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Terry Eugene Bollea, better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler and television personality. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 1980s.
Hogan began his professional wrestling career in 1977, but gained worldwide recognition after signing for World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1983. There, his persona as a heroic all-American helped usher in the 1980s professional wrestling boom, where he headlined eight of the first nine editions of WWF's flagship annual event, WrestleMania. During his initial run, he won the WWF Championship five times, with his first reign being the second-longest in the championship's history. He is the first wrestler to win consecutive Royal Rumble matches, winning in 1990 and 1991. His match with Andre the Giant on WWF The Main Event on February 5, 1988, still holds American television viewership records for wrestling with a 15.2 Nielsen rating and 33 million viewers.
In 1993, Hogan departed the WWF to sign for rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship six times, and holds the record for the longest reign. In 1996, he underwent a career renaissance upon adopting the villainous persona of "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, leading the popular New World Order (nWo) stable. As a result, he became a major figure during the "Monday Night Wars", another boom of mainstream professional wrestling. He headlined WCW's annual flagship event Starrcade three times, including the most profitable WCW pay-per-view ever, Starrcade 1997.
Hogan returned to the WWF in 2002 following its acquisition of WCW the prior year, winning the Undisputed WWF Championship for a record equaling (for the year) sixth time before departing in 2003. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005, and inducted a second time in 2020 as a member of the nWo.
Hogan also performed for the American Wrestling Association (AWA), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) - where he won the original IWGP Heavyweight Championship - and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA - now known as Impact Wrestling).
During and after wrestling, Hogan had an extensive acting career, beginning with his 1982 cameo role in Rocky III. He has starred in several films (including No Holds Barred, Suburban Commando and Mr. Nanny) and three television shows (Hogan Knows Best, Thunder in Paradise, and China, IL), as well as in Right Guard commercials and the video game, Hulk Hogan's Main Event. He was the frontman for The Wrestling Boot Band, whose sole record, Hulk Rules, reached No. 12 on the Billboard Top Kid Audio chart in 1995.- Actor
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'Stone Cold' Steve Austin was born in Victoria, Texas, as Steven James Anderson, on December 18, 1964, the youngest of five children. His mother, Beverly Jane (Harrison), remarried to Kenneth Williams, and he took his stepfather's surname. He played football at the North Texas State University. He was worthy of achieving a free education because of his football skills in school. Williams then began training at Chris Adams's wrestling school as a rookie near the end of 1988, and made his professional wrestling debut at the end of 1989. He then moved over to minor wrestling companies to wrestle for money, and later entered WCW under the name of 'Stunning Steve Austin'. He didn't make a large name for himself in the company, as he only held an embarrassing two TV titles. Austin was fired by WCW and joined the WWF (now known as WWE) in December 1995. Austin left after a while to go to ECW but only stayed for a couple of weeks before he came back to the WWF as 'Stone Cold Steve Austin'. Austin then disposed of his old finishing move the 'Million Dollar Dream', which was the trademark of 'Million Dollar Man' Ted Dibiase, and began racking up the victories with his Stone Cold Stunner (kick to the gut followed by a jawbreaker).
Austin then had a good winning streak going by 1996 and wrestled to become the 1996 King Of The Ring. Austin cut his lip open during one match, and had to get it stitched up in between matches. In the grand final of the KOTR he defeated Jake 'The Snake' Roberts with a Stone Cold Stunner, and invented his famous motto as 'Austin 3:16'. As 1997 rolled around Austin's career soared to new heights. WCW realized Austin's popularity, and tried to make a 'clone' when they invited 'Bill Goldberg' to compete for them. During that year, Austin won the WWF Intercontinental Championship twice and the Tag Team Championships. When Austin successfully defended the IC title against Rocky Maivia (now known as The Rock, real name Dwayne Johnson) on a taping of RAW, he was ordered to defend it again because he drove his pickup truck to the ring and delivered a Stunner to D'Lo Brown ('A.C. Conner') on the roof, which Vince McMahon saw as weapon usage. Austin refused to defend the title again and dumped the old belt in a river, and therefore McMahon crowned Rocky Maivia as the new champion. However, Austin said he didn't care about that title, and set his sights on the Heavyweight Championship. Although Austin had won the 1997 Royal Rumble to qualify as the Number 1 Contender for the championship at WrestleMania XIII, he didn't get the place because he was eliminated but referees didn't notice, so instead, Austin fought Bret Hart in an Iron Man match which Hart won when Austin passed out from blood loss when he was trapped in a Sharpshooter. However, Austin successfully won the 1998 Royal Rumble when he eliminated Rocky Maivia. A stipulation was made for the main event at WrestleMania XIV (Austin vs. Shawn Michaels): the special guest referee would be Iron Mike Tyson! Austin had made a friendship with Tyson, but all though Tyson betrayed him when he joined DX! However, Tyson shocked the world when Austin hit Michaels with a Stone Cold Stunner and covered him while Tyson made the count, to win his first heavyweight title! Austin then went on to enjoy three months as champion when he lost the title to Kane (Glenn Jacobs)in a First Blood match on June 28, 1998, at King Of The Ring. However, Austin regained the title a day later, and was forced to compete for it in a tournament at the 1998 Survivor Series. He was defeated by Mankind ('Mick Foley'), and later that night, The Rock won the championship and joined the Corporation.
As 1999 came around, Austin became embroiled in a feud with The Rock when Vince McMahon eliminated him from the Royal Rumble while The Rock had him distracted. However, Austin still got the place in the main event at WrestleMania XV, and he won his third championship from The Rock with a Stone Cold Stunner. He retained the title against The Rock in a Boiler Room Brawl at Backlash 1999. Austin lost the title to The Undertaker ('Mark Callaway'), but regained it in July 1999. Later that year, at the 1999 Survivor Series Austin was ran over by a car and had to have spinal surgery, and was out of action for the next 11 months. However, Austin returned to the wrestling scene at Backlash 2000 when he helped The Rock win his fourth WWF Championship from Triple H ('Michael Paul LeVesque'). Austin was then welcomed back to wrestle in October 2000 at No Mercy, when he fought Rikishi ('Solofa Fatu') in a No Holds Barred match which had to be stopped when Austin was about to run Rikishi over but was arrested by the police. The mystery was revealed that it was Triple H who had Rikishi run Austin over, and Austin battled Triple H at Survivor Series 2000, and won the match. Steve had a chance to win the WWF title from Kurt Angle, who was reigning at the time, at Armaggedon 2000, in a Six-Man Hell In A Cell Match, which also had Kurt Angle, The Rock, Triple H, Rikishi, and The Undertaker. Austin had the title in his grasp when he hit The Rock with a Stone Cold Stunner, but Angle snuck up and covered The Rock to retain the title.
Austin's hopes raised yet again when he eliminated Kane from the 2001 Royal Rumble, therefore becoming the first and only ever three-time Royal Rumble winner, and the Number One Contender for the WWF Championship. At No Way Out 2001, Austin lost a 2-Out-Of-3 Falls match to Triple H, when they both knocked each other out, but Triple H fell on top of Austin. Later that night, The Rock defeated Kurt Angle to become the first-ever six-time WWF World Champion, therefore deciding that the main event at WrestleMania X7 would be The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin defeated The Rock on April 1, 2001, for his fifth WWF title, but turned heel when he joined forces with Vince McMahon. The Rock was suspended from the WWF for almost four months. Austin's reign as Champion lasted for 5 months and 22 days, which was the longest championship reign in several years. Austin won the Tag Team Championship with Triple H at Backlash 2001, but they lost them again on May 21, on a taping of RAW to Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. In that same match, Triple H tore his quadricep muscle and had to go to hospital for eight months of surgery. At King Of The Ring 2001 on June 24 Austin retained the title successfully from both Jericho and Benoit in a Triple Threat match.
Austin shocked the world by turning heel again on July 22, 2001 when he joined the WCW/ECW Alliance, helping them win the Inaugural Brawl against the WWF, and also invented the catchphrase of 2001, which was "What?". However, Vince McMahon reinstated The Rock on July 30. In August, Kurt Angle started feuding with Austin and was determined to take the championship back from him at Summerslam. Austin disqualified himself to remain the champion, however, Angle won the title back from him at Unforgiven on September 23, 2001. Austin then regained the title from Angle on RAW in October, when William Regal came to his aid. In November, Austin narrowly escaped losing the title to The Rock at Rebellion, with a little help from Kurt Angle. Later that month, The Rock put the WCW/ECW Alliance out of business in the Winner Take All match, which was also Austin's first loss to The Rock. However, Austin returned to the federation, still as the heavyweight champion the night after, but lost it to Chris Jericho on December 9, 2001, when Jericho became the first-ever Undisputed Champion when Austin was defeated in the grand finals. Austin then challenged Jericho for the Undisputed title at No Way Out 2002 in February, and would have won the match, but the nWo interfered and attacked Austin, helping Jericho retain the title. Austin then feuded with the nWo's Scott Hall and faced him in a match at WrestleMania X8, which Austin won, even putting away the difficulty that was made by the constant interfering of Kevin Nash. At Backlash 2002 Austin faced the Undertaker in a Number 1 Contender match for the Undisputed Championship, but Austin was screwed out of the decision when The Undertaker booted a steel chair into his face and covered him for the pinfall. Austin had his foot on the rope, but special referee Ric Flair didn't notice. Austin began feuding with Flair and faced him in a 2-On-1 Handicap match at Judgment Day 2002 - Flair's partner was Big Show Paul Wight. That would be Austin's last PPV match, as early in June, he did not show up for a taping of RAW. Austin has not been seen since. He is 6'2", and when he first entered the federation he weighed 241 pounds, but boosted up to 252 later on in his career. He says that his weight "depends on how much beer I drink".- Actor
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Dwayne Douglas Johnson, also known as The Rock, was born on May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California. He is the son of Ata Johnson (born Feagaimaleata Fitisemanu) and professional wrestler Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles). His father, from Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada, is black (of Black Nova Scotian descent), and his mother is of Samoan background (her own father was Peter Fanene Maivia, also a professional wrestler). While growing up, Dwayne traveled around a lot with his parents and watched his father perform in the ring. During his high school years, Dwayne began playing football and he soon received a full scholarship from the University of Miami, where he had tremendous success as a football player. In 1995, Dwayne suffered a back injury which cost him a place in the NFL. He then signed a three-year deal with the Canadian League but left after a year to pursue a career in wrestling.
He made his wrestling debut in the USWA under the name Flex Kavanah where he won the tag team championship with Brett Sawyer. In 1996, Dwayne joined the WWE and became Rocky Maivia where he joined a group known as "The Nation of Domination" and turned heel. Rocky eventually took over leadership of the "Nation" and began taking the persona of The Rock. After the "Nation" split, The Rock joined another elite group of wrestlers known as the "Corporation" and began a memorable feud with Steve Austin. Soon the Rock was kicked out of the "Corporation". He turned face and became known as "The Peoples Champion". In 2000, the Rock took time off from WWE to film his appearance in The Mummy Returns (2001). He returned in 2001 during the WCW/ECW invasion where he joined a team of WWE wrestlers at The Scorpion King (2002), a prequel to The Mummy Returns (2001).
Dwayne has a daughter, Simone Alexandra Johnson, born in 2001, with his ex-wife Dany Garcia, and daughters, Jasmine, born in 2015, and Tiana Gia, born in 2018, with his wife, singer and songwriter Lauren Hashian.- Actor
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Began his career in Texas. Trained by the legendary Jose Lothario, Shawn Michaels wrestled in Kansas, where he met fellow wrestler, Marty Jannetty. A year later, after sending tapes of his matches to the major wrestling companies at the time, he was contacted by the AWA, who proposed that he team up with Marty Jannetty again. Together, Michaels and Jannetty became known as the Midnight Rockers. The AWA had just received a TV deal with ESPN, which did wonders for his career. The Midnight Rockers had a major feud with "Playboy" Buddy Rose and "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers. Their matches were considered bloodbaths at the time. Eventually the Midnight Rockers came out the victors and were the AWA World Tag Team Champions. The WWF (now WWE) noticed their efforts and signed them to a deal. Both Michaels and Jannetty were soon fired for a incident in a bar, which Michaels claims was a misunderstanding. The duo went back to the AWA for a brief time. After a while, they contacted the WWF, who gave them a second chance and they returned in late 1988. They were known simply as The Rockers. The duo had a great influence on many of the present teams in wrestling. Their trademark was being tag team specialists and using great double team moves on their opponents.
They had major feuds with The Brain Busters, The Fabulous Rougeaus, The Hart Foundation, The Orient Express, and Power & Glory. At one point the Rockers won the WWF Tag Team Titles. The match was taped before being shown Jim Neidhart of the Hart Foundation was negotiating his release at the time, then eventually came to an agreement to stay. They were stripped of the Tag Team titles which was returned to the Hart Foundation with the explanation that a turnbuckle collapsed which caused the match to go bad for both teams. Sometime after the Rockers were split apart and Shawn Michaels became a singles wrestler, after turning on his partner Marty Jannetty. In a related story, Michaels actually met with Vince McMahon to discuss his character. He told him he worked hard and would like to be pushed as a singles wrestler. He wanted to know what he had to do to convince Vince McMahon to do so. McMahon told him he just did it by coming to him. Michaels defeated Tito Santana in his first WrestleMania as a singles wrestler. He was managed by Sherri Martel, who supposedly had a crush on him. In a major upset, Michaels defeated The British Bulldog on Saturday Night's Main Event. Michaels thus won the Intercontinental Title from the Bulldog. One night on Raw in May 1993, Michaels wrestled former partner Marty Jannetty with the Intercontinental Title on the line. The match became Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Match of the Year. Jannetty won the bout.
