bodybuilder. Farrelly speaks fluent Irish, having attended Scoil Caoimhin Primary and Secondary School, a Gaelscoil During his school years he sang in the Palestrina Choir until the age of thirteen, as part of which he appeared on the Late Late Show and Live at Three television programmes. He played Gaelic football for the Erin's Isle team where he was declared sports star of the month. He also played rugby for the National College of Ireland, where he gained a National Diploma.
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Shelly Martinez
Shelly Leonor Martinez (born February 9, 1980) is a Mexican American model, actress, professional wrestler and valet. She is known for her work with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on its ECW brand under the ring name Ariel and for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Salinas as valet to The Latin American Xchange (LAX).
Martinez entered professional wrestling in December 2000. She worked mainly on the independent circuit in Southern California, using the name Desire, competing for promotions, including Revolution Pro Wrestling, Ultimate Pro Wrestling and the Empire Wrestling Federation (EWF). In July 2002, she teamed with Threat to win the EWF Tag Team Championship. In April 2005, she signed a contract with WWE, and was assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). While in OVW she used the ring name Shelly, and managed several wrestlers, including Aaron Stevens, Paul Burchill and Seth Skyfire. She moved to the ECW brand in mid-2006, and using a gimmick of a tarot reader, managed Kevin Thorn while known as Ariel. In mid-2007, she was released from her WWE contract. Later that year, she signed with TNA, and began working as Salinas. She was associated with LAX, and managed both members of the team, Homicide and Hernandez. She left TNA in September 2008.
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Shelton Benjamin
Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment. Benjamin has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling in high school and at the University of Minnesota. In addition, Benjamin has acted as an assistant coach in amateur wrestling. He first spent time in Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he held the Southern Tag Team Championship four times. WWE then moved him to the main roster and put him into an alliance with Kurt Angle and Charlie Haas, known as Team Angle (and later the World's Greatest Tag Team). During his tenure with the company, he won the Intercontinental Championship three times, the United States Championship once, and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice with Haas. He currently wrestles for Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is one half of the World Tag Team Champions with Charlie Haas.
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Shingo Takagi
Shingo Takagi (鷹木信悟, born November 21, 1982) is a former Japanese bodybuilder, turned professional wrestler. Shingo is currently competing for the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate and American promotion Dragon Gate USA. He spent an extended run with the American promotions Ring of Honor and Full Impact Pro.
Shingo Takagi debuted in October 2004 as the first graduate of the Dragon Gate Dojo. He was also trained by Animal Hamaguchi. Takagi won the 2005 Wrestling Observer Rookie of the Year award.
In Dragon Gate, Takagi became a member of the Blood Generation stable. On May 10, 2007, shortly after forming the stable New Hazard, Takagi - along with BxB Hulk and Cyber Kong - defeated the Typhoon team of CIMA, Susumu Yokosuka, and Ryo Saito for the Dragon Gate Open the Triangle Gate Championship. They held the championship until July 13, 2007, when the team were forced to vacate the championship as BxB Hulk had sustained a jaw injury. Takagi and Kong replaced Hulk with Jack Evans, and challenged for the vacant championship against the Muscle Outlaw'z team of Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, and Magnitude Kishiwada, but were unsuccessful.
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Stan Stasiak
George Stipich (April 13, 1937 - June 19, 1997), better known by his ring name Stan Stasiak, was a Canadian professional wrestler and fifth World Wide Wrestling Federation Champion. He is the father of professional wrestler Shawn Stasiak.
Born George Stipich, Stasiak made his wrestling debut in Quebec, Canada. He used the nickname "Crusher" early in his career and used a bear hug as a finisher. Later on in his career, he adopted the heart punch as his finishing move.
During his third stay with World Wide Wrestling Federation, he would get one of the biggest opportunities of his career. Stan "The Man" Stasiak won the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship on December 1, 1973, defeating Pedro Morales. Unlike wrestlers today, Stasiak was given little notice about winning the title before it took place. According to him, he was sitting in the dressing room in Philadelphia and the road agent came to discuss the match. Stan considered this a formality as he had been having the same discussion, nearly verbatim, in every major city on the Eastern seaboard for the last two months. However this time, it was different. The agent told Stasiak that Morales was to give him a belly to back suplex and as the ref makes the count, Stan raises his shoulder up after two, while Morales' shoulder stays down, thus the title changes hands. According to friend and fellow wrestler Frank Dusek, the company wanted to make Bruno Sammartino its champion again but did not want Sammartino to defeat current champion Pedro Morales in the process. Stasiak was used as a transition champion, defeating Morales for the belt and holding it for just nine days before losing it to Sammartino on December 10, 1973.
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Stephanie McMahon
Stephanie McMahon Levesque (née Stephanie Marie McMahon; born September 24, 1976) better known by her maiden name Stephanie McMahon, is an American corporate executive who is currently the Executive Vice President, Creative, for World Wrestling Entertainment,. She is also a former professional wrestling valet and occasional wrestler. She is the daughter of WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and Linda McMahon, the younger sister of Shane McMahon, and wife of WWE wrestler and executive Paul "Triple H" Levesque.
McMahon began appearing regularly on WWE in 1999 as a part of a storyline with The Undertaker. After a brief on-screen relationship with Test, she was engaged to Triple H—who she married both on-screen and later in real life—which resulted in the McMahon-Helmsley Faction storyline. She has held the WWF Women's Championship once. In 2001, she was the on-screen owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling during The Invasion. The following year, she was the SmackDown General Manager, but stopped appearing regularly on television after an "I Quit" match with her father Vince. After making part time appearances for several years, she began appearing regularly on Raw in 2008 as the Raw brand General Manager.
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Steve Corino
Steven Eugene "Steve" Corino (born May 29, 1973) is a Canadian professional wrestler, who currently works for Pro Wrestling Zero1, Ring of Honor and numerous other independent promotions. Corino is a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion and ECW World Heavyweight Champion.
Corino began wrestling in 1994 and spent four years working on the independent circuit. During this time, he was a part of the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts, a promotion run by Matt and Jeff Hardy. Corino began an anti-hardcore gimmick on the independent circuit, because he felt he would have more chance of getting work if he did not work hardcore matches. He gained experience, working in Puerto Rico for the WWC, working under the ring name Lightning Kid.
In 1998, Corino debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling as a heel manager. He stood out in ECW as a result of his "King of Old School" gimmick, where he would deride hardcore wrestlers, at one point invading a Limp Bizkit concert and protesting the immoral conduct.
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Steve Keirn
Stephen "Steve" Paul Keirn (born September 10, 1951) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for being part of the tag team The Fabulous Ones, with Stan Lane, and later for a run in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as Skinner, a gimmick that portrayed him as a tobacco spitting alligator hunter from the Everglades. During his time in WWF, Steve was also one of a number of wrestlers to play the role of the masked Doink the Clown. He is currently signed with WWE, and works as President of Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory.
Much of Keirn's early career was spent wrestling as part of a tag team. While wrestling in Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF), he held the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship twelve times; once each with Bob Backlund, Jimmy Garvin, and Brian Blair, and nine times with Mike Graham. In addition, the team of Keirn and Graham won the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship three times.
In 1980 and 1981, Keirn focused on his career as a singles wrestler. He won many titles in Florida and Georgia, including the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title by defeating Chavo Guerrero Sr.. This title reign was recognized by New Japan Pro Wrestling, as well as the Los Angeles and Florida NWA territories, but not by the NWA as a whole, which considered the title vacant and held a tournament to crown a new champion. The title Keirn held was later renamed the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title. Keirn also won the NWA National Television Championship twice, defeating Terry Funk and Kevin Sullivan.
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Steven Adkins
Steve Adkins (born April 29, 1979) is a retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Seth Skyfire. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).
On October 12, 2005 Skyfire & Chet The Jet defeated "The Blonde Bombers" (Chad & John Toland) to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship which they would drop to Mike Mizanin & Chris Cage on February 8, 2006.
On March 8, 2006 Skyfire defeated Aaron "The Idol" Stevens to win the OVW Television Championship.
Skyfire began to team with CM Punk in mid-2006. On July 28, Skyfire and CM Punk defeated Shad Gaspard and the Neighborhoodie (later known as Cryme Tyme) to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship. Skyfire and Punk, between the two of them, held at the time all the belts in OVW and were the first wrestlers in OVW history to hold two championships at the same time. On August 3, 2006 they would lose the Southern tag straps to Deuce Shade and "Domino" Cliff Compton (later Deuce 'n Domino). Skyfire defeated Charles "The Hammer" Evans to win his second OVW Television Championship under a mask, using the nickname El Aero Fuego. He would later lose the title to Bad Kompany (Mike Kruel, "Bad Seed" Shawn Osbourne and Milena Roucka), who held the belt under the Freebird Rule.
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Stevie Richards
Michael Manna (born October 9, 1971) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Stevie Richards. Manna currently works for Lucha Libre USA and previously worked for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and, briefly, World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He has also made appearances for Ring Of Honor (ROH). Manna has held the WWE Hardcore Championship 22 times and was a two-time ECW World Tag Team Champion and a one time NWA National Heavyweight Champion.
Stevie Richards was trained at Iron Mike Sharpe's wrestling school in Brick Township, New Jersey after being discovered by Dan Haney of the World Wide Wrestling Alliance based out of Colmar/Hatfield, Pennsylvania.
On February 25, 1992, Richards participated in the first ever Eastern Championship Wrestling (Extreme eventually replaced the Eastern) match, as Steve Richards in a 20-minute time limit draw with Jimmy Jannetty. In 1995 Richards began to adopt the gimmicks of one Scott Levy (Scotty Flamingo, Scotty the body, Johnny Polo) he would score a win as Stevie Flamingo, the next week as Stevie the body he would score an upset victory over JT Smith then, the next week as Stevie Polo he would score his first loss to Tommy Dreamer, Richards irrate over the loss claimed that "he would produce the real Johnny Polo". The next week he would live up to his promise Levy appeared in a new gimmick as Raven. From that point on, Richards acted as a flunky for Raven in ECW, calling him "Boss". While teaming with Raven, Richards won the ECW World Tag Team Championship on two occasions.
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Sylvain Grenier
Sylvain Grenier (born March 26, 1977) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment, where he was a four time World Tag Team Champion while a part of La Résistance.
Early in his life, Grenier played baseball, tennis and hockey at an amateur level, in addition to working as a model. He eventually decided to become a professional wrestler, and made his wrestling debut on November 9, 2002 for the Montreal-based Northern Championship Wrestling promotion.
Grenier auditioned for series one and two of Tough Enough, the reality television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment in 2001 and 2002, but was unable to attend the selection process due to visa problems. While he was in Florida training and taking part in a modeling shoot, Grenier met WWE producer Pat Patterson, with whom he became good friends. Patterson invited Grenier to attend WWE events for a few tryout matches under the ring name "Sly Grenier". Following a match, Grenier was offered a contract by WWE, and assigned to WWE developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling. During this period, Grenier made three appearances for WWE. The first was on the March 18, 2002 edition of Raw as a backstage security guard that was assaulted by Chris Jericho, the second as a referee that helped The Rock to defeat Hulk Hogan at No Way Out in 2003 and third at WrestleMania XIX.
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Takeshi Morishima
Takeshi Morishima (森嶋 猛 Morishima Takeshi?) (October 15, 1978) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently performing for Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan and has performed for Ring of Honor in the United States in the past. He is a former Ring of Honor World Champion and the current GHC Heavyweight Champion in his second reign. Morishima currently holds a position on Pro Wrestling Noah's board of directors.
Morishima regularly performs for Pro Wrestling Noah. He frequently teamed with Takeshi Rikio as Wild II, and the duo have previously held the GHC Tag Team Championship. Morshima has also wrestled in the United States and United Kingdom. He competed in Harley Race's World League Wrestling promotion in 2003, defending the WLW Heavyweight Championship, which he had won from Ron Harris while Harris toured Japan. Morishima returned to the United States in February 2007, wrestling four matches with Ring of Honor. He lost to Samoa Joe on February 16, 2007 before defeating Homicide in a match for the ROH World Championship on the subsequent evening, thus becoming the first non-American to hold the title. On February 23, 2007, Morishima defeated B.J. Whitmer in his first title defense, and on the next night he and Nigel McGuinness defeated Samoa Joe and Homicide. On March 4, 2007, he successfully defended the ROH Championship in Japan, defeating Kenta in the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. Morishima could not return to the United States until almost a month and a half later when he and Chris Hero took on Nigel McGuinness and Doug Williams, and the next night when he successfully defended the belt against McGuinness for the first time.
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Taylor Rotunda
Taylor Michael Rotunda (born May 25, 1990) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE and wrestles in their developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), as Bo Rotundo. He is a former two-time FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion and former two-time FCW Florida Tag Team Champion with his older brother Husky Harris.
In 2008, Rotunda signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he debuted in December by defeating Caleb O'Neal. On December 16, 2008, Rotunda, wrestling under his real name teamed with Kris Logan to defeat Ryback and Jon Cutler in a tag team match. Throughout early 2009, Rotunda continued wrestling in tag team matches, and changed his name to 'Tank Rotunda' in February. In June, he began wrestling as 'Bo Rotunda' and later 'Bo Rotundo', and the following month he began teaming with his brother, Duke Rotundo. At the FCW television tapings on June 23, The Rotundo Brothers defeated The Dude Busters (Caylen Croft and Trent Barretta) to become the number one contenders to the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. That same night, they defeated Justin Angel and Kris Logan for the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. They went on to successfully defend the championship against Dylan Klein and Vance Archer and the team of Curt Hawkins and Heath Slater. At the FCW television tapings on November 19, the Rotundos lost the championship to The Dude Busters (Hawkins and Croft).
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Tazz
Peter Senerchia (born October 11, 1967) is a retired American professional wrestler and color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz. Tazz is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling where he works as a color commentator.
He is best known from his tenure in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where he was a two time World Heavyweight Champion, a two time World Television Champion, a three time World Tag Team Champion, a two time (and the first ever) FTW Heavyweight Champion, and the fourth ECW Triple Crown winner (the final in the original ECW).
His World Wrestling Entertainment career as an in-ring performer came to an early halt in 2002 when mounting injuries forced him to retire and become a color commentator, which he continued to do until his contract with WWE expired in April 2009. Two months later, Senerchia debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling at their Victory Road pay-per-view under the ring name Taz and eventually reprised his role as a color commentator for TNA's broadcasts, replacing Don West.
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Ted DiBiase
Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase, Sr. (born January 18, 1954) is a retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. DiBiase achieved championship success in a number of wrestling promotions, holding thirty titles during his professional wrestling career. He is best recalled by mainstream audiences for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where he wrestled as "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase.
Among other accolades in the WWF, DiBiase was the first WWF North American Heavyweight Champion, a three-time WWF Tag Team Champion (with Irwin R. Schyster) and the 1988 King of the Ring. DiBiase also created his own championship, the Million Dollar Championship. He was well known for his cutting-edge heel promos, which were often concluded with his trademark evil laugh; DiBiase has been described by WWE as the organization's "most despised villain" during the late 1980s. He held the WWF Championship belt in 1988 after purchasing it from André the Giant, but this period is not recognized by WWE as an official title reign. Nonetheless, DiBiase frequently performed in main event matches and has been cited as one of the finest in-ring technicians in history.
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Teddy Hart
Teddy Annis (born February 2, 1980), is a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Teddy Hart. He is currently working on the American independent circuit for promotions such as Jersey All Pro Wrestling and Dragon Gate USA. He has also wrestled for the Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración and the short-lived Wrestling Society X on MTV, and operates a wrestling school in Calgary.
Hart achieved a degree of fame when he became the youngest wrestler to be signed to the World Wrestling Federation. His subsequent release and controversial actions while wrestling on the independent circuit have earned him a measure of infamy.
Hart debuted in July 1995 at Rockyford, Alberta, where he teamed up with his brother, Matthew, for the first time, and defeated his cousin, Harry Smith, and TJ Wilson. In the Calgary-based Stampede Wrestling promotion, Hart teamed with Smith, Wilson and Jack Evans. In 2000, he wrestled for and was a key creative figure in the Matrats promotion.
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Tenille Dashwood
Tenille Dashwood is an Australian professional wrestler , better known by her ring name, Tenille Tayla, currently signed to WWE.
Tenille was introduced into wrestling by her older brother Jake, when she was about 8 years old. She involved herself in the Australian wrestling scene and did some training from the ages of 13 to 15. In 2005, Tenille made some appearances for the Australian wrestling promotion PWA under the name Valentine. However, from the age of 16 to 18, Tenille was limited to setting up the ring at events and helping out after she suffered a shoulder injury. In 2007, she moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for a few months to train with Lance Storm at the Storm Wrestling Academy. In the fall of 2008, Tenille returned to Australia. She wrestled for several promotions, with one of her most notable appearances being at Nightmare Wrestling, where she teamed up with Christy Hemme, Kellie Skater and Sara Jay to defeat the team of Traci Brooks, Vixsin, Sway and Aurora. On 22 February 2009 Tenille also won PWA Queensland's first-ever "Queen of the Warriors" tournament, after defeating Shazza McKenzie, Jessie McKay and Kellie Skater.
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Terry Funk
Terrence "Terry" Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley. Funk has appeared in the NWA, AWA, WWF/E, WCW, ECW, USWA, ROH, and TNA.
Funk held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once and ECW World Heavyweight Championship once (ECW awarded him the honorary lifetime title of ECW Champion due to his contributions to the promotion). In addition, he won the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship once, the IWA World Heavyweight Championship twice, the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once (the reign was under Eastern Championship Wrestling name), the 3PW World Heavyweight Championship once. He is the only man to have been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, the WCW Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, the NWA Hall of Fame, the Hardcore Hall of Fame, and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. Funk was a primary subject of the documentary film Beyond the Mat. Funk is often noted for the longevity of his career, which has included multiple "retirement" matches.
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The American Wolves
The American Wolves are the professional wrestling tag team of Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards. They are currently wrestling for the American promotions Ring of Honor (ROH) and Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW), where they have won the Tag Team Championships of both companies.
The two started out as members of Larry Sweeney's alliance Sweet N' Sour Inc but forged a tag team on their own. As well as being a tag team unit, the two wrestlers have had strong singles careers, with Edwards being ROH's first World Television Champion and the first to complete the Triple Crown Championship after winning the ROH World Championship, which he then went on to drop to Richards. They were originally managed by Shane Hagadorn when they portrayed villainous characters, but later abandoned him to become fan favourites.
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The Great Khali
Dalip Singh Rana (born 27 August 1972), better known by his ring name The Great Khali, is an Indian professional wrestler, actor, and powerlifter. He is currently working for WWE as a member of the SmackDown roster.
He debuted alongside Daivari and had alliances with Ranjin Singh and Jinder Mahal. However he spent most of his career as a singles superstar and in 2007 he became the World Heavyweight Champion.
Before embarking on his professional wrestling career, he was a police officer in the Punjab state police. He has appeared in four Hollywood films as well as two Bollywood films.
Singh was born in Himachal Pradesh, India to Jwala Ram (father) and Tandi Devi (mother); he is one of seven siblings. He is a Hindu Rajput. Although his parents are of normal stature, his grandfather was well over 6 ft 6 inches.
Under the ring name Giant Singh, Dalip Singh first became a professional wrestler for All Pro Wrestling (APW) in the United States, making his first appearance in October 2000, when teaming with Tony Jones against the West Side Playaz.
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The Honky Tonk Man
Roy Wayne "Presley" Farris (born January 25, 1953), better known by his ring name The Honky Tonk Man, is an American professional wrestler. A 1975 graduate from University of Memphis with a B.S. degree in Education, Farris coached high school football for two seasons at Munford High School in Munford, Tennessee. Currently working on the independent circuit, he previously worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF)--now WWE. He is best known for his first run with WWF, where he held the WWF Intercontinental Championship for a record 64 weeks, and lost it to Ultimate Warrior in the very first pay-per-view of SummerSlam. He is the cousin of professional wrestler and color commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler.
Farris began his career in Memphis Wrestling in 1978. He wrestled frequently in Birmingham, Alabama with SECW / CCW / CWF as Dynamite Wayne Farris. Originally a low-card wrestler, he later achieved greater success when he teamed with Larry Latham to form The Blond Bombers tag team with Sgt. Danny Davis as their manager. The Blond Bombers were involved in heated feuds with several baby faces across the two competing Tennessee promotions, appearing in both Nick Gulas Nashville based territory, and Jerry Jarrett's Memphis area. Their signature moment was the now famous "Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl" against Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee. He then had stints in the American Wrestling Association, NWA Mid-Atlantic, World Wrestling Council, NWA Southeastern, and Stampede Wrestling through the early '80s, winning multiple singles and tag team championships in each.
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The Miz
Michael "Mike" Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, reality television star, media personality, and actor better known by his nickname and ring name The Miz. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment on its Raw brand. Mizanin first gained fame as a cast member on MTV's The Real World: Back to New York, which first aired in 2001, and its spinoff series, Real World/Road Rules Challenge. He later entered the fourth season of Tough Enough, a televised competition that would award the winner a WWE contract, and became the first runner-up. Mizanin has also made appearances on television shows including Battle of the Network Reality Stars, Fear Factor, Identity, Ghost Hunters, Dinner Impossible, Psych and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?.
Mizanin trained and wrestled with Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Deep South Wrestling, where he became the first Deep South Heavyweight Champion. Mizanin was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), working in tag team matches and winning the tag team title, the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, on one occasion.
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The Undertaker
Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name The Undertaker. He is signed to WWE and is the company's most tenured competitor. Calaway began his wrestling career with World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in 1984. He joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as "Mean" Mark Callous in 1989. When WCW did not renew Calaway's contract in 1990, he signed with the World Wrestling Federation in October and, after shortening his name from Kane the Undertaker to simply The Undertaker, has remained with the company since.
The Undertaker has two contrasting personas. The first is the role of The Deadman, an undead, occult-like figure, which has consisted of many different styles. He debuted his original Deadman persona during his own on-camera debut at Survivor Series (1990). At this event, the Undertaker was clad as a Western mortician. Next, in October of 1998, the Undertaker appeared as the leader of the Ministry of Darkness (with similar apparel). Since WrestleMania XX, the Undertaker has appeared as a hybrid version of the Deadman character, using elements of the previous Deadman incarnations.
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The Usos
The Usos (also known as The Uso Brothers) are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of identical twin brothers Jimmy and Jey Uso (born August 22, 1985) from San Francisco, California. The Usos appear in WWE, competing on the SmackDown brand. The pair were previously managed by Tamina. The Usos are former FCW Florida Tag Team Champions.
Jimmy (real name Jonathan Solofa Fatu Jr.) and Jey (real name Joshua Samuel Fatu) are the twin sons of Solofa Fatu, better known as Rikishi, and are part of the Anoa'i family. Tamina (real name Sarona Reiher) is the daughter of Jimmy Snuka and sister of Jimmy Reiher, Jr.
Appearing under their real names, Jonathan and Joshua Fatu debuted as a tag team at a World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) show in Milton, Florida on June 8, 2007.
Jimmy Uso (Jonathan Fatu) appeared at the Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) television tapings on November 5, accompanying Donny Marlow to the ring. Jimmy also appeared in a dark match prior to the FCW television tapings on November 19, defeating Titus O'Neill.
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Theodore Long
Theodore Rufus "Teddy" Long (born September 15, 1947) is an American professional wrestling manager and former referee who is currently signed to WWE, performing as a servant for John Laurinaitis. He is best known for being a two-time general manager of WWE SmackDown.
Long started out as an errand boy for wrestlers Tommy Rich and Abdullah the Butcher. He eventually became a member of the ringcrew and was promoted to referee in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985 as Teddy Long. In 1989, at the Chi-Town Rumble event, Long ran in and counted three, making Ricky Steamboat the NWA World Champion. Shortly thereafter, Long began to turn into a villainous character when he started to bend the rules for the villains. On April 2, 1989 at the Clash of Champions in New Orleans, Long blatantly made a fast count allowing Mike Rotunda and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to defeat the Road Warriors for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. After this match, the National Wrestling Alliance relieved Long of his refereeing duties. This was actually a story lifted from Championship Wrestling from Florida, where Long had been a referee and did several heel-decisions in the ring, including one for Ron Simmons over Skip Young. While riding with Kevin Sullivan and Eddie Gilbert, Long would DJ for them. After hearing Long talk, the two convinced Jim Ross to give Long a managerial role, managing "Norman The Lunatic". Long became the manager of Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed) and led them to the World Tag Team Titles. He also managed Johnny B. Badd, One Man Gang, Norman the Lunatic, The Skyscrapers (Sid Vicious, Dan Spivey and Mark Calaway), Marcus Bagwell, 2 Cold Scorpio, Joey Maggs, Craig Pittman, Jim Powers, Bobby Walker, Ice Train and Bobby Eaton while in Jim Crockett Promotions and WCW.
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Tito Santana
Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953) better known by his ring name Tito Santana, is an American professional wrestler whose heyday spanned from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, though he continues to appear on the independent circuit. He is best known from his time in the World Wrestling Federation. Competing almost exclusively in the WWF from 1979 to 1993, Solis helped bridge the gap between the 1980s "Rock 'n Wrestling Connection" era to the 1990s "New Generation" era. He also won the first match in WrestleMania history.
Solis played tight end for West Texas A&M University, where he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. The team was quarterbacked by future professional wrestler Tully Blanchard, who would introduce him into the world of professional wrestling. After graduation, Solis was cut by the Kansas City Chiefs during training camp. He played one season for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League, appearing in 13 regular-season games.
He pro debuted in Championship Wrestling From Florida in 1977, also worked in Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1977-78, until he joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1979. After a near 3 year run in the American Wrestling Association form 1980-1982 he returned to World Wrestling Federation in 1983.
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Tom Prichard
Thomas Prichard (born August 18, 1959) is an American professional wrestler better known as Tom Prichard. He is the brother of Chris and Bruce Prichard.
Tom Prichard began his career in Los Angeles, around 1979, working for Gene and Mike LeBell's Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium wrestling promotion, where he held several championships in that organization, including the Americas tag team title with Chris Adams. After LeBell closed the L.A. promotion down in 1982, Prichard competed in various NWA territories for the next four years before settling in the southeast, where he had his greatest success of his career.
Prichard joined the Continental Wrestling Federation in the late 1980s, and feuded with "The Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony. Their feud included a very controversial angle where Anthony's valet came out with a black eye and begged Prichard to help her, only for Anthony to attack him from behind, cuff his hands behind his back, and hang him. On October 3, 1988 in Birmingham, Alabama, he defeated Anthony in the finals of a tournament to win the vacant CWF Heavyweight Championship. Prichard lost the title to Wendell Cooley on April 7, 1989 in Knoxville, Tennessee, but regained the belt on June 23 of that year. He lost the title to Dennis Condrey a month later on July 22 in Dothan, Alabama, before once again regaining it after defeating Condrey on December 6 of that same year. Prichard held the title until the CWF closed later that month.
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Tommy Dreamer
Thomas James "Tom" Laughlin (born February 14, 1971) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is currently working for various promotions on the independent circuit. He is best known for his time spent with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). After leaving WWE after a nine year stint in 2010, Dreamer worked a year for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Among other accolades, he is a fourteen-time WWF/E Hardcore Champion and a two-time world champion, having won the ECW World Championship twice, and is the only man to have won this title in both the original company and in the WWE relaunch.
In addition to his most recent role, Dreamer is known for the time he spent in the Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion, of which he has been called the "heart and soul". Though he only held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once in his time with the company – for a total of about 30 minutes – he was regularly embroiled in the company's most visible angles on-screen and involved in the booking, some of the business decisions, and, like a number of other ECW wrestlers, was part of the day-to-day operations of the company off-screen. He is known as the "Innovator of violence."
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Tony Atlas
Anthony White (born April 23, 1954) better known by his ring name "Tony Atlas" is an American bodybuilder, powerlifter, and professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his bodybuilding title, "Mr. USA" (a distinction he earned three times), the nom de guerre the "Black Superman", as well as an alter ego named Saba Simba. He returned as an on screen manager for WWE, appearing on its now-defunct ECW brand.
Atlas started wrestling in 1975 for the National Wrestling Alliance World Wide/Mid Atlantic area. His debut, on July 10, was a tag team match with Bob Bruggers against Art Neilson and The Blue Scorpion. The match finished with Atlas winning the fall for his team with a sleeper hold on the Blue Scorpion.
Throughout his career he worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions, the World Wrestling Council (WWC), World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Among his regular partners were Tommy Rich (as "TNT"), Dick Murdoch, and Rocky Johnson. He was also the very first man to press slam and pin Hulk Hogan though Hogan's foot was on the rope and the referee didn't see it.[citation needed]
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Tony Chimel
Anthony "Tony" Chimel (born October 11, 1961) is an American professional wrestling ring announcer, employed by WWE for WWE Superstars and Pay-Per-View pre-shows.
Before Chimel was ring announcer, he and Joey Marella (referee and son of legendary grappler Gorilla Monsoon) were the main ring technicians for the World Wrestling Federation. Chimel then began announcing duties for the company in 1991, working mostly non-televised house shows and filling in for Howard Finkel whenever necessary.[citation needed]
Chimel was the SmackDown ring announcer since its inception in 1999. He had also been ring announcing at SmackDown brand pay-per-views during this period of time. He defeated Howard Finkel for the rights to be SmackDown announcer in 1999 in a tuxedo match.
From 2005 to 2007 Chimel was involved in a mini-feud with former superstar Mr. Kennedy, who claimed that Chimel was not announcing his name with the proper respect that it deserved. This feud included Chimel being body punched, being "told to take a bow" (hit in the groin), and having a doughnut shoved in his mouth by Mr. Kennedy.
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Tony DeVito
Anthony "Tony" DeVito (born January 20, 1972) is an American professional wrestler, best known for working in Extreme Championship Wrestling and Ring of Honor. In ROH, he held the World Tag Team Championship with HC Loc as a part of The Carnage Crew.
After training under David Schultz and debuting in 1991, DeVito was signed by the World Wrestling Federation to a contract. DeVito debuted for the WWF in 1992 and worked as an enhancement talent for the company, losing to the likes of Mr. Perfect, Bam Bam Bigelow, Doink the Clown and Phantasio. After leaving the company in 1996, he began working on the independent circuit.
In 2000, DeVito joined Extreme Championship Wrestling as a part of a faction called "Da Baldies" with Angel, Vito Lograsso, P.N. News, Vic Grimes and Redd Dogg. The characteristics of Da Baldies were that of bald headed thugs. DeVito and Angel feuded with Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten and then New Jack. At Guilty as Charged, Da Baldies were "hired" to attack the team of Christian York and Joey Matthews, as well as Justin Credible and Steve Corino. After ECW declared bankruptcy in April 2001, DeVito began wrestling on the independent circuit again, most prominently for Ring of Honor.
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Tony Mamaluke
Charles John Spencer (born July 19, 1977) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Tony Mamaluke. He is best known for his work with Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2000.
After being trained by Dean Malenko, Spencer began his wrestling career in 1998, working for independent promotions in Florida under the names C.G. Afi and Casanova Jones. His first big break came during his short stay in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) first as an unnamed fan of wrestler Lodi, debuting in a Nitro Party clip then appearing in an outdoor segment when Lenny Lane and Lodi were arriving at a show in New York. He then appeared as a fan invader during many of Lodi and his brother Lenny's matches until the angle was dropped when Lenny and Lodi were removed from TV. He returned shortly as Tony Marinara, a New York mobster who managed the team of Big Vito and Johnny the Bull, who became known as The Mamalukes. His storyline included a feud with Disco Inferno, who kayfabe owed his "family" money. At one point, the feud also involved Lash LeRoux. His last appearance came at the 2000 Souled Out pay-per-view. In an interview with Gene Okerlund, he said he had to take care of some business and then left, never to appear in WCW again.
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Tracy Brookshaw
Tracy Brookshaw (born May 22, 1975) is a Canadian professional wrestler, professional wrestling valet and professional wrestling referee, better known by her ring name Traci Brooks. She is best known for her work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where she has spent most of her career.
Brookshaw grew up on a pig and chicken farm in St. Marys, Ontario. In 2000, she won the Toronto Sunshine Millennium Calendar contest which led to her being named Miss June 2000 and interviewed in the Toronto Sun. Brookshaw went on to engage in promotional modeling work with the Molson, Labatt and Budweiser beverage brewers.
In her interview, Brookshaw said that she aspired to be "the next WWF Superstar". This led to her being introduced to Ron Hutchinson, a professional wrestler who operated the Sully's Gym professional wrestling school out of Toronto, Ontario. Brookshaw began training under Hutchinson in March 2000 and debuted in January 2001 as "Tracy Brooks".
In an October 2008 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Brookshaw revealed that she suffered from Erb's palsy as an infant. While she recovered, for the most part, due to aggressive treatment, she noted that she has impaired function in her right arm which affects her in the ring.
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Trent Acid
Michael Verdi (November 12, 1980 – June 18, 2010) was an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Trent Acid. Verdi had worked as a tag team wrestler for most of his career, primarily as part of The Backseat Boyz with Johnny Kashmere, in several independent promotions in America, including Combat Zone Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Unplugged, and Ring of Honor. Acid also worked a singles career with several promotions, including Juggalo Championship Wrestling.
Acid debuted in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) in 1999 and competed mostly in singles matches. At the first Cage of Death, he teamed with White Lotus to face the Kashmerinoes (Johnny Kashmere and Robbie Mireno). Acid wrestled many matches against Kashmere before teaming up with him to form The Backseat Boyz. The Backseat Boyz won the CZW Tag Team Championship. While part of this team, Acid still wrestled in the singles division and won the CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship three times, competing against the likes of Ruckus and Justice Pain for the title. He also became the second Best of the Best winner by defeating Jody Fleisch in the final match at Best of the Best 2. In September 2003, Acid won the vacant CZW Iron Man Championship by defeating Nick Gage and Jimmy Rave in a three way match.
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Trent Barreta
Gregory "Greg" Marasciulo (born March 30, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, working on its SmackDown brand under the ring name Trent Barreta. He was one half of the Dude Busters tag team with Caylen Croft before Croft was released from his WWE contract. Marasciulo also wrestled for the New York Wrestling Connection as Plazma, and competed in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in drag as a masked wrestler, The Girl from Mexico.
Marasciulo made his professional debut for New York Wrestling Connection on July 10, 2004, under the ring name Plazma in a losing effort to Dan Barry. After wrestling primarily in singles and tag team matches, Plazma defeated Matt Maverick on January 28, 2006 to become the promotion's first ever Hi-Fi Champion, which was also the first championship of his career. On February 25, Plazma retained the title against Maverick in his first title defense. On March 18, Plazma lost the title to Mike Spinelli. Plazma would defeat Spinelli in a rematch for the title on May 20. After successfully retaining the title against the likes of Jamie Van Lemer, Spyder, Javi-Air, and Jerry Lynn throughout the next few months, Plazma lost the Hi-Fi Championship to Dickie Rodz on October 21. After two unsuccessful attempts to regain the title in February and March 2007, respectively, Plazma teamed with Maverick to defeat The Angus Brothers (Danny and Billy) and Dan Dynasty and Jamie Van Lemer in a three-way match to win the Tag Team Championship. The team would retain the title on several occasions before losing them to MEGA and Prince Nana on December 15. That same night, Plazma defeated Quiet Storm to win the Heavyweight Championship, although the title was vacated shortly afterwards due to Marasciulo announcing his signing to World Wrestling Entertainment.
