Ric Flair defends the NWA World Championship against Lex Luger. The Road Warriors defend the NWA Tag Team Championship against Sting & Dusty Rhodes . The Fantastics defend the NWA United States Tag Team Championship against The Varsity Club's Kevin Sullivan & "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. Jim Cornette leads The Midnight Express against Paul E. Dangerously’s Original Midnight Express and much more!
12-26-1988
2h 53m
THIS
HELLA
Doesn't have an image right now... sorry!has no image... sorry!
Main Cast
Movie Details
Production Info
Director:
Jim Herd
Writers:
Kevin Sullivan, Jim Cornette
Production:
World Championship Wrestling, National Wrestling Alliance
Locations and Languages
Country:
US
Filming:
US
Languages:
en
Main Cast
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr, known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career that has spanned almost 50 years. He is noted for his tenures with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Much of his career was spent in JCP and WCW, where he won numerous titles. Since the mid-1970s, he has used the monikers "The Nature Boy" and "Slick Ric". Flair is also a founding member of the original Four Horsemen stable alongside Tully Blanchard and The Andersons, managed by JJ Dillon. A major pay-per-view attraction throughout his career, Flair headlined the premier annual NWA/WCW event, Starrcade, on ten occasions, while also co-headlining its WWE counterpart, WrestleMania VIII (8), in 1992, after winning that year's Royal Rumble. PWI awarded him their Wrestler of the Year award a record six times, while Wrestling Observer Newsletter named him the Wrestler of the Year (an award named after him and Lou Thesz) a record eight times. The first 2-time WWE Hall of Fame inductee, first inducted with the class of 2008 for his individual career and again with the class of 2012 as a member of The Four Horsemen, he is also a member of the NWA Hall of Fame, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Flair is officially recognized by WWE as a 16-time world champion (8-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, 6-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and 2-time WWE Champion), although the number of his world championship reigns varies by source, ranging from 16 to 25. He has claimed to be a 21-time champion. He was the first holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (which he also held last). As the inaugural WCW World Heavyweight Champion, he became the first person to complete WCW's Triple Crown, having already held the NWA\WCW United States Heavyweight and NWA\WCW World Tag Team Championships. He then completed WWE's version of the Triple Crown when he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship, after already holding the WWE Championship and the WWE World Tag Team Championship on previous occasions.
Lawrence Wendell Pfohl, better known by his ring name Lex Luger, is an American former professional wrestler, television producer and football player currently working with WWE on their wellness policy. He is best known for his work with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and WWE. Luger is a three-time world champion, having held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice and the WWA World Heavyweight Championship once; a record-tying five-time NWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Champion who owns the records for consecutive days and total days as champion; and the 1994 WWE Royal Rumble winner (with Bret Hart). Although he never won a championship in WWE, he headlined multiple pay-per-view events for the organization. Pro Wrestling Illustrated voted Luger the Most Popular Wrestler of the Year in 1993.
Barry Clinton Windham is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and the son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan. He is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In NWA/WCW, he was a one-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, a one-time United States Heavyweight Champion, a one-time Television Champion, a one-time Western States Heritage Champion, a four-time NWA (Mid Atlantic)/WCW World Tag Team Champion and a one-time NWA United States Tag Team Champion with Ron Garvin. In WWF, he was a two-time World Tag Team Champion with his brother-in-law, Mike Rotunda. On March 31, 2012, Windham was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the Four Horsemen. In his last World Championship Wrestling run, Barry Windham was originally brought back to WCW by Eric Bischoff who had him turn on Ric Flair. Barry was then loosely associated with Bischoff's nWo Hollywood for a while before forming a tag team with Curt Hennig. At SuperBrawl IX, Hennig and Windham defeated Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko in the finals of a tag team tournament to win the vacant WCW World Tag Team Championship. Barry reinjured his knee during this period but would return as part of "The West Texas Rednecks" in mid-1999. They were supposed to be a heel group to feud with rapper Master P's "No Limit Soldiers" but the southern fans of WCW cheered the Rednecks, going against what WCW management and booking had hoped for, and the angle was eventually dropped. The group consisted of his brother Kendall Windham, Curt Hennig, and Bobby Duncum Jr.; Duncum was replaced by Curly Bill after he was injured and shortly before the group was disbanded and the Rednecks storyline was dropped. On August 23, 1999 edition of Nitro, the Windham brothers defeated Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) to win their final WCW World Tag Team Championship, before losing the titles back to Harlem Heat at Fall Brawl 1999. Both Barry and Kendall were shortly after released by WCW. By the end of 1999, they all had left WCW and Barry worked for Ted DiBiase's promotion WXO and World Wrestling Council (WWC), where he won the latter's World Tag Team Championship in Puerto Rico with brother Kendall. Windham worked as a producer for WWE. In 2007, he appeared on the Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen DVD. Barry was also seen during the 2007 WWE Hall of Fame broadcast, sitting next to former partner John "Bradshaw" Layfield. In June 2007, Windham did the introduction of SuperBrawl Windham has a son named Callan and a daughter named Abigail with his ex-wife, Kebra. He is also the maternal uncle of present-day WWE wrestlers Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas. On October 26, 2011, it was reported that he was hospitalized for either a very serious stroke or a massive heart attack and was in an ICU unit. He was found at his ranch by his brother-in-law Mike Rotunda.His family confirmed that Windham suffered a heart attack. His father Blackjack Mulligan posted a message to Facebook saying "I have a son near death". He was later moved to a facility in Orlando, Florida for a MRI on his neck due to the fall he took from the heart attack.