The following year, Michaels wrestled Razor Ramon (Scott Hall, who is one of his best friends) in a ladder match at WrestleMania X. This match was voted by Pro Wrestling Illustrated as the Match of the Year and became one of wrestling's most innovative matches. In 1995, Michaels was again voted in Match of the Year by wrestling another great friend, Diesel (Kevin Nash) at WrestleMania XI. Michaels won both the 1995 and 1996 Royal Rumbles, and again was in match of the year when in 1996 he wrestled Bret Hart at WrestleMania XII in a one hour Iron Man Match. Michaels was involved in the big Montreal Screwjob on Bret Hart, that Vince McMahon was behind. The match was stopped and awarded to Shawn Michaels because Vince McMahon was worried that Hart would refuse to lose and take the WWF Title belt to WCW Nitro. This severed a friendship between Michaels and Hart. Michaels originally denied knowing about it in advance. Later on he admitted he knew but wouldn't refuse to do what Vince McMahon wanted him to, since Vince McMahon made his career. Michaels innovated another match against the Undertaker, when he wrestled him in a Hell in the Cell match. After WrestleMania XIV, Michaels didn't wrestle for 4 years due to a back injury, but maintained an on air role on occasion. During his time off, Michaels became a father, and also became a Born again Christian. At SummerSlam 2002, Michaels returned to the ring to face his friend Triple H. The two had a great feud, and Michaels who didn't think he could wrestle as well as he used to, dazzled the audience. He wasn't sure if he would be able to continue his normal wrestling schedule due to the nagging injuries, but after that, he went strong for almost 8 full years. He won his last World Championship from Triple H later that year, which he held for a month.- Actor
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Bret Hart is one of Canada's most successful wrestlers. He is also recognized as one of the worlds best wrestlers ever. Hart comes from the legendary Hart Family of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He owns a junior hockey team named after him and has his own column in the Calgary Sun. Bret has held the WWF World Title (5), Intercontinental Title (2), co-held the Tag Team Title (2), the US Heavyweight Title (2) and was the 1993 King of the Ring. He and his brothers and sister hold dual citizenships in both Canada (where he was born) and the US (where his mother was born).- Actor
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Kurt Angle was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He won a Olympic Gold Medal in 1996 having notoriously won it with a broken neck. In 1998 he transitioned into professional wrestling where he sky rocked to success after joining the World Wrestling Federation. He later became the first ever wrestler to hold the WCW and WWF Championships during the same calendar year. He also became the second ever TNA Triple Crown Champion in the promotions history and is a overall 13 time World Champion in professional wrestling.- Actor
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Born on March 24, 1965. Best known as "The Undertaker" from World Wrestling Entertainment. He first came to the WWF in 1990 as Ted DiBiase's mystery partner at The Survivor Series (1990). At first, he was a heel, but later turned face, around WrestleMania VIII (1992). He has held the WWF World Title on four separate occasions, first at the Survivor Series (1991) (dubbed "Hulk Hogan's Gravest Challenge"), from then champion, Hulk Hogan. Hogan won the title back shortly thereafter, only to be stripped of the title due to the circumstances by which he won the match. Undertaker next won the title at WrestleMania 13 (1997) from Sycho Sid. Taker defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin to win his third WWF Title at WWF Over the Edge (1999). His fourth and final WWE title reign was won at WWE Judgment Day (2002), coming full circle, by defeating Hulk Hogan once again.The Undertaker- Christopher Michael Benoit is a Canadian wrestler who was born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Michael and Margaret Benoit. He grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, from where he was billed throughout the bulk of his career. He had a sister living near Edmonton.
During his 22-year career, Benoit worked for numerous promotions including the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Industry historian Dave Meltzer considered him "one of the top 10, maybe even the top 5, all-time greats".
Benoit held 22 championships between WWF/WWE, WCW, NJPW, and ECW. He was a two-time world champion, having been a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and a one-time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE; he was booked to win a third world championship at a WWE event on the night of his death. Benoit was the twelfth WWE Triple Crown Champion and sixth WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the second of five men in history to achieve both the WWE and WCW Triple Crown Championships. He was also the 2004 Royal Rumble winner, joining Shawn Michaels as the only two men to win a Royal Rumble as the number one entrant. Benoit headlined multiple pay-per-views for WWE, including a victory in the World Heavyweight Championship main event match of WrestleMania XX in 2004.
Benoit murdered his wife and son on June 22, 2007, and hanged himself two days later. Research suggests depression and brain damage from numerous concussions are likely contributing factors leading to the crime. - Actor
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Richard Morgan Fliehr isn't what you'd expect from a professional wrestler. A medical student at Minnesota University (his father was a doctor, his mother an actress), Flair dropped out college to train for the mat wars under legendary former AWA World champ Verne Gagne. He made his professional wrestling debut on December 10, 1972, wrestling "Scrap Iron" George Gadaski (real name: John Kosti) to a ten minute draw in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. After spending the first few months of his career with Gagne's Minneapolis Boxing & Wrestling Club (which used the brand name "American Wrestling Association"), Flair moved on to Charlotte, North Carolina where he became a regular for Jim Crockett Promotions (a member of the worldwide sanctioning body known as the National Wrestling Alliance) under the direction of matchmaker (wrestling terminology for writer) George Scott. In 1981, he captured his first NWA World title (he would hold that belt officially nine other times). Later on, he would work for both World Championship Wrestling (a company formed by Ted Turner after buying the wrestling assets of JCP) and Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment. He has been officially recognized as a World champion (an honor which generally signifies that a wrestler is the top attraction in any given company) 21 times, garnering recognition from the NWA, WWE, and WCW (as well as the WCW spin-off group WCWI, or World Championship Wrestling International). He is the only man in wrestling history to hold all four versions of the title.- Actor
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Paul "Triple H" Levesque is WWE's Executive Vice President, President of Talent, Global Talent Strategy & Development. In this role, he oversees the Company's Talent Development department, serves as a senior advisor to the CEO for talent strategy and is the Executive Producer of NXT, WWE's third global touring brand, which airs live every Wednesday night on USA Network and NXT UK, a weekly one-hour series airing Wednesdays on BT Sport in the UK and Ireland.
Levesque is revolutionizing the business with his global recruiting strategy and developmental training processes. In order to create a platform for future success, he established the Company's state-of-the-art training facility, the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida and last year opened the UK Performance Center, the first world-class WWE training facility outside of the United States. In addition to strength, conditioning, in-ring training and character development, recruits participate in development programs focusing on life skills, continuing education, health and wellness and career planning. Building off this success, Levesque remains focused on the development and implementation of WWE's Performance Center/Global Localization strategy.
Prior to his current role, Levesque oversaw WWE's Talent Relations and Live Events departments. He also played an integral part in the Company's creative process, helping to shape the creative direction and storylines of WWE's programming.
Levesque debuted as a WWE Superstar, "Triple H," in 1995 and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019. He has held the WWE Heavyweight Championship title 14 times, captured every major championship, headlined thousands of WWE events and entertained millions around the world. Levesque is married to Stephanie McMahon and together in 2014 they established Connor's Cure, a fund dedicated to furthering pediatric cancer research. He was inducted into the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Alumni Hall of Fame in 2017 and is a board member for the Concussion Legacy Foundation. He has served on both WWE's Executive Committee and Board of Directors since 2015.
He is a father of three daughters ages 14, 12 and 10.Triple H- Actor
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One of the great Hispanic wrestlers, Eddie Guerrero grew up part of the famous wrestling family: The Guerreros. His father Gory Guerrero became a star in the U.S., an icon in Texas and a legend in Mexico. Eddie's brothers, Hector, Amadno and Chavo, Sr. also became wrestlers. Both Hector and Amando gain success, but only in the Indie federations, and not much success as their father or other two brothers had gained in the majors. Eddie's nephew, Chavo Guerro, Jr., son of Chavo, Sr., also became a wrestler (Chavo, Jr. was only three years younger than his uncle). Eddie was also uncle of Enrique Llanes and cousin of Javier Llanes, who are popular wrestlers in Mexico.
Eddie had wrestling since the 1989. He really made his name in the now-defunct ECW (Extreme championship Wrestling) by winning the ECW Ecxtreme Championship Wrerstling) TV Title against Dean Simon (aka Dean Malenko). Eddie also made his name later that year in now-defunct WCW (World Championship Wrestling) to win the Cruiserweight Championship by defeating Chris Jericho. Also while in the company, he formed Latino World Order (A playoff to Hulk Hogan's (Hollywood Hogan at the time)stable, New World Order).
The stable included popular Latino wrestler Rey Mysterio, Jr. (Oscar Gutierrez), La Parka (Adolfo Tapia Ibarra), Psychosis (Dionicio Castellanos) and Juventud Guerrera (Eduardo Annibal Gonzalez Hernandez).
When Eddie came to the WWE, he was a heel, and immediately gained fame when he was part of the Radicalz, with Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko and long time friend of fifteen years, Chris Benoit. In recent years, he and and his nephew Chavo, Jr. began a tag team called Los Guerreros and won the WWE Tag Team titles on Smackdown! against Team Angle (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin). After this stint, Eddie Guerrero went on to win the WWE Championhip (His first and only time) at No Way Out in 2004 against Brock Lesnar. He lost the title to John "Bradshaw" Layfield four months later at the Great American Bash in a Texas Bull Rope Match.
Recently, wrestling fans and the people of the WWE mourn of the lost of Eddie when he was found by his nephew, Chavo Jr. (who back then known as Kerwin White) on a Sunday morning in November, 2005. The result of his death was most likely been caused by his problems in the past: Drugs and alcohol.- Brock Lesnar was born on July 12, 1977 in Webster, South Dakota, USA as Brock Edward Lesnar. He is an actor, known for WrestleMania XIX (2003), Summerslam (2002) and WWE Unforgiven (2002). He has been married to Rena Mero since May 6, 2006. They have two children named, Turk & Duke. Lesnar also has a son and daughter from a previous relationship named, Brock Jr. and Mya Lynn.
- One of the most colorful wrestlers in and out of the ring, Randy "Macho Man" Savage became a larger-than-life pop icon along with other wrestling superstars, such as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Snuka (aka "Superfly Jimmy Snuka"), Jesse Ventura and Dwayne Johnson (aka "The Rock").
When signed to the WWE (then known as the WWF), Savage immediately became a top heel (bad guy). He was managed by WWE Hall of Fame managers such as Jimmy Hart, Bobby Heenan, Classy Freddie Blassie (Freddie Blassie) and, of course his best known manager--the gorgeous Miss Elizabeth (Elizabeth Hulette). During his time in the WWE Savage went up against other WWE legends in the 1980s, such as Junkyard Dog (Sylvester Ritter), Merced Solis (aka Tito Santana), Bruno Sammartino and George 'The Animal' Steele. He also had a well-known feud going with WWE superstar Hulk Hogan.
While in the WWE Savage won the Heavywieght Title two times, the Intercontinental title once and was the 1989 King of the Ring. He then moved to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and signed a $6-million contract with them. He won the WCW Heavyweight Title four times,.
To fans, Savage is most notable for having an off- and on-screen relationship with Miss Elizabeth. Their relationship became the most famous love story in WWE history. However, their relationship started to go downhill, and it began to show in his professional life. Soon they split up. After having left the WCW, Savage went to TNA (Total Non-Stop Action) Wrestling.
Randy Savage died of cardiovascular disease on May 20, 2011, in Seminole, FL. - Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship (WWWF Heavyweight Championship during his second reign) for more than 11 years (4,040 days) across two reigns, the first of which is the longest single reign in the promotion's history at 2,803 days. He is overall a two-time world champion in professional wrestling.
Dubbed "The Italian Strongman" and "The Strongest Man in the World" early in his career, Sammartino later earned the title "The Living Legend". Known for his powerful bear-hug finishing move, he is widely regarded as the greatest professional wrestler of all time. Sammartino became a vocal critic of the drug use and raunchier story-lines that became prevalent in the professional wrestling industry after his retirement but he reconciled with WWE in 2013 and headlined their Hall of Fame ceremony that year. Terry Funk commented that Sammartino "was bigger than wrestling itself". - Actor
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John Felix Anthony Cena was born on April 23, 1977 in West Newbury, Massachusetts to Carol Cena and John Joseph Cena. He is of Italian (father) and French-Canadian and English (mother) descent, and is the grandson of baseball player Tony Lupien. When he was in college, he played football. He then continued on to be a bodybuilder and a limousine driver. The 6-foot-1 tall star weighs exactly at 240 pounds and is a very successful superstar in the WWE.
The Dr. of Thuganomics started training to be a wrestler at Ultimate Pro Wrestling where he also created the character, The Prototype. Cena first appeared on WWE in a match against Kurt Angle on the 27th of June, 2002 which ended up with him losing.
In 2004, John Cena's status as a celebrity began to develop. Cena won the United States Championship from Big Show. Not too long later, Cena lost the title but he gained it back soon. Cena then lost the title again to fellow WWE superstar, Carlito. During that time, Cena apparently got stabbed in the kidney by one of Carlito's bodyguards. This resulted in staying out of action for a month.
In 2005 and 2006 respectively, Cena was involved in controversies. He had a feud with champion John Bradshaw Layfield, manager Eric Bischoff and fellow wrestler Chris Jericho. Cena also had feuds with Edge and Umaga at that time. But even so, some friendships were formed. Cena is said to be friends with Carlito after they won a match with Jeff Hardy against Edge, Randy Orton and Johnny Nitro.
The year 2007 was a big year for Cena as he was involved in a wrestling match with Britney Spears' ex and rap star, Kevin Federline. John ended up losing that match thanks to some assistance from Umaga to Kevin Federline. Later that night, Cena took revenge by body slamming Kevin Federline backstage. The year 2007 also started pretty well for John Cena as he became the first person to defeat the Samoan Bulldozer, Umaga that year. The Chain Gang Soldier also teamed up with Shaun Michaels defeating the RKO tag team, Randy Orton and Edge. The match ended up with Cena and Michaels winning.
As of October 2007, Cena lost his WWE Championship title because of an injury. While wrestling against Mr. Kennedy, Cena tore his pectoral muscle while executing a hip toss. Although he finished the match and completed the rest of the scripted event, a check-up the next day showed that John's pectoral major muscle was torn completely from the bone, requiring seven months to a year rehabilitation. Not able to perform, WWE's CEO, Vince McMahon stripped him off the title and ended his reign.