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Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969) is an American professional wrestler, wrestling executive, and actor better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Currently, Levesque works in the front office of WWE as the Executive Vice President of Talent and Live Events, and as Triple H appears on television as the (storyline) Chief Operating Officer, and part-time wrestler.
Levesque began his wrestling career in the International Wrestling Federation as Terra Ryzing before joining World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994. After briefly using the Ryzing name, he changed his character to Jean-Paul Lévesque, a French-Canadian aristocrat which would be similar to his character Hunter Hearst Helmsley, that he used in his early years with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1995 onward. He later abbreviated his name to Triple H and adopted an alternative image in the D-Generation X (DX) stable. After the dissolution of DX, Triple H was pushed as a main event wrestler, winning several singles championships. As part of a storyline Triple H married Stephanie McMahon, who later became his real-life spouse. In 2003, Triple H formed another stable known as Evolution, and reformed DX with Shawn Michaels in 2006 and 2009. He is heavily involved in the writing process of WWE programming, and holds complete creative control over his television character's storylines, win/loss record, and championship reigns.
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Tyler Black
Colby Lopez (born May 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tyler Black. He is signed to a contract with WWE, where he competes in their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling as Seth Rollins, where he is the reigning FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion. He is a former FCW 15 Champion and FCW Florida Tag Team Champion with Richie Steamboat. He is best known for his time in Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Champion.
He has competed in Scott County Wrestling, AAW: Professional Wrestling Redefined, Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South, the National Wrestling Alliance, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and Wrestling Society X. In several promotions, Black was the tag team partner of Jimmy Jacobs, with the team known as Doin' It For Her. He was once a member of The Age of the Fall along with Jacobs, and several other wrestlers. Black is also a three-time world champion having won the MCPW World Heavyweight Championship once, the FIP World Heavyweight Championship on one occasion, and the ROH World Championship once.
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Tyler Reks
Gabriel Allan Tuft (born November 1, 1978) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on its Raw brand under the ring name Tyler Reks. He also competes in WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling, where he held the Florida Tag Team Championship once with Johnny Curtis and held the Florida Heavyweight Championship once.
Tuft was trained by Mike Bell. He made his professional debut in February 2007 for Ultimate Pro Wrestling.
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Tyson Kidd
Theodore James "TJ" Wilson, sometimes stylized as T.J. Wilson, (born July 11, 1980) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, and wrestles on the SmackDown brand as Tyson Kidd.
The final graduate of the Hart Dungeon, Wilson wrestled internationally, winning various championships, before signing with WWE in 2006. Forming the Hart Dynasty with David Hart Smith and Natalya, Kidd won the Unified Tag Team Championship in April 2010 when the Hart Dynasty defeated ShoMiz.
Wilson trained at Stu Hart's Dungeon in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Wilson furthered his wrestling training under the watch of Tokyo Joe, who later helped him get booked in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) as well as in England. He wrestled his first match in Stampede Wrestling in Calgary at the age of fifteen in 1995. At age sixteen, he wrestled in the opening match of a World Wrestling Federation house show in Calgary, teaming with Andrew Picarnic against Teddy Hart and Harry Smith. The following year, Wilson started training with Bret Hart.
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Vickie Guerrero
Vickie Lynn Guerrero (née Lara, born April 16, 1968) is an American professional wrestling personality, manager, shifting authority figure and occasional wrestler, currently signed to WWE on its Raw brand. She is also the wife of the late professional wrestler Eddie Guerrero.
In 2005, Vickie Guerrero began to make cameo appearances during the feud between her husband Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio, which had escalated when Eddie promised to reveal a secret concerning Mysterio's son, Dominick. Vickie was on the July 14 episode of SmackDown! with two of Eddie's three daughters to stop Eddie from revealing Mysterio's secret. Eddie promised not to reveal the secret should he lose to Mysterio at The Great American Bash, though that turned out to be another one of his character's trademark lies, as Eddie revealed that Dominick was really his biological son. Vickie later reappeared at SummerSlam to convince Eddie to put a stop to his war with Mysterio and not to go through with the "Custody of Dominick" ladder match that night. When that failed, she cost him the match by pushing over the ladder he was on as he was about to win. On November 13, 2005, Eddie Guerrero died of heart failure in his Minneapolis hotel room and was found by his nephew Chavo. On-screen, this led to Rey Mysterio, Eddie's real-life friend, getting more screen time and higher profile matches, including defeating Kurt Angle and Randy Orton at WrestleMania 22 for the World Heavyweight Championship.
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Victor Rivera
Victor Rivera was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. Between 1967 and 1981, he held the NWA Americas Tag Team Championship 12 times, the NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship five times, the WWF International Tag Team Championship, and numerous other titles.
In the late 1960s, Rivera wrestling in Los Angeles' World Wrestling Association, where he won the WWA World Tag Team Championship with Pedro Morales.
In December 1969, Rivera teamed with Tony Marino at Madison Square Garden to win the WWWF International Tag Team Championship in 2 straight falls from Professor Toru Tanaka and Mitsu Arakawa. Rivera and Marino defended the belts successfully against teams like Killer Kowalski & Waldo Von Erich, as well as Kowalski & Krippler Karl Kovacs. They lost the championship against another undefeated team, The Mongols (Bepo and Geto Mongol) on June 15, 1970, 2 falls to 1 at Madison Square Garden. On May 13, 1975, Rivera and Dominic DeNucci won the WWWF World Tag Team Championship from The Valiant Brothers. That same year, he also teamed with a rookie Dino Bravo to challenge The Mongols (Geto & Bolo Mongol) for the IWA World Tag Team Championship.
wn.com/Victor_Rivera -
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon (born August 24, 1945) is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE. Upon acquiring World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), McMahon's WWE became the sole remaining major American professional wrestling promotion (until the national expansion of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Ring of Honor).
As an on-camera character, he can appear on all WWE brands (though the majority of the time, he appears on Raw). McMahon plays a character known by the ring name Mr. McMahon, based on his real life persona. In the world of WWE, he is a two-time world champion, having won the WWF Championship and ECW World Championship. He was also the winner of the 1999 Royal Rumble.
Vince is the husband of Linda McMahon, with whom he ran WWE from its establishment in 1980 until she resigned as the CEO in September 2009.
wn.com/Vince_McMahon -
Wade Barrett
Stuart Alexander "Stu" Bennett (born August 10, 1980) is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE where he performs on its SmackDown brand under the ring name Wade Barrett. He won the first season of NXT in 2010 and made his Raw debut in June of that year, rising to prominence as the leader of the Nexus, a villainous stable composed of the NXT contestants. Barrett headlined five WWE pay-per-view events during the remainder of 2010, challenging for the WWE Championship in three of those.
After moving to SmackDown in January 2011, Barrett formed a new stable known as The Corre, which included former Nexus members. He challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship at the 2011 WWE Elimination Chamber and won his first singles championship, the WWE Intercontinental Championship, in March. Prior to his WWE debut, Barrett competed in various independent promotions under his own name, and the ring names of Stu Sanders and Lawrence Knight.
Bennett was born in Penwortham and lived in Preston, Lancashire until the age of six, when he moved to Wales with his family. He has an older brother named Martin. As a child, Bennett was a fan of "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Before becoming a professional wrestler, Bennett was a bareknuckle boxer while living in Liverpool. Bennett has a degree in marine biology from University of Liverpool. He worked in a science laboratory and later as a Recruitment Consultant at Venn Group's London Office, whilst training to become a wrestler.
wn.com/Wade_Barrett -
Wikipedia Persondata
wn.com/Wikipedia_Persondata -
William Calhoun
William Dee Calhoun (August 3, 1934 – December 7, 1989) was an American professional wrestler, who used the professional name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun.
The gargantuan wrestler was one of the foremost drawing cards during the industry’s “Golden Age” of the 1950s and 1960s, sporting his trademark white T-shirt, blue overalls, and horseshoe necklace. He is recognized as a chief pioneer of the sport’s super-heavyweight attractions.
Born on August 3, 1934, William Dee Calhoun grew up on a farm in McKinney, Texas; a rural suburb located in Collin County about 30 mi (48 km) north of Dallas. William was an unusually large child with an extraordinary appetite, it was said that he regularly ate a dozen eggs for breakfast; and by age 14, he already weighed 300 lb (140 kg). His weight continued to climb; and by the time he was in his early 20s, Calhoun tipped the scales at over 600 lb (270 kg), prompting his personal physician to suggest he did not have long to live, unless he reformed his diet.
wn.com/William_Calhoun -
William Regal
Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968) is an English professional wrestler, author and color commentator currently signed to WWE and competing on the SmackDown brand under the ring name William Regal. He is also known for his time in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Steven Regal. Having started his career wrestling on the carnival circuit in England, Matthews moved on to wrestle around the world in countries such as Germany and South Africa, before being called up to World Championship Wrestling in 1993. In 2000, after leaving WCW, Matthews joined the World Wrestling Federation (later World Wrestling Entertainment and now just WWE), where he became commissioner. More recently he has been General Manager of Raw, the 2008 King of the Ring and is currently the Official Match Coordinator for NXT Redemption.
Never a world champion, Matthews has, nonetheless, achieved considerable championship success in professional wrestling. Throughout his career, he has won more than 60 titles worldwide, including four in WCW and 13 in WWE. He has overcome multiple drug problems as well as a major heart defect during his career, and he has written an autobiography, Walking a Golden Mile.
wn.com/William_Regal -
Yoshi Tatsu
Naofumi Yamamoto (山本 尚史, Yamamoto Naofumi?, born August 1, 1977) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former boxer, who is currently signed to WWE, performing on its SmackDown brand under the ring name Yoshi Tatsu.
Yamamoto trained for his professional wrestling career in the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo before making his professional wrestling debut on October 12, 2002.
wn.com/Yoshi_Tatsu -
Yoshihiro Tajiri
Yoshihiro Tajiri (田尻 義博, Tajiri Yoshihiro?, born September 29, 1970), is a Japanese professional wrestler, perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently working in Japan as TAJIRI.
Tajiri had originally wanted to become a kickboxer and trained in kickboxing, but after watching countless wrestling matches from Mexico, he entered the Animal Hamaguchi Wrestling gym and soon won its test match tournament. He debuted professionally in 1994 for Michinoku Pro Wrestling beating Akihiro Yonekawa and also wrestled for Wrestle Association-R. On 16 October 1994 Tajiri made his debut for IWA Japan under his real name. In 1996 he joined Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre.
In 1996 he left CMLL and joined the hardcore wrestling promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling in Tokyo. He debuted for BJW under the name Aquarius and beat Unicorn in his first match. On 19 July 1996 he beat Dr. Wagner Jr for the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship and lost it to him on 27 July. On July 23, 1997 Tajiri would team up with Ryuji Yamakawa to win the vacant BJW Tag Team Championship and lost it to Gedo and Jado on December 22. The team would regain the titles eleven days later and lose it to Shadow Winger and Shadow WX. He beat Gedo to become the first BJW Junior Heavyweight Champion he would later be stripped of the title when he left the company.
wn.com/Yoshihiro_Tajiri -
Zack Ryder
Matt Cardona (born May 14, 1985), better known by his ring name Zack Ryder, is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE and appearing on its Raw brand.
Cardona wrestled mostly with his tag team partner Brian Myers/Curt Hawkins on the independent circuit and initially in WWE, where they won the WWE Tag Team Championship. After the team split in 2009, Cardona was featured sparingly on WWE television. In 2011, Cardona used YouTube and Twitter to establish a niche fan following, which translated to a rise in status in WWE.
Cardona debuted with New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) in 2004, using the name Brett Matthews. By 2005 he began regularly teaming with Bryan Myers and the duo of Myers and Matthews went on to defeat the NYWC Tag Team Champions Dickie Rodz and Mason Raige by disqualification, for which titles do not change hands. At the next event on June 4 they won a rematch decisively to become Tag Team Champions. Later that month they were attacked by The Dead Presidents (Lo Lincoln and Boog Washington) to set up a feud where they eventually lost their titles against them in July. on August 27. On September 23 they were entered into a three way match with the champions but Team Tremendous (Dan Barry and Ken Scampi) ended up with the belts. After continuing to win matches they re-earned a match against Team Tremendous and won the titles for the second time on January 25, 2006. They held the titles until they faced the B.S. Xpress (Tony Burma & Mike Spinelli), who defeated them for the gold on March 26.
wn.com/Zack_Ryder
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CM Punk Shoot On RAW 06/27/2011
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:25
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
Punk's new theme "Cult of Personality" - youtu.be Punk re-signs with WWE: u.bb No Copyright Infringement intended.
http://wn.com/CM_Punk_Shoot_On_RAW_06_27_2011
Punk's new theme "Cult of Personality" - youtu.be Punk re-signs with WWE: u.bb No Copyright Infringement intended.
L4L Presents WWE Champion CM Punk vs Stone Cold Steve Austin in WWE '13
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 12:53
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
The Looking4Larry Agency Presents a global exclusive! WWE Hall of Famer Good Ol' JR (Jim Ross) interviewing the current reigning defending WWE Champion CM Punk and the single greatest superstar in WWE history, Stone Cold Steve Austin about their potential "biggest match of all time" ... in the THQ WWE '13 video game,of course. Or ... ??? All Rights Reserved -- Copyright 2012 by The Looking4Larry Agency for THQ Video Games. Filmed LIVE on location in Hollywood, California. For behind-the-scenes information, go to www.heymanhustle.com -- For information on L4L Agency http Executive Producer / Producer Paul Heyman Director / Producer Mitchell K. Stuart Assistant Director Jacob Heyman Line Producer Enersy Mendez DP / Camera Operator Shane Harness Camera Operator # 2 Henry Diamo Camera Operator # 3 David Canchola Gaffer Brent Dilger Swing Matthew Newcomer Production Assistant Brian Ryo Hata Sound Operator Brian Sorbo Makeup Monica Giselle Editor Alex Dolginko Assistant Editor Paul DeCeglia Assistant Editor Corey Williams Production Intern Dillon Galvis Graphics Michael 24/7 Still Photoggraphy Ralph David Maisonette Executive for THQ Bryce Yang Special thanks to WWE Champion CM Punk, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Jim Ross!
http://wn.com/L4L_Presents_WWE_Champion_CM_Punk_vs_Stone_Cold_Steve_Austin_in_WWE_'13
The Looking4Larry Agency Presents a global exclusive! WWE Hall of Famer Good Ol' JR (Jim Ross) interviewing the current reigning defending WWE Champion CM Punk and the single greatest superstar in WWE history, Stone Cold Steve Austin about their potential "biggest match of all time" ... in the THQ WWE '13 video game,of course. Or ... ??? All Rights Reserved -- Copyright 2012 by The Looking4Larry Agency for THQ Video Games. Filmed LIVE on location in Hollywood, California. For behind-the-scenes information, go to www.heymanhustle.com -- For information on L4L Agency http Executive Producer / Producer Paul Heyman Director / Producer Mitchell K. Stuart Assistant Director Jacob Heyman Line Producer Enersy Mendez DP / Camera Operator Shane Harness Camera Operator # 2 Henry Diamo Camera Operator # 3 David Canchola Gaffer Brent Dilger Swing Matthew Newcomer Production Assistant Brian Ryo Hata Sound Operator Brian Sorbo Makeup Monica Giselle Editor Alex Dolginko Assistant Editor Paul DeCeglia Assistant Editor Corey Williams Production Intern Dillon Galvis Graphics Michael 24/7 Still Photoggraphy Ralph David Maisonette Executive for THQ Bryce Yang Special thanks to WWE Champion CM Punk, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Jim Ross!
- published: 15 Oct 2012
- views: 1110300
- author: HeymanHustle
CM Punk Returns - Raw [7/25/11]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:34
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
Punk returns to wwe. Like These FB pages - www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
http://wn.com/CM_Punk_Returns_Raw_7_25_11_
Punk returns to wwe. Like These FB pages - www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
- published: 26 Jul 2011
- views: 1207227
- author: Rawpload
WWE Smackdown 12/18/12 Full Show Ryback Challenges CM Punk For WWE Title On The First Raw Of 2013
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:01
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
WWE Tuesday Night Smackdown 12/18/12 18/12/12 12/18/2012 18/12/2012 Ryback Informs CM Punk That They Will Meet For The WWE Championship On The First Raw Of 2013 - Full Show SuperSmackDown LIVE 18th December 2012
http://wn.com/WWE_Smackdown_12_18_12_Full_Show_Ryback_Challenges_CM_Punk_For_WWE_Title_On_The_First_Raw_Of_2013
WWE Tuesday Night Smackdown 12/18/12 18/12/12 12/18/2012 18/12/2012 Ryback Informs CM Punk That They Will Meet For The WWE Championship On The First Raw Of 2013 - Full Show SuperSmackDown LIVE 18th December 2012
- published: 19 Dec 2012
- views: 23093
- author: WWEHDupTV
CM Punk & Ryback Segment RAW 12/24/12 Full Show
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:29
- Updated: 31 Dec 2012
CM Punk and Ryback Segment at RAW 12/24/12 All Rights reserved to WWE.
http://wn.com/CM_Punk_Ryback_Segment_RAW_12_24_12_Full_Show
CM Punk and Ryback Segment at RAW 12/24/12 All Rights reserved to WWE.
- published: 25 Dec 2012
- views: 5085
- author: LordOfSuckers
Tension boils over when CM Punk and Stone Cold Steve Austin talk WWE '13 (Official)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 12:57
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
Temperatures rise between CM Punk and SCSA when Jim Ross asks about a dream match between the two iconic Superstars.
http://wn.com/Tension_boils_over_when_CM_Punk_and_Stone_Cold_Steve_Austin_talk_WWE_'13_Official
Temperatures rise between CM Punk and SCSA when Jim Ross asks about a dream match between the two iconic Superstars.
- published: 15 Oct 2012
- views: 132984
- author: WWEGames
Ric Flair vs CM Punk w/Paul Heyman - WWE Slammy Awards 2012 ( Raw 12/17/12) Full Show
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:01
- Updated: 29 Dec 2012
www.youtube.com Ric Flair vs CM Punk w/Paul Heyman - WWE Slammy Awards 2012 ( Raw 12/17/12) Ric Flair vs CM Punk w/Paul Heyman - WWE Slammy Awards 2012 ( Raw 12/17/12) Leck Lock FTW!!! WWE Slammy Awards 2012 (WWE Raw 12/17/12)
http://wn.com/Ric_Flair_vs_CM_Punk_w_Paul_Heyman_WWE_Slammy_Awards_2012_Raw_12_17_12_Full_Show
www.youtube.com Ric Flair vs CM Punk w/Paul Heyman - WWE Slammy Awards 2012 ( Raw 12/17/12) Ric Flair vs CM Punk w/Paul Heyman - WWE Slammy Awards 2012 ( Raw 12/17/12) Leck Lock FTW!!! WWE Slammy Awards 2012 (WWE Raw 12/17/12)
- published: 18 Dec 2012
- views: 52097
- author: WWEGalaxy2013v3
WWE '13 CM Punk Exclusive Interview
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:24
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
A couple of weeks ago we got the chance to meet up with our cover Superstar CM Punk ahead of Monday Night Raw in the UK. Before that we asked for your questions to put to the best in the world. We picked our favourites and CM Punk answered. WWE '13 is available now on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.
http://wn.com/WWE_'13_CM_Punk_Exclusive_Interview
A couple of weeks ago we got the chance to meet up with our cover Superstar CM Punk ahead of Monday Night Raw in the UK. Before that we asked for your questions to put to the best in the world. We picked our favourites and CM Punk answered. WWE '13 is available now on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.
- published: 28 Nov 2012
- views: 37716
- author: WWEGames
A special look at WWE Champion CM Punk: WWE Main Event, October 3, 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:33
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
Take an inside look at CM Punk's road to WWE.
http://wn.com/A_special_look_at_WWE_Champion_CM_Punk_WWE_Main_Event,_October_3,_2012
Take an inside look at CM Punk's road to WWE.
- published: 04 Oct 2012
- views: 187231
- author: WWEFanNation
Ryback informs CM Punk that they will meet for the WWE Tirle - WWE Smackdown 12/18/12 Full Show
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:01
- Updated: 31 Dec 2012
WWE Smackdown 12/18/12 18/12/12 12/18/2012 18/12/2012 WWE SuperSmackdown 12/18/12 18/12/12 12/18/2012 18/12/2012 WWE Smackdown 12/18/12 Ryback informs CM Punk that they will meet for the WWE Championship - WWE Smackdown 12/18/12 Full Show
http://wn.com/Ryback_informs_CM_Punk_that_they_will_meet_for_the_WWE_Tirle_WWE_Smackdown_12_18_12_Full_Show
WWE Smackdown 12/18/12 18/12/12 12/18/2012 18/12/2012 WWE SuperSmackdown 12/18/12 18/12/12 12/18/2012 18/12/2012 WWE Smackdown 12/18/12 Ryback informs CM Punk that they will meet for the WWE Championship - WWE Smackdown 12/18/12 Full Show
- published: 19 Dec 2012
- views: 54055
- author: WWECXV9
CM Punk Explains his beef with Chris Brown on Hot97 Morning Show
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:16
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
WWE Wrestler CM Punk goes in on Chris Brown. Talks to KFoxx, Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg about his twitter video.WATCH MORE ON HOT97.COM
http://wn.com/CM_Punk_Explains_his_beef_with_Chris_Brown_on_Hot97_Morning_Show
WWE Wrestler CM Punk goes in on Chris Brown. Talks to KFoxx, Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg about his twitter video.WATCH MORE ON HOT97.COM
- published: 22 Feb 2012
- views: 252029
- author: HOT97NY
Has CM Punk Lost His Edge?
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:47
- Updated: 31 Dec 2012
www.wrestling-news.com From "The Don Tony and Kevin Castle Show," hosts Don Tony and Kevin Castle discuss CM Punk. Don Tony feels that Punk has lost his edge in the modern WWE PG. CC Photo Attribution Ed Webster www.flickr.com
http://wn.com/Has_CM_Punk_Lost_His_Edge?
www.wrestling-news.com From "The Don Tony and Kevin Castle Show," hosts Don Tony and Kevin Castle discuss CM Punk. Don Tony feels that Punk has lost his edge in the modern WWE PG. CC Photo Attribution Ed Webster www.flickr.com
- published: 24 Dec 2012
- views: 8189
- author: TVTraX
WWE '12 Community Showcase - CM Punk (PlayStation 3)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:39
- Updated: 26 Dec 2012
WWE '12 Community Showcase: CM Punk (PlayStation 3) Download Details: caws.smacktalks.org Video Formula: www.youtube.com Facebook: facebook.com Twitter: twitter.com
http://wn.com/WWE_'12_Community_Showcase_CM_Punk_PlayStation_3
WWE '12 Community Showcase: CM Punk (PlayStation 3) Download Details: caws.smacktalks.org Video Formula: www.youtube.com Facebook: facebook.com Twitter: twitter.com
- published: 07 Sep 2012
- views: 7935
- author: Smacktalks
CM Punk vs. The Miz vs. Alberto Del Rio - WWE Championship TLC Match: TLC 2011
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:47
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
CM Punk needs to find a way to grab his WWE Championship while being handcuffed to the turnbuckle in this TLC Match.
http://wn.com/CM_Punk_vs_The_Miz_vs_Alberto_Del_Rio_WWE_Championship_TLC_Match_TLC_2011
CM Punk needs to find a way to grab his WWE Championship while being handcuffed to the turnbuckle in this TLC Match.
- published: 30 Nov 2012
- views: 119286
- author: WWEFanNation
CM Punk's Lie Detector Test on Miz TV w/ The Shield, Ryback & Hell No - WWE Raw 12/3/12 Full Show
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:28
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
Current Channel!! www.youtube.com CM Punk's Lie Detector Test on Miz TV ends in chaos - WWE Raw 12/3/12 Full Show Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins !!!
http://wn.com/CM_Punk's_Lie_Detector_Test_on_Miz_TV_w_The_Shield,_Ryback_Hell_No_WWE_Raw_12_3_12_Full_Show
Current Channel!! www.youtube.com CM Punk's Lie Detector Test on Miz TV ends in chaos - WWE Raw 12/3/12 Full Show Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins !!!
- published: 04 Dec 2012
- views: 33352
- author: PPVGalaxyHQ
Mr. McMahon vs CM Punk w ryback and cena WWE Raw 10/8/12
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:28
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
Mr. McMahon vs CM Punk WWE Raw 10/8/12 Mr. McMahon vs CM Punk WWE Raw 10/8/12 Mr. McMahon vs CMr. McMahon vs CM Punk WWE Raw 10/8/12M Punk WWE Raw 10/8/12
http://wn.com/Mr_McMahon_vs_CM_Punk_w_ryback_and_cena_WWE_Raw_10_8_12
Mr. McMahon vs CM Punk WWE Raw 10/8/12 Mr. McMahon vs CM Punk WWE Raw 10/8/12 Mr. McMahon vs CMr. McMahon vs CM Punk WWE Raw 10/8/12M Punk WWE Raw 10/8/12
- published: 09 Oct 2012
- views: 480351
- author: wweaustralia5
CM Punk makes his entrance in WWE '13 (Official)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:09
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
It's clobberin time! Cover Superstar CM Punk makes his entrance in WWE '13. On sale October 30, 2012!
http://wn.com/CM_Punk_makes_his_entrance_in_WWE_'13_Official
It's clobberin time! Cover Superstar CM Punk makes his entrance in WWE '13. On sale October 30, 2012!
- published: 07 Aug 2012
- views: 537879
- author: WWEGames
Débat animé entre CM Punk et Stone Cold Steve Austin à propos de WWE '13 (officiel)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 12:57
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
La tension monte entre CM Punk et SCSA lorsque Jim Ross évoque un match de rêve entre les deux Superstars emblématiques.
http://wn.com/Débat_animé_entre_CM_Punk_et_Stone_Cold_Steve_Austin_à_propos_de_WWE_'13_officiel
La tension monte entre CM Punk et SCSA lorsque Jim Ross évoque un match de rêve entre les deux Superstars emblématiques.
- published: 15 Oct 2012
- views: 3052
- author: WWEGames
CM Punk Knocks a Fan Out at Raw in Sacramento, Ca 10/8/12 (ORIGINAL VIDEO, WAS FILMED BY ME)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:00
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
***DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS SITUATION, IF YOU'RE GOING TO STEAL THIS VIDEO PLEASE GIVE CREDIT FOR THE ABOVE VIDEO. A SIMPLE "@DAJOEL ON YOUTUBE" WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED. THANKS! *** Ok guys this show was awesome and let me tell you the crowd was on fire all night. My brother and I was actually front dead center when the altercation with Punk and the fan occurred. Clearly, you will see that the fan accidentally bumped his forearm on the back of Punks head. Punk not aware of it blasted him so hard that I felt sorry for the man. The security actually took the fan with him so maybe they're going to get this crap settled. As a huge fan of Punk, this was uncalled for but you could probably see why CM Punk might of been ticked off to hit him. *UPDATE* Video Uploaded by me. If you rewatch the video, look closely and see that hispanic kid in the black pushing and heckling CM Punk on. Punk is not aware that its him pushing him, and once he hurts the wrong guy the kid wants to pussy out. Thats why there is no reason for stupid fans to be touching and shoving "Celebrities". SMH! **VIDEO RECORDED BY ME**
http://wn.com/CM_Punk_Knocks_a_Fan_Out_at_Raw_in_Sacramento,_Ca_10_8_12_ORIGINAL_VIDEO,_WAS_FILMED_BY_ME
***DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS SITUATION, IF YOU'RE GOING TO STEAL THIS VIDEO PLEASE GIVE CREDIT FOR THE ABOVE VIDEO. A SIMPLE "@DAJOEL ON YOUTUBE" WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED. THANKS! *** Ok guys this show was awesome and let me tell you the crowd was on fire all night. My brother and I was actually front dead center when the altercation with Punk and the fan occurred. Clearly, you will see that the fan accidentally bumped his forearm on the back of Punks head. Punk not aware of it blasted him so hard that I felt sorry for the man. The security actually took the fan with him so maybe they're going to get this crap settled. As a huge fan of Punk, this was uncalled for but you could probably see why CM Punk might of been ticked off to hit him. *UPDATE* Video Uploaded by me. If you rewatch the video, look closely and see that hispanic kid in the black pushing and heckling CM Punk on. Punk is not aware that its him pushing him, and once he hurts the wrong guy the kid wants to pussy out. Thats why there is no reason for stupid fans to be touching and shoving "Celebrities". SMH! **VIDEO RECORDED BY ME**
- published: 09 Oct 2012
- views: 233128
- author: DaJoel
John Cena & Ryback vs CM Punk & Dolph Ziggler - WWE Raw 11/5/12 Tag-Team Match Full Show
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:57
- Updated: 31 Dec 2012
Current Channel!! www.youtube.com John Cena & Ryback vs CM Punk & Dolph Ziggler - WWE Raw 11/5/12 John Cena & Ryback vs CM Punk & Dolph Ziggler - WWE Raw 11/5/12
http://wn.com/John_Cena_Ryback_vs_CM_Punk_Dolph_Ziggler_WWE_Raw_11_5_12_Tag-Team_Match_Full_Show
Current Channel!! www.youtube.com John Cena & Ryback vs CM Punk & Dolph Ziggler - WWE Raw 11/5/12 John Cena & Ryback vs CM Punk & Dolph Ziggler - WWE Raw 11/5/12
- published: 06 Nov 2012
- views: 373154
- author: PPVGalaxyHQ
Sheamus vs. CM Punk: WWE Main Event, October 3, 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:22
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
The WWE and World Champions square off on the first edition on WWE Main Event.
http://wn.com/Sheamus_vs_CM_Punk_WWE_Main_Event,_October_3,_2012
The WWE and World Champions square off on the first edition on WWE Main Event.
- published: 04 Oct 2012
- views: 267770
- author: WWEFanNation
WWE '13 Living in the PG Era (Created Storyline) - Episode 1 - CM Punk vs. John Cena
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 13:46
- Updated: 29 Dec 2012
Welcome to the first Episode of "WWE '13 Living in the PG Era". I know its not the Attitude era yet but my story will take it there . I am still editing . Basically , I decided to make this series on WWE '13 for your viewing pleasure and if WWE was like this . That's why I start off as CM Punk ( the main character of the entire story as the protagonist ) and making him shoot Attitude era promos . I also made small mistakes in the text so I edited it out . Please Enjoy my story , clobber that like button and make sure leave a comment.
http://wn.com/WWE_'13_Living_in_the_PG_Era_Created_Storyline_Episode_1_CM_Punk_vs_John_Cena
Welcome to the first Episode of "WWE '13 Living in the PG Era". I know its not the Attitude era yet but my story will take it there . I am still editing . Basically , I decided to make this series on WWE '13 for your viewing pleasure and if WWE was like this . That's why I start off as CM Punk ( the main character of the entire story as the protagonist ) and making him shoot Attitude era promos . I also made small mistakes in the text so I edited it out . Please Enjoy my story , clobber that like button and make sure leave a comment.