Scott Charles Bigelow was an American professional wrestler, best known by the ring name Bam Bam Bigelow. During his professional wrestling career spanning twenty-one years, Bigelow worked in major wrestling promotions, including the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), the original Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion, and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He was recognizable by his size of nearly 400 pounds (180 kg), and a distinctive flame tattoo that spanned most of his bald head. Bigelow held multiple championships in both ECW and WCW, and thirteen throughout his career. Among other accolades, he was a former world champion, having held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once, and a two-time WCW World Tag Team Champion. Although he never held a WWF title, he headlined multiple pay-per-view events for the promotion, including WrestleMania XI. Ryan Murphy of WWE (formerly the WWF), in a 2013 publication, described Bigelow as "the most natural, agile and physically remarkable big man of the past quarter century."
Steve Borden, better known by the ring name Sting, is an American professional wrestler and former bodybuilder, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as the mentor of Darby Allin. He is regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, having cultivated a legacy over a career spanning five decades. Throughout his career, he won a total of fifteen world championships.
Sting is widely known for his time spent as the public face of two major American professional wrestling promotions: the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which was bought by the WWE in 2001, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now Impact Wrestling). Although the WWF had purchased WCW, Sting did not sign with them at that time. Prior to WCW, he also wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), and Mid South.
Sting's 14-year association with WCW and its predecessor, Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), began in 1987. He quickly rose to main event status and has been described as the WCW counterpart to the WWF's Hulk Hogan. Dubbed "The Franchise of WCW", he held a total of 14 championships in the promotion – including the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on six occasions, the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship on two occasions, and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on one occasion – and made more pay-per-view (PPV) appearances for the company than any other wrestler. Against Hogan, Sting headlined the highest-grossing PPV event in WCW history, Starrcade, in December 1997. Upon the acquisition of WCW by the WWF in March 2001, Sting and his long-term rival Ric Flair were chosen to perform in the main event of the final episode of Nitro. Sting would later face Hogan and Flair in their last televised matches, defeating both.
Following the expiration of his contract with WCW's parent company, AOL Time Warner, in March 2002, Borden held talks with the WWF, but ultimately did not join the promotion and instead toured internationally with World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) – winning the WWA World Heavyweight Championship – before joining the then-upstart TNA in 2003.[1] Over the following 11 years, he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on one further occasion and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship four times. As a result, he became the only wrestler to have won the NWA, WCW, and TNA World Titles in a career. He was also the inaugural inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2012.
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr., better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker/writer, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, NWA Championship Wrestling from Florida, Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), and WWE. Rhodes is considered one of the greatest wrestlers and talkers in the history of professional wrestling. Rhodes was a three-time NWA World's Heavyweight Champion, and during his time in Jim Crockett Promotions' Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, later known as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), he was a NWA United States Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time NWA World Television, NWA Tag Team and NWA World 6-Man Tag Team Champion. He also won many regional championships, and is one of seven men inducted into each of the WWE, WCW, Professional Wrestling, and Wrestling Observer Newsletter Halls of Fame. His sons, Dustin and Cody, both pursued careers in professional wrestling, performing for WWE and AEW. Following his retirement from wrestling, he made occasional on-air appearances on WWE television and pay-per-views and worked as a backstage booker/writer and producer in WWE's NXT developmental territory. Billed as "the son of a plumber", Rhodes did not have a typical wrestler's physique; his character was that of the "common man", known for the personality exhibited in his interviews. WWE chairman Vince McMahon remarked that no wrestler "personified the essence of charisma quite like Dusty Rhodes".