In 2008, Cena made an unannounced return to action on January 27 as the final participant of the Royal Rumble match. He won the match, and the traditional WrestleMania title shot. Cena also had a match against JBL, which he defeated at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match. However, JBL defeated him at the New York City Parking Lot Brawl. In the month of August, Cena was replaced by Rey Mysterio after it was announced Cena had suffered a herniated disk in his neck which required surgery and he would be out of action indefinitely. According to reports, Cena underwent successive surgery to repair the herniated disk in his neck with Doctor Joseph Maroon on August 25.
Aside from wrestling, John has also made a name in the movie business. In 2006, a WWE franchise movie titled The Marine was released with John playing the lead character, John Triton. The movie received mixed reviews due to the poor story-line and discrimination to the US Marines. Even so, fans queued up to watch the movie as this was John's first big screen appearance.
The WWE wrestler also added recording artist to his resume as he released his debut rap album "You Can't See Me" which debuted at #15 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album was recorded with his cousin Tha Trademarc. The album featured his entrance theme song, 'The Time Is Now' & a host of other singles performed by Cena. One of the songs he performed with popular rap band Estoric and a number of other songs Cena performed with famous rapper Bumpy Knuckles. Cena is the only professional wrestler to ever perform on BBC Two's long running TV show Top of the Pops.
While still active with WWE, Cena made a couple of guest appearances: Jimmy Kimmel Live! twice to promote his album. He has also appeared on popular shows like Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Fuse's Celebrity Playlist, Fox Sports Net's The Best Damn Sports Show Period, MADtv, G4's Training Camp and two appearances on MTV's Punk'd. He also served as a co-presenter, with Hulk Hogan, at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards, as a guest judge during the third week of the 2006 season of Nashville Star, and appeared at the 2007 Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards 2007.
In fashion, The Champ has also made a few trademarks. Cena is often seen with knee-high denim jeans and throwback jerseys when he first started on WWE. Lately, Cena has been wearing a lot of Chain Gang merchandise. When his movie, The Marine was released, John was seen to be adding more military-inspired clothing to his outfit to promote his movie.
Cena graduated from Springfield College, Massachusetts with degrees in exercise physiology and human anatomy. He applied to 60 colleges and he got accepted by 58 of them but in the end, he chose Springfield College. He is the second eldest of five brothers and is said to be a family guy when he is not wrestling. His good friends are fellow wrestlers, John Hennigan, Batista, Randy Orton, Carlito, Jeff and Matt Hardy, whom he will have to fight.
John Cena is definitely going to be a big inspiration to all, whether in wrestling, fashion, music or even movies as his participation in the industry is already more than regular celebrity. With all he has achieved, fans can definitely expect to see more of this WWE superstar in the coming future.
Also, recently he has completed his new movie 12 Rounds produced by WWE Films. This movie was said to have finished filming when John suffered from his injury in 2007.- Owen Hart was one of twelve children from a legendary Canadian wrestling family. His brother Bret is also one of the most well known wrestlers of all time. Owen was one of the best wrestlers in the business and his major accomplishments include being the 1994 King of the Ring, former Intercontinental Champion(2), former European Champion, and co-holder of the Tag Team Championship (4). Sadly, Hart plunged to his death on May 23, 1999 during a PPV when he was performing a spectacular entrance. Hart was only 34 and is survived by his wife Martha, his son Oje and his daughter Athena.
- André René Roussimoff was born in a small farming community in Grenoble, France to Boris and Marian Rouismoff. His parents and four siblings were all of normal size, but André suffered from acromegaly, a hormonal disorder that results when the pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone. As the Giant grew up (very quickly, as he reached the height of 6' 3" by the age of 12) he began to often disagree with his parents. He left home at 14 and obtained a job with a furniture-moving firm and began to play rugby. At 17 he was seen training at a gym by several professional wrestlers. Impressed by his size, they taught him some basic wrestling skills and built a friendship with him. Later, when one of the wrestlers was injured, André stepped in for him. He would wrestle for nearly thirty more years. By his early 20s André had wrestled in Algeria, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, England, Scotland, and most of non-Communist Europe but had not found fame. In 1971 he came to North America under the name Jean Ferre and was mildly popular in Canada. Then he met a New York based booker by the name of Vincent J. McMahon (often incorrectly referred to as "Vince McMahon Sr") who renamed him "Andre the Giant," and billed him as 7' 4" (Andre was really closer to 7'). Soon Andre the Giant became a national sensation and was a much sought after wrestler. In addition he participated in television, movies, and commercials. With his wealth the Giant bought a ranch in Ellerbe, North Carolina where he would live during his rare time off and after he retired from wrestling in 1990. He died while in France after attending his father's funeral. André was cremated and his ashes were spread across his ranch. He is survived by his one daughter.
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Roddy Piper was born Roderick George Toombs on April 17, 1954 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He was a pro wrestler from 1973-1987 in the NWA, Pacific Northwest, California. He was a longtime mainstay in the WWF, and was one of the biggest "bad guys" in the WWF during the early '80s, before becoming a fan favorite in the late '80s. He became infamous for his mouth as much as his skills in the ring. He hosted Pipers Pit, which saluted the bad guys of professional wrestling, the most famous of which involved him smashing Jimmy Superfly Snuka over the head with a coconut. He was wrestling's most popular villain because of his feud with Hulk Hogan that culminated at Wrestlemania I. He went into semi-retirement after Wrestlemania III, when he beat and shaved the late Adrian Adonis.
He continued to wrestle into the '90s, but spent much of his time doing color commentary for WWF TV. In January 1992, he won the WWF Intercontinental Title from "The Mountie", the only title he would ever hold in his storied WWF career. After losing the title three months later, he left the WWF, and only made the occasional appearance in the ring over the next few years. In 1995, he had a stint as the WWF's interim president. He later resurfaced in WCW during the late '90s to continue his feud with "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, until the company's demise in 2001.
Roddy Piper appeared in many action films. He died of a heart attack on July 31, 2015, in Hollywood, California.- Actor
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"The American Dream" has been one of the most popular and colorful professional wrestlers in history. Rhodes began wrestling in the 1960s and gained a reputation as a fast-talking, hard-rocking wrestler. He teamed early in his career with fellow Texan, the late Dick Murdoch, and, for more than 20 years, they wreaked havoc in on- and off-again tag team appearances. Rhodes, always a tough brawler with a few "scientific" moves, finally won his first NWA World heavyweight championship by beating "Handsome" Harley Race in 1979. Although his first title reign would last less than a week, Rhodes managed to capture the NWA title on two more occasions. Today, Rhodes runs a small promotion called "Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling" and continues to wrestle. His son, Dustin Rhodes, appears as "Golddust" on Spike TV's WWE Raw (1993) series.- Actor
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Michael Francis Foley was born on June 7th, 1965, in Long Island, New York. Nicknamed Mick by his father, a lifelong Yankees and Mickey Mantle fan, he attended college in upstate New York, he hitchhiked to New York City to see a wrestling match between Jimmy Snuka (Jimmy Snuka) and Don Muraco that convinced him he wanted to be a professional wrestler. He trained under the tutelage of Dominic DeNucci, alongside such wrestlers as Shane Douglas, and made his debut in the late 1980's. He wrestled all around the U.S., Europe, Japan and Africa before landing a job in World Championship Wrestling as under the name Cactus Jack. He wrestled in excellent feuds with Sting (Steve Borden), Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, and most notably Vader (Leon White), against whom he lost an ear mid-match in Germany in 1992. Around this time, he met his future wife, Collette Foley. His tenure with WCW at an end, he wrestled for Extreme Championship Wrestling under Paul Heyman, and in Japan, where he took place in (and won) the now legendary _IWA King of the Death Match (1995) (V)_. This attracted the attention of 'Vince McMahon', who brought Foley in to the World Wrestling Federation, under the name Mankind. Foley's first feud was with The Undertaker, against whom he wrestled several classic matches, most notably _King of the Ring (1998) (V)_, where, in possibly the most famous professional wrestling moment of all time, The Undertaker threw Foley off the top of a 20-foot cage, through a table. Foley's lifelong dream came true on December 28th, 1998, when he defeated The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) to win the WWF World Title. He would hold the belt three times before his career ended at WrestleMania 2000 (2000). Now retired, Foley is a bestselling and critically acclaimed author, having wrote two autobiographies (both of which topped the New York Times bestseller charts), a series of children's books, and a novel.- Actor
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American-born, Canadian-raised professional wrestler, rock singer, actor and author. Debuted in 1990 in Calgary after training in the Hart Family Dungeon. He competed for Stampede Wrestling, for the Canadian National Wrestling Alliance (no connection to the National Wrestling Alliance) and West Fours Wrestling Alliance before jumping to Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in Japan. He also wrestled for Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling, CMLL, UWA and AAA in Mexico, and WAR in Japan before arriving in the U.S. as part of the team the Thrillseekers (renamed from Sudden Impact) with Lance Storm in James E. Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling promotion. He arrived in ECW in February 1996 and feuded with Pit Bull #2 (Anthony Durante) over the ECW World Television Title. Arrived in WCW in August 1996 and eventually made his home in the Cruiserweight Division, winning the title five times. Turned heel at the end of 1997, essentially solidifying his persona for years to come. Went to WWE in 1999, and would become one of the most decorated wrestlers in the company's history. Outside of wrestling, he has been leading his heavy metal band Fozzy since 1999, published three autobiographies (2007's "A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex" [covering his career right up to his WWE debut]; 2011's "Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps"; and 2014's "Best In The World...At What I Have No Idea."), and has done stage acting and hosted a radio show as well as other pursuits. Among his in-ring achievements, he is a former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, an 8x WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion, a former 5x WWE World Tag Team Champion, a former 2x WWE Tag Team Champion, a former WWE European Heavyweight Champion, a former WWE Hardcore Champion, a former ECW World Television Champion, a former WCW World Television Champion, and was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2010.- Standing out than the rest, Ultimate Warrior became one of the most popular wrestlers in the WWE (back then in the WWF). During his run from the 1980s-90s, Warrior became known for high high energy when running down to the ring with his music hits, shaking the ropes during his entrance, his signature move, the Gorilla Press Drop and the Big Splash, which seems that Warrior would be one the only non-heavyset built wrestler to use it.
Before reaching high status to become a main eventer in the WWE, Warrior became popular when he became a two-time Intercontinental Champion by defeating the Honky Tonk Man (Wayne Farris) (within 32 seconds at the first ever Summerslam in 1988) and Ravishing Rick Rude.
Warrior is now deceased.Ultimate Warrior - Actor
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Funk has strong wrestling bloodlines. His dad, Dory Funk Sr., was a well-known grappler from the 1940s to the 1970s, and his brother, Dory Funk Jr., wrestled from 1963 until the early 90s, and won the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) world heavyweight championship in 1969. Funk, himself, became NWA champion and thus the Funks have the distinction of being the only brothers to win the NWA championship. Funk made his film debut as (what else?) a wrestler in Sylvester Stallone's (a noted wrestling fan) movie Paradise Alley (1978). Funk then did double-duty as a pro wrestler and actor/stunt man (he was prominent in Patrick Swayze's movie, Road House (1989)). Not technically a great wrestler, Funk was more known for his brawling tactics, and had some great feuds during his career with "Handsome" Harley Race, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes and others. After maintaining a low profile in wrestling, Funk resurfaced in the 90s in the new Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) series and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), this time in his new persona as "Chainsaw Charlie".- Adam Copeland is an actor and an professional wrestler, who wrestles as Edge in the WWE. He starred as one of the leads in the fifth season of the popular television series Haven on Syfy. He also starred as a recurring character on the History Channel series Vikings. Canadian-born, Copeland's life in wrestling spans three decades, and through his long and decorated career as "Edge", Copeland entertained millions of fans internationally while winning 31 championships overall in WWE - the most by any wrestler ever - including 11 world heavyweight championships. Copeland became the youngest wrestler ever inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in March 2012. As an actor, Copeland appeared in an installment of the popular film franchise Highlander: Endgame, and also starred in the WWE produced, Bending the Rules opposite Jamie Kennedy. Copeland's television appearances include a recurring guest arc on Sanctuary, and numerous appearances as Edge in shows such as Clash Time, the Weakest link, Mind of Mencia, Deal Or No Deal, and MADtv to name a few. Copeland's autobiography, Adam Copeland on Edge, was a New York Times bestseller, Copeland has a massive and dedicated international fan base, with a twitter following of over 750K, and growing daily. He lives in the mountains of Asheville, NC, where he spends his time hiking, biking, cuddling with his family.Edge
- Born as Steve Borden, Sting has held the WCW World Title 10 times and multiple other titles. He has been the only wrestler to stay in WCW since the late 1980s and he had a reconstructive knee surgery in 1991. Steve was also the only wrestler from WCW who never worked for WWE until 2014 when he made his WWE debut at the Survivor Series. Sting rivals WCW names like Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair in working for three major North American wrestling promotions including WCW, TNA and WWE. Sting spent 13 years wrestling for WCW from 1988 until its final year in 2001 when it was bought out by WWE. Sting then joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA/later renamed Impact Wrestling in 2017) in 2003. He returned to wrestle full-time in TNA in 2006 and left in 2014. After making his WWE debut in 2014, Sting embarked on a rivalry with Triple H and the heel stable known as The Authority. Sting's feud with The Authority ended at WrestleMania 31 in a match against Triple H. After a 30-year career, Sting wrestled his last match in 2015 against Seth Rollins. Over the course of his career, Sting held a total of 10 titles and is a Hall of Fame inductee in 2 promotions including Impact Wrestling (formerly TNA) and WWE.Sting
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Booker T. Huffman Jr. better known by his ring name Booker T, is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling promoter and color commentator. He is signed to WWE, and is also the owner and founder of the independent promotion Reality of Wrestling (ROW) in Texas City, Texas. Booker has been named by peers and industry commentators as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time; he was voted WWE's greatest World Heavyweight Champion in a 2013 viewer poll.Booker T- Iranian professional wrestler best known for his work in the 1980s for WWE (then the WWF) as the Iron Sheik. Trained under Verne Gagne and Billy Robinson and debuted under his own name in 1973 for the American Wrestling Association. Changed to Ali Vaziri while working for NWA Big Time Wrestling (the precursor to World Class Championship Wrestling) in Dallas and for NWA Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Wrestled for the AWA, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling, Stampede Wrestling (Alberta, Canada), St. Louis, and All Japan Pro Wrestling before returning to the AWA with his new persona of the Iron Sheik. He took the gimmick, based off of Edward Farhat's gimmick the Sheik, to NWA Pacific Northwest Wrestling (Portland, Oregon), the WWWF (where he was billed as Hussein Arab), Maple Leaf Wrestling (Toronto) and other promotions. He won his first title when he and Bull Ramos defeated Jerry Oates and Jesse Ventura for the NWA PNW Tag Team Titles on April 18, 1978 and held them for 53 days, losing to Dutch Savage and Jimmy Snuka. Teamed with Bobby Bass to win the vacant NWA Vancouver Canadian Tag Team Titles on July 24, 1978, holding them for 77 days before losing them to Mike Sharpe and Salvatore Bellomo. As Great Hussein Arab, he held the NWA Canadian (Toronto) Heavyweight Title twice. Held the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title for 174 days in 1980. Held the NWA National (Georgia) Television Title for 50 days. Defeated Bob Backlund for the WWE World Heavyweight Title on December 26, 1983 and lost it to Hulk Hogan on January 23, 1984, launching the modern era. Teamed with Nikolai Volkoff to defeat the U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda) for the WWE World Tag Team Titles at the first "WrestleMania" on March 31, 1985. Made his surprise return to WWE in 1991 as "Col. Mustafa," having been switched from an Iranian to an Iraqi and was teamed with his longtime nemesis Sgt. Slaughter, who had turned heel and announced his support for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior defeated the Triangle of Terror (Slaughter, Mustafa and General Adnan) in the main event of "SummerSlam 91." The gimmick ran its course and he left in 1992. Returned as the Iron Sheik in late 1996 as the co-manager with Backlund of the Sultan (Solofa Fatu Jr.). The gimmick didn't really get over and Sheik left in 1997. He returned for the Gimmick Battle Royal at "WrestleMania X-7" in 2001, which he won due to being the only wrestler in the match who could not safely take the bump over the top rope to the floor. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and the NWA Hall of Fame in 2008.Iron Sheik
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Retired American professional wrestler of Japanese descent as Ricky Steamboat. He trained under Verne Gagne, and first made his name in the old Mid-Atlantic territory in the Carolinas. He had many legendary matches and feuds with Ric Flair, culminating in their epic "Holy Trilogy" of matches at WCW/NWA Chi-Town Rumble (1989), Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin' Cajun (1989) and WCW/NWA WrestleWar (1989). He had a major feud with Randy Savage over the WWE Intercontinental Title, which Steamboat won at WrestleMania III (1987) in what many consider the greatest WrestleMania match of all time. Over the course of his career, he was a 1x NWA World Heavyweight Champion, a 1x WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion, a multiple-time NWA World Tag Team Champion, an NWA United States Heavyweight Champion, a WCW United States Heavyweight Champion and a WCW Television Champion. At different points in his career, he had "retired" so he could spend time with his family and run his gym. He was forced into retirement due to a back injury suffered in a match with "Stunning" Steve Austin at Clash of the Champions XXVIII (1994). He was one of the few wrestlers to work as a babyface (good guy) for his entire career. He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2002 (charter class), the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009 and the NWA Hall of Fame in 2012.