- published: 04 Nov 2012
- views: 8777
- author: Hardyfanthe1stBITW
WWE 13 - GO TO SLEEP!! - CM Punk's Signatures and Finishers
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:32
- Updated: 24 Dec 2012
CATCH FINISHER!!! How to hit the anaconda vice in wwe 13 How to hit the go to sleep in wwe 13 How to hit the shining wizard knee in wwe 13 How to hit the macho man elbow in wwe 13 How to hit the tiger driver in wwe 13
http://wn.com/WWE_13_GO_TO_SLEEP!!_CM_Punk's_Signatures_and_Finishers
CATCH FINISHER!!! How to hit the anaconda vice in wwe 13 How to hit the go to sleep in wwe 13 How to hit the shining wizard knee in wwe 13 How to hit the macho man elbow in wwe 13 How to hit the tiger driver in wwe 13
- published: 06 Nov 2012
- views: 8423
- author: backyardgaming
photo: AP / Altaf Qadri
29 Dec 2012
Police in India have sealed off much of the capital, Delhi, and issued an appeal for calm after the death of a woman who was gang-raped in the city. The 23-year old woman, who has not been identified, died early on Saturday at a hospital in Singapore, where she had been taken for specialist treatment. Her body is to be flown back to India for burial ... Gatherings of more than five people have been banned in the city centre ... ....(size: 4.9Kb)
photo: AP / New York City Police Department
30 Dec 2012
A woman who told police she shoved a man to his death off a subway platform because she has hated Muslims since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US and thought he was one was charged on Saturday with murder as a hate crime, prosecutors said ... Menendez, 31, was awaiting arraignment on the charge on Saturday evening, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. She faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted ... On Dec ... ....(size: 3.0Kb)
photo: AP / Ben Curtis
28 Dec 2012
The president of Central African Republic (CAR) has urgently called on France and other foreign powers to help his government fend off rebels who are quickly seizing territory and approaching the capital. Speaking to crowds in Bangui, a city of some 600,000, Francois Bozize on Thursday pleaded with foreign powers to do what they could. He pointed in particular to France, Central African Republic's former colonial ruler ... 516 Share ... News ... ....(size: 19.5Kb)
photo: AP / Shaam News Network
30 Dec 2012
London. UN-Arab League envoy to Damascus, Lakhdar Brahimi, has said that a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Syria seemed far away, adding that the country risked being slithering into ‘hell’ ... (ANI). For Zee News’s Updates, follow us on Twitter , Facebook, Google+, Pinterest. First Published ... ....(size: 1.7Kb)
photo: WN / Yolanda Leyba
28 Dec 2012
Galaxy Note 2 vs. iPhone 5. Do The Companies Have Their Game Plans Right?. Posted by Jay099 on December 28, 2012 02.15 pm 0. via. Mountain View at California seems to be a busy center now. Google is stepping up the gas on the march towards a holistic environment and experience for the consumers ... My Blog . My FB Page ... ....(size: 2.2Kb)
The Examiner
30 Dec 2012
CM Punk started his big year with a dominating victory over the always on-his-game Dolph Ziggler with the antagonizing RAW GM John Laurinitis at ringside ... CM Punk and Chris Jericho had a hard task positioned between two other main event matches on the card, but they delivered the goods with one of the best matches on the show ... CM Punk ended his grudge with Chris Jericho in a Chicago StreetFight for the WWE Championship....(size: 9.3Kb)
The Examiner
30 Dec 2012
The WWE pre-taped their New Years Eve episode of WWE Monday Night Raw on Dec. 29 and a major title changed hands. Here is a look at what went down at the television tapings and what you can expect to see on the final Raw of 2012 ... The Miz then had an episode of MizTV and his guest was John Cena ... U.S ... Slaughter ... CM Punk came out next and said he wouldn't be medically cleared to wrestle Ryback next week, so Vince McMahon came out ... EST on USA ... ....(size: 3.4Kb)
Digital Spy
30 Dec 2012
The Fabulous Killjoys has debuted new images. More artwork from writer Gerard Way and artist Becky Cloonan's six-issue Dark Horse Comics miniseries has been revealed. "The most basic way to describe it is it's a coming to age story about a young girl," My Chemical Romance frontman Way told The Huffington Post ... More ... WWE star CM Punk to write 'AvX' forewordThe wrestler will write an introduction for the hardcover edition of the book ... 01 ... ....(size: 8.0Kb)
Digital Spy
29 Dec 2012
Amazing Spider-Man #700 has sold nearly 250,000 print copies. Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Axel Alonso revealed the continuing success of the controversial final issue of the long-running series. "The sales are phenomenal," he told Business Week ... More ... Previous ... 0 comments ... WWE star CM Punk to write 'AvX' foreword 2 ... WWE star CM Punk to write 'AvX' forewordThe wrestler will write an introduction for the hardcover edition of the book ... Nolan....(size: 7.7Kb)
Lehigh Valley
29 Dec 2012
You could have learned a lot from this year's Five Questions. If you followed the weekly feature, you would have found out where Chef (and Lehigh University alumna) Whitney Chen went to dinner on her visit in March to the Lehigh Valley ... In his interview, Anoai discussed his most memorable high school football moments and his matchups against current wrestling superstars CM Punk, Batista and John Cena ... ....(size: 2.2Kb)
Digital Spy
29 Dec 2012
Cartoon Network has debuted a new Young Justice trailer. The video teases the upcoming season of the DC Nation title. Characters including Deathstroke, Static, Mongul, Doctor Fate and Zatanna will be seen when the series returns in January ... The Animated Series ... The block will return to Cartoon Network on January 5 ... More ... WWE star CM Punk to write 'AvX' forewordThe wrestler will write an introduction for the hardcover edition of the book ... ....(size: 7.5Kb)
The Examiner
28 Dec 2012
It takes a lot to make it in to a Top 10 list of the best wrestlers of the year, but it takes even more to do so while barely wrestling a match. But that is exactly what number eight of 2012’s Top 10 wrestlers did. AJ Lee started her career with Women Superstars Uncensored in Miss April in 2008. It would be barely a year in to her career before she signed her WWE developmental deal ... Langston on Miz TV ... Bryan, Kane and champion CM Punk ... ....(size: 3.1Kb)
Digital Spy
28 Dec 2012
Warning. This article contains spoilers that some readers may prefer to avoid. Please click here if you wish to continue. Top names in the comics industry have shared their thoughts on Marvel Comics' Amazing Spider-Man #700 ... Smith reassured fans during an interview on FOX LA. "Don't worry," he said ... There are no absolutes ... WWE star CM Punk to write 'AvX' forewordThe wrestler will write an introduction for the hardcover edition of the book ... ....(size: 8.7Kb)
The Examiner
27 Dec 2012
Donald Trump. Rupert Murdoch. Piers Morgan. Pat Martin. What do these four men have in common? They tweeted a lot over the past year, but is it news? According to one anonymous Hollywood executive, it's "not news, people." ... Some individuals get into hot water over their tweets too ... Photo credit. ... World Wrestling Entertainment Champion CM Punk told a fan on Twitter to “kill yourself” because the individual was being homophobic ... ....(size: 2.5Kb)
The Examiner
27 Dec 2012
Daniel Bryan is a wrestler known the world. Independent wrestling fans knew him as the “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson, the mat wrestling machine that wowed fans from Ring of Honor to Japan and back ... After losing the title to Sheamus and entering an unsuccessful war with CM Punk that resulted in some of the best WWE title matches in years, his relationship with AJ would lead him into an unlikely partnership with Kane ... ....(size: 3.6Kb)
Digital Spy
27 Dec 2012
Dan DiDio has hinted that Wally West may return. The DC Comics co-publisher teased the revival of the fan-favourite former Flash on Facebook. "Merry Christmas to Everyone!" DiDio said. "Even you Wally. maybe I'll see you in the New Year." ... > Kapow! Comic Con will not return in 2013 ... > 'Phantom Stranger' ... More ... Previous ... WWE star CM Punk to write 'AvX' forewordThe wrestler will write an introduction for the hardcover edition of the book....(size: 7.7Kb)
Digital Spy
27 Dec 2012
Warning. This article contains spoilers that some readers may prefer to avoid. Please click here if you wish to continue. Marvel Comics has revealed the identity of the new Spider-Man. Doctor Octopus will be the hero of the upcoming Superior Spider-Man title ... Superior Spider-Man #1 will arrive on January 9 ... More ... Previous ... WWE star CM Punk to write 'AvX' forewordThe wrestler will write an introduction for the hardcover edition of the book ... ....(size: 8.2Kb)
The Examiner
26 Dec 2012
The reason for this angle is because CM Punk defends his WWE Championship against Ryback on that show in a tables, ladders and chairs match ... Ryback could beat Punk that night ... The thought process is that The Rock will end CM Punk's year-long title reign and then hold the belt until Wrestlemania where he fights John Cena in a rematch for the belt....(size: 2.1Kb)
| CM Punk | |
|---|---|
 Punk at the 2011 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards |
|
| Ring name(s) | CM Punk[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 218 lb (99 kg)[1] |
| Born | (1978-10-26) October 26, 1978 (age 33) Chicago, Illinois[2] |
| Resides | Lockport, Illinois |
| Billed from | Chicago, Illinois[1] |
| Trained by | Ace Steel[3] Danny Dominion[4] Kevin Quinn[4] Dave Taylor[5] Fit Finlay[5] William Regal[5] Steel Dominion Wrestling School[5] |
| Debut | 1999[6] |
| Website | CMPunk.com |
Phillip Jack Brooks[7] (born October 26, 1978),[2] better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE and appearing on its Raw brand as the reigning WWE Champion.
In professional wrestling, Brooks is a seven time World Champion, having held the ROH World Championship and ECW Championship once, the World Heavyweight Championship three times and the WWE Championship twice.
In addition to these championships Punk has also won the World Tag Team Championship (with Kofi Kingston), and the WWE Intercontinental Championship making him the nineteenth WWE Triple Crown Champion and the man to achieve this honor fastest at 203 days.[8] Between WWE and Ring of Honor (where he is also a two-time World Tag Team Champion), Punk has won a total of eleven championships. He was also the winner of the 2008 and 2009 Money in the Bank ladder matches (the only wrestler to win the match twice in a row),[9] and was the 2011 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner.[10]
Punk initially came to prominence through his career on the professional wrestling independent circuit, primarily as a member of the ROH roster, where he was the first head trainer of the ROH wrestling school as well as winning both of their championships. In 2005, Punk signed a contract with WWE and was sent to its developmental promotion, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he won every championship available in the promotion. Throughout his career, Punk has consistently used the gimmick of being straight edge, a lifestyle he follows in his actual day-to-day life.[4] Depending on Punk's alignment as a crowd favorite or villain, he emphasizes different aspects of the culture to encourage the desired audience reaction.[4]
Contents
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Professional wrestling career[link]
Early career[link]
Punk's first venture into wrestling was a stint in a backyard wrestling federation called the Lunatic Wrestling Federation with his friends and brother Mike Brooks in the mid-late 1990s. He first started using the ring name CM Punk when he was put into a tag team named the Chick Magnets with CM Venom after another performer skipped out on the card.[4][11][12] Unlike his friends, Punk genuinely wanted to be a wrestler and saw it as more than simple fun.[4] When the promotion started taking off, doing spot shows out of a warehouse in Mokena, Illinois, Punk found out that his brother Mike had embezzled thousands of dollars from the small company, causing them to become estranged. They have not spoken since.[13]
He soon left the federation and enrolled as a student at the "Steel Dominion" wrestling school in Chicago, where he was trained by Ace Steel,[3] Danny Dominion and Kevin Quinn to become a professional wrestler. As part of the training, he wrestled at Steel Domain Wrestling in St. Paul, Minnesota.[4][5] It was in the Steel Domain that he met Scott Colton,[14][15] who soon adopted the stage name Colt Cabana. Punk and Cabana became best friends and spent most of their early career together working in the same independent circuit promotions, as opponents or allies.[14] In the independents, Punk, along with fellow Steel Domain graduates Colt Cabana, Chuckee Smooth, Adam Pearce and manager Dave Prazak, formed an alliance named the Gold Bond Mafia.[4]
Independent Wrestling Association: Mid-South (2000–2005)[link]
Punk's home promotion for his early career is usually considered to be Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA:Mid-South).[4] During Punk's time in IWA:Mid-South, he had high profile feuds with Colt Cabana and Chris Hero while also rising to the top of the roster winning the IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship twice and the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship on five separate occasions, beating stars like A.J. Styles, Cabana and even Eddie Guerrero for that Championship. Punk's feud with Hero included a 55-minute TLC match,[4] a 93-minute two out of three falls match,[5] and several 60-minute time limit draws.[15]
Punk's matches with Cabana led him to being hired by the Ring of Honor promotion.[5] From February 2003 until May 2004, Punk refused to wrestle for IWA:Mid-South, because he claims that this was in protest to Ian Rotten's mistreatment of Chris Hero in the company.[4] Hero, however, has stated he believes there were other reasons, and Rotten's treatment of him was just an excuse by Punk to stop working for the company.[16] Eventually Punk returned to IWA:Mid-South and continued to perform as a wrestler and commentator for them until 2005 when he was signed to World Wrestling Entertainment. His last appearance in IWA:Mid-South was on July 2, 2005 in which he competed in a 60-minute time limit draw against Delirious.[17]
Ring of Honor and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling[link]
Storylines with Raven (2002–2004)[link]
See also: Second City Saints and The Gathering
Initially, Punk joined Ring of Honor (ROH) as a crowd favorite,[4] but quickly became a villain in a feud with Raven that featured numerous variants of no disqualification matches.[18] Their rivalry lasted most of 2003 and was considered one of ROH's top feuds of the year,[19] and was based around Punk's straight-edge lifestyle, with him likening Raven to his alcoholic father.[20] Their rivalry was settled at The Conclusion in November 2003, where Punk defeated Raven in a Steel Cage match.[18] At the same time, Punk joined the wrestling promotion NWA Total Nonstop Action (TNA), in which he was paired with Julio Dinero as members of Raven's TNA alliance The Gathering.[4]
Punk started climbing the ranks of ROH, including coming in second at the Second Anniversary Show during the tournament to crown the first ROH Pure Champion, losing to A.J. Styles in the finals[18] and winning the ROH Tag Team Championship twice with Colt Cabana as the Second City Saints. Both times Punk and Cabana defeated the Briscoe Brothers to win the championship.[21] Circa October 2003, Punk was hired as the first head trainer of the Ring of Honor wrestling school,[4][22] having previously been a trainer for the Steel Domain[4] and Primetime Wrestling.[23]
Shortly before a TNA show on February 25, 2004, Punk had a physical scuffle with Teddy Hart outside of a restaurant that was broken up by Sabu. The scuffle reportedly stemmed from an ROH show in which Hart performed three unplanned spots putting several other wrestlers in danger of injury.[24][25] Around the time of the scuffle, Punk and Dinero stopped appearing on TNA shows, leading to speculation he was fired for the incident.[26] Punk, however, has stated that the scuffle had no bearing on his TNA career.[26] He said the reason he and Dinero stopped appearing on TNA pay-per-views was that TNA officials believed that he and Dinero had not connected with the fans as villains, having turned against the popular Raven and instead formed a villainous tag team managed by James Mitchell.[26] The officials decided that as the teams as villains was not working decided to put the storyline on hold indefinitely, and thus had no work for Punk or Dinero.[26] Punk officially quit TNA in March 2004 during the Rob Feinstein controversy, after having a dispute with the TNA offices over his ability to compete in ROH following a TNA order that their contracted wrestlers were to no longer wrestle in ROH.[27]
Pursuit of the World Championship (2004–2005)[link]
In ROH, Punk faced off against ROH World Champion Samoa Joe for the championship in a three match series. The first match, on June 12, 2004 at World Title Classic in Dayton, Ohio, resulted in a 60-minute time limit draw when neither Punk nor Joe could pin or cause the other to submit in the 60 minutes. The second match between Punk and Joe was planned for December 4, 2004; however, due to Steve Corino being pulled from a match with Joe by Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE, the second match was hastily rescheduled on October 11, 2004 for October 16 in Punk's hometown of Chicago.[15] At Joe vs. Punk II on October 16, they wrestled to a second 60-minute draw.[18] In addition to Joe vs. Punk II becoming Ring of Honor's best-selling DVD at the time, the match received a five-star rating by Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It was the first match in North America to receive a five-star rating in seven years—the last one being the Hell in a Cell match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker at Badd Blood: In Your House in 1997.[15] Joe ended the series by defeating Punk in the third and final match on December 4, 2004 at All-Star Extravaganza 2 in which there was a no time limit stipulation.[18]
In June 2005, Punk accepted a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment, after a try-out match against Val Venis on its Sunday Night Heat show. Even though he had accepted the deal, Punk went on to defeat Austin Aries with his Pepsi Plunge move, winning the ROH World Championship on June 18, 2005 at Death Before Dishonor III.[21] Immediately after the match, Punk proceeded to become a villain and started a storyline where he threatened to bring the ROH World Championship to WWE with him. For weeks, Punk teased the ROH locker room and the ROH fans as well as mocking the championship he possessed, going so far as to sign his WWE contract on it. During the storyline, Mick Foley made several ROH appearances, attempting to convince Punk to do the right thing and defend the title on his way out. On August 12, 2005 in Dayton, Ohio, Punk lost the ROH World Championship to James Gibson in a four corner elimination match consisting of himself, Gibson, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels, who re-debuted after a year-and-half absence.[21] Punk's final scheduled match in Ring of Honor took place at Punk: The Final Chapter on August 13, 2005 against long-time friend Colt Cabana in a two out of three falls match, which he lost.[18] In his last match, Punk was visibly crying and was showered with streamers when he posed in the middle of the ring.
Punk made a special appearance at the ROH show Unscripted II on February 11, 2006, when the original card had to be scrapped due to Low Ki leaving ROH the week prior.[18] In addition, most of the ROH roster contracted to TNA were pulled from the show because of a snowstorm that TNA officials thought might prevent performers from reaching a pay-per-view scheduled the next day.[28][29] In the main event, Punk teamed with Bryan Danielson to wrestle and ultimately defeat Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce in a tag team match.[29]
World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE[link]
Ohio Valley Wrestling (2005–2006)[link]
In September 2005, Punk was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a WWE developmental territory. He made his debut on September 8, 2005, in a dark match, where he, Nigel McGuinness and Paul Burchill were defeated by Deuce Shade, Elijah Burke and Seth Skyfire.[30] On September 26, 2005 in his OVW television debut, Punk suffered a ruptured eardrum and broken nose after Danny Inferno hit him with an overly stiff right hand. Despite the injury, Punk finished the match and quickly recovered.[31][32]
On November 9, 2005, Punk became the OVW Television Champion after defeating Ken Doane,[31] which immediately led to a feud between Punk and Brent Albright, who had previously been feuding with Doane for the Television Championship and had lost his chance to wrestle Doane after Punk hit him with a chair so he himself could wrestle Doane. They wrestled in series of matches, including one that ended in overtime with Albright having Punk submit to Albright's finisher, the Crowbar, but Punk was able to keep the championship, as he had not agreed to the extra time.[31] On January 4, 2006, Punk lost the OVW Television Championship during a three way dance among himself, Albright and Doane. Doane was injured halfway through the match and was replaced by Aaron "The Idol" Stevens. Punk submitted to Albright's Crowbar and was eliminated, but he returned later in the match to distract Albright allowing Stevens to pin Albright and become the new OVW Television Champion.[33] The feud continued after a short period in which Albright and Punk were a tag team, but they became opponents again after Albright wanted the respect of Punk, who would never give it to him, and instead proceeded to "punk out" (get the better of) Albright repeatedly. This feud continued for weeks with Punk always getting the better of Albright until a double turn occurred on February 1, 2006 when Albright became a villain during a tag match, allowing the Spirit Squad to beat Punk and, in doing so, making Punk a crowd favorite.[33] During this time, Punk had a minor appearance at WrestleMania 22 on April 2, 2006 as one of the gangsters who rode a 1930s era car to the ring before John Cena's entrance.[34]
After Matt Cappotelli vacated the OVW Heavyweight Championship because of a brain tumor in February 2006, a tournament was held to crown a new champion. The finals were Brent Albright vs. CM Punk with Albright defeating Punk to become the new champion.[33] Punk and Albright continued their feud, with Albright becoming more unstable and paranoid about maintaining his championship after several close call matches against Punk, resulting in acts such as threatening Maria. On May 3, 2006, Punk finally defeated Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship.[33] As champion, Punk retained the title in matches against opponents such as Shad Gaspard,[33] Ken Kennedy,[33] Johnny Jeter[33] and Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.[35]
On July 28, 2006, Punk and Seth Skyfire defeated Shad Gaspard and the Neighborhoodie to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship at a house show.[36] They lost the Tag Team Championship on August 2, 2006 to Deuce Shade and "Domino" Cliff Compton after an injured Skyfire tagged in an already injured Punk.[33] This altercation led to a feud between Punk and Skyfire after a rematch for the Tag Team Championship on August 7, 2006 in which a healthy Punk purposefully tagged in an injured Skyfire to be beaten by Shade and Compton.[33] On August 30, 2006, a match was scheduled to take place between Punk and Skyfire for the OVW Heavyweight Championship. Prior to the match, however, Skyfire was attacked by Charles "The Hammer" Evans, with whom Skyfire had also been feuding, and was replaced in the match by Chet Jablonski (Chet the Jet) who pinned Punk to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship.[33] As Punk no longer possessed the championship, OVW no longer required him. He was removed from the roster and brought up to the WWE roster full-time. He continued to make sporadic appearances for the company, such as at the 400th episode of OVW on television,[33] up until WWE announced it was ending its developmental territory agreement with OVW on February 7, 2008.[37]
ECW (2006–2008)[link]
On June 24, 2006, Punk made his ECW debut during a house show at the former ECW Arena, defeating Stevie Richards.[38] He made his TV debut on the July 4 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, cutting a brief pre-taped promo about his straight edge lifestyle emphasizing the disciplinary aspects of being drug and alcohol free.[39] Although he had retained the straight edge gimmick, he now had a Muay Thai training background. Punk made his TV wrestling debut on August 1, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, defeating Justin Credible.[40] CM Punk established himself in ECW by going undefeated, defeating opponents such as Christopher W. Anderson,[41] Stevie Richards[42] and Shannon Moore.[43]
Soon after, Punk began feuding with Mike Knox after Knox's girlfriend, Kelly Kelly, was seen to have feelings for Punk.[43] Punk defeated Knox in their first singles match (qualifying for the Extreme Elimination Chamber at December to Dismember in the process)[44] as well as the rematch, after which Kelly Kelly celebrated CM Punk's victory over her boyfriend.[45] Punk then teamed with D-Generation X and the Hardy Boyz in their Survivor Series match against Rated-RKO, Knox, Johnny Nitro and Gregory Helms, a match in which all the participants on DX's side survived elimination.[46] At December to Dismember, Punk participated in the Elimination Chamber for the ECW World Championship; however, he was the first person eliminated by Rob Van Dam.[47]
Following the pay-per-view, Punk entered into a feud with Hardcore Holly, who ended Punk's six-month unbeaten streak in singles competition on January 9, 2007.[48] Punk went on to feud with Matt Striker, who gave him his second singles loss since being in ECW on January 30.[49] Punk then qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23 by defeating Johnny Nitro.[50] In the final week leading up to WrestleMania 23, Punk made appearances on both Raw and Friday Night SmackDown!, defeating Kenny Dykstra[51] and former World Heavyweight Champion King Booker,[52] respectively. At WrestleMania 23, Punk competed in, but did not win, the Money in the Bank ladder match, being knocked off the ladder just seconds before the winner, Mr. Kennedy, claimed the briefcase.[53]
On the April 10, 2007 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Punk briefly became a villain by officially joining the New Breed alliance,[54] after several weeks in which both the New Breed and the ECW Originals had attempted to recruit him.[55][56] Two weeks later, however, Punk betrayed the New Breed during a four on four elimination match between the New Breed and ECW Originals by kicking New Breed leader Elijah Burke in the back of the head and costing them the match. After the match, Punk proceeded to deliver his finisher, the Go To Sleep, on Burke and sarcastically apologized before leaving the ring alone, becoming a fan favorite again. WWE.com later confirmed that Punk was no longer a member of the New Breed.[57] At Judgment Day, Punk wrestled and defeated Burke in his first singles match on a pay-per-view.[58] Punk then went on to One Night Stand and teamed up with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman in a tables match to defeat the New Breed.[59]
When ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley was drafted to Raw and stripped of the ECW World Championship, a mini-tournament was announced to declare a new champion among Punk, Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von and Chris Benoit. Punk defeated Marcus Cor Von on the June 19, 2007 episode of ECW on Sci Fi. By doing so, CM Punk was meant to face Chris Benoit at Vengeance: Night of Champions for the vacant ECW World Championship.[60] Benoit, however, was hastily replaced by Johnny Nitro when Benoit no-showed the event due to what was described on-air as "personal reasons". Nitro subsequently defeated Punk at Vengeance for the vacant championship.[61] Punk won another shot at the title at The Great American Bash against Nitro, who had changed his moniker to John Morrison by this point; however, Punk was defeated again by Morrison.[62] The next week, Punk challenged Elijah Burke and Tommy Dreamer in a triple threat match to determine the next competitor in Morrison's 15 Minutes of Fame Challenge, in which Punk came out victorious.[63] A week later, Punk defeated Morrison with the Go To Sleep to earn an ECW Championship title match at SummerSlam. At SummerSlam, however, Punk lost the match when Morrison used the ropes for leverage.[64]
At the September 1, 2007 (aired September 4) ECW taping, in a "last chance" title match, Punk defeated Morrison for the ECW Championship.[65] Punk then went on to have successful title defenses against the likes of Elijah Burke (at Unforgiven),[66] Big Daddy V via disqualification (at No Mercy)[67] and The Miz (at Cyber Sunday).[68] On the November 6, 2007 episode of ECW, Punk retained the ECW Championship in a match against Morrison following The Miz's interference.[69] At Survivor Series, Punk retained his title in a Triple Threat match, beating The Miz and John Morrison.[70] On the January 22, 2008 episode of ECW, Chavo Guerrero defeated CM Punk in a No Disqualification match to win the ECW Championship after Edge, (acting as a guest commentator at ringside) ran in and speared Punk.[71]
Money in the Bank and World Heavyweight Champion (2008–2009)[link]
At WrestleMania XXIV, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match, after defeating Chris Jericho, Montel Vontavious Porter, Shelton Benjamin, John Morrison, Mr. Kennedy and Carlito.[72]
On the June 23, 2008 episode of Raw, CM Punk was drafted to the Raw brand during the 2008 WWE Draft.[73] His first night on Raw came the following week, and he made an immediate impact. After Batista beat down World Heavyweight Champion Edge and left him lying in the ring, Punk and referee Mike Chioda ran to the ring with Punk carrying his Money in the Bank contract. Moments later, as Edge was struggling to get up, Punk hit him with the Go to Sleep and pinned him to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Later that night, Punk won his first defense of the title against JBL, who challenged him shortly after his win.[74] His win over Edge would eventually also earn Punk the Slammy Award for the "Oh my God" Moment of the Year.[75] Punk continued to hold and defend the title until Unforgiven on September 7, 2008. Before the Championship Scramble match, Punk was attacked by an early version of The Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase with Manu). Orton finished the assault by punting Punk in the head.[76] It was announced that Punk could not participate in the match due to the attack and, as a result, he involuntarily forfeited the title. However, Punk was replaced by Chris Jericho, who went on to win the match and the title.[77] He received a rematch eight days later on the September 15 episode of Raw, where he failed to regain the title in a steel cage match against Jericho.[78]
On the October 27, 2008 episode of Raw, Punk and Kofi Kingston defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase to win the World Tag Team Championship.[79] The duo were members of Team Batista at Survivor Series, where their team lost to Team Orton.[80] Punk was then entered in an Intercontinental Championship Tournament, in which the winner would get to challenge for the championship in the future. He would defeat Snitsky and John Morrison in the first two rounds.[81] Punk and Kingston lost the World Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz at a live event on December 13, 2008.[82] The next day Punk defeated Rey Mysterio at Armageddon to win the tournament.[81] On the January 5 episode of Raw, Punk received his title match against William Regal, which ended in a disqualification, when Regal grabbed the referee's jersey.[83] Due to this, Stephanie McMahon awarded Punk a rematch the following week, but this time it was himself that was disqualified.[84] McMahon awarded him another rematch, this time a No Disqualification match on January 19 episode of Raw, Punk won the match and the title.[85] With this win, he became the nineteenth Triple Crown Champion. Also, the victory made him the man to accomplish the Triple Crown in the fastest amount of time, shattering Kevin Nash's old record.[86] Punk lost the title on the March 9 episode of Raw to John "Bradshaw" Layfield.[87] At WrestleMania XXV, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match and became the first person to win the match twice.[88]
On April 13, 2009 during the 2009 WWE Draft, Punk was drafted from Raw to SmackDown.[89] In the period after the draft, Punk feuded with Umaga over Umaga's repeated surprise attacks while Punk was attempting to cash in his Money in the Bank Contract. This ultimately resulted in a Samoan strap match at Extreme Rules, which was won by Punk.[90]
At the end of the pay-per-view, Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship.[91] Punk retained his title in a Triple Threat match against both Edge and Hardy eight days later on the June 15 episode of Raw.[92] At The Bash in Sacramento, California, Punk lost to Hardy by disqualification after kicking the referee after being afflicted with a storyline eye injury, claiming he could not see the referee, but because titles do not change hands on a disqualification, Punk retained the championship. Hardy called Punk into question about his eye injury, believing he had been feigning it, leading Punk to turn heel, claiming to be the moral superior of those who support Hardy due to his drug-free lifestyle.[93] At Night of Champions, Punk lost the championship to Hardy.[94] Their feud continued through SummerSlam, where Punk regained the title in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match; afterward, Punk was attacked by The Undertaker.[95] On the August 28 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Punk concluded his program with Hardy and achieved his booked goal of excising him from the WWE, defeating Hardy in a steel cage match wherein the loser agreed to leave the company.[96] This act would earn Punk a second Slammy that December as he was named winner for 2009's "Shocker of the Year".[97]
At Breaking Point Punk defeated The Undertaker in a submission match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Undertaker originally won the match with his Hell's Gate submission hold. SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long re-started the match after stating that the ban that former General Manager Vickie Guerrero had placed on the move was still in effect. Punk would win the match with his Anaconda Vise when referee Scott Armstrong called for the bell despite Undertaker never submitting (reminiscent to the Montreal Screwjob, which took place in the same venue in 1997).[98] The feud between the two continued and at the Hell in a Cell PPV, Punk lost the World Heavyweight Championship to The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match.[99] He lost two subsequent rematches against The Undertaker on Smackdown and in a Fatal Four Way match at Bragging Rights also involving Batista and Rey Mysterio.[100][101]
Straight Edge Society and New Nexus (2009–2011)[link]
Main articles: Straight Edge Society and Nexus
His character took on a more sinister demeanor on the November 27 episode of SmackDown when he revealed that he had converted Luke Gallows, who had previously been portrayed as the mentally incompetent wrestler Festus, to the straight-edge lifestyle which had rid him of his mental troubles.[102] Continuing to espouse his straight-edge philosophy, Punk began to present himself as a cult-like savior to the crowd, growing the hair on his head, face and chest in an allusion to Jesus.[103] Through January 2010, Punk began to convert planted members of the audience to a straight-edge lifestyle, making them take a pledge of allegiance to him and shaving their head as a sign of renewal and devotion.[104][105][106] After converting many people who were not seen again, convert Serena began accompanying Punk and Gallows to form the Straight Edge Society.[106][107] As well as leading this alliance, Punk was also the mentor of WWE NXT rookie Darren Young who flirted with the idea of becoming straight-edge before refusing just before his head was to be shaved.[108]
Punk continued to show messianic traits, frequently giving sermons including during the annual Royal Rumble match as well as during an Elimination Chamber match at both of the eponymous pay-per-views.[109][110] In the Chamber match, he was eliminated by Rey Mysterio, whom he had feuding with leading into the PPV. Tensions escalated as Mysterio prevented him from winning a Money in the Bank qualifying match, causing Punk to interrupt Mysterio's celebration of his daughter's ninth birthday.[111] Mysterio challenged Punk to a Street Fight at WrestleMania XXVI but lost to Gallows, meaning Punk picked the stipulation that if Rey lost he would have to join the Society.[112] At WrestleMania, Punk lost to Mysterio[113] sparking a rematch at Extreme Rules where Punk would have to shave his head, like his disciples, if he lost. Punk won this match after interference from a fourth member of the Society who kept his face covered.[114] At Over The Limit, a third and final match was booked with both stipulations reactivated. In the match Punk lost and was subsequently shaved bald.[115]
Embarrassed by being shaved bald as he considered himself always pure unlike his followers, Punk appeared on the following episode of SmackDown, May 29, wearing a mask to hide his baldness.[116] At Fatal 4 Way, Punk challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship against Mysterio, The Big Show and the champion Jack Swagger, but was unsuccessful when he was attacked by Kane, who was accusing various people of attacking The Undertaker.[117] On July 16's SmackDown, Punk was finally unmasked by Big Show while healing from an arm injury.[118] The following week Show also unmasked the anonymous member of the Straight Edge Society who was revealed to be Joey Mercury.[119] This led to a handicap match at SummerSlam where Show defeated the entire Society after Punk abandoned his teammates.[120] Show also beat Punk in a singles match at Night of Champions.[121] Following this Serena was released from WWE[122] while Mercury became injured,[123] severely thinning the Society. Gallows began showing signs of dissension too, and Punk defeated him on SmackDown, airing September 24, ending the group.[124]
Punk was traded back to the Raw brand on October 11 after being swapped with Edge. He took part in the interbrand tag team match at Bragging Rights after injuring Evan Bourne to win a place,[125] but the team lost. It was reported later that he was suffering with a hip injury that would stop him from competing.[126] To keep a presence on television, he began commentating on Raw from November 22,[127] having already commentated one episode of NXT. During his commentary, he criticized John Cena for his actions against The Nexus. Sometimes he favored heel wrestlers over face wrestlers. At the end of December, Punk left the commentary team after assaulting John Cena on Raw[128] and SmackDown[129] with a chair. Punk later revealed that his motives for the attacks were that he had joined and assumed control of The Nexus.[130] He would then use the group to attack Randy Orton, blaming him for prematurely ending Punk's first World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2008; this led to a WrestleMania XXVII match[131] and a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules both of which Punk lost.[132]
WWE Champion (2011–present)[link]
In June, after pinning WWE Champion John Cena on Raw,[133] Rey Mysterio at Capitol Punishment[134] and finally Alberto Del Rio again in a contendership match (which included Mysterio) all within one week, Punk revealed his contract would expire at Money in the Bank and vowed to leave the company with the WWE Championship; some of his speeches and mannerisms echoed his final months with Ring of Honor. After making a scathing on-air speech concerning the way in which WWE is run and its owner Vince McMahon, he was given a storyline suspension from televised WWE events[135] but was reinstated the following week on Cena's insistence.[136] Upon his return Punk ceased to appear with the remaining members of Nexus and the group would quietly dissolve the same month.[137] This helped transition him from a villainous character back to being a fan-favorite. Two weeks later, at Money in the Bank, CM Punk defeated John Cena to become the WWE Champion on his final night under contract with WWE.[136]
On July 21, CM Punk made an unannounced appearance at a joint WWE and Mattel panel at the San Diego Comic Con to mock new Chief operating officer Triple H and offer WWE Championship tournament finalist Rey Mysterio a match for Punk's own WWE Championship, as long as it was in Punk's hometown, Chicago.[138][139] Punk appeared at July 23's All American Wrestling show, showing respect to Gregory Iron, a wrestler with cerebral palsy.[140] Mysterio won the WWE Championship tournament on the July 25 episode of Raw, only to lose it to Cena later that night. After Cena's victory, Punk returned to Raw and upstaged the new WWE Champion's victory celebration while also entering into a title dispute. Triple H would later uphold both Punk and Cena's claims to the WWE Championship as legitimate and schedule the two to a match at SummerSlam to decide the undisputed WWE Champion.[141] Punk prevailed but immediately lost the title to Alberto Del Rio, who had cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, after being attacked by Kevin Nash.[142]
The night after SummerSlam Punk accused Nash of conspiring with Triple H to keep Punk away from the WWE Championship.[143] After repeated confrontations Nash and Punk demanded to face each other at Night of Champions, to which Triple H acquiesced. However, after CM Punk's repeated verbal attacks towards him and his wife Stephanie McMahon, Triple H booked himself to replace Nash.[144] At Night of Champions Punk lost a No Disqualification match after Nash, The Miz, and R-Truth attacked both men.[145] Miz and Truth also attacked Punk at Hell in a Cell after he lost a WWE Championship Triple Threat match.[146] He attempted to avenge this by teaming with Triple H against Miz and Truth at Vengeance, but lost again due to Nash attacking Triple H.[147] This helped transition Punk's anti-establishment voice from Triple H to John Laurinaitis who became the interim Raw General Manager.[148] CM Punk balked at Laurinaitis' promotion and verbally attacked him as a dull yes man.[149][150]
On October 31, CM Punk strong-armed his way into a match with Del Rio at Survivor Series,[151] where he regained the WWE Championship by way of submission with the Anaconda Vise.[152] He went on to defend the title through the end of the year, retaining in a rematch with Del Rio on the November 28 episode of Raw[153] and against both Del Rio and The Miz in a Triple Threat TLC match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.[154] On the December 26 episode of Raw, CM Punk was defeated by Dolph Ziggler in a gauntlet match; as a result Ziggler became #1 contender to the WWE championship. Had he been successful Punk would have earned the right to face Laurinaitis in a match.[155] The following Raw, Punk was defeated by Ziggler via countout following interference from Laurinaitis; retaining the championship as a result.[156] Intermeddling from Laurinaitis caused Punk to lose to Ziggler throughout January[157][158] which ultimately led to Punk attacking Laurinaitis in retaliation.[158] At the Royal Rumble event, CM Punk successfully defended his title against Ziggler, despite Laurinaitis acting as the outside enforcer.[159]
On the January 30 episode of Raw SuperShow, Chris Jericho attacked Punk and Daniel Bryan during their Champion vs. Champion match, giving Bryan the win.[160] The following week, Jericho explained his actions by dismissing the WWE roster as imitations of himself and singling out Punk for claiming he was the best in the world, a moniker Jericho used the last time he was in WWE.[161][162] Their rivalry continued through Elimination Chamber where Punk retained the WWE Championship in the namesake structure; while four competitors were eliminated, Jericho was unable to continue the match after being kicked out of the chamber by Punk, causing temporary injury.[163] The following night on Raw, Jericho earned a match against Punk at WrestleMania XXVIII,[164] and in a bid to psychologically unsettle him, he revealed Punk's father was an alcoholic and alleged that his sister was a drug addict, asserting that Punk's straight edge philosophy was paranoia to avoid the same vices and vowing to make Punk turn to alcohol by winning the title from him.[165] John Laurinaitis added the stipulation that the WWE Championship could change hands via disqualification, which led to Jericho inciting Punk into using a weapon, but Punk resisted and retained the title.[166] On the April 2 and 9 episodes of Raw SuperShow, Punk retained the WWE Championship against Mark Henry after losing to him via count-out and disqualification. Following both matches, Jericho attacked Punk and doused him with alcohol.[167][168] On the April 16 episode of Raw SuperShow, Punk pinned Henry in a no disqualification, no countout match to retain his title.[169] After repeated altercations, the feud between Jericho and Punk would culminate in a Chicago Street Fight at Extreme Rules where Punk defeated Jericho to retain the WWE Championship.[170]
Punk renewed an old rivalry with Daniel Bryan at the May event Over the Limit, retaining the title after reversing Bryan's submission hold the "Yes!" Lock into a pinning combination, however, replays would show Punk visibly tapping out moments after the finish of the match.[171]
Gimmick[link]
Punk has adopted his real-life following of the straight edge movement as his professional wrestling gimmick, but the gimmick uses different elements of Punk's personality and the beliefs of the straight edge movement depending on his alignment. While portraying a crowd favorite, the gimmick tends to be that of Punk's normal personality,[4] largely indifferent to others who drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, partake in recreational drug use or have promiscuous sexual behavior, but emphasizing the social discipline involved with abstinence. Conversely, his villainous personality tends to be that of one who is hardline or militant straight edge, exemplifying the elitist attitudes and superiority complexes—defined by Punk's common mantra during villainous-themed promos that, because he is straight edge, he is "better than you".[4] Punk performs the straight edge symbol of crossing his arms in an X formation while having the letter X written on the back of his hands, usually drawn on his wrist tape.