Michael James Hegstrand was an American professional wrestler. He is best remembered as Road Warrior Hawk, one half of the tag team known as The Road Warriors (WCW) or The Legion of Doom (WWE), with Road Warrior Animal. ) 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 WWE), with Road Warrior Animal. Outside 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 1993 edition of ECW's premier annual event, November to Remember While the Road Warriors never officially broke up, Animal started making an increasing number of solo appearances after they left WWE as Hegstrand struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and generally did not appear at many wrestling shows during this time. In 2001 Hegstrand was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a heart condition that stopped him from wrestling for a short while. He was able to overcome its effects and returned to a regular working schedule later on.
On June 22, 2002 International Wrestling Superstars, Road Warriors Animal & Hawk defeated The Headshrinkers for the World Tag-Team Championship. That victory also led to Team USA winning the Animal and Hawk made a surprise appearance on Raw on May 12, 2003 when they took on Kane and Rob Van Dam for the World Tag Team Championship. Although Hawk and Animal came up short in their attempt to become three-time champions, it was clear that Hawk had defeated the demons that had once kept him from competing, and The Road Warriors had hopes of returning to WWE.
Later in 2003, Hawk made an appearance with the All World Wrestling League, a take-off of the 'original' Big Time Wrestling that was owned by The Original Sheik who died earlier that year; it was run by the sons of The Sheik, Eddie and Tom Farhat. They decided to book Hawk for an event in Holt, Michigan; that event was the second to last time Hawk wrestled. Two weeks before he died he wrestled his final match with Ted DiBiase in Oshawa, Ontario against Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Marcus "Buff" Bagwell.
Death and legacy
Hegstrand died on October 19, 2003 in the early morning in his home in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. He was 46 years old. His friends said that he and his wife Dale had recently bought a condominium near their current home and were packing their boxes the night before. Hegstrand said that he felt tired and went to take a nap. When his wife checked on him at about 1 a.m., he had died of a sudden heart attack. At the time of his death, Hawk and Animal were working on a book about their careers.
Animal returned to WWE in mid-2005 and decided to dedicate his entire run to Hegstrand, including his tag team title victory with Heidenreich at The Great American Bash.
On the March 28, 2011 episode of Raw, it was announced that the Road Warriors would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2011. On April 2, 2011, the night before WrestleMania XXVII they, along with Paul Ellering were inducted into the Hall Of Fame by Dusty Rhodes.
Road Warrior Hawk was included, along with his tag team partner, Road Warrior Animal, in the Attitude Era, in the game WWE '13.
Joseph Michael Laurinaitis is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names, Road Warrior Animal and Road Warrior Hawk. He is the brother to John Laurinaitis, who was formerly WWE's Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and former general manager of both Raw and Smackdown brands of the WWE. Along with the late Road Warrior Hawk, Laurinaitis was one-half of the tag team known as The Road Warriors or also dubbed as The Legion of Doom.
Robert Rechsteiner is an American professional wrestler, better known under his ring name Rick Steiner. Steiner is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling, where he was an eight time World Tag Team Champion (seven times with his brother Scott 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. In addition to WCW, Steiner also found success in the World Wrestling Federation, where he and Scott won the World Tag Team Championship twice.
Lawrence Michael Rotunda is a former American professional wrestler, perhaps best known under the name Irwin R. Schyster or I.R.S. for short, a play on the abbreviation of the Internal Revenue Service. He works with the WWE as a road agent and makes occasional appearances on WWE shows as Irwin R. Schyster. Rotunda (as Mike Rotunda) joined All Japan Pro Wrestling in the summer of 2000, shortly after the Pro Wrestling Noah exodus. He reunited the Varsity Club, this time with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. The team won the 2000 World's Strongest Tag Determination League[13] and also challenged for the World Tag Team Championship, against Taiyō Kea and Johnny Smith on February 24, 2001, but lost. In late 2001, Rotunda returned to Team 2000 as part of the All Japan branch and returned to New Japan for one match, on October 28, teaming with Chono to defeat Tencozy. Rotunda finished the year teaming with Williams in the 2001 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, which they finished in 5th place with 6 points.