Was given the name "Ricky Steamboat" by wrestling promoter Eddie Graham due to his strong resemblance to wrestling legend Sammy Steamboat. Sammy even endorsed the name change and allowed them to bill the "Ricky Steamboat" character as his nephew. Ricky and Sammy remained friends until Sammy's death.
Played an on-air executive role in the early days of NWA TNA.
He was the "Inside Wrestling" Rookie of the Year for 1977.
Received the 1995 PWI Editor's Award.
After he won the Intercontinental Championship, he asked Vince McMahon for some time off to be with his wife who was expecting the birth of their son Richard Blood Jr. This did not sit well with WWF management and shortly after he was forced to drop the belt to the Honkytonk Man (Wayne Farris). Still bitter, the WWE did not push him or give him any meaningful matches upon his return. He left for WCW shortly after.Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat- Curt Hennig was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the son of one of wrestlings all time legends - Larry Hennig - Aka Larry The Ax Hennig. Curtbegan training to follow in his fathers footsteps when he was just 12 years old. Starting off in the AWA - Curt began his career as a tag team wrestler. He won the AWA Tag Team Championship with Scott Hall before concentrating on a singles career in the AWA. He became the AWA Heavyweight Champion in only his second year with the company before capturing the attention of the WWF. The WWF was looking to acquire the services of second generation stars and Curt Hennig fitted the bill perfectly. He made his debut in the WWF in 1988 as "MR.PERFECT". Curt's character was an instant hit with WWF fans and he quickly established himself as a quality technical wrestler. Fellow second generation WWF star and one of Curt's closest friends - Bret Hart aka Bret The Hitman Hart was also making waves in the WWF along the same time. Bret Hart and Curt Hennig began a legendary feud that would end in an Intercontinental Championship match at SummerSlam in 1992. Curt Hennig defended his WWF Intercontinental Title against Bret Hart at SummerSlam to end what had become a captivating feud between two of the best technical wrestlers in WWF history. However, Curt had suffered a serious back injury during a house show just prior to the big event. Against doctors orders, Curt Hennig made his way to the ring as Mr.Perfect and defended his Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam against the Hitman Bret Hart. Bret went on to win the match but was full of praise for his friend and opponent afterwards. Hart called Hennig "the best wrestler and one of the best workers he had ever worked with". Despite being praised for working a high profile match through a serious injury - Curt ended up paying a price. Curt's back injury had been aggravated and that caused him major problems in the future. After taking a few months of to rest his injury, Curt returned to the WWF, however his return was short lived as his back once again flared up in late 1993. As a result, Curt was out of the ring until 1996. During that period, Curt worked as a commentator for the WWF until his contract expired at the end of 1995. By this time, Curt's back had healed enough for him to consider a return to a WWF or WCW ring. Understanding the importance of having an Impact Player like Curt Hennig on their roster, WCW got involved in a bidding war for Mr.Perfect's services. In the end, WCW won and Curt Hennig signed a 4 year contract with WCW. Hennig returned to the ring for the first time in 3 years and in only his second official singles match since his return - Curt won the WCW United States Championship. He held the title on three separate occasions along with the WCW Tag Team Championship. However, his talents were being wasted in WCW and at the end of his contract in 2000, Curt decided against signing an extention with the company and proceeded to take a break from the sport altogether. In 2001, he returned to the ring with XWF and made appearances in Australia with the WWA. While these appearances were good enough as a stop-gap measure, Curt was hoping to make a comeback in the World Wrestling Federation - and sure enough the WWF contacted Curt Hennig to make his return to the WWF as Mr.Perfect in the 2002 Royal Rumble. What was initially billed as a one time arrangement, resulted in Curt Hennig once again re-joining the WWF after signing a long term contract. While Curt may have claimed to be perfect inside the ring, his life outside the ring was anything but perfect. In May 2002,he was fired by Vince McMahon after getting into a fight with Brock Lesnar on a charter flight. On February 10, 2003, he was found dead in a Tampa hotel. He was slated to wrestle on an independent card headed by Jimmy Hart at the Florida State Fair. The cause of death was later found to be acute cocaine intoxication. He left behind his wife of 20 years, Leonice, and four children.
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Glenn Thomas Jacobs better known by the ring name Kane, is an American politician, actor, and professional wrestler. He has been the Republican Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee since 2018. He is signed to WWE.
He began his professional wrestling career on the independent circuit in 1992, wrestling in promotions such as Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) and the United States Wrestling Association (USWA), before joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1995. Jacobs played various characters until 1997, when he was repackaged as Kane, a horror-themed personification of fire and juggernaut younger half-brother of The Undertaker and son of Paul Bearer. This "hellfire and brimstone" gimmick branches from acts of arson by The Undertaker as part of their characters' youth backstory. Jacobs would alternatively feud and team with The Undertaker as The Brothers of Destruction.Kane- One of the most recognizable grapplers of the 1980s, Sgt. Slaughter became huge in National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), American Wrestling Association (AWA), and the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE). While never actually serving as a United States Marine, Remus adopted the character Sgt. Slaughter and became a professional wrestler. During his run in the WWF, Sgt. Slaughter became a contender to Bob Backlund's WWF Championship and also faced Italian wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino in Sammartino's last match at Madison Square Garden. Sgt. Slaughter was also a NWA United States Champion, as well as NWA Tag Team Champion with Don Kernodle. When Sgt. Slaughter's career exploded, he became one of the most beloved and popular superstars in the WWF during the 1980s, along with Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Snuka.
Besides becoming a household name in wrestling, the Sarge also made his name as a popular culture icon for letting the G.I. Joe using him as a toy. In 1991, he then won his first and only WWF Championship from the Ultimate Warrior at the year's Royal Rumble. After his retirement from being a full-time competitor, Sgt. Slaughter then became a commissioner, later a well respected road agent.
Sgt. Slaughter was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.Sgt. Slaughter - Harley Race is one of the foremost legends of professional wrestling. He is an 8-time NWA Heavyweight Champion and has held numerous other titles over his career that has spanned four decades.
Harley won his first NWA World Title in Kansas City in 1973 when he defeated Dory Funk Jr. Harley feels that this was the best match of his whole career as Funk had held the title for more that four years, so winning it made the moment all the more special.
In addition to bloody rivalries with both Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk, Harley has worked great programs with other wrestling legends as Dusty Rhodes, Bruiser Brody, Dick the Bruiser and Ric Flair. Like how Harley had wrestled long time champion Dory Funk Jr. to his first heavyweight title, it was Ric Flair who defeated long time champion Harley to win his first heavyweight title.
Race reportedly has wrestled in every country in the world, with the exceptions of Russia and Communist China. Race is particularly revered in Japan, having made over 60 trips there during his career.
Towards the end of his in-ring wrestling career, Harley went to work for the WWF (now WWE) and became know as "The King" Harley Race. Harley feuded with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and Hulk Hogan, but one of his most memorable matches as against the late Junk Yard Dog at Wrestlemania III in front of over 90,000 people. Harley also once won one of the WWF's first King of the Ring tournaments. During his time in the WWF, Harley was managed by "The Brain" Bobby Heenan.
Harley left the WWF and went back to the NWA, which was now known as WCW. He had retired from the ring and had now begun managing. He managed the Kolassal Kongs, The Super Invader, Yoshi Kwan, Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash), Mr. Hughes and he managed both Lex Luger and Big Van Vader to the WCW World Heavyweight championship.
In 1994, Harley retired from the ring, and came back home to Kansas City. In the summer of 1999, Harley Race founded World League Wrestling. Harley was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 13, 2004 and to the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame on May 15, 2004. - Actor
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The son of a professional wrestler, Ted DiBiase had started his pro wrestling career as a fan favorite, but soon "changed sides" and became a heel throughout the rest of his career. DiBiase entered the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the late 1980s where he gained most of his fame as "The Million Dollar Man." He employed a valet "Virgil" (formerly "Soul Train Jones, " and was an instrumental story line when Hulk Hogan's long WWF championship reign ended. DiBiase stayed in the WWF for more nearly 10 years, ending up as a manager for (soon to be star) "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. DiBiase left the WWF when Austin (then known as "The Ring Master") lost a match, and went to the WWF's rival World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as an "advisor" to Hogan's new NWO (New World Order) gang.- Jimmy Snuka is a classic example of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) (formerly known as World Wrestling Federation (WWF)) bad guy who became a baby-face (a good guy) without trying. Originally a "heel", he came into the WWE under the guidance of heel manager Capt. Lou Albano. After receiving many title shots at the WWE Championship, which he never won, the final match between he and then-WWE Champion Bob Backlund was in Madison Square Garden in the famous "Steel Cage Match", in which Snuka did his trademark "Superfly Splash" off the top of the steel cage.
Snuka attracted many fans with his acrobatic wrestling style. Soon he broke away from Albano and became a face. However, this wouldn't be the last time Snuka would see Albano, who brought in Snuka's former Mid-Atlantic tag team partner Ray Stevens to feud with him. With Albano in Stevens' corner, Snuka brought in former WWE Champion and WWE competitor "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers as his manager.
At the top of his game after a year in the WWE, Snuka would face a personal crisis that haunted him for the next few years. In 1983, after he finished his last match, his girlfriend Nancy Argentino was found semi-conscious next to a sleeping Snuka. Argentino died at the nearby hospital. In court it was ruled that the death was accidental.
After recovering from his girlfriend's death, Snuka's real shot at fame was when he feuded with Don Muraco, a former WWE Champion. In another famous "Steel Cage Match", Snuka faced Muraco but lost. However, he had gotten the last laugh by dragging Muraco back inside the cage, and that's when Superfly's proudest moment came. He climbed up to the top of the 20-foot steel cage and executed his "Superfly Splash". This became one of the most memorable moments in WWE history. Both wrestling veterans Mick Foley and Tommy Dreamer were there when it happened. Both also shot to fame in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), which Superfly first started and he later became the first ECW Champ (during that time it was formerly known as Eastern Championship Wrestling).
Another fan favorite highlight came along when Snuka started feuding with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, which Piper called Snuka a "big shot" and a "monkey". After Snuka came out confronting Piper, Piper smashed Superfly's head with an actual coconut. The story line went through the first WrestleMania when Snuka was managing Hulk Hogan and TV veteran Mr. T in the main even against Piper and Paul Orndorff. With Snuka in Hogan and Mr. T's corner, Piper and Orndoff had Bob Orton.
After a stint of alcohol/drugs rehab, Snuka went back into wrestling, but this time, in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) where he became a tag team partner with another wrestling veteran, Verne Gagne.
After AWA, he went back into the WWE in 1989, to help younger wrestlers who would also become legends such as "Mr. Perfect" 'Curt Cunning' and "Ravishing" Rick Rude. Then 1991, he started to feud with a much younger Mark Calaway (aka "The Undertaker) and lost to 'Taker at Wrestlemania VII, marking Snuka the first victim of Undertaker's 14-0 winning streak. After leaving WWE the same year, Snuka started touring with smaller wrestling promotions and also began working again with ECW, alongside Don Muraco and wrestling legend, Terry Funk.