Originally, the initials CM in his ring name represented the phrase "Chick Magnet", the name of the tag team he was in as a backyard wrestler.[4][12] Punk, however, later changed CM into an orphan initialism, declaring that it has no meaning,[5] though when asked since he has taken to making up meanings that fit the initials, going so far as to make up long stories to explain the origins that do not match the actual origin story at all.[5] Since beginning this practice, Punk has stated CM stands for "Cookie Monster",[172] "Cookie Master",[173] "Crooked Moonsault",[174] "Chuck Mosley",[174] "Charles Montgomery",[12] "Charles Manson",[12] "Crazy Mariachi", "Chicago Made",[175] among others.
An integral part of Punk's gimmick are the numerous tattoos that adorn his body, some of which have come to become symbols associated with Punk, as well as mantras and declarations that have been integrated into his gimmick. The tattoos as a whole, due to their large quantity and variety, have also become an attribute identifiable to Punk.[176] The most important of the individual tattoos in Punk's character, whether through association, symbol, or mantra, are:
- A Pepsi Globe logo on his left shoulder that inspired the names of two of his signature moves. It also became a symbol of Punk himself, who wore the logo on his ring gear in the independent circuit, as well as a slightly modified Pepsi logo being used as part of his TitanTron entrance video.[177] Punk, a keen Pepsi drinker, chose to receive a Pepsi tattoo to emphasize his straight edge beliefs.[5] The tattoo is also a reference to former Minor Threat guitarist Brian Baker, who had a Coca-Cola tattoo and explained this by saying "I like Coca-Cola". When people inquire about Punk's Pepsi tattoo, he often replies "I like Pepsi" in a similar fashion.[4]
- The words "Straight Edge" are spelled out on Punk's stomach. This is one of his oldest tattoos;[176] he has referred to it as his identity.[178]
- A sleeve tattoo on his left arm that reads "luck is for losers" and features numerous good luck symbols, including a rabbit's foot, four-leaf clover and a horseshoe.[179] The tattoo also features four ace playing cards as a tribute to trainer Ace Steel.[179]
- A tattoo on the back of his left hand reading "No gimmicks needed", a tribute to deceased wrestler Chris Candido.[180]
- A tattoo across his knuckles with the words "DRUG FREE" ("DRUG" on his right knuckles and "FREE" on his left).[181]
- A tattoo of his little sister's jersey number (31) behind his left ear surrounded by stars, each of which also representing his siblings as a way to bond away from home.[182][183]
- A tattoo on his right shoulder of the Cobra Command logo, G.I. Joe's enemy. Punk is well-known for his love of comic books, considering them along with jazz and professional wrestling as three of the original arts that America has given to the world.[182]
- A tattoo of a rose on his left wrist.[184]
Punk's character and gimmick have been parodied by the wrestling federation Chikara who used a mascot character CP Munk, the straight edge chipmunk. The character includes references to Punk, such as X-marked wrist tape, a Pepsi logo on the costume's left shoulder, and a high-pitch version of Punk's best-known independent circuit theme song "Miseria Cantare – The Beginning", by the band AFI.[185] On his website, Punk has said about the character CP Munk, and the people behind it:
| “ | I'm split 50/50 on it. Some days I get real pissed about it, because it's disrespectful. I'm sure it's no secret that the dorks that run Chikara and I don't get along, so they're [sic] judgement on trying to "mock" me is a little off. Most other days I just laugh it off because nobody from Chikara will ever be over enough anywhere for anybody else to parody them'.[186] | ” |
Punk's entrance was emulated by British darts player Paul Nicholson during the 2011 World Matchplay and the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship.[187]
Other media[link]
Punk made an appearance on the February 16, 2004 episode of Monster Garage, "Box Truck Wrestling Car", performing a short match with Samoa Joe.[188] On October 31, 2006, Punk joined The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) to shoot the Sci Fi Channel special Ghost Hunters Live, which was a six-hour show broadcast live Halloween night from the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. Initially skeptical about what he might find, Punk claimed to have heard children giggling and footsteps when there were not any children booked into the hotel.[189]
In 2008, Punk appeared as the Sports Grand Marshal of the nationally-televised McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in downtown Chicago.[190][191]
On April 30, 2012 it was announced Punk would be featured in the WWE Studios and Kare Production Project "Les reines du ring" (English: Queens of the ring) alongside fellow wrestlers Eve Torres and The Miz.[192]
Personal life[link]
While working for Ring of Honor, Punk was romantically linked to professional wrestlers Shannon Spruill[193] and Tracy Brookshaw.[15] After joining Ohio Valley Wrestling Punk began dating Maria Kanellis, who was working there as an interviewer,[194][195] however they broke up sometime after Punk was moved to World Wrestling Entertainment and started working on the ECW brand.[196] Punk was dating Amy Dumas,[197] however Matt Hardy confirmed in March 2010 that Punk and Dumas were no longer dating.[198] Punk confirmed in an November 2011 Maxim Magazine interview that he was in a relationship with WWE wrestler Beth Phoenix[199] but revealed in December that he was single again.[200] Punk is also one of many figures in entertainment supporting the gender reassignment surgery of Against Me! frontman/frontwoman Tom Gabel, who changed her name to Laura Jane Grace in mid-2012.
In wrestling[link]
File:Punk's Savage Elbow.jpg
Punk pays homage to Randy Savage before a diving elbow drop on Alberto Del Rio.
- WWE
- Finishing moves
- Anaconda Vise (Arm-trap triangle choke)[1][201] - 2006–present
- GTS - Go To Sleep (Fireman's carry dropped into a knee lift)[1] - 2007–present
- Signature moves
- Arm trap swinging neckbreaker[202]
- Arm wrench followed by stepping a leg over the wrenched arm and performing a mule kick with the leg below the opponent's face[17]
- Bulldog[86][203][204]
- Diving crossbody[6]
- Diving elbow drop[205][206] – adopted from and used in tribute to Randy Savage[182]
- Double underhook backbreaker[17]
- Hammerlock twisted into a short-range lariat[17]
- Koji clutch[1]
- Leg lariat[207]
- Mongolian chop[208]
- Repeated elbow strikes to an opponent's chest[209]
- Rope hung arm trap can opener[204]
- Roundhouse kick[210][211][212]
- Sitout suplex slam[213]
- Slingshot somersault senton[6][17][204]
- Snap scoop powerslam[214]
- Springboard clothesline[6][204][215]
- Step-up enzuigiri[17]
- Step-up high knee to a cornered opponent[203][204] followed by a bulldog[86][203]
- Suicide dive[6]
- Super frankensteiner[216][217]
- Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker[6][17]
- Nicknames
- Entrance themes
- "This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engage[225] (August 1, 2006–July 17, 2011)
- "Cult of Personality" by Living Colour[226] (July 25, 2011–present)
- Finishing moves
- Independent circuit
- Finishing moves
- Anaconda vise or an arm triangle choke[17]
- Pepsi Plunge[6] (Diving double underhook facebuster)[17]
- Shining wizard[17]
- Signature moves
- Arm wrench followed by stepping a leg over the wrenched arm and performing a mule kick with the leg below the opponent's face[17]
- Corkscrew dive transitioned into a diving neckbreaker[6]
- Crooked Moonsault[227] (Split-legged moonsault)[17]
- Delayed vertical suplex[6][17]
- Devil Lock DDT[6] (Hammerlock legsweep DDT)[17]
- Facewash[6]
- Inverted facelock backbreaker[17]
- Inverted frankensteiner[17]
- Jackie Chan[6][17] (While sitting in a corner, grasps the top rope with one hand on each side of the turnbuckle and when the opponent attempts to pull him off the ropes by his legs, he performs a back tuck, landing on his feet)
- Pepsi Twist[6][17] (Jumping hammerlock twisted into a short-range lariat)[17]
- Punk-Handle Piledriver[6][17] (Pumphandle reverse piledriver)
- Rolling fireman's carry slam[6]
- Slingshot somersault senton[6][17]
- Springboard corkscrew crossbody[17]
- Suicide dive[6]
- Welcome to Chicago, Motherfucker[6] (Double underhook backbreaker)[17]
- With Julio Dinero
- Double superkick[228]
- Near Death Experience (Diving neckbreaker (Punk) / Powerbomb (Dinero) combination)[228]
- Managers
- Milo Beasley[17]
- Tracy Brooks[17]
- Bobby Heenan[17]
- Alexis Laree / Vicki Adams[17]
- Lucy[229]
- Joshua Masters[17]
- James Mitchell[17]
- Dave Prazak[230]
- Entrance themes
- "Shitlist" by L7
- "South of Heaven" by Slayer[231]
- "A Call for Blood" by Hatebreed[232]
- "Miseria Cantare (The Beginning)" by AFI[232]
- "Cult of Personality" by Living Colour[233]
- "Night Train" by The Bouncing Souls[234]
- "¡Olé!" by The Bouncing Souls[4]
- Finishing moves
Championships and accomplishments[link]
- Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
- International Wrestling Cartel
- IWC Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[237]
- Mid-American Wrestling
- MAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[238]
- NWA Cyberspace
- NWA Cyberspace Tag Team Championship (1 time)[239] – with Julio Dinero
- NWA Revolution
- NWA Revolution Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[17]
- Ohio Valley Wrestling
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Feud of the Year (2011)[243] vs. John Cena
- Match of the Year (2011)[244] vs. John Cena at Money in the Bank
- Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (2011)[245]
- Wrestler of the Year (2011)[246]
- PWI ranked him #3 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2010[247]
- Revolver
- Golden Gods Award for "Most Metal Athlete" (2012)[248]
- Ring of Honor
- St. Paul Championship Wrestling
- World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
- ECW Championship (1 time)[249]
- World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[250][251][252]
- WWE Championship (2 times, current)1[253][254]
- World Tag Team Championship (1 time)[255] – with Kofi Kingston
- WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)[256]
- Money in the Bank (2008, 2009)[72][88]
- Nineteenth Triple Crown Champion[86]
- Slammy Award for "OMG" Moment of the Year (2008)[75] Cashing in Money in the Bank to win the World Heavyweight Championship
- Slammy Award for Shocker of the Year (2009)[97] Forcing Jeff Hardy out of the WWE after Steel Cage match victory
- Slammy Award for Despicable Me (2010)[257] Harassing Rey Mysterio and his family
- Slammy Award for Superstar of the Year (2011)[10]
- Slammy Award for "Pipe Bomb" of the Year (2011)[10]
- Slammy Award for T-Shirt of the Year (2011)[258] "Best in the World"
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Best Gimmick (2009, 2011)[259][260]
- Best on Interviews (2011)[260]
- Feud of the Year (2009)[259] vs. Jeff Hardy
- Feud of the Year (2011)[260] vs. John Cena
- Match of the Year (2011)[260] vs. John Cena at WWE Money in the Bank
1 ^ Punk held the title concurrently with John Cena during his first reign. After defeating him Punk became undisputed champion but was not recognized by WWE as having won the title a second time.[261]
Luchas de Apuestas record[link]
See also: Luchas de Apuestas
| Wager | Winner | Loser | Location | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hair | Rey Mysterio | CM Punk | Detroit, Michigan | 02010-05-23May 23, 2010 | S.E.S. Pledge vs. Hair match at Over the Limit.[262] |
References[link]
- ^ a b c d e f g "Bio". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/cmpunk/. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
- ^ a b "CM Punk profile". NNDB.com. http://www.nndb.com/people/145/000161659/. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
- ^ a b Punk, CM (2007-01-23). "Congratulations to Ace". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/cmpunk/punkblogarchives/cmpunkblog012307. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t CM Punk (November 2003). Shoot with CM Punk (DVD). RF Video. http://www.rfvideo.com/browseproducts/Shoot-with-CM-Punk.html. Retrieved 2007-04-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wojick, Alan (2003-06-21). "Wojick Interview". The Wrestling Clothesline. http://wrestlingclothesline.com/Wojcik-Punk.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-26.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "CM Punk Fast Facts". CMPunk.com. http://cmpunk.com/fastfacts.php. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
- ^ "Latest Status Info". United States Patent and Trademark Office. 2008-08-07. http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=77142597. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- ^ Woodward, Buck (2009-01-19). "CM PUNK MAKES WWE HISTORY WITH TITLE WIN". http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=35967&p=1. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
- ^ Cohen, Eric. "Money in the Bank". about.com. http://prowrestling.about.com/od/historyofwrestling/tp/moneyinthebank.htm. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
- ^ a b c "2011 Slammy Award Winners". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2011-12-12/25048978. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
- ^ Lagattolla, Al (2001-12-17). "CM Venom Interview". Chicago Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2004-02-22. http://web.archive.org/web/20040222144349/http://www.chicagowrestling.com/AL/al-cmvenom-12-17-01.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-26.
- ^ a b c d Robinson, Jon (2006-12-01). "CM Punk Interview". IGN. http://sports.ign.com/articles/748/748635p1.html. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
- ^ Gomez, Luis (March 26, 2012). "Pipe bomb! More from my interview with WWE Champ CM Punk". Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-26/entertainment/chi-cm-punk-interview-rock-cena-wwe-20120326_1_pipe-bomb-beth-phoenix-wrestlemania. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
- ^ a b CM Punk; Colt Cabana (2005-07-01). Straight Shootin' with CM Punk & Colt Cabana (DVD). Ring of Honor. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927174133/http://www.rohwrestling.com/shoponline.asp?point=moreinfo&catid=200&id=1397. Retrieved 2007-04-14.
- ^ a b c d e CM Punk; Samoa Joe (2005-03-10). Straight Shootin' with Samoa Joe & CM Punk (DVD). Ring of Honor. http://www.wrestledvd.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=466&Itemid=40. Retrieved 2007-04-14.
- ^ Chris Hero (2005). Shoot with Chris Hero (DVD). RF Video. http://www.rfvideo.com/shootwithchrishero.aspx. Retrieved 2007-04-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad "Wrestler Profiles". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/c/c-m-punk.html.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Ring of Honor event results". Ring of Honor. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080822123049/http://www.rohwrestling.com/pastresults/. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
- ^ Dunn, JD (May 30, 2006). "Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor — One Year Anniversary Show". 411mania. http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/video_reviews/40274/Dark-Pegasus-Video-Review:-Ring-of-Honor-%C3%B3-One-Year-Anniversary-Show.htm. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
- ^ Dunn, JD (June 16, 2006). "Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor – Death Before Dishonor". 411mania.com. http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/video_reviews/40724/Dark-Pegasus-Video-Review:-Ring-of-Honor---Death-Before-Dishonor.htm. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
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External links[link]
| Find more about CM Punk on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
 |
Images and media from Commons |
 |
Quotations from Wikiquote |
- Official website
- CM Punk on Twitter
- CM Punk's channel on YouTube
- Professional wrestling record for CM Punk from The Internet Wrestling Database
- WWE Profile
- CM Punk at the Internet Movie Database
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Brooks, Phil |
| Alternative names | CM Punk (ring name) |
| Short description | Professional wrestler |
| Date of birth | October 26, 1978 |
| Place of birth | Chicago, Illinois |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/CM_Punk
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Phil Brooks
http://cs.wn.com/CM Punk
http://es.wn.com/Phil Brooks
http://ru.wn.com/СМ Панк
http://nl.wn.com/CM Punk
http://pt.wn.com/CM Punk
http://pl.wn.com/CM Punk
http://fr.wn.com/CM Punk
http://de.wn.com/CM Punk
http://hi.wn.com/सी एम पंक
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CM_Punk
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | |
|---|---|
 "Austin" at the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2010. |
|
| Born | Steven James Anderson (1964-12-18) December 18, 1964 (age 47) Victoria, Texas, U.S. |
| Other names | Steven James Williams |
| Occupation | Actor/Professional Wrestler |
| Years active | 1989–2003 (wrestler) 1998–present (actor) |
| Spouse | Kathryn Burrhus (1990–1992) Jeannie Clark (1992–1999) Debra Marshall (2000–2003) |
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Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson, later Steven James Williams; December 18, 1964),[1] better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor, producer, and retired professional wrestler. Austin wrestled for several well-known wrestling promotions such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and most famously, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Described by WWE (formerly the WWF) chairman Vince McMahon as the most profitable wrestler in the company's history,[2] he gained significant mainstream popularity in the WWF during the mid-to-late 1990s as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, a disrespectful, beer-drinking antihero who routinely defied McMahon, his boss.[3] This defiance was often shown by Austin flipping off McMahon and incapacitating him with the Stone Cold Stunner, his finishing move.[4] McMahon inducted Austin into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.
Austin held twenty championships throughout his professional wrestling career, and is a six-time WWF Champion as well as the fifth Triple Crown Champion. He was also the winner of the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, as well as the 1997, 1998 and 2001 Royal Rumbles. He was forced to retire from in ring competition in early 2003 due to a series of knee and neck injuries sustained throughout his career. Throughout the rest of 2003 and 2004, he was featured as the Co-General Manager and "Sheriff" of Raw. Since 2005, he has continued to make occasional appearances. In 2011, Steve Austin returned to WWE to host the reality series Tough Enough.
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Early life[link]
Austin was born Steven James Anderson in Victoria, Texas. After his father left the family, his mother, Beverly, re-married to Ken Williams, and Austin adopted his stepfather's surname, and spent most of his childhood in Edna, Texas[1] After attending high school, Austin got a football scholarship at Wharton County Junior College, followed by a full scholarship at North Texas State University.
Professional wrestling career[link]
| "Stone Cold" Steve Austin | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Ring name(s) | "Stone Cold" Steve Austin[5] The Ringmaster "Stunning" Steve Austin "Superstar" Steve Austin |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[6] |
| Billed weight | 252 lb (114 kg)[6] |
| Born | (1964-12-18) December 18, 1964 (age 47)[1] Austin, Texas[7] |
| Resides | Los Angeles, California |
| Billed from | Victoria, Texas[6] |
| Trained by | Chris Adams[8][9] |
| Debut | May 11, 1989[8] |
| Retired | March 30, 2003[8] |
World Championship Wrestling (1991–1995)[link]
After some time, Austin decided to become a professional wrestler and enrolled at the wrestling school run by Chris Adams, whose school was run out of the Dallas Sportatorium where he was wrestling for World Class Championship Wrestling. Austin made his debut in World Class in 1989 under his real name, but was later given the name "Steve Austin" by Memphis-area booker Dutch Mantel. Austin's run in Memphis was part of the merger between World Class and the Continental Wrestling Association out of Memphis, with the combined company known as the United States Wrestling Association. Austin would eventually return to Dallas and feud with Adams, with Percy Pringle and Jeannie Adams (Adams' real-life former wife and Austin's girlfriend at the time) as his valets. It was during this time Austin adopted the "Stunning" nickname that followed him to WCW.
Austin left WCCW after its final folding in 1990 and signed with WCW the next year. He was originally paired with a valet named Vivacious Veronica,[10] but was later joined by Jeannie Adams, known as "Lady Blossom".[9][10] Just weeks after his debut, Austin defeated Bobby Eaton for his first WCW World Television Championship on June 3, 1991. Later that year, Austin joined Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance.[9][11] Austin lost the WCW Television Championship to Barry Windham in a two out of three falls match on April 27, 1992. He regained the title from Windham on May 23.
Austin enjoyed a second lengthy reign before losing to Ricky Steamboat on September 2, 1992. The Dangerous Alliance disbanded shortly thereafter.[12] At Halloween Havoc, he replaced Terry Gordy, teaming with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to wrestle Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham for the unified WCW and NWA World Tag Team title.[12] The teams wrestled to a thirty-minute time limit draw.[12]
In January 1993, Austin formed a tag team known as The Hollywood Blonds with Brian Pillman.[9] They won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on March 3, defeating Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas. The Hollywood Blonds held the title for five months.[9] At Clash of the Champions XXIII the Blonds faced Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in a two-out-of-three-falls tag Team title match. Flair and Anderson defeated the Blonds, but were not awarded the title as one fall had been determined by a disqualification.[13] At Clash of the Champions XXIV, Austin and Pillman were scheduled to defend their title against Anderson and Paul Roma. An injured Pillman, however, was replaced by Steven Regal. Austin and Regal lost to Anderson and Roma.[14] With Pillman still injured, Austin joined Colonel Robert Parker's Stud Stable.[15] After Pillman returned, Austin betrayed and defeated him in a singles match at Clash of the Champions XXV.[16]
At Starrcade, in a two-out-of-three-falls match, Austin defeated Dustin Rhodes in two straight falls to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.[9] Austin lost the title to Ricky Steamboat on August 24, 1994. Austin was scheduled to face Steamboat in a rematch for the title at Fall Brawl, but Steamboat was unable to wrestle due to a back injury, and Austin was awarded the title by forfeit. His second reign as US Champion ended just minutes later when he lost to Steamboat's replacement, Jim Duggan in a match that lasted thirty-five seconds.[17] Austin unsuccessfully challenged Duggan for the United States Championship at both Halloween Havoc 1994 and Clash of the Champions XXIX.[18][19] After returning from a knee injury in early 1995, Austin took part in a tournament for the vacant WCW United States Heavyweight title, where he defeated Duggan via count-out in the first round, but lost to Randy "Macho Man" Savage in the quarterfinals.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995)[link]
In 1995, Austin was fired by WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff, after suffering a triceps injury, while wrestling on a Japanese tour; Bischoff and WCW did not see Austin as a 'marketable' wrestler.[9][20] Austin described his opinion on being fired over the phone as Eric Bischoff having taken the coward's way out. Eventually, Austin was contacted by Paul Heyman of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), who had managed him in WCW.[9] Heyman hired Austin to do in-ring interviews, as he still had not recovered from his injury enough to wrestle.[21] While in ECW, Austin used the platform to develop his future "Stone Cold" persona as well as a series of vignettes running down WCW in general and Bischoff in particular, most memorably in several promos that mocked his then-status as WCW Monday Nitro host by introducing Monday NyQuil, where he was joined by "Bongo" (a set of drums, meant to represent Steve "Mongo" McMichael) in promoting the show "where the big boys play with each other".[9][21]
While with ECW, Austin was known as "Superstar" Steve Austin.[22] He had a match with The Sandman and feuded with Mikey Whipwreck.[22] Whipwreck, who was the ECW World Heavyweight Champion at the time, defeated Austin at November to Remember.[23] The Sandman defeated Steve Austin and Whipwreck in a Triple Threat match at December to Dismember in 1995 for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.[24] Heyman would later state that he had wanted Austin to win the ECW Title, but Austin had refused because he felt he was more effective "as the hunter, rather than the hunted."
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1995–2002)[link]
The Ringmaster (1995–1996)[link]
Main article: Million Dollar Corporation
In late 1995, Austin joined the WWF after Kevin Nash and Jim Ross helped convince WWE's owner Vince McMahon to hire him.[9][22] Initially, Austin wrestled as "The Ringmaster" and was managed by Ted DiBiase,[9] who awarded him with the Million Dollar Championship.[25] He defeated Savio Vega at in his first WrestleMania appearance, at WrestleMania XII.[26] During this time, Austin shaved his head bald. At In Your House: Beware of Dog, Austin lost a "Caribbean Strap match" to Vega. In accordance to the pre-match stipulations, DiBiase was forced to leave the WWF, giving Austin the opportunity to forge his own path.[27] Austin later told announcer Dok Hendrix that he had purposely lost the match in order to rid himself of DiBiase, who was headed for rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
Austin 3:16, feud with The Hart Foundation and rise to superstardom (1996–1997)[link]
Austin's genuine rise to superstardom began at the 1996 King of the Ring. Austin began using his trademark finishing maneuver, the Stone Cold Stunner (a move that was used previously by Jimmy Garvin, while the two were in WCW); with this new technique, he won the King of the Ring tournament.[9] After defeating Marc Mero in the semi-finals, Austin defeated Jake "The Snake" Roberts in the finals.[9][27] At the time, Roberts was portraying a born-again Christian, so after the match, Austin cut a now famous promo during his coronation, telling Roberts,[28] "You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere! Talk about your psalms, talk about John 3:16... Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!". "Austin 3:16" ultimately became one of the most popular catch phrases in wrestling history,[9] and subsequently the slogan became one of the best-selling t-shirts in WWE merchandise history. It is also credited as the iconic moment that began the WWF's "Attitude Era", along with the Montreal Screwjob.
Austin spoke about Bret Hart constantly and taunted him relentlessly. Hart finally accepted Austin's challenge and returned to the WWF in October 1996. At Survivor Series, in a match to determine the number-one contender to the WWF Championship, Hart pinned Austin in a match which helped create the foundations for the eventual year-long feud between the two.[27] The match came hot on the heels of an incident broadcast live on Raw, which saw Austin "break into" Brian Pillman's house, with Pillman holding a gun. During the 1997 Royal Rumble match, Austin was originally eliminated by Bret Hart, but the officials did not see it, and he snuck back into the ring and eliminated Hart by throwing him over the ropes, winning the match himself.[29] This led to the first-ever pay-per-view main event of Austin's WWF career at In Your House 13: Final Four, after Shawn Michaels suffered a knee injury and left the WWF Championship suddenly vacant. Austin was eliminated early from the four-way match at In Your House 13 for the title after injuring his own knee, but was involved in the finish which saw Hart win his fourth WWF Championship,[27] which he lost the next night on Raw to Sycho Sid due to Austin's interference, continuing his feud with Hart. At WrestleMania 13, Hart defeated Austin in a 'Submission' match with Ken Shamrock as a special referee. During the match, Austin had been cut and was bleeding profusely from his face, but he still refused to tap out when Hart locked in his Sharpshooter. Austin finally passed out from blood loss, still held in the Sharpshooter, and lost the match. Hart, after the bell, continued to assault Austin, who despite his wounds refused any assistance back to the locker room, thus turning Hart heel and Austin babyface in a rare double-turn.[27] Austin eventually got his revenge on Hart in the main event of In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker, in a match to determine the number-one contender to The Undertaker's WWF Championship. Austin won when Hart was disqualified due to assistance from The British Bulldog, earning him a title match against The Undertaker at In Your House 15: A Cold Day In Hell. Austin faced Hart once again in a street fight on the April 21 episode of Raw, injuring his opponent's leg with a steel chair during the bout. The match was ultimately awarded to Hart when Austin refused to let go of his own Sharpshooter. He proceeded to beat Hart while on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance. At A Cold Day In Hell, Austin had The Undertaker down with the Stunner, but while distracted with a timely interference by Brian Pillman, Stone Cold's old tag partner, Undertaker nailed Austin with a Tombstone Piledriver and achieved the victory.[27]
During this time, Austin found a way to win the WWF Tag Team Championship on two separate occasions. On May 25, 1997, Austin and Shawn Michaels defeated Owen Hart and The British Bulldog for the title. They held the title until July 14, before Michaels was forced to vacate due to an injury.[30] That same night a tournament was held to determine who would face Austin and a partner of his choosing for the vacant championship. Hart and Bulldog won the tournament, with Austin refusing to pick a partner and choosing to wrestle the former tag team champions by himself.[31] Late in the match, a debuting Dude Love came out to offer assistance and Austin became a two-time tag team champion.[32] Austin continued his feud with the Hart family, becoming embroiled in a heated rivalry with Owen Hart, who pinned a distracted Austin and secured victory for The Hart Foundation in the ten-man Tag Team match main event of In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede, where Austin was partnered with Ken Shamrock, Goldust, and The Legion of Doom.[33]
At SummerSlam, Austin and Owen Hart faced each other with Hart's Intercontinental Championship on the line and an added stipulation that Austin would have to kiss Hart's buttocks if he lost.[31] During the match Hart botched a piledriver and dropped Austin on his head, resulting in a legitimate broken neck and temporary paralysis for Austin. As Hart stalled by baiting the audience, Austin managed to crawl over and pin Hart using a roll-up to win the Intercontinental Championship. A visibly injured and dazed Austin was helped to his feet by a number of referees and led to the back. Due to the severity of his neck injury, Austin was forced to relinquish both the Intercontinental Championship and the Tag Team Championships. Austin was sidelined until Survivor Series. However, in the interim he made several appearances, one being at Bad Blood where he was involved in the finish of a match between Hart and Faarooq, which was the final match in a tournament for the Intercontinental Championship. Austin hit Faarooq with the Intercontinental Championship belt while the referee's back was turned, causing Hart to win the match.[31] Austin's motive was to keep the Intercontinental Championship around Hart's waist, as demonstrated when he interfered in Hart's matches on the October 20 and 27 episodes of Raw.[31] Austin regained the Intercontinental Championship from Hart at Survivor Series.
With Hart out of the way, Austin set his sights on The Rock, who stole Austin's belt on the November 17 episode of Raw after Austin suffered a beating by his Nation of Domination stablemates.[31] In the weeks to come, The Rock began declaring himself to be "the best damn Intercontinental Champion" ever.[31] The Rock kept possession of the belt until D-Generation X: In Your House, when Austin defeated him to 'retain' the title and get his belt back. As Austin had used his pickup truck to aid in his victory, McMahon ordered him to defend the title against The Rock the next night on Raw.[31] In an act of defiance after forfeiting the title to The Rock, Austin tossed the belt into a New Hampshire river.[6]
Feuding with Mr. McMahon (1997–1999)[link]
On September 22, 1997, on the first-ever Monday Night Raw to be broadcast from Madison Square Garden, Owen Hart was giving a speech to the fans in attendance. During his speech, Austin entered the ring with five NYPD officers following, and assaulted Hart. As it looked Austin was going to fight the officers, Vince McMahon ran into the ring to lecture Austin about why he couldn't be "physically" able to compete. After telling McMahon that he respects the fact that he and the WWF cared, Austin attacked McMahon with a Stone Cold Stunner, leaving McMahon in shock. Austin was then arrested on charges of trespassing, assault, and assaulting a police officer. This marked the beginning of the Austin-McMahon rivalry.
With Bret Hart's departure for WCW, Austin and Shawn Michaels were the top superstars in the company. Austin won the 1998 Royal Rumble, lastly eliminating The Rock.[34] The next night on Raw, Austin interrupted Vince McMahon in his presentation of Mike Tyson, who was making a special appearance, over the objection of McMahon referring to Tyson as "the baddest man on the planet." Austin flipped off Tyson, which led to Tyson shoving Austin much to McMahon's embarrassment, who began to publicly disapprove of the prospect of Austin as his champion. Tyson was later announced as "the special enforcer" for the main event at WrestleMania XIV, although he appeared to be aligning himself with WWF Champion Shawn Michaels' stable D-Generation X.[9][35] This led to Austin's WWF Championship match against Michaels at WrestleMania XIV, which he won with help from Tyson, who turned on DX by making the deciding three-count against Michaels, and later hit HBK with his knock-out punch. In fact Shawn Michaels had suffered two herniated discs and another completely crushed at the hands of The Undertaker in a Casket match at the Royal Rumble.[9] This victory ushered in the Austin Era,[9] and with it, The Attitude Era.[34]
On the Raw after Austin won the WWF Title, Vince McMahon presented him with a new title belt and warned Austin that he did not approve of his rebellious nature and that things could be done "the easy way or the hard way." Austin gave his answer in the form of another Stunner. This led to a segment a week later where Austin had pledged a few days prior in a meeting to "play ball" with McMahon, appearing in a suit and tie, with a beaming McMahon taking a picture of himself and his new corporate champion. The entire thing was a ruse by Austin who in the course of the segment proceeded to tear off the suit, tell McMahon it was the last time he would see Austin dressed like this, punch his boss in the "corporate grapefruits," and take another picture of the two of them while McMahon was doubled over in pain. In April 1998, it appeared Austin and McMahon were going to battle out their differences in an actual match, but the match was declared a no-contest when Dude Love made an appearance. This led to a match between Dude Love and Austin at Unforgiven: In Your House, where Austin hit McMahon with a steel chair, then the following month they had a rematch at Over the Edge: In Your House for the WWF Championship. Austin managed to retain the title despite McMahon acting as the referee and his "Corporate Stooges" (Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson) as timekeeper and ring announcer, respectively.
McMahon continued to do everything he could to ruin Austin, and he finally scored a big victory for his side at the 1998 King of the Ring tournament.[9] There, Austin lost the WWF Championship to Kane in a First Blood match.[9] Austin further infuriated McMahon by winning back the championship the next night on Raw.[9] Austin also emerged victorious against The Undertaker at SummerSlam. In response, McMahon set up a Triple Threat match at Breakdown: In Your House, where The Undertaker and Kane pinned Austin at the same time. McMahon decided to vacate the WWF Championship[9] and award it based on a match between The Undertaker and Kane, in which Austin was the guest referee. Austin refused to count for either man and attacked both towards the end of the match. McMahon later fired him, although Austin got revenge by kidnapping McMahon and dragging him to the middle of the ring at "gunpoint," which ended up being a toy gun with a scroll that read "Bang! 3:16." Also the segment was very "embarrassing" to McMahon as it showed he was so scared that he urinated his pants. Stone Cold was later re-signed by Shane McMahon. In the semifinals of the Survivor Series tournament to award the vacant WWF championship, Austin lost to Mankind, after Shane double-crossed Austin. The next night on Raw, Judge Mills Lane ruled that The Rock had to defend his newly won WWF Championship against Austin that night, as stipulated in the new contract Austin had signed two weeks earlier with Shane. The Undertaker interfered and hit Austin with a shovel, earning Austin a disqualification victory, but The Rock kept the championship. At Rock Bottom: In Your House, Steve Austin defeated The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match after Kane Tombstoned The Undertaker into the grave. With this victory, Austin qualified for the 1999 Royal Rumble.
