Thirty Superstars compete in the annual Royal Rumble Match with the winner advancing to WrestleMania for a shot at the WWE Championship. "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels challenges "Sycho" Sid Vicious for the WWE Championship. Triple H defends the WWE Intercontinental Title against Goldust. The Undertaker faces Big Van Vader!
01-19-1997
2h 52m
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Main Cast
Movie Details
Production Info
Director:
Vince McMahon
Writers:
Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard, Pat Patterson, Jim Cornette, Vince Russo
Locations and Languages
Country:
US
Filming:
US
Languages:
en
Main Cast
Michael Hickenbottom
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom, better known by his ring name, Shawn Michaels, is an American professional wrestling personality, television presenter and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he has served as an ambassador for the company since December 2010. Michaels wrestled for WWE, from 1988 until his first retirement in 1998, owing to a severe back injury. He appeared in non-wrestling roles from 1998 to 2000 and resumed his wrestling career in 2002 until retiring ceremoniously in 2010. In the WWE, Michaels headlined major pay per view events in four decades from the 1980s to the 2010s, closing the company's premier annual event WrestleMania on five occasions
Michaels was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2011. Following Michaels' induction, WWE said of Michaels, "Ask any Superstar on the WWE roster who the most gifted sports-entertainer of all time is and nearly everyone will have the same answer Shawn Michaels." Michaels is a four time world champion: a three-time WWF Champion and a former World Heavyweight Champion. He was also the winner of the 1995 and 1996 Royal Rumbles and was the company's first Grand Slam Champion. He has also won the PWI Match of the Year Award a record eleven times. Michaels currently resides in San Antonio, Texas with his wife, Rebecca, and their two children.
Sidney Raymond "Sid" Eudy was an American professional wrestler. He is best known under the ring names Sid Vicious, Sid Justice and "Sycho" Sid and for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and The World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Between those promotions, Eudy has enjoyed major championship success and performed to a worldwide 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 Champion twice. In addition to world title success, Eudy is also a one time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion. During his tenures with the WWF and WCW, Eudy headlined many major pay-per-views for both organizations. He closed WrestleManias VIII and 13 in 1992 and 1997 respectively, as well as Starrcade, WCW's counterpart to that event, in 2000. In speaking of Eudy's impact, WWE wrote, "One of the most brutal Superstars to ever terrorize WWE, the sadistic Sid brought an intensity that few could ever hope to contain. Just ask the litany of ring legends who have incurred his wrath — a hit list that includes Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, Bret "Hit Man" Hart and many more." Eudy was a playable character in the NES version of WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge, the Game Boy game WWF Superstars 2 and the SNES version of WWF Super Wrestlemania. For WCW he appeared in WCW Backstage Assault. Unrelated to any wrestling promotion he was a playable character in both Legends of Wrestling II and Showdown: Legends of Wrestling as well. Most recently appears as "Sycho" Sid in WWE 2K17, where his character is part of the Legends Pack downloadable content bundle. Sid is also part of the roster in WWE 2K18 and WWE 2K19.
Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965; ht. 6'10"), better known by his ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler currently signed under a 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 to World Wrestling Entertainment. The Undertaker is one of the most recognizable figures in the history of professional wrestling. His tenure with WWE (formerly WWF) spans 30 years and is the longest of any wrestler in the company's history. His retirement in 2020 left him as the only remaining active wrestler to appear on the first episode of 𝘞𝘞𝘍 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘙𝘢𝘸 (now 𝘞𝘞𝘌 𝘙𝘢𝘸) in 1993.
He began his wrestling career with World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in 1984. He end up in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as "Mean" Mark Callous by 1989. When WCW did not renew his contract in 1990, he signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF later renamed WWE). After debuting as Kane the Undertaker, he shortened it to simply The Undertaker making his television debut at WWF's Thanksgiving themed pay-per-view event the Survivor Series 1990. At the 1990 Survivor Series, The Undertaker would debut alongside The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase as part of DiBiase's team in one of the Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Matches that the annual event is known for. He would eventually go on to be managed by Paul Bearer who would help propel him to the WWF World Title just a year after his debut.
During his time with the WWE, he would go on to hold many championships and accolades most notably a 21-match-long winning streak at WWE's biggest annual event, WrestleMania. Respected amongst fans and peers a like, the Undertaker has one of the most celebrated and long-running careers in all of professional wrestling. We can be sure that for time in memoriam he will be considered one of the greatest of all time.