Then in 1996, Snuka's biggest moment of his life came. He became part of the class of 1996 to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He also was inducted with legends such as his former manager, Lou Albano, 'Killer Kowaski', and 'Pat Patterson'. He was inducted by former rival, Don Muraco.
Recently, Superfly showed up at the WWE Homecoming, and was chosen by the fans that he would team up with newcomer Eugene (Nick Dinsmore), on Taboo Tuesday in a non-title tag team match against Rob Conway and Chris Master. Both Superfly and Eugene won by pin-fall when Snuka did his signature "Superfly Splash".
When he was inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame back in 1996, Snuka said that even though he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, it doesn't mean he will retire from wrestling. Today, even though in his 60s, Snuka still wrestles in the independent circuit and appears on WWE, occasionally. - Actor
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The man who would eventually become known as the Junk Yard Dog was born on December 13, 1953, in Wadesboro, North Carolina. He played football & wrestled in high school and was drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1975 after graduating from Fayetville State University, but was cut after blowing out his knee. He tried out of the Packers and held a few odd jobs until he began his wrestling career in the IWA in 1977. After stints in Memphis & Germany, he began working in Calgary for Stu Hart and spent much of 1978 working against Bret Hart, Jake Roberts, and Tommy Billington. After awhile he & Roberts traveled to Louisiana to work for Bill Watts. It was Watts who came up with the name Junk Yard Dog for Ritter. There he did a still famous angle with Michael Hayes (Michael Seitz) when it was alleged that Hayes blinded him, and the audience believed it, to the point where one fan actually pulled a gun on Hayes mid-match. He also worked with Paul Orndorff and Ted DiBiase. In his personal life, the Dog was known to be a giving, kind man, but his divorce led him into heavy cocaine use. His drawing power was fading in New Orleans, but the WWF, led by Vince McMahon soon scooped him up. He was popular, and had a match with Harley Race at WrestleMania III (1987) that drew well, but he was gaining too much weight and was eventually released. He turned up in WCW and ECW in the early 90s briefly, but was considered a has-been. He died in a car accident on June 2nd, 1998. He was 45.Junkyard Dog- Actor
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David Michael Bautista, Jr. was born on January 18, 1969 in Washington, D.C., to Donna Raye (Mullins) and David Michael Bautista, a hairdresser. He has Filipino and Greek ancestry.
When WCW officials told him he'd never make it in sports entertainment, Bautista pushed himself to achieve his dream of being a Superstar. In May 2002, he made his debut on SmackDown using the ring name Batista, but it wasn't until a move to Raw and two victories over Kane that "The Animal" began to make noise in the WWE Universe. The wins impressed Ric Flair and Triple H, who were looking to align themselves with the industry's brightest new stars. After a lengthy search, they identified Randy Orton and Batista. Collectively the four Superstars became known as Evolution.
Batista earned his first championship alongside "The Nature Boy" when the duo captured the WWE Tag Team Championships in December 2003. As Evolution dominated WWE, Batista started to emerge from the shadows of Triple H and Ric Flair. By the time Batista won the 2005 Royal Rumble Match, World Heavyweight Champion Triple H viewed him as a serious threat to his title.
After a triceps injury at the hands of Mark Henry forced Batista to relinquish the title in January 2006, he vowed to return. Batista successfully regained the World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series in 2006. Four months into his second reign, Batista faced the Undertaker at WrestleMania 23. "The Animal" took Undertaker to the limit, but was unable to stop the streak of "The Deadman" at WrestleMania. Though disappointed, Batista stayed hungry and always managed to keep himself in the championship hunt for the rest of his career.
At Bragging Rights in 2009, Batista shocked the world when he blamed Rey Mysterio for a loss to Undertaker, then attacked his former tag team partner. "The Animal" then became locked in a tense rivalry with another former friend, John Cena, over the WWE Championship. The grueling match at Over the Limit led to a wheelchair-bound Batista declaring "I quit!" the following night on Raw before fading from the WWE Universe in May 2010. Following his departure from WWE, Bautista appeared opposite Vin Diesel in the Universal film Riddick (2013) and RZA's feature directorial debut The Man with the Iron Fists (2012), in which he played the villainous Brass Body and starred opposite Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu. His other film credits include The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption (2012), where he played Argomael; the action film House of the Rising Sun (2011); and Wrong Side of Town (2010) opposite rapper Ja Rule.
Two years later, he joined MMA and won his first professional MMA fight. In January 2014, he made his long awaited return to the WWE, before quitting a second time in June of that same year. He did this in order to promote Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), which was released on August 1, 2014, and starred Chris Pratt, Benicio Del Toro, Zoe Saldana, and Djimon Hounsou, alongside Bautista.
He will shoot Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016), directed by John Stockwell, and co-starring martial artist Alain Moussi and UFC fighter Georges St-Pierre. The remake of the 1989 Jean-Claude Van Damme film, Kickboxer (1989) is about two brothers David and Kurt Sloan; When David wins the Karate World Championship, a promoter lures him to Hong Kong, despite his brother's protestations that the man is a crook. When Kurt travels to Thailand to meet his brother, he discovers he has died and seeks his revenge.
After starring in films such as, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Hotel Artemis (2018), Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018), and Final Score (2018), he made a special guest appearance on WWE Smackdown! (1999) for it's 1000 episode reuniting with his former Evolution members Triple H, Randy Orton, and Ric Flair on October 16, 2018. The following year on February 25, 2019, he made his return to WWE Raw (1993) when he attacked Ric Flair on his 70th birthday at the end of the episode sending a message to Triple H that would ultimately lead to a No Holds Barred match for WrestleMania 35 (2019). Batista added the stipulation that if he wins the match, Triple H will have to retire from in-ring competition. As a result, Triple H was finally able to beat Batista for the first time and won the match, which ultimately led to Batista announcing his official retirement from wrestling in the WWE. Following his retirement, he will continue with his career as an actor in Hollywood.
His next films scheduled for release will be; Stuber (2019), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Escape Plan: The Extractors (2019), and My Spy (2020). He is one of many professional wrestlers to make the smooth transition from wrestling into the entertainment world.- Randal Keith "Randy" Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and actor best known to sports entertainment audiences for his career signed with WWE. Orton was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Bob Orton, Jr. and his wife Elaine. He is the grandson of Bob Orton, Sr. and the nephew of wrestler-turned-musician Barry Orton. Randy has a younger brother named Nate and a younger sister named Rebecca. Early in life, his parents discouraged him from pursuing any career in professional wrestling due to the major amount of time spent away from home and family. Orton however, still became involved with wrestling, on an amateur level while attending Hazelwood Central High School.
Orton graduated from high school in 1998 and then joined the United States Marine Corps. However, Orton received a Bad Conduct Discharge (BCD)in 1999 after twice going AWOL and for disobeying a direct order from a commanding officer.
After his brief military tenure, Orton opted for a career in professional wrestling. During 2000 at age 20, Orton began his training, lasting into the following year in 2001. He wrestled in local training promotions in St. Louis where his father and uncle had working relations with. Orton also gained experience as a wrestling referee.
During 2001, Orton signed with the then-World Wrestling Federation and began training in its instructional program Ohio Valley Wrestling. Orton made his debut the following year in 2002 at WrestleMania X8 (2002) Fan Axxcess, defeating Tommy Dreamer. During 2002, Orton began gaining more televised match time and screen-time for promos. The following year in 2003 after the company renamed itself as the WWE, Orton quickly enhanced his presence on the WWE roster, when he joined the heel stable known as Evolution, fronted by Paul Levesque (known in-ring as Triple H). While in Evolution, Orton won his first singles title when he defeated Rob Van Dam for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at WWE Armageddon (2003). The following year, Orton won his second title when he defeated fan favorite Summerslam (2004). By this time, Orton had began drifting away from his Evolution teammates and went on to strike out on his own. Establishing himself as the "Legend Killer" Orton began on a crusade of taking down every wrestling legend the WWE had to offer. His crusade came to a cryptic end when he was defeated by The Phenom, The Undertaker (Mark Calaway) at WrestleMania 21 (2005), after promising WWE fans he would end Undertaker's 12-0 undefeated WrestleMania record.
As Orton's career continued in the WWE, Orton won the WWE Championship a total of 8 times and was the last World Heavyweight Champion after winning that title 4 times. During the later 2000s, Orton formed a tag team with Adam Copeland (known as Edge), becoming Team Rated RKO (a play on Edge's nickname as the Rated R Superstar and Randy's finisher move named the RKO). They won the World Tag Team Championship for the first and last time before losing the titles to John Cena and Shawn Michaels. During the early 2010s, Orton formed his own stable called Legacy, comprised of Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr.. Afterwards, Orton returned to his singular ways and became known as the "Apex Predator" and "The Viper", increasing his aggression and killer-instinct in the wrestling ring.
Outside of wrestling, Orton ventured into acting. He was previously intended to star in WWE-produced film titles such as The Marine 2 (2009), but was injured at the time and the lead role was given to Ted DiBiase Jr. When he was considered for the third sequel to The Marine, he was dismissed from consideration due to his history with the USMC and the lead was given to Mike 'The Miz' Mizanin. Orton made his film debut in 2011 in the film That's What I Am (2011) as the father of a school bully. His next film role was the lead in 12 Rounds 2: Reloaded (2013), followed later with a lead in The Condemned 2 (2015) and an appearance in Countdown (2016). In 2016, Orton got a supporting role in the action thriller series Shooter (2016). - Actor
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Joseph Michael Laurinaitis, better known by his ring name Road Warrior Animal (or simply Animal), was an American professional wrestler. Along with Road Warrior Hawk, he was one half of the tag team The Road Warriors/The Legion of Doom. He headlined multiple pay-per-view events for the WWF and WCW, competing for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at 2001's Sin. Animal was inducted with Hawk and their manager Paul Ellering into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011.Road Warrior Animal- Eldridge Wayne Coleman better known by his ring name "Superstar" Billy Graham, is an American former professional wrestler. He gained recognition for his tenure as the WWWF Heavyweight Champion in 1977-1978. He is a three-time world champion in major professional wrestling promotions. As an award-winning bodybuilder, he was a training partner and close friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is most remembered for revolutionizing the interview and physique aspects of the professional wrestling industry, and for his charismatic performance style. Some of his wrestling include Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, and Ric Flair.
- Michael Hegstrand (January 26, 1957 - October 19, 2003) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known as Road Warrior Hawk, one half of the tag team known as The Road Warriors (The Legion of Doom in WWF), with Road Warrior Animal. Outside of The Road Warriors, Hawk was a sporadic challenger for world heavyweight championships on pay-per-view from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. He headlined the inaugural 1993 edition of ECW's premier annual event, November to Remember.Road Warrior Hawk
- Lou Thesz is one of wrestling's living legends. Thesz started wrestling in the 1930s, and from the 1930s to the 1960s, he was one of the most dominant figures in the business. Thesz won his first World Heavyweight Title in the 1930s, and went on to become a 6-time World Heavyweight Champion, many of those reigns as the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) world champion. Thesz' last reign was in the 1960s when he lost the NWA world title to Gene Kiniski. Thesz' last match was in the early 1990s when he lost via submission to one of his protoges, Masahiro Chono. Thesz has also written an autobiography.
- Aurelian Smith Jr. better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American professional wrestler and actor signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs as manager to Lance Archer. He is best known for his two stints in the World Wrestling Federation (later called WWE); the first between 1986 and 1992, and the second between 1996 and 1997. He wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance in 1983, World Championship Wrestling in 1992, and the Mexico-based Asistencia Asesoría y Administración between 1993 and 1994 and again in 1997. He appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling during the summer of 1997 and made appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2006 through 2008.
Throughout his career, Roberts was known for his intense and cerebral promos, dark charisma, extensive use of psychology in his matches, and innovative use of the DDT finishing move (which was later named the "coolest" maneuver of all time by WWE). He often brought snakes into the ring, most famously a python. He was one of the subjects of the 1999 documentary film Beyond the Mat. In 2012, he moved in with fellow wrestler Diamond Dallas Page to seek help in getting his life back on track following years of alcohol and drug addiction, a period covered in the 2015 documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 5, 2014, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2020. - Actor
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Robert James Marella was born in Rochester, New York, USA . After being a WWF Champion and President, he became known for his work on WWE Raw (1993), WWF Challenge (1986) and WWF Prime-Time Wrestling (1985). He also hosted many Wrestlemanias with Jesse Ventura.He was married to Maureen Hess for 40 years. He passed away on October 6, 1999 in Mooresville, New Jersey, USA.Gorilla Monsoon- Davey Boy Smith was born on 27 November 1962 in Manchester, England, UK. He was an actor, known for WCW Monday Nitro (1995), WWE Smackdown! (1999) and WCW Saturday Night (1985). He was married to Diana Hart. He died on 18 May 2002 in Invermere, British Columbia, Canada.
- The wrestler who would eventually become known as Ravishing Rick Rude was born Richard Erwin Rood on December 7th, 1958. He spent his childhood in Robinsdale, Minnesota, and had an early childhood friendship with future pro wrestler Curt Hennig. Rood broke into the business after a stint as a bouncer working with Barry Darsow, 'Joe Laurinatis' and Mike Hegstrand. He had a stint as an arm wrestler before Eddie Sharkey trained him as a professional wrestler. He got his first big breaks working in Memphis for Jerry Jarrett, who gave him his "Ravishing" nickname. He then worked for Dory Funk Jr. in Florida and World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas. After working in the upper mid-card of the NWA in the mid-80's, he made his way to the World Wrestling Federation under Vince McMahon in late 1987. He was a slow starter, but eventually won the WWF Intercontinental title from The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania V (1989) and headlined against the Warrior at _Summerslam (1990) (V)_. Shortly after that, he left the WWF to work in All Japan and then WCW. This led to arguably his greatest feuds, against Ricky Steamboat (Richard Blood) and Sting (Steve Borden). He won the NWA world title in 1993, but a dispute between the WCW & NWA left this achievement unrecognised. A back injury ended his wrestling career in 1993. He continued on as a manager & commentator, & in 1997 caused controversy when he appeared on _"Raw Is War" (1997)_ and _"WCW Monday Nitro (1995)_ on the same night. This was his last major stint with a company, and on April 20th, 1999, he died of cardiac arrest in a hospital in Alpharetta, Georgia. He was 40 years old.