Austin's next definitive chance to exact revenge on Mr. McMahon came during the 1999 Royal Rumble match. On Raw, McMahon drew Austin's entry number with the obvious intention of screwing him over. Austin drew entry number one, while McMahon drew number two thanks to WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels. During the Rumble match, McMahon slipped out of the ring and into the crowd as Austin chased him down. It turned out to be a trap as McMahon led Austin into the lobby restroom where he was ambushed by members of The Corporation. Austin was injured and taken away in an ambulance. With Austin gone and not in the Rumble match, McMahon joined the announce table in calling the match. Later on, however, Austin returned in an ambulance and re-entered the Royal Rumble, delivering a Stunner to the Big Boss Man and eliminating him. With the assistance of the Corporation and a last minute interference from The Rock, Austin was eliminated by McMahon himself, and McMahon won the 1999 Royal Rumble.[9] With McMahon turning down his number-one contender spot against The Rock, WWF Commissioner Michaels awarded Austin the title shot during Raw the next night. At St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Stone Cold got a one-on-one match against McMahon in a Steel Cage match, with the WWF Championship opportunity at WrestleMania XV at stake.[9] During the match, Paul Wight made his debut, breaking through from under the ring and attacking Austin. Wight's attack propelled Austin into the side of the cage forcing the cage to give way and dropping Austin to the floor first, making him the victor.[9] Austin defeated The Rock at WrestleMania XV for his third WWF Championship.[9]
Austin faced The Rock in a rematch at Backlash, in which Shane McMahon was the referee. During the match, Vince McMahon approached the ring, only to hand Austin back his 'Smoking Skull' belt and take Shane out of the proceedings. Austin won the match when another referee made the count. The Undertaker, however, won the WWF Championship from Austin at Over the Edge. Due to events revolving around Vince McMahon, Stephanie and Linda McMahon made Stone Cold the Chief Executive Officer of the company. Vince and Shane McMahon challenged Austin to a Handicap Ladder match at King of the Ring with the CEO title on the line, which the duo of father and son won. The next night on Raw, however, Austin made it clear that while he was the CEO of the company, he could have a title shot at any time and place to be determined by himself. Austin made the WWF Championship match that night on Raw and defeated The Undertaker to win his fourth WWF Championship. However, after he won it, The Undertaker came and hit him with the title belt, leading to a First Blood match between the two at Fully Loaded where Mr. McMahon stipulated that if Austin lost he would never be able to wrestle for the WWF Championship again, and if Austin won, he would never see McMahon again. Austin won after interference from X-Pac, hitting The Undertaker with a TV camera and gave McMahon a goodbye Stone Cold Stunner. Austin held on to the WWF Championship until SummerSlam when he lost it to Mankind in a Triple Threat match also featuring Triple H.[9] Austin would get his rematch at No Mercy against Triple H but lost after The Rock accidentally struck him with a sledgehammer that was meant for Triple H. When Survivor Series rolled around, Triple H was still champion. Austin was booked into a Triple Threat match for the WWF Championship against Triple H and The Rock. However, Austin was run down by a car in the parking lot.[9] The Big Show would replace Austin in the match and would win the WWF Championship. What followed was neck surgery by Dr. Lloyd Youngblood and a nine-month rehabilitation with the car angle as his reason for leaving.[9]
Return and heel turn (2000–2001)[link]
Main article: The Power Trip
Austin appeared at Backlash 2000, attacking Triple H and Vince McMahon to help The Rock reclaim the WWF Championship. At Unforgiven, Austin made his official return. The company, meanwhile, tried to find out who ran him down at Survivor Series the previous year.[9] Rikishi finally admitted to being the driver because "he did it for the people."[9] At No Mercy, Austin was back to face Rikishi in a No Holds Barred match. During the match, Austin motioned he was going to drive his truck into Rikishi, who by that time was a bloody mess. Before he could, he was stopped by officials, the match being deemed no-contest and Austin was (kayfabe) arrested and later bailed by Commissioner Mick Foley. During a handicap match against Rikishi and Kurt Angle, Triple H came down with the apparent intention of teaming with Austin. After clearing the ring, Triple H smashed his sledgehammer over Austin's head, and revealed it was actually him behind the whole scheme, devised to shield the WWF Championship from Austin and end his career. At Survivor Series, Triple H had plotted to run Austin down again during their match (thus repeating the events of the previous year's Survivor Series) but his plot failed when Austin lifted Triple H's automobile with a forklift, then let it drop 20 feet, causing Triple H to shout "Holy shit!" just before the car was released. Also, in the year 2000, Stone Cold Steve Austin competed in a 6 man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon for the WWF Championship, against Triple H, the Undertaker, Rikishi, Kurt Angle and The Rock. In the end, Stone Cold Steve Austin gave The Rock a Stunner and was about to pin him when Triple H came in the way and got a stunner. But Kurt Angle took advantage of the situation and pinned The Rock and picked up the victory, hence retaining the WWF Championship. After the match, Stone Cold Steve Austin delivered a stunner to Kurt Angle, while he was celebrating his victory.
Austin won his third Royal Rumble in January 2001,[36] last eliminating Kane. His rivalry against Triple H ended at No Way Out in a Three Stages of Hell match, with Triple H beating Austin two falls to one. Then, at WrestleMania X-Seven, Austin turned heel by hitting The Rock with a steel chair several times to win the WWF Championship.[9] After the match, Austin shook hands and shared a beer with Vince McMahon. With the victory, Austin became a five-time WWF Champion. The next night on Raw, after teasing a quick face turn, the heel turn continued. He also altered his character considerably over the next few months, in a deliberate turn from the rebellious and anti-establishment character beloved by the fans, Austin became a whiny, temperamental prima donna who would complain incessantly when he felt he was not getting the respect from the fans and wrestlers that he deserved. He also developed an infatuation with McMahon, going to great lengths to impress him and even going so far as to hugging him and bringing him presents. McMahon, though visibly uncomfortable and wary by the attention, was still grateful to have Austin with him instead of against him. During a cage match with The Rock in a rematch for the title, Triple H came down to the ring with a sledgehammer and together with Austin viciously attacked The Rock and put him out of action. Austin further cemented his heel turn the following Thursday on Smackdown! when, during an interview with Jim Ross about his actions at WrestleMania, thought Ross was denouncing their friendship and then proceeded to attack and brutally assault Ross. Austin and Triple H became a team and called themselves The Two-Man Power Trip.[9]
Austin and Triple H were the top heels in the company, and feuding with The Undertaker and Kane. After defeating Kane and The Undertaker for the WWF Tag Team Championship at Backlash, they held the Tag Team Titles, the WWF Championship (Austin), and the WWF Intercontinental Championship (Triple H) all at once. At Judgment Day, Triple H lost his Intercontinental Title to Kane. Then, the following night on Raw, Austin and Triple H wrestled against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit with the Tag Team Titles on the line. Midway through the match, Triple H tore his quadriceps muscle.[9] As planned, the team lost the Tag Team Titles at the end of the match when Triple H accidentally hit Austin in the stomach with a sledgehammer but the injury to Triple H, which kept him out for the remainder of the year, forced the WWF to go in another direction. Austin officially broke up The Power Trip on that week's SmackDown!, criticizing Triple H for his injury and for hitting him with the sledgehammer. He continued to align himself with McMahon and began feuding with Jericho and Benoit by himself, with Kurt Angle joining the group as Triple H's replacement. For most of the next month leading to King of the Ring, Austin did not wrestle as he was nursing an injury but continued to feud with the reigning tag team champions, eventually costing them the titles on the SmackDown! preceding King of the Ring against the Dudley Boyz. Austin defeated Jericho and Benoit in a triple-threat match during the main event of the King of the Ring despite interference from the debuting Booker T.
The Invasion (2001)[link]
See also: The Invasion
After King of the Ring, Austin was left without a feud as Benoit was lost for the next year after neck surgery and Jericho moved on to other things. He began a small spat with Angle over who was McMahon's biggest supporter. Meanwhile, the purchase of World Championship Wrestling by McMahon began to bear fruit as The Invasion began. McMahon was not able to fight off the invading WCW wrestlers, and when they formed an alliance with a group of Extreme Championship Wrestling alumni that were signed to the WWF and both Shane and Stephanie McMahon were now aligned against their father, McMahon's empire began to crumble and he had zero help from his two biggest stars at the time. Austin made it known that he was against teaming with Angle, whom Austin saw as both a threat to his WWF Championship, as well as an annoying tag-along.
Finally, a frustrated McMahon called Austin out and demanded that he bring "the old Stone Cold" back, even going as far as asking Austin to give him a Stone Cold Stunner, so he could effectively captain a team of WWF wrestlers in a ten-man tag team match at the upcoming InVasion pay-per-view in July. A dejected Austin initially refused, but on the following edition of Raw he returned to his old ways and hit Stunners on every member of the Alliance. Then, at InVasion, Austin captained the WWF team consisting of himself, Angle, Jericho, and the Undertaker and Kane against the team of WCW's Booker T and Diamond Dallas Page and ECW's Rhyno and the Dudley Boyz. Late in the match, however, as Angle had Booker in the ankle lock, Austin turned on Angle by Stunning him and joined the Alliance.[9] The reason why Austin did this was that he felt McMahon was grooming Angle to take over his spot, that he was trying to get in touch with The Rock to return, and that he himself was "unappreciated" when McMahon insisted he return to the old Austin. Austin was immediately made the Alliance's new leader and began to feud with Angle over his WWF Championship.
Austin lost his title to Angle at Unforgiven by submitting to the ankle lock, but began badgering Angle for a rematch after claiming his hand was under the ropes (which it was). Austin received that rematch on the October 8, 2001 edition of Raw and won the title after WWF Commissioner William Regal betrayed Angle and joined the Alliance.[9] Austin then began feuding with Alliance member Rob Van Dam, who was the only member of the Alliance to be cheered by the fans despite the villainous tactics of the group. Austin faced Angle and RVD at No Mercy later that month and won by pinning Van Dam.
On the October 29, 2001 Raw Angle joined the Alliance and became the second most powerful wrestler in the group. Survivor Series was coming up,[9] and it was ultimately decided to have a winner-take-all Survivor Series tag match with the winning team becoming the surviving entity. Austin was chosen to captain team Alliance, which consisted of Angle, Shane McMahon, RVD and Booker T, against Team WWF which was captained by The Rock, who had returned the week following Austin's betrayal of the WWF at InVasion. The Rock's team included Jericho, Kane, The Undertaker, and The Big Show. Before Survivor Series, Austin and Rock rekindled their rivalry at the UK-only pay-per-view Rebellion and Austin successfully defended his WWF title with help from Angle.
At Survivor Series, Austin was one of the last two wrestlers in the match, with The Rock being the other, and was the last remaining hope for the Alliance to survive. Late in the match, Austin attempted to win the match with the Rock Bottom, the Rock's finishing maneuver, but failed to earn a three count. He then kicked out of his own Stone Cold Stunner, which the Rock nailed on him, and attacked two referees including Alliance referee Nick Patrick. With the officials down, Angle ran to the ring and picked up Austin's title belt. He then entered the ring and struck Austin with it, betraying the Alliance and enabling The Rock to hit the Rock Bottom on Austin for the pin and the victory. With that, the InVasion ended, the Alliance was forced to disband, and Austin's future as its leader was in question.
Eventually, McMahon decided he was going to strip Austin of the title and award it to Angle for his actions. Just before he could, Ric Flair returned to the WWF for the first time since his 1993 departure and announced he was now half owner of the company. Austin returned moments after this announcement and attacked Angle and McMahon for their actions. He was then handed his title belt by Flair and celebrated with him in the ring, returning to the fans' good graces once again.
Flair then decided that Austin would face off against The Rock, who was still in possession of the former WCW World Championship (which was renamed the World Championship), at the upcoming Vengeance pay-per-view in December to unify the titles. However, since Austin was still feuding with Angle and Rock had an unresolved feud with Jericho over his own title, McMahon overruled Flair and said that both men would wrestle their respective rivals for their respective titles at Vengeance, with the winners to face each other and the winner of that match to be crowned Undisputed WWF Champion. Austin won his first match by defeating Angle with the Stone Cold Stunner and faced World Champion Jericho in the unification match. Austin lost the match after McMahon and Booker T interfered and lost his title. Immediately after, Austin and Booker T began feuding which would lead to various fights in strange venues, such as a church confessional, a bingo hall, and a supermarket.
Issues with Bookings and Creative Teams; departure (2002)[link]
Beginning 2002, although Austin's character remained with the WWF's most popular wrestlers as top face, his upcoming story lines in the build-up to WrestleMania were somewhat questionable compared to those of his previous years. In the 2002 Royal Rumble, Triple H made his long-awaited return from injury, with he and Austin two of the last four participants in the ring along with Kurt Angle and Mr Perfect. Austin was eliminated by Kurt Angle, however he shortly went back in the ring and hit all three with a steel chair. A few days later on Raw he defeated Kurt Angle to earn a shot at Chris Jericho's WWF Undisputed Championship at No Way Out 2002.
In the build-up to No Way Out, McMahon had re-signed the New World Order, who started a feud with him after (kayfabe) Austin refused a beer gift. Problems in the backstage creativity were however then seemingly beginning to surface. Austin was reported as being unhappy regarding Hulk Hogan's return to the WWF, and was reported as refusing to lose to Hogan in a proposed match at WrestleMania X8, while Hogan reportedly told McMahon the same regarding losing to Austin. Consequently, the match was re-billed as The Rock defeating Hogan, whilst Austin defeated Scott Hall, climaxing his feud with the nWo.
In a surprise altercation the next night on Raw, Austin refused to show up and took a week-long break without the company's consent, claiming exhaustion. McMahon claimed his actions caused fury among fans who had paid to see him that night. Austin returned on the April 1, 2002 episode of Raw, the first of the new "brand extension" era. The show was centered on which show he would sign with, and he ultimately chose Raw. Austin entered a feud with The Undertaker that resulted in a number-one contender's match for the WWE Undisputed Championship at Backlash 2002, which Austin lost despite having his foot on the rope when he was pinned. He would later be betrayed by Big Show, who went on to rejoin the nWo, and Ric Flair. Austin then defeated Big Show and Flair in a handicap match at Judgment Day.
In an interview on WWE television by telephone in May 2002, Austin stunned the company and fans by launching a verbal attack on the direction the company was heading in and slated the creative team for not using him the way he felt they previously did. The commentators struggled to keep Austin's opinions on a neutral wavelength, leading to the WWE apologising to fans for the outburst and stated it was not part of Austin's current or upcoming storylines. McMahon responded a week later on the same show playing down the outburst, claiming that Austin was merely the type of wrestler who was occasionally difficult to work with.
The WWE rehired Eddie Guerrero for Austin to feud with, while also prepping Austin for a feud with Brock Lesnar. Austin, however, vetoed any matches that would result in him losing to Lesnar and ultimately walked out of the company.[37] Austin later explained that he thought hot-shotting a rookie made Austin look weak and did not give Lesnar a proper stage for such a big win over a star of the magnitude that Austin held.
Further fanning the flames amongst Austin's growing number of detractors was a well-publicized domestic dispute incident between Austin and his wife Debra.[37]
On June 3, following the dispute with Debra, Austin made his last appearance for WWE on Raw. After Austin no-showed the episode of Raw the following week, his storylines were dropped.[37]
Austin walked out again publicly stating he felt bad storylines were presented to him by the creative team. This time his departure was for good.[37] McMahon, along with longtime Austin supporter and real-life friend Jim Ross, buried Austin on WWE programming, referring to him as "taking his ball and going home" because he wasn't getting his way, whilst also explaining to the fans that neither he nor Ross were able to persuade Austin to change his mind. McMahon insisted that Austin owed an apology to all the fans across the world, especially those who paid solely to see him that night. McMahon toasted to Austin's career with a beer thanking him for all his hard work nonetheless. The Rock also made an appearance on Raw despite being drafted to Smackdown!, and announced his frustrations towards Austin.
Austin's merchandise continued to sell greatly in the weeks following his departure, however with no sign of a return likely to be seen, the company stopped marketing his character, his merchandise, and removed his profile from WWE.com.
This period was documented in an episode of WWE Confidential.
Return to World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE (2003–present)[link]
Final storylines and retirement (2003-2004)[link]
For the remainder of 2002, Austin kept a low profile and did not make any public appearances in or out of wrestling. It was reported however by the end of the year, Austin and McMahon met and resolved their differences. He then agreed to return to the company in early 2003.
In an interview with WWE Raw Magazine, he announced deep regret over the situation that led to his departure and the way in which he'd left, and deeper regret over inaccurate speculation regarding his alleged grudges held against other WWE wrestlers, claiming he had no problem with Scott Hall rejoining the company, although he admitted he still held strong reservations about his singles match with Hall at WrestleMania only lasting 7 minutes and felt build-up to the match did not live up to his or Hall's fans expectations, and was angered by speculation suggesting he disagreed with Kevin Nash re-joining the company, insisting he and Nash have always been good friends. He confessed he had a major rift with Paul Levesque's (Triple H's) role in the company upon his return in 2002, but insisted as of 2003 they resolved their issues. In addition, he claimed a brief dispute with Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) was resolved quickly upon his return, and that none of his disputes with the talent roster continued or played the major part in his departure.
In February, Austin returned at No Way Out in a short match against Eric Bischoff. Austin would wrestle only one match between then and WrestleMania in another short match against Bischoff on Raw but was then defeated by The Rock at WrestleMania XIX, who returned about the same time as a smug, "sell out" villain, which, ultimately, became Austin's last official match in WWE. It was also revealed later in the documentary "The Mania Of Wrestlemania" (Based around the Wrestlemania 19 event) that the letters O.M.R were put on his jacket for his match against The Rock symbolically meaning "One More Round"
The night after on Raw, Bischoff (kayfabe) "fired" Austin on medical grounds. The next morning, Austin gave an interview on WWE.com announcing his retirement from wrestling, although he stated that he and Vince McMahon had reached an agreement seeing him only appear in non-wrestling roles on a weekly basis. In reference to Bischoff firing him on Raw that week, he said that although firing was for storyline purposes, he admitted the medical problems read out on Raw were real and mainly related back to his injury sustained at SummerSlam 1997 in a match with Owen Hart, and had begun to seriously plague him since late 2001. He confessed wrestling against the advice of his doctors up to his departure in 2002, which forced him to quit wrestling, and cited this as the sole reason as to why he suddenly departed, with doctors advising an awkward or violent move performed on him could have resulted in Austin being permanently disabled or resulting in death.
The following week, Austin began his non-wrestling career with the WWE and began a fresh storyline when he was brought back by Linda McMahon as the Co-General Manager of Raw. He continued this storyline for the remainder of the year, still showing wrestling moves including the Stone Cold Stunner and several exchanges of punches and kicks, although limiting regularity of these being performed. On the November 17, 2003 episode of Raw, Austin was "fired" from Raw as the result of a stipulation in a match at Survivor Series where Austin's hand-picked team of wrestlers failed to beat Bischoff's team of wrestlers. Austin quickly returned to WWE television before the end of 2003 when he was part of the WWE Tribute to the Troops taped live in front of U.S. troops in Iraq, posing and stunning Mr. McMahon. He finally came back on Raw on December 29 as its "Sheriff", giving a Stone Cold Stunner to Eric Bischoff and rehiring Shawn Michaels, who had just been "fired" by Bischoff.
Austin appeared on and off as 2004 began, culminating in him being the special guest referee for the notorious match between Brock Lesnar and Goldberg at WrestleMania XX in which fans cheered for Austin and jeered both Lesnar and Goldberg due to both men announcing their departures from the company following the event. Then, on April 17, WWE put out a press release on their website claiming that Steve Austin and WWE were unable to settle long-running contract disputes and had again parted ways.
Raw appearances (2005–present)[link]
Stone Cold Steve Austin made his first appearance on WWE programming in a year at WrestleMania 21 where he was confronted by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper in Piper's Pit until Carlito interrupted to insult both. This resulted in Carlito receiving a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin and Piper throwing him out of the ring. The segment ended with Stone Cold and Piper celebrating with beer until he gave Piper a Stone Cold Stunner as well. He then appeared on a few subsequent episodes of Raw.
At ECW One Night Stand Austin came to the ring following the show's main event. Wearing a Las Vegas Outlaws XFL jersey, Stone Cold came to the ring to give The Sandman a beer which he had asked for. However, Austin invited the whole locker room to the ring for a Beer Bash. However, before the bash he demanded the WWE Crusaders come to the ring for a fight. Tazz came to the ring, which started the brawl. After Taz applied the Tazzmission to Kurt Angle the brawl ended. ECW stood alone in the ring after throwing all of the Crusaders out of the ring. Mick Foley (as Cactus Jack) then dragged Eric Bischoff to the ring. The Dudley Boyz gave him a Dudley Death Drop, followed by Chris Benoit giving him a Diving Headbutt, Rey Mysterio followed that with a 619. When Stone Cold then asked Bischoff about his feelings on the night, he responded with "F**K ECW", which prompted Austin to give Bischoff a stunner. As the Dudley Boyz took Bischoff outside, and loaded him onto a Garbage truck, the remaining ECW Originals took part in a "beer bash" as the show went off the air. He was on Raw the following night.
Then, at WWE Homecoming, Stone Cold again returned to Raw, delivering Stunners to all four members of the McMahon family.[38] An angle including Jim Ross being fired led to a match in which Stone Cold agreed to face Bischoff's replacement, Jonathan Coachman, at Taboo Tuesday, with the stipulation of Ross regaining his announcing job if Austin were to win and Austin losing his own job if he lost the match. Austin hurt his back prior to the match, and could not wrestle unless he was heavily medicated, so the match was cancelled. To explain away his failure to appear at Taboo Tuesday, Vince McMahon said on Raw that Stone Cold had been involved in an accident, thus preventing him from competing. Batista substituted for Austin defeating The Coach along with Vader and Goldust. The stipulation was dropped due to Austin not competing.[39]
Austin returned to WWE briefly to face John "Bradshaw" Layfield in a beer drinking contest at the March 5, 2006 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event. Austin won by disqualification as he saw JBL cheating by pouring the beer down his clothes. JBL threw some beer in Austin's face and tried to run away, but Chris Benoit quickly threw JBL back in the ring. Austin gave a stunner to JBL and then celebrated with the Stone Cold beer salute. Austin then inducted Bret Hart into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006.[40]
Austin returned to WWE programming (appearing on Raw, ECW, and SmackDown!) in March 2007, partially to promote his starring role in the release of WWE Films' production, The Condemned. On March 31, 2007, Austin inducted his friend Jim Ross into the WWE Hall of Fame. At WrestleMania 23, Austin, as a special guest referee, officiated the match between Bobby Lashley and Umaga. The stipulation for the match was that if Lashley lost, Donald Trump's head would be shaved, and if Umaga lost, Mr. McMahon's head would suffer the same fate. In the course of the event, Austin delivered stunners to Umaga, Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, and Donald Trump. Lashley eventually won the match, and Trump, Austin and Lashley then shaved Mr.McMahon's head on live TV. Stone Cold ended by stunning McMahon as well as Donald Trump and toasting beers.[41] He then appeared in a video on the June 11 episode of Raw as part of "Mr. McMahon's Appreciation Night", where he shared his thoughts on his past feuds with McMahon.[42]
Austin appeared on the August 18, 2007 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, as a possible illegitimate child of Mr. McMahon and stunned McMahon and Jonathan Coachman. Austin appeared at SummerSlam where he was the replacement for Matt Hardy to battle Montel Vontavious Porter in a Beer Drinking Contest. The match ended in a no contest after Austin handed a beer to MVP and gave him the Stone Cold Stunner.[43] Austin made another appearance at Cyber Sunday, where he guest refereed a World Heavyweight Championship match between the champion Batista, and the challenger The Undertaker. Batista walked out the champion after delivering a Batista Bomb to The Undertaker.On the November 5, 2007 episode of Raw, Austin made an appearance to confront Santino Marella for criticizing The Condemned.[44] The argument ended as Marella received a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin, who then walked backstage only to return with a Budweiser beer truck to hose down Marella and his valet Maria with beer.[44] On December 10, 2007 during the Raw 15th Anniversary Spectacular, Austin returned after Vince McMahon received the mandible claw from Mankind and a chokeslam from The Undertaker for proclaiming himself "the greatest Raw superstar of all time." Shortly after, McMahon received a Stone Cold Stunner and Austin called out all WWE stars in attendance to the ring to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Raw. The show closed as Austin, Triple H and Hornswoggle poured beer on McMahon, who was knocked out outside the ring.
On October 26, 2008, at Cyber Sunday, Austin was the special guest referee during a match between Batista and Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship. In between the match Stone Cold told a fleeing Jericho that if he was counted out or disqualified, Batista would win the title. During the course of the match, Batista accidentally knocked Austin down. When Austin recovered, Randy Orton, who had come out as the third referee, knocked Austin back down, only to receive a Stone Cold Stunner when Austin recovered. Eventually Batista won the match by hitting his signature Batista Bomb on Chris Jericho, leading Austin to give the three count, making Batista the new World Heavyweight Champion.[45]
On January 12, 2009, episode of Raw, Austin was announced to be the first member of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009.[46] He was inducted by his long-term on-screen rival Vince McMahon, who referred to Austin as "The Greatest WWE Superstar of all time." During the induction, there were "one more match" chants, to which Austin said he was officially closing the door on his wrestling career and starting a new chapter in his life. At WrestleMania XXV, Austin was introduced alongside the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009. After the introductions, Austin's theme music hit, and he re-entered the ringside area wearing a vintage "Austin 3:16" shirt driving an ATV. He then enjoyed his trademark beer bash with the fans and with long-time friend Jim Ross.
Austin returned to the company on the March 15, 2010 episode of Raw as its guest host. On that episode of Raw he moderated a contract signing between Vince McMahon and Bret Hart for their match at WrestleMania XXVI. In the same episode Austin met up backstage with his longtime rival Shawn Michaels, who asked Austin whether he believed that Michaels could end the Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania streak in their upcoming match. Austin replied "Hell yeah I think you can beat the Undertaker, but I don't think you're going to, The streak is going to go 18-0". Michaels lost the match extending the Undertaker's streak to 18-0 and forcing Michaels to retire.
On the 900th episode of "Raw"; which took place on August 30, 2010; the intro and theme for Stone Cold Steve Austin were shown. However, this was only a trick by fellow wrestler CM Punk who was attempting to prove a point about what the Straight Edge Society believed was a disturbing history of the WWE. Steve Austin did not actually make an appearance on this night.
In early 2011, Austin was announced as the head trainer and host for the revival of WWE Tough Enough. On the March 7 episode of Raw, Austin interrupted the contract signing of the special guest referee to the Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler match at WrestleMania XXVII, originally scheduled to be John "Bradshaw" Layfield. After stunning Layfield, Austin signed the contract instead and became the official guest referee for the scheduled match.[47] Although Lawler won by submission, the anonymous Raw General Manager reversed the decision and disqualified Lawler, claiming that Austin had "overstepped his authority". He appeared on Raw the following night with the cast from Tough Enough, while also getting into an altercation with The Miz and Alex Riley
On April 7, 2011, Austin gave an interview where he talked about his return, filming Tough Enough and the respect he has for CM Punk. Austin was asked about a return to the ring and said that he felt that if he had to, he had two more years in him and could still do a full-time schedule. However, he then stated that he was happy with where he was at in life and wanted to be able to hunt and fish 10–20 years from now and be able to do it pain free.
On the June 6th episode of Raw, Austin appeared live alongside old rival Vince McMahon to declare Andy Leavine as the winner of Tough Enough. He also served as the Special Guest Referee in the evening's tag team main event, John Cena and Alex Riley vs. The Miz and R-Truth. The end of the match came as a result of Austin hitting the infamous Stone Cold Stunner on The Miz, which was followed by an Attitude Adjustment from Cena and then the pinfall victory. However, the Anonymous Raw General Manager chimed in and the GM's ringside mouthpiece Michael Cole announced that since Austin had abused his authority as referee, The Miz and R-Truth win via disqualification. Austin did not take kindly to the GM overturning his decision and Cole also received a Stunner, which was followed with another Attitude Adjustment courtesy of Cena. Austin and Cena closed the show, celebrating with a beer bash.
Austin was the special guest GM on the 3-hour All-Star edition of Monday Night Raw, emanating live from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply Nassau Coliseum) in Long Island, New York, where all Superstars and Divas have performed. On this night, he destroyed the anonymous Raw general manager's laptop by running over it with his ATV. This is the second time the GM's laptop was destroyed since Edge physically attacked it on September 27, 2010.
He also announced that the next week of Raw (June 20, 2011, also the Raw after Capitol Punishment); emanating live from the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland; will be another 3-hour show where the WWE Universe takes the authority to choose the opponent or stipulation of a match. He then announced that the show is named "Power to the People".
Television and film career[link]
Steve Austin filmed guest roles on Celebrity Deathmatch and Nash Bridges, where he played Detective Jake Cage. He appeared in The 1998 Billboard Music Awards. He has appeared on shows like V.I.P, Dilbert, The Teen Choice Awards, CMT Music Awards. His motion picture debut was in a supporting role as Guard Dunham in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard. Austin had his first starring film role, as Jack Conrad, a dangerous convict awaiting execution in a Salvadoran prison, who takes part in an illegal deathmatch game that is being broadcast to the public in the 2007 thriller The Condemned.
In 2010, Austin appeared in the film The Expendables as Dan Paine, the bodyguard and right hand man for the primary antagonist of the film. This role featured Austin working alongside other action stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Terry Crews, and Randy Couture. He Appeared as Hugo Panzer on TV series Chuck. He has starred in Dtv Movies like Damage, Hunt to Kill, The Stranger, Tactical Force and Knockout. His upcoming movies include Recoil With Danny Trejo, The Package with Dolph Lundgren and Maximum Conviction with Steven Seagal.
He is scheduled to appear in Adam Sandler's Comedy Grown Ups 2.
Filmography[link]
Film[link]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1999 | Beyond the Mat | Himself | Documentary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | The Longest Yard | Guard Dunham | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | The Condemned | Jack Conrad | Produced by WWE Films | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Damage | John Brickner | Direct-to-video | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | The Stranger | The Stranger | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | The Expendables | Jacob Paine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Hunt to Kill | Jim Rhodes | Direct-to-video | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Knockout | Dan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Tactical Force | Tate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Recoil | Ryan Varrett | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Maximum Conviction | Manning | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | The Package | Johnny Gallagher
Television[link]
Personal life[link]Austin dated Kathryn Burrhus throughout high school and college, and the two married on November 24, 1990. Nonetheless, Austin pursued a relationship with Jeannie Clark ("Lady Blossom"), with whom he was working. His marriage to Burrhus was quickly annulled on August 7, 1992,[48] and Austin and Clark married on December 18, 1992. Together, they have two daughters, Stephanie (born in 1992) and Cassidy (born in 1996).[49] He also adopted Jade, Clark's daughter with former husband Chris Adams.[50] Austin and Clark divorced on May 10, 1999 and their daughters live in Southend-on-Sea, England with Clark, while Jade lives in America with her husband and son.[49][51] On September 13, 2000, Austin married WWE Diva Debra Marshall.[52] On June 15, 2002 police were called to their residence in San Antonio, Texas.[37] They found a hysterical Marshall with bruises.[53] Austin had left the house and was asked by police not to return. On August 14, 2002, Austin was arrested and charged with domestic abuse. He pled no contest on November 25, 2002 and was given a year's probation, a $1,000 fine, and ordered to carry out eighty hours of community service.[54] Marshall would later claim that Austin was a steroid user and this incident was the result of roid rage.[55] Austin filed for divorce from Marshall on July 22, 2002 and the divorce was finalized on February 5, 2003.[56] On June 29, 2007, Marshall told Fox News that Austin beat her three times.[57] She also stated that WWE put a gag order on her so she would not reveal that Stone Cold hit her, as it would cost the company millions of dollars.[58] The WWE did not respond to her allegations. In December 2007, the Wrestling Observer newsletter reported that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin legally changed his real name (Steven Williams) to his wrestling name Steve Austin.[59] Austin currently resides in Los Angeles, California and in Tilden, Texas, where he owns the Broken Skull Ranch. In wrestling[link]
Championships and accomplishments[link]
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1 ^ The Million Dollar Championship isn't an official championship recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment. [edit] Bibliography
References[link]
External links[link]
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http://wn.com/Stone_Cold_Steve_Austin
Related pages:
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http://es.wn.com/Steve Austin (luchador profesional)
http://ru.wn.com/Остин, Стив
http://nl.wn.com/Stone Cold Steve Austin
http://pt.wn.com/Stone Cold Steve Austin
http://pl.wn.com/Steve Austin
http://fr.wn.com/Stone Cold Steve Austin
http://de.wn.com/Steve Austin
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| Ric Flair | |
|---|---|
 Ric Flair in 2008. |
|
| Ring name(s) | Ric Flair[1] The Black Scorpion[1] "Ramblin" Ricky Rhodes[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2] |
| Billed weight | 243 lb (110 kg)[2] |
| Born | (1949-02-25) February 25, 1949 (age 63)[3] Memphis, Tennessee[4] |
| Resides | Charlotte, North Carolina[2] |
| Billed from | Charlotte, North Carolina[2] |
| Trained by | Verne Gagne[2][5] |
| Debut | December 10, 1972 |
Richard Morgan Fliehr[3] (born February 25, 1949)[3] is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair.[6] Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time with a professional career that spans 40 years. [7] He is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and is noted for his lengthy and highly decorated tenures with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (now known as WWE). Flair is officially recognized by WWE, TNA and PWI as a 16-time World Heavyweight Champion (seven-time NWA Champion, seven-time WCW Champion and two-time WWF Champion) although his actual tally of World Championship reigns varies by source—Flair considers himself a 21-time world champion.[8]
In World Championship Wrestling (WCW), he also had two stints as a booker—in 1989–1990 and 1994.[9] Flair also became the first and only man to have won the WWF Championship in a Royal Rumble match, when he accomplished this in the 1992 edition of the event. In 2012, Flair became the first ever double inductee in the WWE Hall of Fame, first inducted in 2008 for his individual career, and for a second time in 2012 as a member of the Four Horsemen. He is also an NWA Hall of Famer (class of 2008). Flair's hair styles and mannerisms are based on those of Buddy Rogers, who previously and famously used the "Nature Boy" gimmick in the 1950s and '60s. Coincidentally, Flair also followed Rogers in becoming the second man to win both the WWF and the NWA World Heavyweight Championships.
Flair was the first WCW World Champion, having been awarded the title following WCW's secession from the NWA in 1991. With that, he also became the first WCW Triple Crown Champion upon being awarded the title, having already held the United States and World Tag Team titles. In 2005, he completed WWE's version of the Triple Crown when he won the Intercontinental Championship, after already holding the WWF (now WWE) Championship, as well as the World Tag Team Championship, becoming the third man to win both the WCW and WWE Triple Crown (after Bret Hart and Chris Benoit). Using the officially recognized totals (by WWE, TNA and PWI) of 16 World Championships and a record-tying five U.S. Championship reigns, Flair has won a total of 30 different major championships between the NWA, WCW, and WWE, with numerous regional titles also to his credit.
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Early life[link]
Richard Fleihr (Ric Flair) was born on February 25, 1949. In the opening chapter of his autobiography To Be the Man, he notes that his birth name is given on different documents as Fred. At the time of his adoption (arranged by the notorious Tennessee Children's Home Society, later shut down for adoption fraud), his father was completing a residency in Detroit. Shortly afterward, the family settled in Edina, Minnesota, where the young Richard Fliehr lived throughout his childhood. After grade 9, he attended Wayland Academy, a coeducational boarding school in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, for four years (five years total in high school) during which time he participated in interscholastic wrestling, football and track.[10]
As a teen, Flair took a summer job as a lifeguard at a local pool in Minnesota, where he received his first exposure to the wrestling business when he met the legendary Vachon brothers. In both 1966 and 1968, Flair won the state private school wrestling championship and was recruited to the University of Minnesota on a football scholarship, where he played alongside Greg Gagne, the son of Verne Gagne. Flair dropped out of college before receiving his degree, and he then worked as a bouncer at a nearby club, where he met Olympic weightlifter Ken Patera, who was preparing for a ring career at Verne Gagne's wrestling school. Patera introduced Flair to Verne Gagne, who agreed to take him on as a member of his training class.
Professional wrestling career[link]
American Wrestling Association (1972–1974)[link]
Under the tutelage of Josh Klemme[5] and Billy Robinson, Flair attended Gagne's first Wrestling camp with Greg Gagne, Jim Brunzell, Iron Sheik, and Ken Patera at Gagne's barn outside of Minneapolis in the winter of 1971. Flair met Ken Patera when he was working as a bouncer after dropping out of school at the U of M after completing his freshman year there in 1968-69. They lived together for a while in South Minneapolis. Flair made fast progress, and in December 1972, he made his debut in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, battling George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski to a 10-minute draw while adopting the ring name "Ric Flair."[5] Then weighing nearly 300 pounds with short brown hair, Flair scarcely resembled his future "Nature Boy" image. But he drew attention with his charismatic personality and ring endurance. During his time in the American Wrestling Association, Flair had matches with Dusty Rhodes, André the Giant, Larry Hennig, and Wahoo McDaniel.[11]
National Wrestling Alliance[link]
Becoming the Nature Boy (1974–1981)[link]
In 1974, Flair left the AWA for Jim Crockett's Mid-Atlantic region in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA);[11] and he soon captured his first singles title when, on February 8, 1975, he beat Paul Jones for the Mid-Atlantic TV Championship. On October 4, 1975, however, Flair's career nearly ended when he was in a serious plane crash in Wilmington, North Carolina that took the life of the pilot and paralyzed Johnny Valentine (also on board were "Mr. Wrestling I" Tim Woods, Bob Bruggers, and promoter David Crockett).[12] Flair broke his back in three places and, at age 26, was told by doctors that he would never wrestle again.[12] Flair conducted a rigorous physical therapy schedule, however, and he returned to the ring just six months later, where he resumed his feud with Wahoo McDaniel in February 1976.[12] The crash did force Flair to change his wrestling technique away from the power brawling style he had used early on, which led him to adopt the "Nature Boy" style he would use throughout his career.