Rotunda retired from wrestling to run a security company with his wife in 2004.
Rotunda was rehired by WWE as a road agent in 2006, and has made guest appearances as Irwin R. Schyster. One such appearance was on the August 6, 2007 edition of WWE Raw; Mr. McMahon was discussing his IRS troubles with Jonathan Coachman, and when the conversation ended, Rotunda lowered the paper covering his face (Financial Times) and revealed himself.
Rotunda appeared as I.R.S. on the December 10, 2007 15th Anniversary edition of Raw, winning a 15-man Battle Royal, only to be paid by his former tag team partner Ted DiBiase to eliminate himself and I.R.S. appeared on the September 7, 2009 edition of "Raw," of which Bob Barker was the guest host. Rotunda was a contestant in a pricing game (similar to the "One Bid" qualifying segment of The Price Is Right) along with Santino Marella, Jillian Hall, and Chris Jericho, bidding on a "Best of SmackDown" DVD. Rotunda overbid $50.00 (including tax); the DVD's actual retail price was $18.99. Chris Jericho won the pricing game with a bid of $1.00 (as erroneously proclaimed by Bob Barker). I.R.S was, later that night, one of the contestants during the second round of the pricing game. A. J. Pierzynski of the Chicago White Sox filled in the vacated spot Chris Jericho held. This time the bid was for a travel package to WrestleMania XXVI in Glendale, Arizona. Rotunda bid $2,000.00 for the package. The actual retail price was $1,247.00, making Santino the winner after a bid of $1,200.00
Rotunda appeared on an episode of Monday Night Raw as a lumberjack in the "'80s Legend Lumberjack Match", in which Christian defeated Ted DiBiase
Rotunda is married to Stephanie Rotunda (née Windham), the daughter of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan, and sister of wrestlers Barry and Kendall Windham. They have two sons, Windham and Taylor, who are professional wrestlers working for WWE under the ring names Bray Wyatt (former WWE Champion, former SmackDown Tag Team Champion with The Wyatt Family which at the time included Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Randy Orton, and former Raw Tag Team Champion with Matt Hardy) and Bo Dallas (former NXT Champion and former Raw Tag Team Champion with Curtis Axel). The couple also has a daughter named Mika and two granddaughters named Cadyn and Kendyl
Sylvester Ritter was an American professional wrestler and professional football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as The Junkyard Dog (or JYD for short), a nickname Ritter received while working in a wrecking yard. Entering the ring with his trademark chain attached to a dog collar, to the music of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," JYD regularly headlined cards that sold out the Louisiana Superdome and other major venues, becoming "the first blackwrestler to be made the undisputed top star of his promotion". JYD was one of the most electrifying and charismatic wrestlers in the country, particularly during his peak in the early 1980s. JYD was most known for his head butt and upper-body strength, the latter of which saw him regularly body slam such large wrestlers as The One Man Gang, Kamala, and King Kong Bundy. The word "Thump," which referred to JYD's power slam, was prominently displayed on his wrestling trunks.
"The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff (born Oreal Perras, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian former professional wrestler who once held the WWWF Championship.
Robert Lee "Bobby" Eaton is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, who made his debut in 1976. Eaton is most famous for his work in tag teams, especially his days as one-half of the team 'The Midnight Express' with the ring name "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton. Under the management of Jim Cornette, Eaton originally teamed with "Lover Boy" Dennis Condrey and, later on, with "Sweet" Stan Lane. He has also worked with a number of other tag team partners, including Koko B. Ware, Steve Keirn, Chris Benoit and "Lord" Steven Regal. In his career, Eaton wrestled for extended periods of time for various wrestling promotions: Mid-America Wrestling, Continental Wrestling Association, Mid-South Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling, and Smoky Mountain Wrestling. He has also made brief guest appearances for Extreme Championship Wrestling and NWA Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, in addition to appearances for a considerable number of independent wrestling promotions over the years. He currently performs part-time, teaming with either Lane and/or Condrey under the Midnight Express name.
Wallace Stanfield "Stan" Field is an American professional wrestler, trained by Ric Flair, who started wrestling in 1974 in Championship Wrestling from Florida. For a brief time in Florida, he was nicknamed Nature Boy. He is best known as one half of The Fabulous Ones, the Midnight Express and the Heavenly Bodies.