- Is the real life cousin of the late Davey Boy Smith, with whom he teamed to form the British Bulldogs tag team in the 80s. Is Bret Hart's brother-in-law by marriage. He is married to Bret Hart's wife's sister. Was one of the biggest influences that kept Bret Hart in wrestling. Hart stated he thought about quitting early, but Billington influenced him to stick with it. One of his greatest matches was against Nikolai Volkoff at the 1985 Wrestling Classic. Volkoff had just finished singing the Russian National Anthem, when Billington came off the top rope with a drop kick. He pinned Volkoff before he could even take off his jersey. The match only lasted 20 seconds.The Dynamite Kid
- Tony Atlas was born on 23 April 1954 in Roanoke, Virginia, USA. He is an actor, known for WWF Championship Wrestling (1972), WWE Smackdown! (1999) and Spectrum Wrestling (1977). He has been married to Monika DeRanek since 27 June 1990. He was previously married to Lisa.
- Scott Hall was born into a military family on October 20, 1958. Due to the army life he grew up a traveler and spent his high school years at the All American High in Munich, Germany. When his family returned to the States he attended St Mary's College in Maryland, where he graduated with a degree in Pre Med, with hopes to become a children's doctor. By this time Scott was already training to be a wrestler. He made his ring debut in South Carolina in 1984, and was picked up by the now defunct AWA soon after.
Almost a decade later without hitting major success in the wrestling world, Scott signed with the WWF in 1992. Taking a character he had used previously in WCW, Scott expanded the Diamond Studd and turned him into a Cuban gangster, basing "The Bad Guy" Razor Ramon on the gangster movies he'd watched as a child.
After 3 successful years as Razor, and some great matches, including the Ladder Match against the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 10 (since voted the best Wrestlemania match of all time), Scott signed with WCW, where he had some of the most controversial years of his career. His May 1996 appearance on the Turner Broadcasting Monday Nitro program breathed life into a dying wrestling market when he instigated the New World Order. After winning several tag team golds with his best friend Kevin Nash, and a couple of singles US championships, Scott received an injury to his neck during a match with Jeff Jarrett in February 2000, which kept him off TV. Scott was fired from WCW in October of 2000, allegedly due to drunken behavior on a German tour prior to his injury.
In March 2001, Scott began to tour with New Japan. He did so well that New Japan invited him back several times throughout 2001. He also did a couple of independent shows around Florida and Alabama. In January 2002, Scott signed a two year deal with the WWF to bring back the New World Order with Kevin Nash and Hollywood Hulk Hogan. They made their first appearance in February. Scott faced Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania X-8 in March, taking the loss. Granted custody of his two children and with a part time wrestling career, Hall finally found the balance he needed to go out a star. - Actor
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Rey Mysterio was a professional wrestler for WCW who made his wrestling debut in Mexico. He dropped out of school to become a pro wrestler in Mexico. He is the nephew of wrestler Rey Misterio. He had a brief role (unmasked) as himself in Ready 2 Rumble. Came to WCW from ECW In 1996 after he debuted against Dean Malenko and lost in a stellar match. Like many luchadores (Latin wrestlers), he wore a mask until 1999 when he lost it to The Outsiders. Rey held multiple WCW Titles (8 different reigns in the cruiserweight, tag team & cruiserweight tag team divisions). He now resides in San Diego, California.Rey Mysterio- Actor
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Jeff Jarrett was trained in the USWA which was run by his father. He wrestled for his father's promotion throughout the 80's before hitting the big time in the early 90's. Jarrett had his first major run in the WWF - winning the Intercontinental Title 6 times before joining WCW. His career sky rocketed in WCW - where he achieved his lifelong ambition of becoming the WCW Heavyweight Champion. He is considered to be one of the best technical wrestlers in professional wrestling today. He is one of the few wrestlers who visualizes his entire match beforehand. He is considered by fellow wrestlers to be a hard worker in the ring and has had classic battles with the best wrestlers in the world - such as Bret Hart, Sting, and Chris Benoit.- The man who would eventually become known as Yokozuna was born in San Francisco on October 22, 1966. He came from a wrestling family, as his uncles were Afa Anoai and Sika Anoai. He was trained by his uncles and Sam Fatu as a teenager and wrestled in Alabama and the USWA under the name Kokina Anoai. He already weighed 400 pounds.
In Japan, he would work in main events against Big Van Vader (Leon White), and there he met a contingent of sumo wrestlers, which led to the gimmick which would get him the most over, the character Yokozuna, or sumo grand champion. Vince McMahon brought him into the WWF and gave him a monster push in 1992. He wasn't even knocked off his feet for months, until finally Jim Duggan finally pulled it off, and he still won the match. He later won the Royal Rumble (1993), which allowed him to challenge for the WWF Title at WrestleMania IX (1993) against Bret Hart. Anoai won the match and the title, but immediately lost it at the same event to Hulk Hogan. Anoai won the title back at the King of the Ring (1993) and kept it for over 10 months, an incredible amount of time for a 'heel' wrestler. He lost it back to Hart at WrestleMania X (1994).
His weight was becoming a huge issue, and multiple attempts to get Anoai to lose it were failures. The WWF kept him off TV for awhile, then brought him back in as a tag team partner for Owen Hart, with whom he won the Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania XI (1995). His weight gain continued, and at his final appearance in the WWF, during the _Survivor Series (1996) (V)_, he weighed almost 800 pounds. This would make him the heaviest pro wrestler in history, but he was never officially weighed.
He wrestled in the main event of the Heroes of Wrestling pay per view in 1999 and went on a European tour in October 2000. It was during this tour that he died of a heart attack in his hotel room in Liverpool, England. He was only 34.Yokozuna - Actor
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Semi-retired American professional wrestler and trainer who had great success all over the world. Prior to wrestling, he was one of the many future stars who played football for West Texas State University. He debuted in 1963 after training under his father Dory Funk Sr. and Lou Thesz. While competing for the Funk Family's Western States Sports promotion in Amarillo, TX, he held the promotion's version of the NWA North American Heavyweight Title, the NWA Texas (Amarillo) Brass Knuckles Title, the NWA World (Amarillo) Tag Team Titles, the NWA International Tag Team Titles, the NWA Western States Tag Team Titles, and the NWA (Amarillo) International Heavyweight Title. He and his brother Terry Funk would go on to win tag team gold all over the world, including Georgia, Los Angeles, Japan, Puerto Rico, and Florida. Dory defeated Gene Kiniski for the NWA World Heavyweight Title at "CWF Gasparilla Spectacular 1969" at the Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Florida on February 11, 1969 and held the belt for four years, losing it to Harley Race at an NWA Central States event at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, KS on May 24, 1973. In the 1990s, he started a wrestling school in Ocala, Florida originally known as the Funkin' Dojo and helped train such stars as Kurt Angle, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Lita (Amy Dumas) and Test (Andrew Martin). He turned the school into his own promotion, the Funkin' Conservatory. He and Terry were inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996 and into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009. Dory himself was inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2006 (Terry was inducted in 2009). He and Terry were among the biggest gaijin (western) stars in the history of Japanese wrestling.- Actor
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Jerry Lawler was born on 29 November 1949 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Man on the Moon (1999), WWE Raw (1993) and WWE '13 (2012). He was previously married to Stacy Carter, Paula Jean Carruth and Martha Kay Williams.- Actor
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Native Detroiter Kevin Nash is an actor and equal rights advocate who discovered his love of comedy as the class clown in elementary school and to this day, he can find humor in almost any situation. One day he could not find humor was April 4th, 1968 as that was the day his father died of a heart attack at work at 36 years of age. After spending the day at the funeral home he came home seeking solace in the back bedroom of their 800 sq. foot home watching his portable TV. Suddenly on screen came the report of Martin Luther King's assassination. This brought to mind sitting on his father's knee as they watched MLK's "I have a dream" speech. This touched a nerve since the only time he'd ever seen his father cry was the day JFK was shot. Kevin's father, a lifelong democrat instilled core values in his son which later in life lead to Nash's advocacy of human rights, whether it be race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
After 3 years playing Division 1 college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers a physical altercation with the head coach Don DeVoe (Kevin pie-faced him after DeVoe grabbed Nash by his jersey), led to a parting of the ways. He was then inspired to join the Army after watching Bill Murray's Stripes and went on to not only have top-secret clearance but also represent the US Armed Forces in the paint. Upon honorable discharge from the Army, Nash played European basketball where a career-ending catastrophic knee injury concluded his basketball career and would hinder his ensuing professional athletic career from day one. His love of being an athlete led him down another path to infamy, namely, professional wrestling. He is one of only eight human beings on the planet to bear the elite distinction of being TWICE inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, after a career garnering 6 world title belts and 21 championships in total. Of course, none of that would have been possible without the brains, talent, and personality that put him on the Mt. Olympus of the sports entertainment universe in the first place.
While his athletic route to fame using not only his wit and Detroit coolness but also his considerable 6'10" size and physical prowess to his advantage is what he may be best known for, Nash's skill as a primarily comedic actor is what gives him the most personal satisfaction. Proudest of his portrayal as Officer Englehart in The Longest Yard (2005), the role was originally scripted for a single line, "Who drank all the damn Gatorade?!" but when both Adam Sandler and director Peter Segal saw how thoroughly and artfully Nash embraced the part, Englehart became a much, much bigger part of the film due to Nash's ability to ad-lib scenes. Kevin's take on this masculine prison guard turned estrogen-laden cheerleader, is perhaps his most memorable character to date.
Part Native American and part Neanderthal, Kevin Nash is one-of-a-kind.- Paul also played college basketball at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville from 1992 to 1993, and was a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Cougars basketball team. Paul is a member of the Xi Beta Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. He scored a total of thirty-nine points for the Cougars in limited action during the 1992-93 season.Big Show
- Robert Louis Backlund is an American retired amateur and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation from 1976 to 1984 and in the 1990s, where he held the WWWF Championship/WWF Championship on two occasions. His first reign was the second longest in history. Backlund was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Backlund began his career in amateur wrestling, competing for the North Dakota State University Bison from the late 1960s to early 1970s. He began training as a professional wrestler in 1973 under Eddie Sharkey and competed for the American Wrestling Federation. He then wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance and won the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship in 1976. Later that year he joined the World Wide Wrestling Federation, defeating Superstar Billy Graham for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship in 1978. He held the championship until 1983, where he lost it in a match against the Iron Sheik. Shortly after losing the title, Backlund left the WWF, but returned in 1992 and was in the 1993 Royal Rumble match for over an hour, a record held until the 2004 Royal Rumble. At the 1994 Survivor Series, Backlund won his second WWF Championship, defeating Bret Hart. He held the championship for three days, before losing it to Diesel at a house show in Madison Square Garden.
In addition to his time with the WWWF/WWF, Backlund has had success in Wrestling and Romance, Championship Wrestling from Florida, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and was inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. - Terry Michael Brunk is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Sabu. He is known for his trademark style of hardcore wrestling, which he pioneered in his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 2000. He is a three-time World Heavyweight Champion having held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship twice and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once.
Under the tutelage of his uncle Ed "The Sheik" Farhat, Brunk began his career wrestling in the North American independent scene in 1985 under the name of Sabu, before traveling to Japan, competing in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), winning several championships, including the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. He returned to the United States in 1995, briefly working for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), before beginning his most well-known stint in ECW, where he quickly became a fixture of the promotion. During his time in ECW, he became a two-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time ECW World Television Champion. He would have both a feud and an alliance with The Tazmaniac, defeated him for the ECW Ftw Championship and winning the ECW World Tag Team Championship with him. In 1997, Sabu began a Rob Van Dam and Sabu tag team with Rob Van Dam, winning the ECW Tag Team Championship twice.Sabu - Actor
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Eddie Gilbert was born on 14 August 1961 in Lexington, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for WWF Championship Wrestling (1972), Global Wrestling Federation (GWF) (1991) and Spectrum Wrestling (1977). He was married to Debra Ann Miceli and Missy Hyatt. He died on 18 February 1995 in Puerto Rico.- One of the toughest, most rugged competitors ever to come down the pike, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine more than carried on the tradition first established by his legendary father, the late Johnny Valentine. A top-ranked Superstar during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, his career saw him earn a slew of singles and tag team championships in different eras of sports-entertainment history in the NWA, WCW and WWE.
In the late 70s and early 80s, Valentine bounced between the NWA and WWE. "The Hammer" held the NWA Mid-Atlantic (every territory had their own tag team champions) World Tag Team Title with Ric Flair. Valentine also held the WWE World Team Title with Brutus Beefcake. As a singles competitor, Valentine won the United States Championship in the NWA and the Intercontinental Championship in WWE. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that Valentine is one of the few Superstars who can lay claim to competing on the NWA's first Starrcade (he defeated "Rowdy" Roddy Piper in a Dog Collar Match to win the United States Championship) as well as the first WrestleMania (he successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship against Junkyard Dog).
After leaving WWE, "The Hammer" made frequent appearances on WCW Monday Nitro as late as 1997 and returned to compete on WWE Monday Night Raw in 2005, 35 years after his debut match! Greg "The Hammer" Valentine's hard-hitting style in the ring will never be forgotten by those who saw him, and along with fellow WWE Hall of Famers, "Nature Boys" Flair and Buddy Rogers, Valentine helped make the figure-four leglock a staple of sports-entertainment. - Actor
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Brian Pillman makes the list of a long line of tragic deaths in wrestling. He had endured 36 throat operations as a child. Pillman played football in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals in 1984 and in the CFL for the Calgary Stampeders. It was in Calgary where he met Owen Hart (who also died at a relatively early age) and started his wrestling career for Stampede Wrestling. Pillman's major titles include the Tag Team Championship, the US Tag Team Championship, and the Light Heavyweight Championship. Pillman also suffered a terrible broken leg that deeply hurt his career. He died at the age of 35 while still being an active wrestler in the World Wrestling Federation.- Walter 'Killer' Kowalski was born on 13 October 1926 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for WWF Championship Wrestling (1972), WCW Slamboree 1994 (1994) and WWF All-Star Wrestling (1972). He was married to Theresa Ferrioli. He died on 30 August 2008 in Everett, Massachusetts, USA.