Groomed by Jim Crockett Jr. as his future top star, Flair won the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship when he defeated Bobo Brazil on July 29, 1977; and during the next three years, he held five reigns as U.S. Champion while feuding with Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Mr. Wrestling II, Jimmy Snuka, and Greg Valentine (with whom he also formed a championship tag team). Flair, however, reached elite status when he began referring to himself as "The Nature Boy" in order to incite a 1978 feud with the original "Nature Boy", Buddy Rogers, who put Flair over in one encounter.
NWA World Heavyweight Champion (1981–1986)[link]
On September 17, 1981, Flair reached the top of the mountain when he beat Dusty Rhodes for his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship. In the following years, Flair eventually established himself as the promotion's main franchise in the midst of emerging competition from Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation. With his outlandish wit and entertaining interview style, Flair embodied the role of the World Champion—sporting bleached blond hair, elegant jewelry, designer suits, and elaborate custom robes while dishing out his trademark chops and figure four leglock. All the while, Flair taunted his opponents with his "Wooo!" shout while boasting that "To be 'The Man,' you gotta beat the man!".
In 1982, Jack Veneno and Flair had a series of matches. Veneno defeated Flair for the World Title, but the NWA did not recognize this change. Flair also wrestled matches with Ricky Steamboat throughout the year. Harley Race won the title from Flair in 1983, but Flair regained the title at Starrcade in Greensboro, North Carolina in a steel cage match; afterward, Race and Flair fought in many different matches in early 1984. Flair won the NWA title, officially, eight more times. As the NWA champion, he defended his belt around the world. Flair lost the title to Race and won it back in the span of three days in New Zealand in March 1984. At the first David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions at Texas Stadium, Flair was pinned by Kerry Von Erich. Flair regained the title eighteen days later in Japan.
He then reigned for two years, two months, and two days, losing his title to Dusty Rhodes on July 26, 1986 at The Great American Bash; Rhodes had been an ever-present foe in Flair's career after Flair helped break Rhodes's ankle on September 29, 1985. Flair regained the title two weeks later. Flair defended his titles against opponents like Harley Race, Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Kerry Von Erich, Jay Youngblood, Sting, Ronnie Garvin, Magnum T.A., and Rhodes throughout his career, as well.
The Four Horsemen[link]
Main article: Four Horsemen
In the spring of 1985, the tag team of Ole Anderson and Arn Anderson began aiding Ric Flair (whom they claimed as a "cousin") in attacks against Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T.A., and Sam Houston. A few weeks later, the Andersons interrupted Houston's match against Tully Blanchard, and the three villains combined to rough up the youngster while sending a message to the rest of the NWA. Shortly thereafter, Flair, Blanchard, and the Andersons formalized their alliance, calling themselves the Four Horsemen, with Blanchard's manager J.J. Dillon also coming on board. Upon the group's inception, it was clear that the Horsemen were unlike any villainous alliance that had ever existed. The four rule breakers immediately used their strength in numbers to decimate the NWA's top fan favorites while controlling the majority of the championship titles. Over the years, there would be various incarnations of the group, with Flair and Arn Anderson as the two permanent members, while a number of different wrestlers, including Lex Luger, Barry Windham, Sting, Sid Vicious, Paul Roma, Brian Pillman, Chris Benoit, Jeff Jarrett, Steve McMichael, Curt Hennig, and Dean Malenko, have held the other two spots in the Horsemen.
World Championship Wrestling (1986–1991)[link]
By 1986, wrestling promoter Jim Crockett had consolidated the various NWA member promotions he owned into a single entity, running under the banner of the National Wrestling Alliance. Controlling much of the traditional NWA territories in the southeast and Midwestern United States, Crockett looked to expand nationally and built his promotion around Flair as champion. During this time, Flair's bookings as champion were tightly controlled by Crockett, and a custom championship belt was created for Flair. In 1987, Flair and Barry Windham had a series of matches for the NWA World Championship. Flair defeated Windham at the Crockett Cup tournament and they fought to a time limit draw in January. Flair lost the NWA World Championship due to his flamboyant ways in Detroit to Ron Garvin on September 25, 1987. Garvin held the title for two months before losing to Flair on November 26, 1987 at WCW's first pay-per-view event, Starrcade, in Chicago.
In early 1988, rising star Sting had challenged Flair to a match at the first ever Clash of the Champions. Flair accepted and fought Sting to a 45 minute time-limit draw. In late 1988, booker Dusty Rhodes proposed that Flair lose the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Rick Steiner in a short match at Starrcade when no agreement could be met regarding the finish to the scheduled main event between him and Lex Luger. Rhodes was fired for various issues within the company, and former JCP booker George Scott was given his role as a booker. Scott immediately negotiated to bring in Ricky Steamboat for a series of matches. On February 20, 1989, at Chi-Town Rumble in Chicago, Steamboat pinned Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. This prompted a series of rematches, where Steamboat was presented as a "family man" (often accompanied by his wife and young son), while Flair opposed him as an immoral, fast-living "ladies man".
Following a best-of-three falls match with Steamboat that lasted just short of the 60-minute time limit (and ended with a disputed finish where Steamboat retained the title) at Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin' Cajun on April 2, Flair regained the title from Steamboat on May 7, 1989 at WrestleWar. This match was voted 1989's "Match of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated, and is widely considered among the greatest matches of all time. Flair was attacked by Terry Funk (serving as a judge for the match, as per its stipulations) after the match when Flair refused to grant Funk a title match, telling Funk that he had spent too much time in Hollywood and out of wrestling, and was not a listed title contender. The attack reached its conclusion when Funk gave Flair a piledriver onto the judges' table.
Months later, a "recovered" Flair returned to competition in an emotional match against Funk at The Great American Bash. The two continued feuding through the summer and eventually Flair reformed the Four Horsemen, with the surprise addition of longtime rival Sting, to combat Funk's J-Tex Corporation. This led to an "I Quit" match at Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knockout. Before the match, Funk stated that he would shake Flair's hand if he lost, a promise he kept when he shouted, "Yes, I quit!" after being in Flair's figure four leglock. Flair then kicked Sting out of the Horsemen upon his challenge for the NWA Championship, resulting in a revived feud between the two which had to be delayed due to Sting injuring his knee, forcing WCW to slot Lex Luger as Flair's main challenger until Sting returned. On July 7, 1990, Flair dropped the title to Sting at The Great American Bash. After being unmasked as the Black Scorpion at Starrcade in 1990, Flair regained the title from Sting on January 11, 1991, in front of a near empty house due to the blizzard conditions in the New York City area. Prior to this reign, WCW split their recognition of a World Heavyweight Champion from the NWA, and Flair was subsequently recognized as the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion, while still being recognized as NWA World Champion.
At the Clash of the Champions XIV: Dixie Dynamite on January 30, he wrestled Scott Steiner to a draw. On March 21, 1991, Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Flair in a controversial match in Tokyo at the WCW/New Japan Supershow. While the NWA recognized Fujinami as their new champion, WCW did not because Fujinami had backdropped Flair over the top rope in a violation of WCW rules. On May 19, 1991, Flair defeated Fujinami at SuperBrawl I in St. Petersburg, Florida to reclaim the NWA title and retain the WCW Title. In doing so, he became a nine time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, breaking Harley Race's record of eight reigns. On June 12, at the Clash of the Champions XV: Knocksville USA, he defeated Bobby Eaton in a two out of three falls match.
In the spring of 1991, Flair had a contract dispute with WCW president Jim Herd, who wanted him to take a substantial pay cut. Herd had removed Flair as head booker in February 1990 and wanted to reduce Flair's role in the promotion even further, despite the fact that Flair was still a top draw. According to Flair, Herd also proposed changes in his appearance (i.e. by shaving his hair, wearing a diamond earring and going by the name "Spartacus") as well as his in-ring name in order to "change with the times".[13] Flair disagreed with the proposals, and two weeks before The Great American Bash, Herd fired him and vacated the WCW Championship. While Flair had left for the WWF he was still recognized as the NWA World Champion until September 8, when the title was officially vacated.
World Wrestling Federation[link]
The Real World Heavyweight Champion (1991)[link]
Flair signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in August 1991 and began appearing on television as one of the most hated heels the next month. Initially, he appeared on WWF shows with the "Big Gold Belt," calling himself "The Real World Heavyweight Champion." Led by his "financial advisor" Bobby Heenan and his "executive consultant" Mr. Perfect, Flair repeatedly issued challenges to WWF wrestlers like Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan, wrestling a team led by Piper at Survivor Series in 1991 and helping The Undertaker defeat Hogan for the WWF Championship that same night.[14] WCW sued Flair in an attempt to reclaim the belt,[15] but Flair claimed that he owned the belt in lieu of the $25,000 deposit paid by NWA champions upon winning the title, which had not been returned to him when he was fired from WCW. In the 2008 DVD Nature Boy Ric Flair: The Definitive Collection, Flair claimed that to this day he has never been paid $25,000 deposit, plus interest.[16] Later in the DVD Triple H said that Flair gave him the actual WCW title belt as a gift.
WWF Champion and feud with Randy Savage (1992–1993)[link]
At the Royal Rumble in 1992, he won the Rumble match to claim the vacant WWF Championship. Flair drew number three in the Rumble match and lasted a then-record nearly 60 minutes, last eliminating Sid Justice with help from Hulk Hogan, who had been eliminated by Justice seconds earlier.[14] In so doing, Flair joined Buddy Rogers as the only men to win the WWF and NWA World Championships in their careers.
After a planned program with Hogan was scrapped due to Hogan's hiatus following the WWF's steroid scandal, Randy Savage challenged Flair for the WWF title as part of the double main event at WrestleMania VIII. In the storyline, Flair taunted Savage by claiming that he had a prior relationship with Savage's wife, Elizabeth, and that he had the pictures to prove it (which were later revealed to be doctored photos). Savage defeated Flair for the title at WrestleMania.[14] In July 1992, as Savage prepared to defend the title against The Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam,[14] Flair and Mr. Perfect sowed distrust between the two by suggesting that they would back one or the other during their match. They actually attacked both Savage and Warrior and injured Savage's knee, an injury that Flair exploited to regain the title in a match with Savage on September 1. His second reign was short-lived, however, as he lost the title to Bret Hart on October 12, 1992.
Flair teamed with Razor Ramon to take on Savage and Perfect at the Survivor Series 1992.[17] After losing a Loser Leaves the WWF match to Mr. Perfect on the January 18, 1993 edition of Monday Night Raw,[18] Flair appeared in the Royal Rumble in 1993 (although the match with Perfect had been taped six days prior, it did not air until the following night) and then fulfilled his remaining house show commitments, making his last appearance on February 10, 1993, before returning to WCW.[19] On The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection DVD, Flair described his first stint with the WWF as "the greatest year and a half of my career, outside the time I spent with Arn Anderson and The Four Horsemen."
Return to World Championship Wrestling[link]
Retirement teases (1993–1996)[link]
Flair returned to WCW as a face in February 1993 and, as a result of a "no-compete" clause, hosted a short-lived talk show in WCW called A Flair for the Gold as he was unable to appear wrestling. Arn Anderson usually appeared at the bar on the show's set, and Flair's maid, Fifi (portrayed by Wendy Barlow),[20] cleaned or bore gifts. Once he returned to action, Flair briefly held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for a tenth time after defeating Barry Windham at Beach Blast before WCW finally left the NWA in September 1993. At Starrcade in 1993, Flair was placed in a match, which was billed that if Flair lost, he would retire from wrestling. The match ended with Flair using a chop block and roll-up on the gigantic Vader to win the title for the second time.
In June 1994, Flair defeated Sting in a unification match, merging the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship with the WCW World Championship. This concluded a slow heel turn for Flair that started when he defeated Ricky Steamboat in a controversial manner some months earlier. Flair later feuded with Hulk Hogan upon Hogan's arrival in WCW in June 1994, losing the WCW World Championship to him in July at Bash at the Beach. Flair lost a retirement match to Hogan at Halloween Havoc and took a few months off before returning as a wrestler and part-time manager in 1995 (explained on-air by having Flair nag Hogan for months until Hogan agreed to let Flair come back). He and Randy Savage renewed hostilities when Savage arrived in WCW late in 1994, and their feud continued off and on for almost two years with each wrestler winning the WCW World Championship from each other at different times. Flair defeated Savage in a steel cage match at SuperBrawl VI to win the WCW World title, which saw Savage betrayed by Elizabeth in favor of Flair. The Nature Boy also defeated Konnan on July 7 at Bash at the Beach to win the United States Championship. He vacated it in November of that year due to an arm injury he suffered in Japan, during a match with Kensuke Sasaki.
Feud with nWo (1996–1997)[link]
Once again as a top babyface, Flair played a major role in the New World Order storyline in late 1996 and throughout 1997. He and the other Horsemen often took the lead in the war against Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Hulk Hogan. Flair also feuded with Roddy Piper, Syxx, and his old nemesis, Curt Hennig, in 1997 after Hennig was offered a spot in the Four Horsemen only to turn on Flair and the Horsemen at Fall Brawl in 1997. Hennig punctuated the act by slamming the cage door onto Flair's head. After Fall Brawl. Flair would return a month later to feud with Curt Hennig over the US title (which Hennig won from Steve McMichael). Flair would challenge for the title at Halloween Havoc and World War 3, losing both times.
Return from hiatus and various feuds (1998–2001)[link]
In April 1998, Flair disappeared from WCW television, due to a lawsuit filed by Eric Bischoff for no-showing a WCW Thunder TV taping. After the case was settled, Flair made a surprise return on September 14, 1998 to ceremoniously reform the Four Horsemen (along with Steve McMichael, Dean Malenko, and Chris Benoit). Flair feuded with Bischoff for several months afterward. This culminated in a match at Starrcade 1998 between Eric Bischoff and Ric Flair. Bischoff was victorious after interference from Curt Hennig, a former member of the Four Horsemen. The following night in Baltimore on Nitro, Flair returned with a crazy streak angle in what became one his most notable interview promos reviving the "custom made from head to toe" catchphrase. He began by stripping to his boxers and threatening to leave WCW, demanding a match against Bischoff for the presidency of the company, and later handcuffing himself to the ring. The match was made, and despite the nWo interfering on Bischoff's behalf Flair won and was granted the position of president of WCW. This resulted in a match at Superbrawl between Flair and Hollywood Hogan for the WCW Championship, which Flair lost after being betrayed by his own son David Flair. In spite of this betrayal, Flair signed a rematch at Uncensored 1999 which was billed as a First Blood Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match against Hogan where Flair's presidency and Hogan's WCW World Heavyweight Championship were on the line. Despite being the first to bleed, Flair won the match by submission thanks to the bias of the referee Charles Robinson, who counted Hogan out. This match was a double turn for Flair (who turned heel) and Hogan (who turned face). Robinson would be nicknamed "Lil' Naitch", idolizing Flair and officiating all of Flair's matches in his favor.[citation needed]
As on-air President, Flair began abusing his power much like Bischoff had, favoring villains over fan favorites and even awarding the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship to his son David and resorting to whatever means necessary to keep David U.S. Champion. This also led to many more notable promos with Flair proclaiming, "I am the President". Flair eventually formed a stable of followers which included Roddy Piper, Arn Anderson, and the Jersey Triad to keep things in order. Flair's reign as president came to an end on the July 19 episode of Nitro, facing Sting for the WCW presidency. During the course of the match, Sting had Flair in his Scorpion Death Lock, but with the referee knocked unconscious, no decision could be reached. A returning Eric Bischoff came to the ring and began ordering the timekeeper to ring the bell, which he eventually did, awarding the match and the presidency to Sting (who promptly gave it up upon receiving it).
Flair won the WCW World Championship twice during 2000, the company's last full year of operation. When WCW was purchased by the WWF in March 2001, Flair was the leader of the villainous group called the Magnificent Seven. During the final episode of Nitro on March 26, 2001, he gave an emotional speech regarding the company's greatness and his best matches and opponents in WCW throughout the years, including Sting. Later in the night, Flair lost the final match of Nitro to Sting, recreating the first main event of Nitro in 1995. Nevertheless, Flair has repeatedly stated in various interviews how happy he was when WCW finally closed down; although, at the same time, the fact that many people would lose their jobs saddened him.[21]
Return to World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment[link]
WWF/E co-owner (2001–2002)[link]
After hiatus from wrestling, Flair made a popular return to the WWF in November 2001 as the on-camera co-owner of the company and as a face in Charlotte on RAW in November 2001.[22] Flair reappeared on Raw following the end of the "WCW/ECW Invasion" that culminated in a "Winner Take All" match at Survivor Series won by the WWF.[23] Flair's new on-screen role was that of the co-owner of the WWF, with the explanation that Shane and Stephanie McMahon had sold their stock in the company to a consortium (namely Flair) prior to purchasing World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling.[24] Flair's feud with Vince McMahon led them to a match at the Royal Rumble in 2002 in a Street Fight, where Flair defeated McMahon.[23] Flair also wrestled The Undertaker at WrestleMania X8 in 2002 where Flair lost after a hard fought battle and interference by Arn Anderson.[25] From then, the "co-owner" angle culminated in early 2002, when Flair controlled Raw, and McMahon controlled SmackDown!.[26] After Steve Austin abruptly left WWE while in a program with Flair, a match was hotshotted between Flair and Vince for sole ownership of WWE, which McMahon won, thanks to interference by Brock Lesnar.[27]
Evolution (2003–2005)[link]
Main article: Evolution
Flair later became a villain by joining Triple H's "Evolution" stable.[28] Flair won the World Tag Team Championship with Batista twice in 2003 and 2004.[29][30] After HHH took time off following Vengeance and for the rest of the summer, Flair would become a fan favorite again by beginning a short feud with Kurt Angle. Later, at Unforgiven in 2005, Flair defeated Carlito for the Intercontinental Championship.[31]
On the October 3 edition of Raw, Flair was attacked by his Evolution tag team partner Triple H, after Triple H threw him into a limousine and smashing into limousine window for using sledge hammer. On November 1, 2005 at Taboo Tuesday, Flair defeated Triple H in a steel cage match. Flair continued his feud with Triple H until Survivor Series, when Triple H defeated him in a Last Man Standing match to end the feud.
Various rivalries and retirement (2006–2008)[link]
At the end of 2005 Flair had a feud with Edge, culminating in a WWE championship TLC match on the RAW in early 2006. On the February 20 edition of Raw he lost to Shelton Benjamin.[32] Flair then took some time off in mid-2006 to rest and marry for the third time; he returned in June to work a program with his real life rival Mick Foley that played off their legitimate past animosity.[33] Flair defeated Foley at SummerSlam in an "I Quit" match.[34]
Subsequently, he was involved in a rivalry with the Spirit Squad on Raw. On November 5, 2006 at Cyber Sunday, he captured the World Tag Team Championship from the Squad with Roddy Piper.[34] On the November 13 edition of Raw, Flair and Piper lost the Tag Titles to Rated-RKO,[35] due to a disc problem with Piper and had to be flown immediately back to the USA as soon as Raw was off the air. On November 26, 2006 at Survivor Series, Flair was the sole survivor of a match that featured himself, Ron Simmons (replacing an injured Piper), Dusty Rhodes and Sgt. Slaughter versus the Spirit Squad.[34] Flair then left television due to his divorce hearings. On the December 11, 2006 edition of Raw, Flair returned to team up with DX again. They defeated Rated-RKO and Kenny Dykstra.[36]
Flair then began teaming with Carlito after Flair said that Carlito had no heart.[37] Flair defeated Carlito in a match after which Carlito realized that Flair was right.[38] Flair and Carlito faced off against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch in a number one contender's match for the World Tag Team Championship but were defeated. The two teamed up at Wrestlemania 23, and defeated the team of Chavo Guerrero and Gregory Helms. After weeks of conflict between Flair and Carlito,[39][40] the team split up when Carlito attacked Flair during a match.[41] At Judgment Day, Flair defeated Carlito with the figure four leglock.[42] His career was put at risk following a match with Randy Orton on June 4, 2007.[43]
On the June 11 edition of Raw, Flair was drafted from Raw to SmackDown! as part of the 2007 WWE Draft.[44] He briefly feuded against Montel Vontavious Porter[45][46] and rejoined forces with Batista to feud with The Great Khali; the alliance was short-lived, however, as Flair was "injured" during a match with Khali.[47][48]
After three month hiatus, Flair returned to WWE programming on the November 26 edition of Raw to announce "I will never retire".[49][50] Vince McMahon retaliated by announcing that the next match Flair lost would result in a forced retirement.[49] Later in the night, Flair defeated Orton after a distraction by Chris Jericho.[49][50] It was revealed on the 15th anniversary of Raw that the win or retire ultimatum only applied in singles matches. Flair won several "career threatening" matches against the opponents such as Triple H, Umaga, William Regal, Mr. Kennedy, and Vince McMahon himself among others.[51][52][53] On March 29, 2008, Flair was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2008 by Triple H. Flair became the first active wrestler to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame. The day after, Flair wrestled at WrestleMania XXIV in Orlando, Florida, losing to Shawn Michaels.[54] This match was voted the 2008 PWI Match of the Year. Flair's fight to keep his career going garnered him the 2008 PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year award.
Part time appearances (2008–2009, 2012)[link]
On the March 31, 2008 edition of Raw, Flair delivered his farewell address. Afterward, Triple H brought out many current and retired superstars to thank Flair for all he has done, including Shawn Michaels, some of the Four Horsemen, Harley Race, and Chris Jericho, followed by The Undertaker and then Vince McMahon. Along with the wrestlers, the fans gave Ric a standing ovation. This event represented a rare moment in WWE as both the heels and the faces broke character and came out to the ring together. The Undertaker's and McMahon's entrances, however, were not shown on the TV taping of Raw for the week in order to preserve their characters, more in the case of the Undertaker as it involved him hugging Ric Flair and then raising his arm in victory, but were included in Nature Boy Ric Flair: The Definitive Collection DVD as extras.
Flair made his first post retirement appearance on the June 16, 2008 edition of Raw to confront Chris Jericho about his actions during a rivalry with Shawn Michaels. He challenged Jericho to a fight in the parking lot, rather than an official match, but was ejected from the building by Vince McMahon.[55] The following year on February 9 Flair once again confronted Chris Jericho on Raw. Jericho was attacking Hall of Fame members and Flair demanded he respect them, before punching Jericho.[56] Flair appeared a month later to distract him during a Money in the Bank. Jericho then challenged Flair to come out of retirement for WrestleMania XXV; instead Flair managed Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat in a three-on-one handicap match at WrestleMania in a losing effort.[57][58][59]
On May 17 Flair returned to WWE during the Judgment Day pay-per-view, coming to the aid of Batista, who was being attacked by The Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase). On his last appearance in WWE, on the June 1 episode of Raw, Flair challenged Randy Orton in a parking lot brawl match, after an interference from the rest of The Legacy, the fight ended with Flair was trapped inside a steel cage and was punted by Orton. After Raw, Flair left WWE when his contract expired on June 2, 2009. On March 31, 2012 Flair became the first person to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice, the second time as part of the Four Horsemen.
Ring of Honor and Hulkamania Tour (2009)[link]
Flair signed with Ring of Honor (ROH) and appeared at the aptly titled Stylin' And Profilin' event in March 2009, clearing the ring after an ROH World Championship match ended with a run-in.[60] He soon served as the company's ambassador, in an on-screen authority role, and appeared on the television show Ring of Honor Wrestling in May to cement his role.[61] After a number one contender's match ended in a time-limit draw, and the following week a double count out, Flair announced Ring of Honor Wrestling's first ROH World Title match as a four-way contest.[62]
On November 21, 2009, Flair returned to the ring as a heel on the "Hulkamania: Let the Battle Begin" tour of Australia, losing to Hulk Hogan in the main event of the first show by brassknuckles.[1] Flair lost to Hogan again on November 24 in Perth, Australia. Both men bled and Flair was pinned after being hit with a megaphone by Hogan.[1] Flair also lost to Hogan on the two remaining matches on the tour, both times after being struck by a megaphone.[1][63]
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling[link]
Fortune (2010–2011)[link]
Main article: Fortune (professional wrestling)
On the January 4, 2010, live, three-hour edition of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Impact! television show, Flair as a face made his debut appearance for the company arriving via limo and later observing the main event between A.J. Styles and longtime rival Kurt Angle.[64] It was later reported that Flair had signed a one-year deal with the company.[65] In the past, Flair has openly stated that he was loyal to the McMahons and wanted to end his career in WWE, however he had not had contact from WWE since June 2009 and decided to sign with TNA Wrestling after waiting for the call from WWE for six months.[66]
On January 17 at Genesis, Flair helped A.J. Styles cheat to pin Kurt Angle and retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship thus once again becoming a heel.[67] On the following episode of TNA Impact!, Flair announced that he was going to make A.J. Styles the next Nature Boy.[68] In addition to Styles, Flair began informally managing Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm) and Desmond Wolfe as a loose heel alliance. Flair has also confirmed that he will return to wrestling in TNA.[6] On the February 25 edition of Impact!, Hulk Hogan announced that both he and Flair will make their in-ring TNA debuts on the March 8 Monday night edition of Impact!, when Hogan and Abyss face Flair and Styles in a tag team match.[69] On the March 8 Monday night edition of Impact! Hogan and Abyss defeated Flair and Styles, when Abyss pinned Styles.[70] Afterwards, the returning Jeff Hardy saved Abyss and Hogan from a beatdown at the hands of Flair, Styles and Beer Money, Inc.[70] At Lockdown Team Flair (Sting, Desmond Wolfe, Robert Roode and James Storm) was defeated by Team Hogan (Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam) in a Lethal Lockdown match.[71] On the April 26 edition of Impact! Flair was defeated by Abyss in a match, where Flair's and Hogan's WWE Hall of Fame rings were at stake and as a result Flair lost possession of his ring to Hogan.[72] The following week Hogan gave the ring to Jay Lethal, who returned it to Flair out of respect. This, however, was not enough for Flair, who attacked Lethal along with the members of Team Flair.[73] After Styles dropped the World Heavyweight Championship to Rob Van Dam, then failed to regain it in a rematch and later was pinned by Jay Lethal, Flair adopted Kazarian as his newest protégé, seemingly replacing Styles as his number one wrestler.[74][75]
On the June 17 edition of Impact! Flair announced that he would reform the Four Horsemen under the new name Fourtune, comparing A.J. Styles to Arn Anderson, Kazarian to Barry Windham, Robert Roode and James Storm to Ole Anderson and Tully Blanchard and Desmond Wolfe to Lex Luger, while also stating that each of them would have to earn their spots in the group.[76][77] Flair made a return to the ring on July 11 at Victory Road, losing to Jay Lethal.[78] On the July 15 edition of Impact! Flair announced A.J. Styles and Kazarian as the first two official members of Fourtune and two weeks later added Robert Roode and James Storm as the final two members of the group.[79][80] On the August 5 edition of Impact! Flair faced Lethal in a rematch, this time contested under Street Fight rules, with the members of Fourtune banned from ringside. Flair managed to win the match, after an interference from Douglas Williams. The following week Williams and Matt Morgan were added to the renamed Fourtune, as the stable attacked EV 2.0, a stable consisting of former Extreme Championship Wrestling performers.[81][82] On September 23, Flair headlined a live event in Oklahoma City titled Lord of the Ring in his honor. Competing in his first TNA house show match, Flair lost to Kurt Angle in the main event.[83] In the weeks leading to Bound for Glory, Flair's stable's name was tweaked to Fortune to represent the expansion in the number of members in the group.[84][85] On the October 7 live edition of Impact! Flair was defeated by Mick Foley in a Last Man Standing match.[86] At Bound for Glory Flair was in Fortune's corner, when Styles, Kazarian, Morgan, Roode and Storm were defeated in a Lethal Lockdown match by EV 2.0 members Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Rhino, Sabu and Stevie Richards.[87]
On the following edition of Impact! Fortune formed an alliance with Hulk Hogan's and Eric Bischoff's new stable, Immortal.[88] On the November 18 edition of Impact! Flair returned to the ring, competing in a match, where he faced Matt Morgan, who had been kicked out of Fortune the previous month. Morgan won the match, after Douglas Williams turned on the rest of Fortune, when they interfered in the match.[89] On January 25, 2011, it was reported that Flair had pulled out of TNA's Maximum Wooo! tour of Europe mid–tour, after monetary disputes.[90] After missing a show in Berlin, Germany, Flair returned to the tour on January 27 in Glasgow, Scotland, reportedly apologizing to the locker room prior to the show.[91][92][93] On January 29 Flair wrestled his only match of the tour, defeating Douglas Williams in London, tearing his rotator cuff in the process.[94][95]
Immortal (2011–present)[link]
See also: Immortal (professional wrestling)
During Flair's time away from TNA, Fortune turned on Immortal, becoming a face group.[96] Flair returned at the February 14 tapings of the February 17 edition of Impact!, turning on Fortune during a match between A.J. Styles and Matt Hardy and jumping to Immortal.[97][98] On the March 10 edition of Impact!, Flair defeated Styles and Hardy in a three–way street fight, contested as more of a two–on–one handicap match.[99] On April 17 at Lockdown, Immortal, represented by Flair, Abyss, Bully Ray and Matt Hardy, was defeated by Fortune members James Storm, Kazarian and Robert Roode and Christopher Daniels, who replaced an injured A.J. Styles, in a Lethal Lockdown match, when Flair tapped out to Roode.[100] The match was used to write Flair off television, as the following week he was scheduled to undergo surgery for his torn rotator cuff, however, Flair ultimately chose not to have the surgery as it would have required six months of rehab.[101][102] Flair returned to television in a non–wrestling role on the May 12 edition of Impact!.[103] Flair would not appear again for three months, until making his return on August 9 at the tapings of the August 18 edition of Impact Wrestling, confronting old rival Sting and challenging him to one more match. In exchange for Sting agreeing to put his career on the line, Flair promised to deliver him his match with Hogan if he was victorious.[104][105] The match, which Flair lost, took place on the September 15 episode of Impact Wrestling.[106][107] During the match Flair tore his left triceps on a superplex spot, sidelining him indefinitely from in-ring action.[108] Since the match, Flair has mostly been accompanying Immortal member Gunner to ringside and helping him injure superstars by hitting them onto the concrete floor.[109]
Legacy[link]
Flair was often popular with the crowd due to his in-ring antics, including rulebreaking (earning him the distinction of being "the dirtiest player in the game"), strutting and his shouting of "Woooooo!" (Flair got the inspiration from Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire") Flair's moveset became limited in the last ten years of his career due mainly to his age and years of competition taking a toll on his body, but remained a visible character. The "Woooooo!" yell has since become a tribute to Flair, and is often shouted by the crowd whenever a wrestler performs a knife-edge chop, one of Flair's signature moves.[2] From the late 1970s, Flair wore ornate fur-lined robes of many colors with sequins during in-ring appearances,[2] and since the early 1980s, his approach to the ring was usually heralded by the playing of the "Dawn" section of Richard Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra" (famous for being used in the motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey).
On May 19, 2003 in Greenville, South Carolina, Triple H defended the World Heavyweight Championship in a match against Flair.[110] After Raw went off the air, most of the people who were backstage came out to honor Flair, including Vince McMahon, the Undertaker, Shane, and Stephanie McMahon.[110] Triple H then appeared, and after a stare down, he placed the World Heavyweight Championship belt on Flair's shoulder and embraced him. Flair then gave a speech thanking everyone for the tribute.[110]
Flair released his autobiography, To Be the Man, in July 2004.[111] The title is taken from one of his catchphrases, "To be the man, you gotta beat the man!"
Over the years, Flair has personally trained Stan Lane, Scott McGhee, and, David Flair, his son, to be professional wrestlers.
On the February 18, 2008 edition of Raw, Shawn Michaels announced Flair as the first inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2008. The induction ceremony took place on March 29, 2008, with Triple H inducting him. This made him the first, and, as of 2009, only, person to be inducted while still an active competitor.[112] On March 24, 2008, Mayor Bob Coble, of Columbia, South Carolina, declared March 24 to be Ric Flair Day in Columbia. Flair also received the key to the city.[113] Flair was later inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia, his second straight Hall of Fame induction in four months, but he did not participate in the event. He received the key to the city of Greensboro, North Carolina on December 5, 2008, to commemorate Flair's victory in a steel cage match against Harley Race at the inaugural Starrcade event.[114] April 18, 2009 was declared "Ric Flair Day" in Charleston, West Virginia and he was presented with the key to the city by the mayor.[115] Also, on June 12, 2009, Flair was presented with the key to the city of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina[116] and, in September, he received the key to the city in Marion County, South Carolina.[117] On July 17, 2010, Flair made a special appearance at Scotland Motors in Laurinburg, North Carolina and received the key to that city, as well.[118]
On October 19, 1998, it was declared "Ric Flair Day" in Minneapolis, Minnesota by Mayor Sharon Belton[119] and on November 15, 2008, it was declared "Ric Flair Day" in Norfolk, Virginia.[120]
On April 15, 2008 Flair was honored in Congress by a representative from North Carolina, Republican Sue Myrick, who praised his career and what he means to the state.[121] On September 29, 2008, it was announced that Flair's signature sequin covered robe that he wore at WrestleMania XXIV, in what was to be his last match, would be placed in the pop culture section of the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.[122]
Flair also lends his voice and image to the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team. During home games, he appears on the monitor giving his trademark "Wooooo" whenever the Hurricanes score a goal.