James Hines is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Bobby Fulton. He was one half of the tag team The Fantastics with Tommy Rogers.
James Hines started wrestling as a 16-year-old, under the name Bobby Fulton. His first match was on June 17, 1977, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, in which he defeated Mad Dog Michaels by disqualification. In the main event of that same card, he lost a battle royal.
He spent his early career in Ohio, training and wrestling with the likes of Lord Zoltan, Fred Curry, Bull Curry and Dr. Jerry Graham. He worked for the WWWF on the Allentown and Hamburg television tapings where he faced Steve Travis and Fred Curry. He worked for Nick Gulas's Nashville territory, where he paired up with Eric Embry as the "brother" tag team of Bobby & Don Fulton.
He then moved on to Stu Hart's Calgary territory working with the likes of Bret Hart, The Dynamite Kid, The Cuban Assassin, Bobby Bass, Ross Hart, Bruce Hart, Giant Haystacks and Davey Boy Smith. Then it was on to the short-lived Knoxville territory forming a tag team with Terry Taylor called "The Fantastic Ones". After the territory closed, Hines and Taylor split up.
He then moved on to the Jerry Jarrett's Continental Wrestling Association territory where he worked preliminary matches. He then went to Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, Texas for Joe Blanchard, battling Adrian Street and Eric Embry in a series of scaffold matches. His new tag team partner Tommy Rogers started for Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling. There the Fantastics (Fulton and Rogers) formed and feuded with the Midnight Express.
In 1984, the team continued their feud with The Midnight Express in World Class Championship Wrestling that later extended into Jim Crockett Promotions.
In 1986, they had a feud with The Sheepherders in the Universal Wrestling Federation.
In 1987, back in WCCW, they feuded with the Rock 'n' Roll RPMs. They won the feud by winning a scaffold match at the "Parade of Champions" on May 3, 1987. The Fantastics also made an appearance at the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico.
They next went to the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions to continue their feud with The Midnight Express and to win the NWA United States Tag Team Titles on two occasions. They also defeated The Sheepherders to win the vacant NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship. In 1989, they left and have been wrestling, sometimes together, sometimes not, in the independent circuit around the United States, and in All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Thomas R. Couch is a professional wrestler better known as Tommy Rogers of The Fantastics.
Couch started wrestling in 1980 as "Tommy Rogers" in North Carolina. He made his debut (as a replacement for Charlie Cook) in a match with Eddy Mansfield with no formal training. Tommy then headed to Florida for a brief stay before heading to Portland, then Memphis where he met his future tag team partner Bobby Fulton.
In a talent trade agreement between Memphis (Jarrett) and Mid-South (Watts) the newly formed Fantastics (Rogers & Fulton) headed to Mid South. There they had their first major program with The Midnight Express (Condrey & Eaton). In late 1984, Rogers went to World Class Championship Wrestling where he and Bobby Fulton continued their legendary feud with the Midnight Express. In 1986, Rogers and Fulton went to the Universal Wrestling Federation where they had a long series of violent matches against The Sheepherders (Butch Miller & Luke Williams). They went back to WCCW in 1987 and feuded with The Rock 'N Roll RPMs. The feud ended after The Fantastics won a scaffold match at "The Parade of Champions". In 1988, they went to the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions to renew their feud with the Midnight Express. They left in 1989 and had been wrestling in the independents ever since.
The Fantastics spent several tours in Japan during the 1990s working with such names as Dean and Joe Malenko. In 1997, Rogers and Fulton both wrestled in the WWF's Light Heavyweight Division. They were pitted against each other once on an episode of Raw. Rogers defeated Fulton with the Tomakaze, a finishing maneuver of Tommy's invention later adopted by Christian Cage. In 1987 The Fantastics made an appearance at the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico. Rogers wrestled in ECW from 1997 to 1998, where he briefly teamed with Jerry Lynn. Rogers also worked behind the scenes helping the ECW product as an agent. In 2005, the Fantastics reformed on the indie circuit. They won the SCW Tag Team Championship by defeating the Midnight Express in a steel cage match.[1] In 2006, Tommy moved to Honolulu, Hawaii.
After undergoing hip replacement surgery in January 2007, he retired from the ring.
On June 1, 2015, Couch was found dead in his Honolulu home by his roommate. The cause of death was not released.