- Leon Allen White (May 14, 1955 - June 18, 2018), better known by his ring names Big Van Vader or simply Vader, was an American professional wrestler and professional football player. Throughout his career, he performed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and Pro Wrestling Noah (NOAH) during the 1990s and 2000s. Widely regarded as one of the greatest super-heavyweight professional wrestlers of all time, he was a 13-time world champion.
Among other accolades in WCW and Japan, he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship three times each, the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship twice, the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship once, and won the battle royal main event of the 1993 Battlebowl pay-per-view (PPV). He headlined multiple PPV events for the WWF and WCW. Vader was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996.
In 2022, Vader was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.Vader - Scott Steiner has been a mainstay in professional wrestling for over 15 years. When he started out in the business, he was a singles wrestler, wrestling in some smaller federations before coming to the NWA (WCW) to team with his older brother, Rick. It was at this time that Steiner became world famous as one half of the greatest tag team of the 1990's. The two brothers wreaked havoc on anyone who dared get in the ring with them. Known for their amazing wrestling arsenal of suplexes, the two won the WCW tag team titles on many occasions throughout a ten year time period. Steiner, especially, bacame well-schooled in the art of the suplex, as he would use many varieties of this devastating wrestling move to render his foes senseless. He also invented the Frankensteiner, a wrestling move that involves jumping up onto your opponents shoulders from their front, letting your body fall upside-down so you head is between their legs, and then using your stomach and leg muscles to power them forward onto the mat. This move was perfected by Steiner, who could perform the maneuver from a standing position, while his opponent was running at him, or to an opponent sitting on the top rope.
After several years in WCW, which saw him win his first singles title (WCW TV title) in a brief singles push for a couple of months, The Steiner brothers went off to the WWF in early 1993. For the next year, the two continued their assault on every tag team in their path, winning the WWF Tag Team titles on two occasions before leaving in early 1994.
The next stop for the tag team tandem was Japan, where the two continued to prove why they were the best in the business. When WCW came calling in 1996, the Steiner Brothers headed back home. Once again they became the best tag team in WCW's ranks, taking on famous tag teams like Harlem Heat, the Road Warriors, and the Outsiders. They became a huge force in WCW against the nWo uprising in 1996-97. Their feud with The Outsiders (Scott Hall & Kevin Nash) in 1997 saw the tag team belts change hands between the two several times.
By early 1998, Scott did not even resemble the Steiner of old. He had cut his hair short (it had always been shoulder length), had beefed up his always-impressive physique even more to look like a bodybuilder, and had grown quite a mean streak. Even with his changing appearance, fans were still completely shocked when he turned on his brother at WCW's Superbrawl VIII pay-per view in February of 1998. Steiner joined the ranks of the nWo and became one of its lead men, taking on the moniker "Big Poppa Pump". He spent most of the year feuding with his brother and helping the nWo in their war against the newly formed Wolfpack.
By early 1999, the nWo had joined with the Wolfpack and WCW was in disarray. Steiner did not let this chaos get to him, as he won the TV and the US titles in the first couple months of the year. He also reunited with his brother in the summer of that year, as the he and Rick held the US and TV titles, respectively. By 2000, Steiner was a main event star who was on his way to win the World Title. He did just that in the fall of that year, defeated Booker T to become the World Heavyweight Champion. He took on all comers in his four-month title reign and became one of the most dominant WCW Champions in history before WCW folded and was bought out by the WWF in March of 2003. He lost the WCW Title to Booker T on the very last edition of WCW Nitro. Steiner decided to take things easy for a while to recover from some back problems that he had been having, along with a severe nerve problem in his left leg. He did wrestle several times for the internation-touring WWA, winning their version of the Championship. He finally showed up in WWE in fall of 2002, immediately getting into a feud with then-champion HHH. After headlining two straight pay-per-views in early 2003, Steiner began a partnership and then a feud with fellow WWE superstar Test. This lasted for most of the year. He again was forced to take some time off from action due to a groin injury. He has yet to return to action as of April 2004, but knowing Steiner, he will return with a vengeance, so watch out. - Ray Traylor was born on 2 May 1963 in Marietta, Georgia, USA. He was an actor, known for Fully Loaded (1999), WCW Monday Nitro (1995) and WWE Smackdown! (1999). He was married to Angela Easterwood. He died on 22 September 2004 in Dallas, Georgia, USA.Big Bossman
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He was trained by the Original Sheik, Ed Farhat, who was one of pro-wrestling's classic and greatest bad guys. Even though their styles are quite different (Sheik being a wild hardcore-style brawler, known for throwing fire, cutting his opponent's forehead's up with foreign objects like a pencil, fork, etc. whereas Van Dam is a technical high-flyer), Farhat taught him the importance of the right mindset.- Actor
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Larry Pfohl was born on 2 June 1958 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for WCW Monday Nitro (1995), WCW Worldwide (1975) and Superboy (1988). He was previously married to Peggy Fulbright.Lex Luger- John Layfield was born on 29 November 1966 in Sweetwater, Texas, USA. He is an actor, known for WWE Smackdown! (1999), The JBL & Cole Show with Renee Young (2012) and ECW One Night Stand (2005). He has been married to Meredith Whitney since 11 February 2005. He was previously married to Cindy Womack.Bradshaw
- Ronald Simmons is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. He performed for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under his real name, and in the World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/E) under both his real name and the ring names Faarooq Asaad (sometimes spelled Asad) and Faarooq (sometimes spelled Farooq).Farooq
- Mark Henry was born on 12 June 1971 in Silsbee, Texas, USA. He is an actor, known for MacGruber (2010), WWE Smackdown! (1999) and A Haunted House 2 (2014). He has been married to Jana Perry since 24 April 2005. They have two children.
- Scott Charles Bigelow was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Bam Bam Bigelow. Recognizable by his close to 400-pound frame and the distinctive flame tattoo that spanned most of his bald head, Bigelow was hailed by Ryan Murphy (a writer for Bigelow's former employer WWE) as "the most natural, agile and physically remarkable big man of the past quarter century", while former co-worker Bret Hart described him as "possibly the best working big man in the business."
Bigelow is best known for his appearances with promotions New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) between 1987 and 2001. Over the course of his career, he held championships including the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, the ECW World Television Championship, the IWGP Tag Team Championship, the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, and the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Bigelow headlined seven pay-per-views: the first Survivor Series in 1987, Beach Brawl in 1991, King of the Ring in 1993 and 1995, WrestleMania XI in 1995, and the 1997 and 1998 editions of ECW's premier annual event, November to Remember. - Kerry Adkisson was born on February 3, 1960, to Jack and Doris Adkisson. Jack was a wrestler, so most of Jack's children followed in his footsteps (one child, Jack Adkisson, Jr., tragically died in 1959 from electrocution). Kerry was a standout discus thrower at University of Houston, and actually held the SWC discus record; coincidentally, Kerry's father Jack was the previous record holder). Kerry began wrestling around 1980, and his biggest achievement was pinning Ric Flair for the NWA world heavyweight title on May 6, 1984, at Texas Stadium at the inaugural David Von Erich Memorial Parade Of Champions, a wrestling super-card in memory of Kerry's brother David who died in Japan during a wrestling tour in January of that year; Flair would regain the title 18 days later in Yokohama, Japan. Kerry was poised to be a superstar for years to come, but a serious motorcycle accident in 1986 would change his life forever. His injuries from the accident were so severe that a foot had to be amputated, and he wrestled with a prosthetic foot for the rest of his career. As a result of these injuries, he became addicted to painkillers, and in 1991 he was arrested for forging prescriptions; this resulted in him being fired from the WWF. He was given probation, but a little over a year later, he violated his probation by being caught in possession of unauthorized prescription drugs. Recently divorced and despondent over an impending prison sentence. Kerry Adkisson took his own life on February 18th, 1993, at the family ranch. He was preceded in death by his four brothers: Jack (1952-1959), David Von Erich (1958-1984), Mike Von Erich (1964-1987) and Chris Von Erich (1969-1991).
- The son of a professional wrestler (Warren Bockwinkel), it was only natural for Nick Bockwinkel to follow in his father's profession. Bockwinkel wrestled for several years in various regions, but gained his greatest fame in the now-defunct American Wrestling Association (AWA). He and tag-team partner Ray "The Crippler" Stevens were three time AWA Tag-Team Champions in the 1970s for Bobby "The Brain" Heenan's "Family." Tag-team wrestling wasn't Bockwinkel's only forte though, as he won the AWA Heavyweight Championship, by defeating Verne Gagne in 1975. Bockwinkel's first reign as champ lasted nearly five years before he lost to Gagne in 1980. He later won the AWA title three more times with his last reign ending for good in 1987, at the age of 53. He wrestled sporadically after that, and later resurfaced as a wrestling commentator for the AWA, and also was named a chief executive with Ted Turner's WCW in the 1990s.
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Dustin Rhodes was born on 11 April 1969 in Austin, Texas, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Copper Bill (2020), Meet Me There (2014) and Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon (2016). He has been married to Ta-rel Marie Runnels since 22 June 2012. He was previously married to Milena Martelloni and Terri Runnels.Goldust- Deceased Lebanese-American professional wrestler who competed from 1949 to 1998 as the Sheik. Started his career in Detroit and would compete all over the world. He competed for many National Wrestling Alliance territories, the WWWF (today's WWE), FMW, ECW, New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and many others. He was a 16x NWA United States (Detroit) Heavyweight Champion and owned the territory. He was a pioneer of hardcore wrestling and was notorious for having bloody brawls involving stabbing his opponents with pencils and throwing fireballs. He once defeated André René Roussimoff in Toronto in 1974 by throwing a fireball at him, with the referee ruling André unable to continue. This was one of the losses André suffered that were not recognized by WWE canon going into "WrestleMania III." He was a strong believer in maintaining Kayfabe, never breaking character, never responding to being called "Ed," and never speaking, which provided a function for his various managers. He was billed from Syria. He went back and forth between teaming with and feuding with Abdullah the Butcher for decades. He also trained several wrestlers, most notably his nephew Sabu (Terry Brunk) and Rob Van Dam. At "WCW Halloween Havoc 95," October 29, 1995, which was held in Detroit, he managed Sabu for his match against Mr. J.L. (Jerry Lynn), complete with throwing a fireball at Lynn. He had his last match, a win over the Mexican wrestler Damien (Leonardo Carrera), at "FMW 6th Anniversary Show" on May 5, 1995. The match lasted 1:47, as Sheik was badly deteriorated by that point and could barely get into the ring. He was also a 4x NWA United States (Toronto) Heavyweight Champion, a 1x NWA Texas (Dallas) Heavyweight Champion, a 2x NWA Americas (Los Angeles) Heavyweight Champion, a 1x NWA United National Champion (a title that originated with the Japan Wrestling Association and later became part of the All Japan Triple Crown Heavyweight Title), a 1x NWA United States (NWA Central States in Kansas City, MO) Heavyweight Champion, a 1x FMW World Martial Arts Heavyweight Champion and a 1x NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Champion. He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996, into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007, into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2010, into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011 and into the Greater Lansing (Michigan) Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.The Shiek
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Kevin Von Erich was born on 15 May 1957 in Belleville, Illinois, USA. He is an actor and director, known for The Best of the Von Erichs (2004), AEW Dynamite (2019) and AEW Rampage (2021). He has been married to Pam Adkisson since 1 August 1980. They have four children.- Fritz Von Erich was born on 16 August 1929 in Jewett, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for World Class Championship Wrestling: Star Wars (1981), The Von Erichs: Front Row Ringside (1987) and AWA All-Star Wrestling (1972). He was married to Doris Adkisson. He died on 10 September 1997 in Lake Dallas, Texas, USA.
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Pat Patterson was born on 19 January 1941 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was an actor and writer, known for WWF Superstars (1986), Attitude Era (2012) and Undertaker - He Buries Them Alive (1994). He died on 2 December 2020 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.- Robert Rechsteiner is an American real estate broker and retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Rick Steiner.
Steiner is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he was an eight time World Tag Team Champion (seven times with his brother Scott as half of The Steiner Brothers, and once with Kenny Kaos). In addition to tag team success, he was also a one time United States Heavyweight Champion and a three time World Television Champion. Beyond WCW, Steiner found success in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he and Scott held the IWGP Tag Team Championship twice, and the World Wrestling Federation, where they won the World Tag Team Championship twice. - Actor
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Jesse Ventura was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Bernice Martha (Lenz), a nurse who was of German descent, and George William Janos, a steam fitter of Slovak ancestry. In November 1990, professional wrestler turned actor Jesse Ventura was elected to a four-year term as mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis with a population of around 56,000. After his mayoral term, he purchased a small hobby farm in nearby Maple Grove, Minnesota and moved from Brooklyn Park. In November 1998, Ventura, as a member of the Reform Party, was elected Governor of Minnesota. Jesse served as governor from 1999 to 2003 and did not run for a second term.- Kenneth Wayne Shamrock is an American bare-knuckle boxing promoter and retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and kick-boxer. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and other combat sports. A member of the UFC Hall of Fame, Shamrock is widely regarded as icon and pioneer of the sport. He has headlined over 15 main events and co-main events in the UFC and Pride FC and set numerous MMA pay-per-view records. In the early part of his UFC career, Shamrock was named "The World's Most Dangerous Man" by ABC News in a special called "The World's Most Dangerous Things". The moniker has stuck as his nickname.
- Sidney Raymond Eudy is an American former professional wrestler. He is best known for his various Sid gimmicks, each distinguished by the ring names Sid Justice, Sid Vicious, and Sycho Sid in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE). Between those promotions, Eudy enjoyed major championship success and performed to an international television audience in four decades from the 1980s to the 2010s.