In 2002, Flair was named the greatest pro wrestler of all time in the book The Top 100 Wrestlers of All Time by John Molinaro, edited by Dave Meltzer and Jeff Marek.[123]
On January 9, 2012 it was announced that the Four Horsemen would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame making Flair the first person to have been induced into the Hall of Fame twice.[124]
Personal life[link]
Family[link]
Flair's son David is a semi-retired professional wrestler. Flair's youngest son Reid, who signed a developmental contract with WWE near the end of 2007,[125] is an accomplished high school wrestler and made several appearances on WCW television along with his sister Ashley and half-sister Megan.[126] In 2004, Flair became a grandfather at the age of 55, when his oldest daughter, Megan Fliehr-Ketzner, gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Morgan Lee Ketzner on May 9.[126][127] On May 17, 2012, it was reported that Flair's daughter Ashley has signed with WWE.[128]
On May 27, 2006, Ric married his third wife, fitness competitor Tiffany VanDemark.[129] On August 7, 2008, Tiffany announced that she had filed for divorce from Flair.[130] On November 11, 2009, Flair married his fourth wife, Jackie Beems, in Charlotte, North Carolina.[citation needed]
Family arrests[link]
Flair's daughter Ashley was arrested on September 5, 2008 for assaulting a police officer.[131] The incident occurred after police were called to a fight involving Flair, Ashley, and her boyfriend.[131] On February 23, 2010, Flair and his fourth wife had an "unfortunate disagreement" in which his wife Jackie Beems was arrested for misdemeanor assault, causing very slight injuries to Flair.[citation needed]
Legal issues[link]
In December 2005, a magistrate issued arrest warrants for Flair after a road rage incident that took place in Charlotte, NC in which Flair allegedly got out of his car, grabbed a motorist by the neck, and kicked the door of the motorist's sport utility vehicle.[132] Flair was charged with injury to personal property and simple assault and battery, both misdemeanors. This incident was ridiculed on WWE programming, most notably by the wrestler Edge.[133]
In September 2007, Flair opened a financial business called Ric Flair Finance. In July 2008, Ric Flair Finance filed for bankruptcy.[134]
Following Flair's debut in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling his former employer, Ring of Honor, filed a lawsuit in 2010, alleging that Flair owed them over $40,000 and that he had not appeared at several events that he was contractually obligated to appear at.[135] Due to ROH's purchase by Sinclair Broadcasting Group it is uncertain if they will continue to seek legal action against Flair.[citation needed]
In August 2010, Highspots Inc. filed a lawsuit against Flair alleging that Flair had never repaid $35,000 that they had loaned him. Highspots also claimed that Flair had given them the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt as collateral.[136][137]
A warrant for Flair's arrest was issued in May 2011 for being held in contempt of court for violating the terms of his settlement with Highspots. If Flair had failed to comply he could have potentially faced 90 days in jail.[138][139] On June 25 Highspots released a statement over their official Facebook page stating that somebody had paid Flair's debts.[140]
Politics[link]
Flair has long supported Republican political candidates in North Carolina politics.[141] In 2000, Flair explored the possibility of running for governor of North Carolina,[141] but he never filed the papers.[142]
In the 2008 presidential race, Ric Flair declared his support for the Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. He said of Huckabee, "[Huckabee] is a quality person, self-made, a great family man and he has a great vision for our country. And I'm here to excite the crowd."[143]
Real life feuds[link]
Bret Hart[link]
Flair engaged in an off-screen rivalry with Bret Hart. In Flair's autobiography,Flair criticizes Hart for over-exploiting the death of his brother, Owen Hart, and the controversy surrounding the Montreal Screwjob.[144] Flair also claimed in his autobiography that, despite Hart's popularity in Canada, he was not a formidable money-making draw in the United States, a claim which Hart dismissed as "plain ridiculous" in a column written for the Calgary Sun.[145] Hart claimed that he drew greater revenue than Flair, citing his headlining performances on consistently sold out tours throughout his WWF career, while Flair wrestled to allegedly near-empty arenas. He also criticized Flair on what he perceived as insults to fellow wrestlers Mick Foley and Randy Savage, both personal friends of Hart. Hart acknowledged a decline in the WWF's popularity during the mid 1990s, but he and others felt that this was largely attributed to the WWF's well publicized sex and steroid scandals, as well as WCW's acquisition of former top WWF stars.[145][146][147] In contrast to Flair's claims, prominent industry historian Dave Meltzer, of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, said of Hart, "there is no denying he was a major draw in the United States";[148] WWE owner Vince McMahon has asserted that whichever company hired Hart could "have built the entire franchise around [him]", describing him as an "extraordinary star who you know is going to give you the best match of the night every time he goes out there." McMahon added that it was "fortunate for me, in terms of my company", that his chief competitor, WCW, did not utilize Hart to his full potential.[149] WCW described Hart as "an incredible international draw, attracting standing room only crowds in every corner of the globe."[150]
Shane Douglas[link]
Flair also had a long running feud with Shane Douglas, who would refer to him as "Dick Flair" and accuse him of sabotaging his push in the NWA/WCW after getting a solid push and a rub from his tag partner Ricky Steamboat.[151] Flair, in turn, responded that Douglas was always the guy that would blame his shortcomings on others. He called Douglas out as well as accused him of steroid abuse during a broadcast of the Internet radio show WCW Live! in which he said that he would meet him anytime and anywhere if he "took the needle out of his ass." They were able to come to a working relationship during Douglas' last stint with WCW.[citation needed]
Mick Foley[link]
Flair has also had issues with Mick Foley. In his 1999 autobiography Have a Nice Day!, Foley said, "Flair was every bit as bad on the booking side of things as he was great on the wrestling side of it."[152] This was in reference to how poorly Foley thought he was booked during his WCW career when Flair was on the booking committee. Flair responded in his autobiography, writing, "I do not care how many thumbtacks Mick Foley has fallen on, how many ladders he's fallen off, how many continents he's supposedly bled on, he will always be known as a glorified stuntman."[153] They have reconciled and are now friends.[citation needed]
Backstage problems[link]
Altercation with Eric Bischoff[link]
Flair described in his autobiography how he attacked Eric Bischoff backstage at a WWE house show, saying it was due to hating how Bischoff treated him in WCW. Flair stated that Arn Anderson kept watch while he tried to get Bischoff to fight him, but that the confrontation was interrupted by Sgt. Slaughter, who promptly informed Vince McMahon of the incident. McMahon then scolded Flair, telling him that his actions were unprofessional and that it could not happen again.[citation needed]
Tension with Hulk Hogan[link]
In his book, Flair also touched on some real-life tension between himself and Hulk Hogan which largely stemmed from an incident that followed the conclusion of a tag match between Flair and his son, David, and the team of Curt Hennig and Barry Windham at WCW's Souled Out pay-per-view on January 17, 1999, in Charleston, WV.[154] Flair described Hogan and members of the New World Order coming out to attack them, as well as Hogan whipping an incapacitated David with a leather belt as Flair was forced to look on. "What no one had told me was that Hogan would try to be cute and whip David over and over again. ... there was Hogan—with all his experience, and all his celebrity—trying to be cute. He whipped David like a dog. It was sickening, and I'll never forgive him for it", Flair wrote of the incident. Flair also noted that, following a backstage altercation with Eric Bischoff at a WWE house show, he was asked by Vince McMahon if he planned to do the same to anyone else, to which he replied "Yeah, Hogan" in what he claimed to be only a half-joking manner. Despite this, the two have managed to maintain a working relationship, both in Hogan's promotion and in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling currently.
Disagreement with Bruno Sammartino[link]
Flair and wrestler Bruno Sammartino have a real-life disagreement over what reports call "the infamous backstage 'snub' where Flair claims that Sammartino refused to shake his hand at a live event."[155] While Flair claims Sammartino ignored him due to comments made in his book stating Sammartino was "a Northeast star who couldn’t draw fans outside New York,"[155] Sammartino disagrees. Sammartino referred to Flair as a "liar," stating, "No, I don’t respect Ric Flair. I don’t respect him at all."[156] Sammartino contends that Flair disrespected him, and not vice versa.[citation needed]
In wrestling[link]
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- Finishing moves
- Diving knee drop[1] – early career
- Figure-four leglock[1] – adopted from "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers
- Signature moves
- Chop block, usually as a setup for the figure-four leglock[1]
- Elbow drop[1]
- Knife-edged chop[1]
- Low blow[1]
- Multiple suplex variations
- Poking[157] or raking the opponent eyes[1]
- Running jumping knee drop[1]
- Shin breaker, usually as a setup for the figure-four leglock[1]
- Snapmare[1]
- Nicknames
- "Ramblin'" Ricky Rhodes[1]
- "(The) Nature Boy"
- "Naitch (Short for "Nature Boy")"
- "The Dirtiest Player in the Game"
- "Stylin' and Profilin'"
- "The Man"
- "The Alimony Pony"
- "The Limousine Ridin', Jet Flying, Kiss Stealin', Wheelin' Dealin', Son of a Gun"
- "Space Mountain"
- "The Sixty-Minute Man"
- "Slick Ric"
- "The Master of the Figure-Four"[158]
- "The Golden Stallion"[159]
- "Wrestling God"
- Managers and valets
- Wrestlers managed
- Evolution (Triple H, Batista and Randy Orton)
- Stone Cold Steve Austin
- The Big Show
- Carlito
- David Flair[1]
- Reid Flair[1]
- Ricky Morton[1]
- Fortune (A.J. Styles, Kazarian, Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm), Douglas Williams and Matt Morgan)[1]
- Desmond Wolfe[1]
- Rob Terry[161]
- Matt Hardy[162]
- Gunner[163]
- Entrance themes
- "Dawn" section of the tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss[164]
- "Galaxy Express" (AJPW)
- "The Wanderer" by Dion[165]
- "Dawn" section of the tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra (remix) by Dale Oliver (TNA) 2010–present
- "Line in the Sand" (with Evolution) by Motorhead
- "Fortune 4"(V1) by Dale Oliver[166]
- "Immortal Theme" by Dale Oliver[167]
Championships and accomplishments[link]
- All Star Pro Wrestling
- Central States Wrestling
- Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling / Jim Crockett Promotions / World Championship Wrestling
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[169]
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (3 times)—with Rip Hawk (1), Greg Valentine (1) and Big John Studd (1)[170]
- NWA (Mid Atlantic)/NWA Television Championship (2 times)[171]
- NWA (Mid Atlantic)/WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (6 times)1[172]
- NWA World Heavyweight Championship (7 times)2[168]
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (3 times)—with Greg Valentine (2) and Blackjack Mulligan (1)[173]
- WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)3[174]
- WCW World Heavyweight Championship (7 times)[175]
- First WCW Triple Crown Champion
- National Wrestling Alliance
- NWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2008)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #2 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003[176]
- PWI ranked him #3 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1991, 1992, and 1994[177][178][179]
- Feud of the Year (1987) Four Horsemen vs. Super Powers and Road Warriors[180]
- Feud of the Year (1988, 1990) vs. Lex Luger[180]
- Feud of the Year (1989) vs. Terry Funk[180]
- Match of the Year (1983) vs. Harley Race (June 10)[180]
- Match of the Year (1984) vs. Kerry Von Erich at Parade of Champions 1[181]
- Match of the Year (1986) vs. Dusty Rhodes at The Great American Bash in a steel cage match[181]
- Match of the Year (1989) vs. Ricky Steamboat at WrestleWar[181]
- Match of the Year (2008) vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXIV
- Match of the Decade (2000–2009) vs. Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania XXIV
- Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1978, 1987)[182]
- Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2008)
- Rookie of the Year (1975)[183]
- Stanley Weston Award (2008)
- Wrestler of the Year (1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1992)[184]
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
- World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWF Championship (2 times)[187]
- World Tag Team Championship (3 times)—with Batista (2) and Roddy Piper (1)[187]
- WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)[187]
- Royal Rumble (1992)[187]
- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2008)
- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2012) - with Four Horsemen
- Thirteenth Triple Crown Champion
- Slammy Award for Match of the Year (2008) vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXIV
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Best Heel (1990)
- Best Interviews (1991, 1992, 1994)
- Feud of the Year (1989) vs. Terry Funk
- Match of the Year (1983) vs. Harley Race in a steel cage match at Starrcade
- Match of the Year (1986) vs. Barry Windham at Battle of the Belts II on February 14
- Match of the Year (1988) vs. Sting at Clash of the Champions I
- Match of the Year (1989) vs. Ricky Steamboat at Clash of the Champions VI: Rajin' Cajun
- Most Charismatic (1980, 1982–1984, 1993)
- Most Outstanding (1986, 1987, 1989)
- Readers' Favorite Wrestler (1984–1993, 1996)
- Worst Feud of the Year (1990) vs. The Junkyard Dog
- Worst Worked Match of the Year (1996) with Arn Anderson, Meng, The Barbarian, Lex Luger, Kevin Sullivan, Z-Gangsta and The Ultimate Solution vs. Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in a Towers of Doom match at Uncensored
- Wrestler of the Year (1982–1986, 1989, 1990, 1992)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)
1Flair did win the Mid-Atlantic version of the NWA United States Championships five times and the five reigns were recognized even after World Championship Wrestling took control over the championship and renamed it the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship in 1991. After WCW's purchase by WWE, the lineage of the championships were kept and used to give the WWE United States Championship a prestigious history. However, WWE does not recognize some of the reigns of some wrestlers when the title was still the Mid-Atlantic NWA United States Championship. As of now, only four of Flair's five reigns with the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) are officially recognized by WWE.
2His last four reigns with the championship were after Jim Crockett, Jr. sold his promotion to Ted Turner in November 1988, which became World Championship Wrestling. The NWA World Heavyweight Championship was defended exclusively in WCW until WCW's withdrawal from the National Wrestling Alliance in 1993.
3Title reigns are not recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment.
4He won the title for the third time in Kallang, Singapore. Records are unclear as to which promotion hosted the event.
Notes[link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z "OWOW profile". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/r/ric-flair.html. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Ric Flair profile". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/superstars/halloffame/inductees/ricflair/. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
- ^ a b c "Power Slam". This Month in History: February (SW Publishing): p. 28. January 1999. 55.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0282310/bio
- ^ a b c "Ric Flair". SLAM! Wrestling. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/flair.html. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
- ^ a b Allely, Phil (2010-02-11). "Flair to wrestle for TNA". The Sun (London). http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/2849776/Ric-Flair-has-revealed-he-will-be-back-in-the-ring-for-TNA-sooner-than-later.html. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
- ^ "Ric Flair Pro Wrestling Living Legend Media Man Australia". Mediaman.com.au. http://www.mediaman.com.au/profiles/flair.html. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- ^ "Ric Flair Return". Hulkamania: Let The Tour Begin. YouTube. 2009-11-01. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qgcYjV5o1w. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
- ^ Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (p.160)
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- ^ "Ric Flair Breaks Up With Third Wife Tiffany". PWMania.com. http://www.pwmania.com/newsarticle.php?page=220130964. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
- ^ a b "Wrestler's daughter arrested after tussle with police". abc11.com. 2008-09-09. http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6377701. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
- ^ "Wrestler Ric Flair Accused Of Road Rage". WSOC Charlotte. November 28, 2005. http://www.wsoctv.com/news/5420940/detail.html.
- ^ "RAW - December 5, 2005 Results". http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/051205.html. Retrieved 2007-04-30 publisher=Online World of Wrestling.
- ^ "Ring Posts: Ric Flair’s departure from WWE". Baltimore Sun. http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/wrestling/blog/2008/08/ric_flairs_departure_from_wwe.html.
- ^ Martin, Adam (2010-01-31). "ROH files lawsuit against Ric Flair". Wrestleview. http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1264921058. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
- ^ Johnson, Mike (2010-08-03). "HIGHSPOTS.COM FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST RIC FLAIR, FLAIR'S VERSION OF EVENTS DIFFERS GREATLY FROM THEIRS". PWInsider. http://www.pwinsider.com/article/49677/highspotscom-files-lawsuit-against-ric-flair-flairs-version-of-events-differs-greatly-from-theirs.html?p=1. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
- ^ Dixenspan, David (2010-07-03). "Highspots sues Ric Flair over lack of repayment of loans". Cageside Seats. http://www.cagesideseats.com/2010/8/3/1603875/highspots-sues-ric-flair-over-lack. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
- ^ Caldwell, James (2011-05-26). "Flair News: Warrant issued for Ric Flair's arrest Thursday, related to failure to comply with legal settlement". ProWrestlingTorch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/Other_News_4/article_50379.shtml. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
- ^ Ryan, Shane (2011-05-27). "Ric Flair held in contempt over loans". CharlotteObserver. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/05/27/2331708/ric-flair-held-in-contempt-over.html#storylink=misearch. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
- ^ Adam, Martin (2011-06-26). "Highspots reveals Ric Flair pays up owed money". Wrestleview. http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1309106948. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
- ^ a b "Flair aims to be N.C governor". SLAM! Wrestling. 2000-02-08. http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingFlair/jan18_gov.html. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
- ^ "Flair doesn't file to be N.C. governor - yet". SLAM! Wrestling. 2000-02-08. http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingFlair/feb8_gov.html. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
- ^ "Huckabee tailgates and welcomes wrestler support". Politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/25/huckabee-tailgates-and-welcomes-wrestler-support/. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
- ^ Mike Mooneyham (2004-07-04). "Flair Pulls No Punches In Book". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927224923/http://www.mikemooneyham.com/pages/viewfull.cfm?ObjectID=887C21B7-3048-52EA-1E34C39B8C6042BE. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
- ^ a b "Bret Hart On Flair". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/columns/news/brethartonflair.html.
- ^ Wwf Aims Low, Shoots High Wrestling Comes To The Garden On A Roll[dead link]
- ^ "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. - Company History". Fundinguniverse.com. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/World-Wrestling-Federation-Entertainment-Inc-Company-History.html. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
- ^ Meltzer, Dave. Wrestling Observer. November 17, 1997. Archived version.
- ^ Bret "Hit Man" Hart: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be (aka "The Bret Hart Story"), WWE Home Video (2005)
- ^ WCW: The Ultimate Guide. DK Books. 2000. (p.104)
- ^ John F. Molinaro (2000-04-23). "The Franchise on Flair & Russo". SLAM! Wrestling. http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBiosD/douglas_00aug23.html. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
- ^ Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweat socks (p.2)
- ^ Flair, Ric (2004). Ric Flair: to Be the Man. p. 211. ISBN 0-7434-9181-5
- ^ "Goldberg beat himself". SLAM! Sports. http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBretHart9799/hart_99jan16.html.
- ^ a b "The Leading Combat Hooligans Site on the Net". combat-hooligans.com. http://combat-hooligans.com/2008/02/11/bruno-sammartino-shoots-hard-on-ric-flair-and-explains-why-he-has-no-respect-for-him-at-all/. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
- ^ "The Leading Combat Hooligans Site on the Net". combat-hooligans.com. http://combat-hooligans.com/2008/02/17/bruno-sammartino-reveals-how-wwe-asked-him-to-join-the-hall-of-fame-why-he-refused-and-how-the-hall-itself-is-a-scam/. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
- ^ World Championship Wrestling (1999-01-17). "Ric & David Flair /w Arn Anderson Vs. Barry Windham & Curt Hennig". WCW Souled Out.
- ^ "Dailymotion - Hogan v. Flair Superbrawl 99". Dailymotion. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2okq8_hogan-v-flair-superbrawl-99_sport. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
- ^ Riddick, Robert (1988). Ric Flair's Back Where He Belongs
- ^ "Jimmy Hart profile". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/j/jimmy-hart.html. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
- ^ Wilkenfeld, Daniel (2011-01-20). "Wilkenfeld's TNA Impact alt. perspective report 1/20: Jarrett--Angle drama sinks the ship". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/tnaimpact/article_46941.shtml. Retrieved 2011-01-21.
- ^ Caldwell, James (2011-03-13). "Caldwell's TNA Victory Road PPV results 3/13: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live PPV - Sting vs. Hardy TNA Title match". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/tnappvs/article_48441.shtml. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
- ^ Meltzer, Dave (2011-12-28). "Wed. update: Punk, ROH surgery, Tokyo Dome; Raw rating, Dixie Carter, Madden, ROH, UFC fights". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe/23552-wed-update-punk-roh-surgery-tokyo-dome-raw-rating-dixie-carter-madden-roh-ufc-fights. Retrieved 2011-12-29.
- ^ "Wrestler Entrance Music". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/information/music/enter/. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
- ^ "Superstars of the Superstation 2/86". The Powerdriver Review. http://wcwrules4lyf.wordpress.com/2007/06/14/superstars-of-the-superstation-286/. Retrieved 2009-10-31. [dead link]
- ^ "Fortune Theme". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. http://shoptna.com/fortune-theme.aspx. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
- ^ "Immortal Theme". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. http://shoptna.com/immortal---theme.aspx. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
- ^ a b c d NWA World Heavyweight Title history[2] At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ NWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ NWA World Tag Team Title (Mid-Atlantic/WCW) history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ WCW International World Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ WCW World Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi500yr.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 - 1991". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi50091.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
- ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 - 1992". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi50092.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
- ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 - 1994". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi50094.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
- ^ a b c d "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners - Feud of the Year". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwifoty.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- ^ a b c "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners - Match of the Year". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwimoty.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners - Most Hated Wrestler of the Year". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwimhoty.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners - Rookie of the Year". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwiroty.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners - Wrestler of the Year". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwiwoty.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- ^ a b "Pro Wrestling Reports 2008 Honors". Pro Wrestling Report. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpWdxy9ClmU. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
- ^ NWA Missouri Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ a b c d "Title history: Ric Flair". WWE. Archived from the original on April 11, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080411093424/http://www.wwe.com/superstars/halloffame/ricflair/titlehistory. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
References[link]
- Flair, Ric; Keith Elliot Greenberg, Mark Madden (ed.) (2005). Ric Flair: To Be the Man. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-9181-5. OCLC 60523429.
- Mick Foley (2000). Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-103101-1.
- Ric Flair & The Four Horsemen. Stamford, Connecticut: WWE Home Video. 2007. OCLC 144971907.
- Where Flair got the "Nature Boy" name
- Ric Flair at TheSmokingGun.com
- Ric Flair career bio at Wrestleinfo.com
External links[link]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ric Flair |
- RicFlair.com (Official Website)
- Professional wrestling record for Ric Flair from The Internet Wrestling Database
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Profile
- WWE Hall of Fame Profile
- TNA Impact Wrestling Profile
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Flair, Ric |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Professional wrestler |
| Date of birth | 1820-2-5 |
| Place of birth | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Date of death | 2011-7-9 |
| Place of death | Washington D.C |
http://wn.com/Ric_Flair
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Richard Fliehr
http://es.wn.com/Ric Flair
http://ru.wn.com/Рик Флэр
http://nl.wn.com/Ric Flair
http://pt.wn.com/Ric Flair
http://pl.wn.com/Ric Flair
http://fr.wn.com/Ric Flair
http://de.wn.com/Ric Flair
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ric_Flair
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Paul Heyman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Ring name(s) | Paul E. Dangerously Paul E. Heyman Paul Heyman |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| Born | (1965-09-11) September 11, 1965 (age 46) Scarsdale, New York |
| Resides | Scarsdale, New York |
| Billed from | Scarsdale, New York |
| Debut | January 2, 1987 |
Paul Heyman[1] (born September 11, 1965) is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film. He is currently signed to WWE appearing on its WWE Raw brand under his ring name Paul Heyman.
Heyman was the creative force behind Extreme Championship Wrestling in the 1990s. He has also briefly worked in World Championship Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association and World Wrestling Entertainment, including WWE's ECW brand where he was recognized as the ECW Representative.
Contents
|
Early life[link]
Paul Heyman was born in Scarsdale, New York. By age 11, he was running a mail order business selling celebrity and sports memorabilia from his home.[2]
While still a teenager, Heyman fast-talked his way backstage at a World Wide Wrestling Federation event at Madison Square Garden as a photojournalist. He was paid by the company for several of his photographs.[2]
Heyman attended Westchester Community College, where he worked at the radio station, and later became a promoter for the New York City nightclub Studio 54 in the mid 1980s.[2]
Professional wrestling career[link]
Early career[link]
Paul Heyman began as a photographer and writer for third-party wrestling publications such as Pro Wrestling Illustrated.[4]
Heyman made his managerial debut on January 2, 1987, initially appearing on the Northeast independent circuit before moving to a more high-profile stint with Florida Championship Wrestling in February, 1987. There he joined forces with Kevin Sullivan and Oliver Humperdink and first became known as "Paul E. Dangerously" because of his resemblance to Michael Keaton in the movie Johnny Dangerously. From there, he traveled to Memphis and the Continental Wrestling Association to manage Tommy Rich and Austin Idol in a heated feud with Jerry Lawler, a war which later carried over to the American Wrestling Association (AWA), with the Original Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose) taking over for Idol and the face-turned Rich.[4]
The Paul E. Dangerously gimmick was basically an extension of Heyman's own personality: a brash New Yorker with a yuppie attitude, often seen holding a mobile phone, which was occasionally used as a "foreign object" (it was quite large, due to the technology of the late 1980s).
Continental Wrestling Federation[link]
After departing the AWA, Heyman went to the Alabama-based Continental Wrestling Federation. Paul E. Dangerously became allied with Eddie Gilbert's Hot Stuff Inc. stable. Behind the scenes, Gilbert was the head booker of the promotion and Heyman became his assistant. Heyman was also the head booker for Windy City Wrestling in Chicago, and started developing a reputation as being an innovative television writer and producer.
World Championship Wrestling[link]
In 1988, Heyman jumped to Jim Crockett Promotions, where Dangerously again managed the Original Midnight Express in a feud with the new Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) and their manager, Jim Cornette, as well as managing "Mean" Mark Callous, who later became The Undertaker in WWE. Before long he settled into the role of an announcer, joining Jim Ross to call the matches on WTBS' World Championship Wrestling and other programming. During his role as an announcer, he feuded with Ross, Missy Hyatt, and Hyatt's boyfriend, actor Jason Hervey.
After stepping off-camera for a brief period in 1991 (in reality, he was suspended for leaking information about a potential unification match in Memphis between Lex Luger and Jerry Lawler), he returned as the manager of the Dangerous Alliance, with Madusa as his assistant, managing Bobby Eaton, Ravishing Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, WCW TV Champion Steve Austin and Larry Zbyszko. Heyman led Rude to the United States title and the Anderson-Eaton tag team to the Tag Team titles. The Dangerous Alliance dominated WCW through most of 1992, meeting their biggest foes in Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Nikita Koloff, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes and the Steiner Brothers (Scott and Rick Steiner). After his last appearance at the Clash of the Champions in November 1992, he was fired via fax, by Bill Watts in January 1993, based on a claim that Heyman faked expense reports between April and July 1992.
Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993–2001)[link]
Main article: Extreme Championship Wrestling
After departing WCW, Heyman attempted to start a new promotion in Texas with Jim Crockett, Jr.,[5] but Crockett wanted to build a traditional wrestling brand while Heyman declared traditional wrestling was antiquated and a new take on the genre was needed.
At this time, Eddie Gilbert was booker for a Philadelphia-based promotion, NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling, which he did under the ownership of a local pawn shop owner named Tod Gordon. Heyman came in to help Gilbert teach the younger wrestlers how to perform on interviews, but Gilbert's erratic behavior became too much for Gordon, who had a major falling out with Gilbert right before the "Ultra Clash" event on September 18, 1993. From that point forward, Heyman was in charge of the creative direction of the company.
As Paul E. Dangerously, he managed a few wrestlers, including Sabu who Paul E. managed to the top, winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship and the ECW World Television Championship and 911, but Heyman's increased workload led to him making fewer and fewer appearances on-camera like, attacking Sherri Martel in the ring with a giant cell phone.
A year later, the company was the flagship promotion of the struggling National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). A tournament was scheduled to be held in August 1994 for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, at an ECW-hosted event mostly featuring ECW wrestlers. The proposed outcome was the current ECW champion Shane Douglas becoming champion, but Heyman conspired with Douglas and Gordon without the knowledge of NWA president Dennis Coraluzzo to have Douglas (and by extension, ECW itself) publicly denounce the NWA and its "tradition" after winning the tournament. In his post-match speech, Douglas aggressively assaulted the title's lineage, throwing the belt itself down, proclaiming the NWA a "dead organization" and declaring his ECW title a world-level championship. The plan for this shoot screwjob was known only to those three men;[6] the surprise of the incident made headlines throughout the wrestling industry.
_Heyman_Addressing_Crowd.jpg)
That same week, Heyman and Gordon rechristened the promotion, eliminating the regional branding "Eastern" and declaring the promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling. They broke the company away from the National Wrestling Alliance and ECW became its own entity, with Heyman encouraging wrestlers to express their true feelings about the WWF, the NWA, and WCW and allowing them to help develop their own characters. Many wrestlers willingly took on additional roles in company operations, such as handling merchandise and answering phones. The company grew an intensely loyal fan base with which Heyman encouraged interaction. Eventually, Heyman became sole owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling. Heyman served as booker, promoter, and the executive producer of both live events and television. After Gordon left, he also had to deal with financial matters, which led to ever-increasing debts owed to the wrestlers.
Under Heyman's guidance, Extreme Championship Wrestling helped introduce traditional Japanese and Mexican wrestling styles, which were previously rare on American television, and presented them alongside the North American wrestling.
ECW folded in 2001. Paul and a handful of other wrestlers have said that the death of ECW was for two reasons: One was that Paul did not like sharing power and thus put too much workload and stress on himself; he was getting 2–3 hours of sleep a night, if any. The second reason was ECW could not get another network deal after being kicked off The Nashville Network in favor of WWF. Heyman has also frequently cited Eric Bischoff as a primary architect of the company's downfall, expressing his long-held belief that Bischoff's hiring of ECW wrestlers away to WCW was intentionally meant to weaken ECW, which couldn't afford WCW-level salaries.
Many critics say Heyman's hands-on approach to the entire company led to his inability to save the company when TNN dumped ECW in favor of the market leader WWF. Heyman supporters point out that the total debt for the company was $7 million US, with InDemand pay-per-view owing over a million in PPV revenue.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment[link]
Broadcaster and commentator (2001)[link]
After ECW shut down, Heyman became a broadcaster for the WWF (using his own name), replacing Jerry Lawler (who had quit the WWF in protest when then-wife Stacy Carter was released by the company) as color commentator for Raw in March 2001. During that time, he resumed his storyline rivalry with Jim Ross. In July, while retaining his commentator role, Heyman recreated ECW as a stable, which then immediately merged with Shane McMahon's WCW to form the Alliance during the Invasion angle. After the Alliance's formation, Michael Cole replaced Heyman on commentary for the July 16 and July 23 episodes of Raw before Heyman took his position back on the July 30 episode, saying that Cole had not done a good job conveying the Alliance's message to fans. Heyman was "fired" following the 2001 Survivor Series. He was replaced by the returning Lawler, who holds the position to this day.
Managing Brock Lesnar (2002)[link]
He returned in March as the manager of Brock Lesnar. Heyman led Lesnar to the WWE Undisputed Championship when Lesnar beat The Rock at SummerSlam. Then at the Survivor Series, Heyman turned on Lesnar and helped Big Show take the title from him. Heyman became the first man in professional wrestling history to manage three successive World Champions when it was revealed that he was Kurt Angle's agent just days after Angle beat Big Show for the title.
Heyman suffered a real life injury in January, when taking the F-5 from Lesnar at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California. A major falling out between Heyman and McMahon occurred when McMahon ended the Lesnar – Heyman feud on television just weeks before WrestleMania, when Heyman was scheduled to manage Angle in the main event against Lesnar. Heyman left for a while, and was on WWE payroll for several months as a consultant regarding the television shows as he also received therapy on his neck.
SmackDown! General Manager (2003–2004)[link]
After McMahon "defeated" daughter Stephanie in October at the No Mercy 2003 pay per view, she was forced to resign from her position as General Manager (GM) of SmackDown!. Heyman returned to television to assume Stephanie McMahon's on-camera role as GM and, unlike the fan favorite character Stephanie portrayed, Heyman's character was portrayed similarly to Eric Bischoff's on Raw- an arrogant dictator of a boss that stacked the odds against his popular wrestlers and favored the unpopular ones. During this time, he re-aligned himself with Lesnar and proceeded to infuriate Undertaker, John Cena, and especially Chris Benoit by making sure he had no WWE Championship opportunities as long as he was GM. Eventually, on SmackDown! right before WrestleMania XX, Heyman asked the entire locker room to back him and Lesnar up against Stone Cold Steve Austin, but they just stood there and walked away from him, including one of Heyman's main supporters, The Big Show.
On March 22, 2004, Heyman appeared on Raw to take part in the annual WWE Draft Lottery. During the show he was drafted to work for Bischoff on Raw, but instead decided to "quit" rather than work for arch-nemesis Bischoff, the man who he blamed for killing ECW by raiding its talent. Heyman was replaced by one of his former managerial clients, Kurt Angle.
During Heyman's tenure on SmackDown!, he served as the head writer and is credited with being the creative force behind the successful so-called "SmackDown! Six": (Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero). He placed them in a "triple threat tag team feud" (Angle and Benoit, Edge and Mysterio, Los Guerreros) over the WWE Tag Team Championship. This resulted in a string of high-caliber matches over several months, one of which was awarded 2002 Match of the Year by the Wrestling Observer; Heyman was awarded Best Booker. All of the "Smackdown! Six" went on to become world champions, with Edge, Benoit, Mysterio, & Angle becoming World Heavyweight Champions, Eddie Guerrero, Angle, Mysterio and Edge becoming WWE Champions, & Chavo Guererro later becoming ECW World Champion on the later revived ECW.
Return to managing (2004–2005)[link]
During 2004, Heyman's on-camera role was again as a manager, this time to the Dudley Boyz (not including Spike Dudley; Heyman's role in that regard disappeared just as Spike became "the boss" of his "big brothers"), and Heidenreich. In these managerial roles, he mainly led his stars in feuds with The Undertaker. Heyman's last appearance on SmackDown! saw him sealed in a coffin by Undertaker during a handicap match which featured Heyman and Heidenreich against The Undertaker on January 6, 2005.
ECW One Night Stand Revival (2005)[link]
Paul Heyman was heavily involved in the booking and promotion of the June 12, 2005 ECW reunion PPV, One Night Stand. Heyman returned to Raw on May 23 and confronted former WCW President Eric Bischoff, lauding ECW and criticizing WCW. Among other things, Heyman told him the following: "ECW was a lifestyle, it was anti-establishment, it was counter-culture, and it was up in your face!" Heyman finished it up by setting Bischoff's ECW funeral wreath (made out of barbed wire) on fire. At One Night Stand, a visibly emotional Heyman came to the ring, got on his knees and bowed to the fans, who chanted "Thank you Paul!" He then cut a worked shoot promo insulting Bischoff, Edge, and JBL.
Ohio Valley Wrestling (2005–2006)[link]
On July 10, 2005, it was reported that Paul Heyman took over the positions of head booker and writer in OVW, a developmental territory maintained by WWE.
Return of ECW as a WWE Brand (2006)[link]
See also: ECW (WWE)
On May 25, 2006 it was announced that ECW would relaunch, as a third WWE "brand". Heyman was in charge of the new brand on-camera but had minimal creative input off-camera as well. This would turn Heyman face for the first time in his career. On the May 26 episode of Raw, during a face-off with Mick Foley, Heyman announced that he was granted a draft pick from both Raw and SmackDown! by Vince McMahon. His Raw draft pick was former ECW wrestler (and Money in the Bank contract holder) Rob Van Dam, and his SmackDown! draft pick was Kurt Angle. Angle then came down to the ring and attacked Foley, hitting him with an Angle Slam. Heyman predicted that Van Dam would defeat John Cena at ECW One Night Stand for the WWE Championship and then declare himself the new ECW World Heavyweight Champion. On the June 2 edition of SmackDown!, Heyman served as a guest commentator for Angle's final match on the brand.
At One Night Stand, Van Dam defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship. After Cena knocked an ECW referee unconscious, Edge (in a disguise) appeared and speared Cena through a table, before taking out SmackDown! referee Nick Patrick, allowing Van Dam to hit the Five-Star Frog Splash on Cena. With no referee available Heyman ran down the aisle to count the pinfall and cement his face turn. The following night on Raw, Heyman confirmed that because the championship match was contested under "ECW rules" (which means, essentially, there are no rules) that the decision stands and RVD is the "Undisputed" WWE Champion. As the WWE Champion, Van Dam was the number one man in the reformed ECW, so on the debut of ECW on Sci Fi the next night Heyman, announced as an "ECW Representative", presented him with the re-instated ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Heyman had previously implied that RVD would "re-christen" the WWE Championship into the ECW Championship. Van Dam, however, elected to keep both title belts and was recognized as both the WWE and ECW Champion.