Paul Ellering is an American professional wrestling manager, professional wrestler and dog musher. He is currently signed with WWE to a legends contract. Ellering spent most of his wrestling career managing the Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk), working with them from 1983 to 1990 and again on occasion between 1992 and 1997. In addition to being their on screen manager he actually handled the team's affairs outside the ring as well, including contract negotiations and travel arrangements. Ellering and the Road Warriors were inducted into both the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011. Five years later, in June 2016, he returned to the ring at NXT TakeOver: The End as the manager of The Authors of Pain, a heel tag team making their debut. Ellering has been labeled as one of the greatest wrestling managers of all time.
Prior to becoming a manager he was a professional wrestler, but due to injuries retired in 1983 to become a full-time manager, only wrestling on special occasions. In the late 1990s he was involved in a storyline where he actually turned on the Road Warriors and managed Disciples of Apocalypse as they fought the Road Warriors. After retiring from full-time activity in wrestling, he raced in the Iditarod and John Beargrease Dog Sled Race.
James Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American author and podcaster who has previously worked in the professional wrestling industry as an agent, booker, color commentator, manager, promoter, trainer, and occasional professional wrestler. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest managers in wrestling history, due to his extraordinary mic skills.
During his career, he has worked for the Continental Wrestling Association, Mid-South Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation (now called WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now called Impact Wrestling), and Ring of Honor. From 1991 to 1995, he was the owner and head booker of Smoky Mountain Wrestling, and from 1999 to 2005, was the co-owner, head booker, and head trainer of Ohio Valley Wrestling. During the later years of his career, Cornette focused primarily on backstage positions and transitioned away from his role as an on-screen manager.
In 2017, Cornette retired from managing. During a transitional period prior to the retirement, he worked as an on-screen "authority figure" character in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Ring of Honor, promotions where he also held backstage positions. Cornette has also had an extensive commentary career, most recently serving as a color commentator for Major League Wrestling, What Culture Pro Wrestling, and the National Wrestling Alliance. Cornette is a member of the NWA, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Memphis, and Professional Wrestling Hall of Fames. Cornette is also noted for his long-standing real-life feud with fellow professional wrestling booker Vince Russo; in June 2017, Russo filed a restraining order (EPO) against Cornette for stalking. The Cornette vs. Russo feud has been featured on two episodes of Viceland's Dark Side of the Ring series.
Paul Heyman is an American entertainment executive and performer. He is currently signed to WWE, appearing on the SmackDown brand as Special Counsel for Roman Reigns. Heyman owned and was the creative force behind the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion from 1993 until its closure in 2001. Before running and owning ECW, he was a manager under the ring name Paul E. Dangerously in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and other promotions. He is the co-owner of the Looking4Larry Agency in New York City, and was personally named one of Advertising Age's Top 100 Global Marketers. In WWE, Heyman has managed or has served as manager for a record six world champions: WWE Champions, Big Show, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Critics have praised his abilities at managing and on the microphone. Heyman has also competed sporadically in matches, including the WWE Championship main event of the 2002 Rebellion pay-per-view.
James Morrison is an American retired professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name, 'James .J. Dillon'.
J.J. Dillon had an extensive wrestling career. He broke into wrestling at the age of 29, starting out in the early 1970’s as a referee transitioning into a wrestler and then a manager winning many championships and managing a variety of wrestlers throughout many different territories around the country. He made his Madison Square Garden debut on April 23, 1984 when he challenged Tito Santana for the WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, losing by pinfall after a flying forearm by Santana.
He is most remembered in pro wrestling as a manager. He guided many wrestlers to singles and tag-team titles in the NWA. Dillon, who became manager of Tully Blanchard, achieved his greatest success as the manager of the Four Horsemen which consisted of "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, Blanchard, Arn Anderson , Ole Anderson, Lex Luger and Barry Windham. After leaving WCW in February 1989, Dillon served as a front office executive for WWE until 1997. On April 21, 1997, he returned to WCW as an on-camera commissioner, a position which lasted until fall 1998. In 2003, Dillon had a short stint as an NWA representative in TNA.
In 2009, he made a one-night appearance at Deaf Wrestlefest 2009 to team with "Beef Stew" Lou Marconi and "Handsome" Frank Staletto in a six-man tag team match against "Franchise" Shane Douglas, Dominic Denucci and Cody Michaels.
On December 29, 2019, Dillon joined the Board of Directors of the International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame. On March 3, 2021, Dillon returned to TNT to act as manager for Tully Blanchard on an episode of AEW Dynamite.