Eudy is a six-time world champion, having won the WWF Championship twice, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice, and the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship twice. In addition to world title success, Eudy held the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship once, among other accolades. During his tenures with the WWF and WCW, Eudy headlined multiple pay-per-views for both organizations, main-even-ting WrestleManias VIII and 13 in 1992 and 1997 respectively, as well as WCW's counterpart to that event, Starrcade, in 2000.Psycho Sid - Actor
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Jim Duggan was born on 14 January 1954 in Glens Falls, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for WCW Monday Nitro (1995), WWE Smackdown! (1999) and WCW Thunder (1998). He has been married to Debra Haynes since 8 April 1989. They have two children.- Jack Brisco was born on 21 September 1941 in Blackwell, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for WWF Championship Wrestling (1972), WCW Worldwide (1975) and Saturday Night's Main Event (1985). He was married to Jan Carol Bateman and Sandra Lee Riney. He died on 1 February 2010 in Tampa, Florida, USA.
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Broke into wrestling in the Global Wrestling Federation, known then as The Lightning Kid. He is also a member of the elite group of wrestlers known as the Clique. The group which consists of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Triple H, Justin Credible, and Shawn Michaels are best friends in and out of the ring. As X-Pac, he is the leader of X Factor which is comprised of him, Albert, and Justin Credible. He was one of the first small wrestlers to ever get a big break in the WWF.X-Pac, 1-2-3 Kid- George 'The Animal' Steele ( his professional wrestling name) was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA as William James Myers. He was a wrestling superstar in the WWF. He had a public image of a wild type of creature that chewed on the turn buckles and sported a green tongue. In the 1990s he became an actor, known for Blowfish (1997) and Used Cars (1997). George was perhaps best known for playing the monstrous Tor Johnson in Ed Wood (1994). He was married to Patricia Randolph. He died on February 16, 2017 in Florida.
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William Scott Goldberg , better commonly known as Goldberg, is an American professional wrestler, actor, and former American football player. He is best-known for his time in WCW and WWE.
Goldberg is one of the most popular figures of the late 1990s/early 2000s professional wrestling boom. He is regarded as the inventor of the spear finishing move in wrestling and is credited with popularizing, and being the best at executing, that move. He rose to fame in WCW with a lengthy undefeated streak in 1997-1998 singles competition. During his time with the promotion, he became a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion and one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion with Bret Hart. Along with Hart, he is the fifth WCW Triple Crown winner.
Following WCW's closure in 2001, Goldberg wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) between 2002 and 2003 and for WWE between 2003 and 2004, becoming a one-time World Heavyweight Champion in the latter. After 12 years away from the company, he returned to WWE in 2016, winning the WWE Universal Championship for the first time in March 2017 and a second time in February 2020. Goldberg has headlined multiple WCW and WWE pay-per-view events, including WCW's premier annual event, Starrcade (in 1998 and 1999). He headlined the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018 and is a four-time world champion in his professional wrestling career between WWE and WCW. He is also the only man in history to have been WCW World Heavyweight, World Heavyweight and WWE Universal Champion.- Longtime professional wrestler "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. Has wrestled in the U.S. in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and well as in Japan and numerous other American promotions.Dr. Death
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Monty Sopp was born on 11 November 1963 in Orlando, Florida, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for WWE Raw (1993), WWE NXT (2010) and WWE Smackdown! (1999). He has been married to Paula since 24 January 2009. He was previously married to Tina Tinnell.Billy Gunn- Actor
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Solofa Fatu Jr. was born on 11 October 1965 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for WXW Rage TV (1996), WWE Smackdown! (1999) and WWF Action Zone (1994). He has been married to Talisua Fuavai since 20 July 1985. They have three children.Rikishi- Actor
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Jeffrey Nero Hardy is an American professional wrestler and musician. Born and raised in Cameron, North Carolina, Hardy started his career as a youth performing in the Trampoline Wrestling Federation, which he started alongside his brother Matt Hardy. Hardy is widely considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time and is regarded as one of the most daring high fliers and risk-takers throughout his career. Together with his brother Matt Hardy, the tag team The Hardy Boyz are now widely regarded as one of the greatest tag teams in professional wrestling history.
Hardy has had great success in his singles career, capturing his first of six world championships, the WWE Championship in 2008 and going on to hold WWE's World Heavyweight Championship twice and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Within WWF/WWE, he has also won the Intercontinental Championship five times, the Hardcore Championship three times and the European, Light Heavyweight, and United States Championships once each. Having won the required championships, he is the 18th Triple Crown Champion and 9th Grand Slam Champion in WWE history (one of five men to complete both WWE Grand Slam formats, and one of two to win all original Grand Slam titles). He has headlined numerous pay-per-view events for WWE and TNA, including TNA's flagship event, Bound for Glory, on two occasions. Readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated named him "Most Popular Wrestler of the Year" on two occasions.
Hardy is involved in motocross, music, painting and other artistic endeavors. He is a member of the band PeroxWhy?Gen, with whom he tours and has released three studio albums and four extended plays. In 2003, Hardy, along with his brother Matt, co-wrote an autobiographical book of memoirs titled The Hardy Boyz. Their book was a New York Times Best Seller.- Jim Neidhart was born on 8 February 1955 in Montebello, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Eastern Championship Wrestling (1993), WCW Thunder (1998) and Thunder in Paradise (1993). He was married to Ellie Hart and Joy Small. He died on 13 August 2018 in Florida, USA.
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Peter Senerchia better known by the ring name "Taz" (also spelled Tazz) is an American radio personality, color commentator, and retired professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator and manager.
He is known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), 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 inaugural) FTW Heavyweight Champion, and the fourth ECW Triple Crown Champion.
His World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) career as an in-ring performer came to an early end in 2002 and subsequently saw him transition into a color-commentary role, 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 his previous Taz ring name and eventually reprises his role as a color commentator for TNA's broadcasts, replacing Don West.Tazz- Actor
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Being trained by wrestling legend Dory Funk Jr., Mattthew "Matt" Hardy has become one of the most gifted and talented performers in sports-entertainment. Before going into the WWF (Now WWE) along with his brother Jeff Hardy, the Hardy Boyz (or The Hardyz) ran their own promotion called Organization of Modern Extreme Arts (OMEGA) wrestling, in which Matt went into as High Voltage. However, he had to change it because a wrestling tag team in World Champion Wrestling (WCW) was all ready using that name. So, Hardy decided to go under the name of "Surge". A few years later, it was revealed by Chris Kanyon that the tape had been kept in the WCW Power Plant, watched multiple times and had the name stole from them. OMEGA also included Lita (Amy Dumas), 'Shannon Moore(II)', 'Gregory Helms' and Joey Mercury (Adam Birch). Now, Matt along with his brother Jeff now their own Myspace, along with other wrestlers such as Helms, Ashley Massaro and Mercury.
The Hardy Boyz first started working for the WWF(E) not in the tag team division but in singles division as jobbers (a wrestler who "loses" more matches than winning). Matt was nineteen and Jeff was sixteen when both joined back in 1993. It wasn't until 1998 they were given full-time contracts as a tag team.
The Hard Boyz, as their were referred, used a cruiser weight (someone who use acrobatic styles but usually one who is 6'1" or under and weighs less than 215lbs) fast-paced high flying style in their matches, doing damage to their opponents.
Michael Hayes (Michael Seitz) then became their manager, who then guide them to win the WWF(E) Tag Team Titles. However, the Hardyz ditched Hayes after losing the titles to Ganrel's ('David Heath') tag team, The New Brood, who were Edge ('Adam Copeland') and Christian (Jay Reso). The Hardyz would soon gain Terri Runnels as their manager when Gangrel was dropped. Terri would later turn on the Hardyz in 2000. The Hardyz would later face Edge and Christian again, but with the Dudley Boyz, Buubba Ray Dudley ('Mark Lamonica') and D-Von Dudley (Devon Hughes). All three tag teams would face each other in a Ladder Match (To win, one opponent most grab a suitcase or a belt that is dangling from the top over ring) in Wrestlemania 2000. Though the Hardyz lost, they gave a great performance.
The following year, they really made a name for themselves when they faced the Dudleyz and Edge and Christian again, but this time, in a TLC (Tables and Ladders and Chairs) Match (Same rules apply to a Ladder Match, but this time, with tables and chairs). With all three tag teams with a gimmick, they all were a specialty with a certain weapon for the match and other opponents. The Dudleyz: Tables. The Hardys: Ladders. Edge and Christian: Chairs.
Later, both the Hardys found a new manager with their real-life friend Lita, which they named their team "Team Xtreme". Both Matt and Lita would begin an off-screen (later on-screen) relationship with Lita.
In 2001, Matt turned on Jeff when Jeff won the Intercontinental Championship, becoming jealous of becoming a successful singles competitor. Soon, Matt went to Smackdown! and renamed himself as "Matt Hardy - Version 0.1".. During this time, he would create the term "Mattitude". On Smackdown, he had his M'Fer (Mattitude Follower), Shannon Moore. Then Moore had his follower who would later join, Crash Holly (Michael Lockwood), which Moore would call his "Moore-on". The stable would later being disbanded after Crash was release and Matt would move back to Raw to continue with the story line with girlfriend Lita.
However, Matt and Lita would split when finding out that she and Edge (Copeland) are having an affair. This would cause Matt to be release, along with friend Rhyno (Terry Gerin).
Later, Hardy would return to the WWE on Raw, facing Edge. Their final confrontation was in a ladder match (which Edge never lost) and whoever loses, would leave Raw. With the help with Lita, Edge won and Hardy left.
However, that didn't keep Hardy away from the WWE. Hardy was then signed to Smackdown!. He wrestled on the web show Velocity by winning all of his matches. He also did the main event on the last episode against Simon Dean, which Matt won.
Matt is now dating Ashley Massaro.- Actor
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William Jason Reso is a Canadian actor and professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE under the ring name Christian and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Christian Cage. He also starred as a guest character on the Syfy original series Haven. He has also appeared on other television series Casino Cinema and Murdoch Mysteries and was featured in multiple films including Shoot 'Em up. He has been married to Denise Hartmann since May 25, 2001. They have one child.Christian- King Kong Bundy was riding a win streak of 300 consecutive victories when he challenged Terry "Hulk" Hogan to the World Wrestling Federation World's Heavyweight Championship. Budy's streak was snapped when Hogan defeated him in a wild brawl.
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Brian James was born on 20 May 1969 in Marietta, Georgia, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for WWE Raw (1993), WWE Smackdown! (1999) and WCW Saturday Night (1985). He has been married to Tracy since 14 September 1996. They have three children.Road Dogg- Vladimir Koloff is known for Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) (1990), Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1992) and UWF Fury Hour (1990).
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- Producer
Tommy Dreamer was born on February 14, 1971 in Yonkers, New York, USA as Thomas Laughlin. He is an actor and director, known for ECW on Sci-Fi (2006), WWE Raw (1993) and ROH: All Star Extravaganza (2002) and his own promotion House of Hardcore (2012). He presently works for Impact Wrestling.Tommy Dreamer- Retired American professional wrestler best known for his work during the 1980s and 1990s as Kamala the Ugandan Giant. Debuted in 1978 and competed under the names Bad News Harris, Ugly Bear Harris, James "Sugarbear" Harris and the Mississippi Mauler. He started the Kamala gimmick in the Continental Wrestling Association in Memphis in 1982 and took the gimmick around the world, including WWE, WCW, the AWA, World Class Championship Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, and many more promotions. He had several runs in WWE, where he was managed at different times by "Classy" Freddie Blassie, the Wizard (Curtis Iaukea), Mr. Fuji, Dr. Harvey Wippleman and Reverend Slick. He made his PPV debut at "WWF SummerSlam 1992" in a loss to the Undertaker. Taker won the feud by defeating Kamala in a Casket Match at "Survivor Series 1992." In June 1995, he arrived in WCW as a member of "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom. He left in October right before "Halloween Havoc 1995." Kamala was supposed to have faced Randy Savage, but the Zodiac (Ed Leslie) replaced him. The storyline explanation was that Sullivan claimed that Kamala had told him that he was afraid of Savage, so Sullivan beat him up and shipped him back to Uganda. The real story was that Kamala left out of frustration with not getting paid. Harris was forced into retirement in 2011 due to having one of his legs amputated. Among his in-ring achievements, he is a 4x USWA (United States Wrestling Association in Memphis) Unified World Heavyweight Champion, a former Southern (Memphis) Heavyweight Champion, a former NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Champion and was inducted into the Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.Kamala
- Mark LoMonaco (born July 14, 1971) is an American professional wrestler best known for his career in such famous professional wrestling companies a in WWE, as ring name Bubba Ray Dudley, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), as Buh Buh Ray Dudley and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as Brother Ray and Bully Ray. He became a multiple-time tag team champion with D-Von, winning the ECW Tag Team Titles 8 times. Once he and D-Von jumped to the WWF/E beginning in 1999, they went on to win the WCW Tag Team Titles once during the 2001 "Invasion" of wCw/ECW. With D-Von, LoMonaco won the World Tag Team Titles 8 times and the WWE Tag Team Titles 1 time. In 2002 when WWE introduced a RAW and SmackDown roster split, LoMonaco won the WWE Hardcore Time 8 times before the title was deactivated that same year. After his WWE release in 2005, LoMonaco and Devon Hughes (D-Von) wrestled for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling where they won the TNA World Tag Team Titles 2 times.
During the early 2010s, LoMonaco as Bully Ray, went solo after splitting from Devon. During his solo run, he embarked in various feuds and won championships including the TNA World Heavyweight Title. As a villain, Bully Ray married TNA General Manager Hulk Hogan's daughter Brooke Hogan before their eventual split. Afterwards in 2012, Bully Ray founded a villainous biker gang called the Aces & Eights, recruiting various members, including his former tag team partner Devon. After the fall of Aces & Eights in 2013, Bully Ray went on to challenge the TNA management, comprised of Dixie Carter and her nephew Ethan Carter III (EC3) and several top TNA competitors including Bobby Roode, Kurt Angle and Eric Young. In 2015, Bully Ray parted ways with TNA and wrestled on the independent promotions until he made a surprise appearance entering the WWE 2015 Royal Rumble. His and D-Von's second stay with the WWE was a short-lived one as they soon were released the following year in 2016. LoMonaco and Devon Hughes have since returned to wrestle on the independent promotions.Buh Buh Ray Dudley