On the July 4, 2006 edition of ECW, Big Show challenged Van Dam to a match for the ECW Championship. Near the end of the match, Big Show took out the referee prior to RVD hitting a Five-Star Frog Splash on Show. Heyman then came out to count the pin (just like at One Night Stand) but stopped at the count of 2, reverting back to a heel. After realizing what happened, Van Dam began chasing Heyman. The distraction allowed Big Show to recover, and knock Van Dam to the mat. At this time Heyman began barking orders at Big Show. He then instructed Big Show to chokeslam Van Dam on a steel chair that had been used earlier in the match. Big Show pinned Van Dam and Heyman made the 3 count, "screwing" Van Dam out of the ECW Championship. Being that Philadelphia was "the home of ECW", and the audience at the Wachovia Center was the first "true ECW-style" fanbase for an ECW on Sci-Fi show, the fans were so incensed by the title change that many of them threw garbage and debris into the ring. This incident has been referred to by the WWE as the "South Philly Screwjob" (evoking comparisons to the Montreal screwjob).
WWE.com then (kayfabe) announced that Heyman was suspending Van Dam for 30 days (mirroring the legit WWE executive decision, due to his and Sabu's recent arrests on drug possession charges.) Heyman began referring to himself as the "Messiah" and "Father Of ECW", justifying his actions stating "anything [can] happen in ECW" and RVD got what he deserved. He also began being accompanied to ECW events by a pair of "private security guards" in riot gear (in actuality the Basham Brothers), ostensibly to protect him from ECW wrestlers and fans who are angry about his recent actions. Heyman's character has also been shown as having a bias toward the "new faces of ECW" (wrestlers who never wrestled for the original incarnation) instead of the "ECW Originals". The only "new face of ECW" he had not shown bias towards was CM Punk, likely due to Punk's status as a then-babyface again.
Due to a behind-the-scenes dispute over ECW's first (and only) solo pay-per-view under WWE (December to Dismember) which aired December 3, 2006, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and Heyman clashed in front of several members of the writing team on McMahon's corporate jet the day after the pay per view, and Heyman ended up traveling home from the RAW/ECW taping in South Carolina. After turning down Stephanie McMahon-Levesque's behind the scenes offer to return to his post writing TV for WWE Developmental television shows, Heyman quietly parted ways with WWE in Late 2006. It was over a year after his dismissal before Heyman commented on the departure, revealing that the resurrection of ECW was mishandled in his opinion and how his booking ideas for December to Dismember were completely different from Vince McMahon's. Heyman disagreed with Lashley becoming the champion. He also felt that taking Sabu out of the main event was a ridiculous idea, claiming he would be perfect for the "Extreme Elimination Chamber". Vince however felt that he could be removed in place of Hardcore Holly, in order to big up Lashley for becoming the new champ. Heyman also felt that Big Show should be eliminated early on in the match by CM Punk via submission, in order to push the rising star. Big Show also agreed with this idea, also wanting to help push Punk's rising career, but Vince once more disagreed.[citation needed]
Return to WWE (2012)[link]
Paul Heyman returned to WWE on the May 7, 2012 episode of Raw as Brock Lesnar's legal adviser. He announced that Brock Lesnar had (storyline) quit the company, and was "never coming back."[7] The following week on Raw, Heyman confronted Triple H, handing him a lawsuit from Lesnar for "breaching a valid contract", before Triple H would physically grab Heyman by the face and shove him backward into the ropes, leading to Heyman to announce that he will also file a lawsuit against Triple H for "assault and battery".[8]
After wrestling[link]
Having left WWE, Heyman attempted to invest in mixed martial arts when he joined a consortium which looked to buy Strikeforce; although the bid failed, Heyman praised Strikeforce owner Scott Coker in subsequent interviews.[9]
Since leaving wrestling, Heyman has entered into a collaborative relationship with The Sun, a UK-based newspaper and website.[10]
On February 4, 2008, he gave The Sun an exclusive interview (his first since leaving WWE) about his problems with WWE's handling of the ECW brand, and the events leading up to his quitting.
Heyman has also begun a multimedia project with the paper called The Heyman Hustle, which he describes as "the high definition video blog of a rambling mind."[10] It features video of Heyman interacting with celebrities from various fields of entertainment on the streets of New York City, as well as regular writings of Heyman's take on the world of professional wrestling, including his thoughts on the McMahon wrestling family, the Chris Benoit murder-suicide, Ric Flair's retirement, and Joey Styles being replaced by Mike Adamle as the ECW play-by-play commentator. Notable guests of the first season of the Hustle include Holly Madison, Ice-T and Coco, James Lipton, Aubrey O'Day, and Jesse Ventura.
In 2011 Heyman worked with Brock Lesnar once again, this time collaborating with him on Lesnar's autobiography, "Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival".[11] It was published by William Morrow and Company on May 24, 2011.
Acting[link]
Heyman portrayed a sports announcer in 2002's Rollerball.[12] His performance received critical acclaim, even though the movie did not. "Director John McTiernan's Rollerball is an atrocious remake," reported Variety, "whose only saving grace is the hysterical performance by wrestling producer and performer Paul Heyman, who pretty much plays himself to perfection."[citation needed] Heyman was later tapped by "I am Legend" executive producer Michael Tadross to play Gino in the film adaptation of long-running Off Broadway show Tony n' Tina's Wedding.
Personal life[link]
Heyman is the son of Richard S. Heyman, a prominent personal injury attorney in the Bronx who served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, and Sulamita Heyman, a holocaust survivor.[13] Heyman has a daughter named Azalea Heyman [9] who was born July 31, 2002 and a son Jacob Heyman who was born July 28, 2004.
Wrestlers managed[link]
- Stables and tag teams
- Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Rick Rude, Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Eaton, Steve Austin, Madusa)
- Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas)
- The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley and Spike Dudley)
Awards and accomplishments[link]
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2005)
- Best Booker (1994–1997, 2002)
- Best Non-Wrestler (2001–2002, 2004)
References[link]
- ^ "Paul Heyman Jr.". Genick. http://www.genickbruch.com/index.php?befehl=bios&wrestler=234. Retrieved 2010-03-21.
- ^ a b c The rise & Fall of ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling. Thom Loverro, Paul Heyman, Tommy Dreamer
- ^ CANOE – SLAM! Sports: ng – Anti-Semitism in wrestling: Paul Heyman's story. Slam.canoe.ca. Retrieved on 2012-05-08.
- ^ a b SLAM! Sports – Wrestling – Paul Heyman. Slam.canoe.ca. Retrieved on 2012-05-08.
- ^ Dangerously did work some ECW shows during the year but most of the year saw him trying to get a new promotion off the ground in Texas with Jim Crockett, Jr. The effort would not fly and, by October, Gordon wanted Dangerously brought into ECW. Eddiegilbert.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-08.
- ^ The NEW Online Home of The Interactive Interview. WrestlingEpicenter.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-08.
- ^ Herrera, Tom. "Raw SuperShow results: Paul Heyman returns and announces Brock Lesnar has quit WWE". WWE.com. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2012-05-07/wwe-raw-supershow-results/page-8. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
- ^ Tylwalk, Nick. "Raw: Triple H and John Laurinaitis both get served in Pittsburgh". SLAM! Sports. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2012/05/14/19758751.html. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
- ^ a b "Paul Heyman, Lesnar's Ex-WWE Manager, Explains Friendship With Champ". MMAFIGHTING.com. 2010-07-01. http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/07/01/paul-heyman-lesnars-ex-wwe-manager-explains-friendship-with-c/. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
- ^ a b Paul Heyman:Why I Left WWE TheSun.co.uk
- ^ Amazon.com Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival Amazon.com
- ^ Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ Chhibber, Ranjan (2009-04-02). "Anti-Semitism in wrestling: Paul Heyman's story". Slam! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/03/31/8956556.html. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
External links[link]
| Find more about Paul Heyman on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
|
Images and media from Commons |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Heyman, Paul |
| Alternative names | Dangerously, Paul E.; Heyman, Paul E. |
| Short description | Professional wrestling promoter, manager, and commnentator; entertainment producer |
| Date of birth | September 11, 1965 |
| Place of birth | Scarsdale, New York |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Paul_Heyman
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is about the professional wrestler and reality television personality. For the pool player who used the same nickname, see Steve Mizerak.
| The Miz | |
|---|---|
 The Miz as WWE champion |
|
| Ring name(s) | Calgary Kid[1][2] The Miz Mike "The Miz" Mizanin |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[3] |
| Billed weight | 221 lb (100 kg)[3] |
| Born | (1980-10-08) October 8, 1980 (age 31)[4] Parma, Ohio[4][5] |
| Resides | Los Angeles, California[4] |
| Billed from | Calgary, Alberta, Canada Cleveland, Ohio[3] |
| Trained by | UPW staff Al Snow Bill DeMott |
| Debut | 2003[4] |
| Website | http://themiz.net/ |
Michael "Mike" Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) [4] is an American professional wrestler, reality television star, media personality, and actor better known by his nickname and ring name The Miz. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment on its Raw brand. Mizanin first gained fame as a cast member on MTV's The Real World: Back to New York, which first aired in 2001, and its spinoff series, Real World/Road Rules Challenge. He later entered the fourth season of Tough Enough, a televised competition that would award the winner a WWE contract, and became the first runner-up. Mizanin has also made appearances on television shows including Battle of the Network Reality Stars, Fear Factor, Identity, Ghost Hunters, Dinner Impossible, Psych and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?.
Mizanin trained and wrestled with Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Deep South Wrestling, where he became the first Deep South Heavyweight Champion. Mizanin was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), working in tag team matches and winning the tag team title, the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, on one occasion.
After signing with WWE, Mizanin became host of the annual WWE Diva Search competition in 2006. Following his hosting duties, Mizanin made his wrestling debut in September 2006, as a villain who went undefeated. In 2007, was drafted from SmackDown to the ECW brand, where he formed a partnership with John Morrison, in which the two held both the WWE Tag Team Championship and the World Tag Team Championship. He was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2009 WWE Draft, and won the WWE United States Championship on two occasions. He also won WWE Unified Tag Team Championship with The Big Show and the WWE Tag Team Championship with John Cena. In July 2010, he won a Money in the Bank ladder match at the first WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view, earning a contract for a WWE Championship match, which he used in November to win the WWE Championship for the first time. In 2011, The Miz was ranked number one on Pro Wrestling Illustrated's annual PWI 500 list.
Contents |
Early life[link]
Mizanin, a native of Parma, Ohio, attended Normandy High School, where he was the captain of the basketball and cross country teams.[4][5] He also participated in swimming, the student government and was the editor of his high school yearbook.[4] He then attended Miami University, where he was a member of the Theta Chi Fraternity, and studied business at the Richard T. Farmer School of Business.[4][5][6]
Television career[link]
Mizanin dropped out of college, where he was pursuing a degree in business, in order to appear on the tenth season of MTV's reality television program The Real World in 2001.[7][8] He went on to appear in multiple seasons of its spin-off series, Real World/Road Rules Challenge,[8] along with contestants from both Road Rules and The Real World, including Battle of the Seasons,[9] The Gauntlet,[10] The Inferno,[10] Battle of the Sexes 2,[11] and The Inferno 2.[12] Except for Battle of the Sexes 2, Mizanin made it to the end of the rest of the Challenges on which he competed, and won both Battle of the Seasons and The Inferno 2.
After a seven year long absence from The Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Mizanin returned to the reality show on April 4, 2012 as the host of The Battle of the Exes season finale Reunion special. It marked the first time The Miz appeared on the series since becoming a main event WWE superstar.[13]
It was during an episode of The Real World that Mizanin first displayed an alter ego known as "The Miz".[4] In contrast to Mizanin's usually placid demeanor, The Miz was angry, combative, and headstrong. Mizanin later realized that "The Miz" would make an excellent professional wrestling gimmick.[4]
In 2004, he appeared on the Bravo reality show Battle of the Network Reality Stars,[8][14] where his team finished second. Mizanin was also a contestant in the "Reality Stars" episode of Fear Factor.[8][15] His partner was his former girlfriend and cast mate, Trishelle Cannatella, and the two won the competition. In April 2007, he appeared on the game show Identity, where he appeared as a stranger, and contestant John Kim correctly identified his identity as a professional wrestler by the odd way he added "Miz-" before most words.[16] In 2008, Mizanin appeared on the Sci Fi reality series Ghost Hunters Live as a guest investigator.[17] In 2009, Mizanin appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, which were both aired on September 29.[18][19] He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010.[20][21] On October 5, 2011, Miz starred in an episode of H8R. He also appeared as a guest star in a March 2012 episode of Psych. On March 31, Miz appeared in the first ever Slime Wrestling World Championship at the Kids Choice Awards, losing to the Big Show which resulted in him being thrown into a tub of slime.
Professional wrestling career[link]
Ultimate Pro Wrestling (2003)[link]
Pursuing the goal of becoming a professional wrestler which he had harbored from an early age, Mizanin joined Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW), where he trained in the Ultimate University.[4] He made his in-ring debut in 2003 as the Miz.[4] During his time with UPW, the Miz competed in UPW's Mat War's tournament, making it to the finals before losing to Tony Stradlin.[4]
World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE[link]
[edit] Tough Enough and training (2004–2006)
In October 2004, Mizanin entered the fourth season of Tough Enough, a televised competition which would award the winner a World Wrestling Entertainment contract and $1,000,000.[4][22] Despite coming last in an arm wrestling tournament on November 25, 2004, Mizanin outlasted six other wrestlers, and made it to the final round.[6] At the pay-per-view event, Armageddon, Mizanin faced the other remaining entrant, Daniel Puder, in a three round "Dixie Dogfight" (boxing match). Neither man achieved a knockout, and the contest was awarded to Puder on the basis of crowd reaction.[23] On the December 16, 2004 episode of SmackDown!, Puder was announced as the winner of Tough Enough by head trainer Al Snow.[24]
Despite losing the Tough Enough contest, Mizanin had piqued the interest of WWE, and he was eventually offered a developmental contract.[4] Mizanin was sent to Deep South Wrestling (DSW) to train under Bill DeMott,[4] relocating to McDonough, Georgia in the process. In July 2005, he wrestled two dark matches for WWE, teaming with former Tough Enough champion Matt Cappotelli to face The Highlanders (Robbie and Rory McAllister). On December 1, 2005, Mizanin defeated Mike Knox in the finals of a tournament to determine the inaugural Deep South Heavyweight Champion.[4][25] He continued his partnership with Matt Cappotelli throughout the second half of 2005 in WWE dark matches and house shows until Cappotelli, nominally of Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), was diagnosed with a brain tumor after an injury at a taping in December 2005.[26]
On January 3, 2006, it was reported that Mizanin had been transferred to OVW. On the January 18, 2006, OVW TV show, Mizanin made his debut as "The Miz", with a Miz TV segment, where he was shown talking backstage.[4] On the January 28, 2006 episode of the OVW television show, The Miz wrestled his first singles match against Rene Dupree, but lost by countout.[27]
At the February 8, 2006 TV taping, The Miz and Chris Cage captured the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, defeating Chet the Jett and Seth Skyfire.[4][28] In what was deemed a "disciplinary move", WWE released Cage over the weekend of March 18, 2006, making it necessary for Miz and Cage to drop the titles.[29] On March 19, 2006, Deuce Shade defeated The Miz in a singles contest to win the championship for his team The Untouchables (Deuce Shade and Domino).[4][30]
SmackDown! host (2006–2007)[link]
On March 7, 2006, WWE's official website featured a video of "The Miz" stating that he was headed to SmackDown! and throughout April, SmackDown! aired vignettes hyping his debut.[4][31] When Mizanin actually attempted to make his debut on the April 21, 2006 episode of SmackDown!, however, he was, in storyline banned from entering the arena by "network executive" Palmer Cannon who told him that he had been "canceled" before having security escort him from the premises.[32]
On May 31, 2006, WWE's official website announced that he would serve as SmackDown!'s "host".[33] The Miz debuted as the "host" on June 2, 2006,[34] announcing the planned card at the top of the show and attempting to hype up the crowd. Other "host" duties included backstage interviews and hosting a bikini contest. The hosting duties seemed sporadic at best, with some weeks having little to no involvement of Miz at all. Starting in July, Miz, along with Ashley Massaro, became host of the annual Diva Search competition appearing on both Raw and SmackDown!.[35][36][37]
After the end of the Diva Search competition, The Miz returned exclusively to SmackDown! and adopted a villainous persona, starting his in-ring competition with a win over Tatanka in a September 2006 episode of SmackDown!.[38] After this win he, along with commentator Michael Cole, began to note whenever possible that he was "undefeated", though he only wrestled five matches over the next two months, defeating such superstars as Matt Hardy,[39] Funaki,[40] and Scotty 2 Hotty.[41] At the same time he began a feud with Diva Search winner Layla El, who spurned his advances on more than one occasion,[42][43] leading to Miz helping Kristal defeat her in various competitions.[44][45] Soon, however, Miz and Kristal found themselves being stalked by The Boogeyman. This began a feud in which the Boogeyman ended the Miz's winning streak at December's Armageddon event.[46]
Following a brief absence from television, The Miz returned to SmackDown! to host an interview segment called Miz TV.[47] After the unsuccessful segment, the Miz returned to in-ring competition with a more intense style and began to pick up wins once again.[48][49] On the June 11, 2007 episode of Raw, Mizanin faced off against Snitsky in a match to determine a draft pick for SmackDown!.[50] Snitsky easily defeated the Miz to give ECW the draft pick, but after constantly assaulting the Miz after the match, the referee reversed the decision and awarded the match to Miz, thus allowing SmackDown! a draft pick.[51] SmackDown!'s pick was then revealed to be Chris Masters.[51]
ECW and teaming with John Morrison (2007–2009)[link]
Main article: John Morrison and The Miz
Miz was drafted from SmackDown! to ECW on June 17, 2007 as part of the 2007 Supplemental Draft.[52] He was absent from the first few weeks of ECW, though he was the subject of backstage mentions between matches and had several short Miz TV Crashes ECW video segments.[53][54] He made his debut on the July 10 episode of ECW in a match against Nunzio, which he won.[55]
Following this match, Extreme Exposé began expressing admiration in him and gave him a lap-dance, starting a new gimmick for him of a self-proclaimed "chick magnet".[56] Extreme Exposé then became managers for The Miz.[57] He then began a feud with Balls Mahoney, after Kelly Kelly began to fall in love with Mahoney on screen.[58][59][60] On the October 2 episode of ECW, it was revealed that Miz owned the contracts of Kelly Kelly, Layla, and Brooke Adams, and used this excuse to stop Kelly from going out with Mahoney.[61] He was voted at Cyber Sunday to face CM Punk, for the ECW Championship but lost the match.[62]
On the November 16 episode of SmackDown, he became one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with John Morrison when they defeated Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) in a title match, which gave the Miz his first title within the company.[63][64]
In February 2008, Miz and Morrison were given a streaming segment on the WWE website named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture, showing off their promo skills.[65] Morrison and The Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week.[66] As the duo continued to hold the titles, WWE downplayed the angle of Miz and Morrison disliking each other, and portrayed them as friends. The team had many successful title defenses over the next few months, before dropping the championship to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at the Great American Bash in a Fatal Four-Way match which also featured Jesse and Festus and Finlay and Hornswoggle.[67] Neither Miz nor Morrison were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles.[67] Miz and Morrison soon followed a feud with Cryme Tyme (Shad Gaspard and JTG) as a battle of their webshows, "Word Up" and "The Dirt Sheet". The two would be victorious against Cryme Tyme in a match at Cyber Sunday where they were voted in.[68] On December 13, 2008, Miz and Morrison defeated Kofi Kingston and CM Punk to win the World Tag Team Championship during a WWE house show in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.[69] The team then engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo). In a dark match at WrestleMania XXV, they lost the World Tag Team Championship to The Colóns in a Lumberjack match to unify the World Tag Team and the WWE Tag Team titles.[70] On the April 13 episode of Raw, The Miz lost a match to Kofi Kingston due to Morrison's inadvertent interference, which gave Raw a draft pick in the 2009 WWE Draft. The pick was then revealed to be The Miz, and he subsequently attacked Morrison, ending their partnership.[71]
United States and WWE Champion (2009–2011)[link]
Main article: ShoMiz
Miz challenged John Cena to a match on the April 27 episode of Raw, but as Cena was out due to injury, Miz claimed an unofficial win via forfeit and continued to do this over the following weeks, until Cena defeated him in a singles match at The Bash.[72] On the August 3 episode of Raw, The Miz lost a match to Cena, which meant that, in storyline, he was banned from the Staples Center, Raw and SummerSlam.[73] The following week, on August 10, Miz competed under a mask as "The Calgary Kid", and won a Contract on Pole match against Eugene, earning a contract in storyline, and revealing himself by removing his mask afterwards.[74] After removing the mask to reveal himself. he cut a promo and debut his catchphrase "Because I am The Miz and I'm Awesome."
On the August 19 edition of Raw, The Miz announced his intention to challenge for the WWE United States Championship, and also debuted new ring attire and a new finishing move, the Skull Crushing Finale, to defeat Evan Bourne.[1][5] He challenged for the United States Championship at the Night of Champions, Breaking Point and Hell in a Cell pay-per-views, but was unsuccessful.[75][76][77] On the October 5 episode of Raw, the night after Hell in a Cell, The Miz received a rematch for the championship, and defeated Kofi Kingston to win the United States Championship and his first singles championship in WWE.[78][79] The following pay-per-view event, Bragging Rights, was themed with interpromotional matches and now that The Miz was the second-tier champion on Raw he was booked against SmackDown's Intercontinental Champion, his erstwhile tag team partner John Morrison.[80] In the build up to their first match since splitting, the two hosted a one-off edition of The Dirt Sheet on the October 16 episode of SmackDown where the two compared themselves to '80s tag team The Rockers, debating over which is more comparable to the successful Shawn Michaels and which was the less successful Marty Jannetty.[81] At Bragging Rights, Miz pinned Morrison to become the only member of the Raw roster to win an interpromotional match.[82] The following month at Survivor Series, Miz captained a team of five wrestlers against Team Morrison in a five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match and once again bested his former partner.[83]
In 2010, The Miz began a rivalry with MVP that began with a critically well-received verbal exchange between the two.[84] The two met in an unadvertised match for the United States Championship at the Royal Rumble event with Miz retaining his title, but in the Royal Rumble match itself MVP eliminated both himself and The Miz.[85] During the rivalry with MVP, Miz began showing signs of an allegiance with The Big Show and on the February 8 episode of Raw, the two defeated champions D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) and The Straight Edge Society (CM Punk and Luke Gallows) to become the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions.[86][87][88]
On February 16, it was announced that he would be on the WWE NXT show as the storyline mentor of Daniel Bryan.[89] At WrestleMania XXVI, Show and Miz defeated John Morrison and R-Truth to retain the title again.[90] During the 2010 WWE Draft on the April 26 episode of Raw, ShoMiz lost the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship to The Hart Dynasty when Tyson Kidd made The Miz submit to the Sharpshooter. After the match, The Big Show knocked out The Miz, and was later drafted to the SmackDown brand, leaving The Miz on Raw.[91] On May 10, Kidd defeated The Miz in a match, which earned any member of The Hart Dynasty a match for the United States Championship, and The Miz, who was allowed to choose his opponent, elected to face Bret Hart.[92] On the following episode of Raw on May 17, Hart defeated The Miz to win the United States Championship, despite Chris Jericho, William Regal, and Vladimir Kozlov attempting to interfere on The Miz's behalf.[93] The Miz had a tumultuous relationship with Bryan, who was eliminated from NXT on May 11, although he returned the following week to attack The Miz.[94][95]
On June 1, The Miz announced that he would be returning as a Pro for the second season of NXT, to mentor Alex Riley, the only Pro to do so.[96][97] On the June 14 episode of Raw, The Miz defeated R-Truth, John Morrison, and Zack Ryder in a fatal four-way match to win the United States Championship for the second time, and successfully retained the championship against R-Truth at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view.[98][99][100]
On July 18, at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, The Miz won a Money in the Bank ladder match to win a contract for a WWE Championship match that he could utilize at any time over the next year.[101] Over the next few weeks, The Miz attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank contract on the WWE Champion Sheamus, but was continually interrupted by other wrestlers before the matches could occur, which meant that he retained the contract for future use.[102][103] Daniel Bryan returned to WWE at SummerSlam, taking The Miz's place on Team WWE, causing The Miz to attack him.[104] This began a rivalry between the two, with The Miz losing the United States Championship to Bryan at the Night of Champions event in September.[105] The following month, Miz defeated John Cena to become the captain of Team Raw, but at the Bragging Rights pay-per-view Team Raw—The Miz (with Alex Riley), R-Truth, John Morrison, Santino Marella, Sheamus, CM Punk, and Ezekiel Jackson—were unsuccessful in defeating Team SmackDown.[106]
On the November 22 episode of Raw, following a successful WWE Championship defense by Randy Orton against Wade Barrett, he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to become the new WWE Champion making him the first person from Tough Enough to win the WWE Championship.[107][108] He successfully defended the championship against Jerry Lawler in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match on the following episode of Raw, due to help from Michael Cole and Riley, and again at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view in December by defeating Orton in a Tables match following interference from Alex Riley.[109][110] He defeated Orton again at the Royal Rumble, after interference from CM Punk, in January 2011 and Lawler the following month at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view to retain the championship.[111][112]
The night after Elimination Chamber, The Miz and John Cena were paired together by the Raw General Manager to challenge The Corre (Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater) for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The Miz and Cena were successful in winning the titles (making Miz a double champion and seemingly turning him into a tweener), but lost them back to Corre immediately afterward in a rematch, after The Miz turned on Cena.[113][114] This made their reign the shortest in the championship's history.[115] The following week, The Miz lost Riley as his apprentice after Cena defeated Riley in a steel cage match with the stipulation that if Cena won, Riley was fired from his job, but The Miz hired Riley back, this time as his VP of Corporate Communications, in mid-March.[116][117] On April 3 in the main event of WrestleMania XXVII, The Miz successfully defended the WWE Championship against Cena, following interference from The Rock.[118] At the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on May 1, The Miz lost the WWE Championship to Cena, in a triple threat steel cage match, also involving Morrison.[119] The following night on Raw, The Miz failed to regain the championship from Cena in a singles match when he lost by disqualification, and failed to regain the championship again in an "I Quit" match at Over the Limit .[120][121]
On the May 23 episode of Raw, The Miz fired Riley, blaming him for not being able to regain the championship because of Riley not being present at the Extreme Rules PPV when Miz lost the title, the following night on Raw when Riley held up the arm that Miz was holding the belt with leading to his disqualification and at the Over the Limit PPV when he left his phone behind that he used to trick the referee into thinking that Cena had said "I Quit". This led to Riley attacking his former mentor, sending him crashing into a barricade at ringside and then head first over the announce table which turned Riley a fan favorite for the first time in WWE. On the May 30 episode of Raw, The Miz assaulted Riley after an interview from Michael Cole, but Riley gained the upper hand and Miz escaped through the crowd. At Capitol Punishment, Riley defeated Miz in a singles-match. He went on to lose to Riley in various singles and tag team matches. It was later announced that Miz would be a participant in the Raw's Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank, though he was unsuccessful in winning the match following a knee injury kayfabe and then returning but stopped from claiming the briefcase by Rey Mysterio. The following night on Raw Miz made it to the finals of the WWE Championship tournament defeating his former NXT rookie, Alex Riley in the first round. The following week on Raw Miz would be defeated by Rey Mysterio.[122] At Summerslam,The Miz teamed up with R-Truth and Alberto Del Rio in a losing effort to Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston and John Morrison.[123]
Awesome Truth (2011)[link]
On the August 22 episode of Raw, Miz and R-Truth attacked Santino Marella before his match. They would then cut a promo agreeing there was a conspiracy in the WWE keeping the both of them out of the main event picture, and declared they would, together, seize any opportunity that came their way in the future.[124] The duo would soon begin referring to themselves, on Raw and in other media, as "The Awesome Truth".[125][126] On the August 29 episode of Raw, Truth interfered in Miz's match and the duo attacked CM Punk. The following week, Miz and Truth announced that they would challenge Air Boom (Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston) to a match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions. At the pay-per-view, following the referee being distracted while The Miz was attempting a pin, Miz would assault the referee , causing his team to lose by disqualification.[127] Seeking retribution, Miz and Truth later attacked both Triple H and CM Punk during their no disqualification match in the main event.[128] Because of their actions from the previous night, R-Truth and The Miz were fired by Triple H on the September 19 episode of Raw.[129][130] At the conclusion of the main event match at Hell in a Cell, R-Truth and The Miz jumped the barricade wearing black hooded sweatshirts and entered the cell as it was being raised. They then used weapons to attack Alberto Del Rio, CM Punk, John Cena, the Referee and camera men while the cell was again lowered. After this, the entire WWE roster led by Triple H came out to find a way into the cell, before New Orleans Police Department officers were able to get the door open and arrest them. The two later posted a video on YouTube apologizing to the WWE Universe for their actions.[131] The Miz and R-Truth were reinstated by John Laurinaitis on the October 10 episode of Raw. At Vengeance, Miz and Truth defeated CM Punk and Triple H in a tag team match, after interference from Kevin Nash. Later that same night they assaulted John Cena during his WWE Championship match with Alberto Del Rio.[132] On the October 24 episode of Raw, Awesome Truth attacked John Cena and Zack Ryder. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Miz and R-Truth defeated Cena and Ryder.[133] At Survivor Series, The Awesome Truth were defeated by John Cena and The Rock.[134]
On the November 21 episode of Raw, Cena instigated an argument between R-Truth and Miz, which resulted in Miz hitting his finisher on Truth as they were heading up the steel ramp, signaling the end of their alliance.[135] This was a pretext to explain R-Truth's absence during his suspension as a result of his violating of the Wellness Policy.[136]
Singles competition (2011–present)[link]
On the November 28 episode of Raw, Miz defeated John Morrison in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Like he had done to R-Truth, he used his finisher on the steel ramp which was used as a storyline reason to explain Morrison's departure from WWE. On the December 5, episode of Raw, Miz qualified for a Triple Threat Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match against Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk at Tables, Ladders & Chairs for the WWE Championship after a win over Randy Orton via count out, but was unsuccessful.[137][138] On the December 26 episode of Raw, R-Truth returned only to viciously attack Miz after a match and promised this will continue week-after-week.[139] The following Raw, Truth would hide in the audience and attack Miz again during his match with Sheamus.[140] On the January 9 episode of Raw, Miz would retaliate by attacking R-Truth until Truth turned the tables and chased him out of the ring.[141] On the January 16 episode of Raw SuperShow, R-Truth defeated Miz, Wade Barrett, and Sheamus in an Over The Top Rope Challenge.[142] The following Raw, Miz was defeated by R-Truth in a singles match with a stipulation in place where the loser of the match would enter the Royal Rumble match as the first entrant. In the Rumble match, Miz was the longest lasting participant, lasting over 45 minutes before being eliminated by former tag team partner, Big Show.[143] At Elimination Chamber, Miz failed again to capture the WWE Championship after being eliminated last by CM Punk.[144] Desperate for a spot on the card for the upcoming Wrestlemania XXVIII event,[145] Miz joined John Laurinaitis' team for the 12-man tag team match after saving Laurinaitis from Santino Marella.[146][147] Miz picked up the win for Team Johnny after pinning Zack Ryder with the help of Eve, which ended his 20 match losing streak dating back to 2011.[148] He again defeated Ryder the following night on Raw, thus ending his losing streak in singles matches.[149] In the pre-show of Extreme Rules, Miz unsuccessfully challenged Santino Marella for the United States Championship.[150] The following night on Raw, Miz was part of a Beat The Clock challenge to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship match at Over the Limit; he defeated Marella in 4:18[151] before being beaten by Randy Orton[152] and Daniel Bryan.[153] At the pay-per-view, Miz lost a 20-man "People Power" battle royal to battle for either the United States Championship or the Intercontinental Championship and was later defeated by Brodus Clay in a singles match.[154]
Other media[link]
Mizanin appears as a guest in the T.V. show "Psych", in the episode 12 of the season 6 "Shawn and the real girl".[155] Mizanin will co-star in 2012 crime drama Stainless Steel, alongside fellow wrestlers Matt Striker and Layla El as CIA agent John Steel.[156] He appears in the WWE video games, WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009, WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010, WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011, WWE All Stars, and WWE '12.
On April 30, 2012 it was announced that the Miz would star in WWE Studios Film "Marine: Homefront".[157] Mizanin replaced fellow wrestler Randy Orton who was dropped of the role due to his past with the USMC.[158] On April 30 it as also announced that Mizanin will be featured in the WWE Studios and Kare Production Project "Les reines du ring" (English: Queens of the ring) alongside Eve Torres and CM Punk[159]
Personal life[link]
Mizanin is left-handed. He passionately roots for his hometown Cleveland Browns, Indians, and Cavs. Prior to the Indians vs. Angels game on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 Mizanin fulfilled one of his life-long goals when he threw out the first pitch.[160] Miz is a supporter of the UK's Premier League side Chelsea FC.[161]
When Mike was 11, his parents divorced. He has a step-father named Donnie and two step-siblings, Jimmy and Tonia.[162] His father George Mizanin, owns several Mr. Hero sandwich shops in the Cleveland area, and when Mike comes back to Cleveland to do shows, he often speaks about working the counter at one of the locations while growing up.[163]
Mizanin is in a relationship with former WWE Diva Maryse Ouellet.[164]
In wrestling[link]
- Finishing moves
- Mizard of Oz (Swinging inverted DDT)[165] – 2005–2007
- Reality Check (Running knee lift followed by a neckbreaker slam)[166] – 2007–2009
- Skull-Crushing Finale (Full nelson facebuster)[1][3] - 2009-present
- Signature moves
- Big boot[167]
- Discus punch[165] – OVW
- Diving double axe handle[168]
- Half nelson facebuster[169] – 2009
- Inverted facelock backbreaker followed by a neckbreaker slam[167][170][171]
- Knee lift[167]
- Neckbreaker[168]
- Snap DDT to a kneeling opponent[172]
- Snapmare driver[173] – 2011
- Springboard bulldog[165] – OVW
- Swinging corner clothesline[174]
- Turnbuckle bulldog[169] – 2009
- Entrance themes
- "Getting Away With Murder" by Papa Roach (used when he was the host of SmackDown!)
- "Reality" by Jim Johnston (September 1, 2006 – December 28, 2009)
- "Ain't No Make Believe" by Stonefree Experience (November 16, 2007 – April 13, 2009; Used while teaming with John Morrison)
- "I Came to Play" by Downstait[180] (January 4, 2010–present; Used during singles competition)
- "The Awesome Truth" by Jim Johnston[181] (August 22, 2011 – November 21, 2011; Used while teaming with R-Truth)
Championships and accomplishments[link]
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- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2011)[184]
- PWI ranked him #1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011[185]
- World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
- WWE Championship (1 time)
- WWE Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with John Morrison (1), The Big Show (1) and John Cena (1)[63][87][113]
- WWE United States Championship (2 times)[78][98]
- World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with John Morrison (1) and The Big Show (1)[69][86]
- Money in the Bank (Raw 2010)[101]
- Slammy Award for Best WWE.com Exclusive (2008) – with John Morrison[186]
- Slammy Award for Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with John Morrison[186]
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Most Improved (2008, 2009)[187]
- Tag Team of the Year (2008) with John Morrison[187]
References[link]
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External links[link]
|
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mike Mizanin |
- WWE profile
- The Miz on Twitter
- Official YouTube channel
- The Miz at the Internet Movie Database
- Online World of Wrestling profile
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Miz, The |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | American professional wrestler |
| Date of birth | October 8, 1980 |
| Place of birth | Parma, Ohio |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/The_Miz
Related pages:
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