Leon Allen White better known by his ring names Big Van Vader or Vader, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. White is best known for his time with New Japan Pro Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, WWE and All Japan Pro Wrestling in the 1990s. A super-heavyweight wrestler capable of aerial maneuvers such as the moonsault and the dropkick, White was both a face and a heel in several professional wrestling promotions. During his career, he became an eight time world champion, having won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship three times, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship three times and the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship twice. Vader returned to Japan, wrestling at a NJPW Wrestle Land show. He also worked in the independent circuit as Big Van Vader, including a tag match against Samoa Joe and Dan Maff in Jersey All Pro Wrestling with Mike Awesome as his tag team partner. On May 12, 2007, Vader faced Brutus Beefcake at Spartan Slamfest, a World Wrestling Coalition charity show. The match was held at the Kingston Armory in Kingston, Pennsylvania. After wrestling his last match in 2007, White began working as a high school football coach.
O April 29, 2010, White made a return to wrestling under his Vader ring name at the event Vader Time 5 Return of the Emperor. At the event, he teamed with his son Jesse and former tag team partner 2 Cold Scorpio to successfully defeat Makoto Hashi, Tamon Honda and Tatsumi Fujinami in the main event.
In May 2016, Will Opsreay and Ricochet faced each other during the NJPW tournament Best of the Super Juniors. During the match, both wrestlers performed a high flying, fast paced sequence. When Vader saw the sequence, he complained in social media about the current direction pro wrestling is taking. During the following weeks, Vader and Ospreay feuded in Twitter, so England-based promotion Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) booked a match between them. The match took place on August 12, 2016, where Vader defeated Ospreay. Two days later, he made an appearance in Colchester, England for the XWA Wrestling (XWA) promotion, where he defeated "Savvy" Sid Scala.
On April 20, 2017, Vader made an appearance in Japan at Korakuen Hall as part of the Dradition show to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the debut of Tatsumi Fujinami. Following a six-man tag team match, Vader collapsed due to being dropped on his head during the match, but he was able to walk backstage under his own power and he remained in Japan as he was scheduled to work two more shows in Fukuoka and Osaka.[On April 22, Vader, Takuma Sano, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara lost a six man tag team match to Koji Kanemoto, Shiro Koshinaka and Tatsumi Fujinami. On April 23, Vader, Riki Choshu, and Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Shiro Koshinaka, Takuma Sano, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. The final match of his career took place May 25, 2017 at WrestleJam V, where Vader defeated The Ironman.
Return to AJPW (2011–2012)
In the aftermath of the 2011 natural disasters in Japan, Vader and his son Jesse wrestled on special tribute cards for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and Pro Wrestling Zero1. On December 7, 2012, Vader returned to AAJPW, teaming with Keiji Mutoh and Kenso to defeat Bambi Killer, Franz Dynamite and Mazada in a six-man tag team match.
Paul Michael Lévesque is an American professional wrestler, actor and WWE executive, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of his former ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. As well as wrestling on the Raw brand, Levesque is a Senior Advisor to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, and Head of WWE's talent development department.
Before joining WWE, Levesque began his wrestling career with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994, wrestling under the ring name Terra Ryzing and later as Jean-Paul Lévesque. Levesque joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1995 with the on-screen persona of wealthy sophisticate Hunter Hearst Helmsley. He later abbreviated his name to Triple H and adopted an alternative image in the stable D-Generation X (DX). After the dissolution of DX, Triple H was pushed as a main event wrestler, winning several singles championships. As part of a storyline, Triple H married Stephanie McMahon, who later became his real-life spouse. In 2003, Triple H formed another stable known as Evolution, and in 2006 and 2009, reformed DX with Shawn Michaels. Overall, Levesque has won 23 championships in WWF/E, including thirteen World Championships, having won the WWF/E Championship a record eight times (tied with John Cena), and the World Heavyweight Championship five times (Triple H is also recognized as the first World Heavyweight Champion under WWE's lineage). He has the highest number of world title reigns of all active WWE wrestlers. In addition, Levesque won the 1997 King of the Ring, the 2002 Royal Rumble, and was the second Grand Slam Championship winner. Outside wrestling, Levesque has made numerous guest appearances in film and on television
Dustin Patrick Runnels is an American professional wrestler and trainer. He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Dustin Rhodes. He is best known for his multiple tenures with WWE from 1995 to 2019 under the gimmick and ring name Goldust. The son of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes and the half-brother of fellow wrestler Cody Rhodes (who later presented a deep and dramatic spin-off character of the Goldust gimmick, entitled Stardust), he is also known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now Impact Wrestling). Between WWE and WCW, Runnels has won 23 total championships. In WCW, he was a two-time United States Heavyweight Champion, a one-time Six-Man Tag Team Champion, and a two-time World Tag Team Champion. In WWE, he is a three-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, nine-time Hardcore Champion, one-time WWE World Tag Team Champion, and two-time WWE Tag Team Champion. Runnels has also appeared in the second most Royal Rumble matches, at 13. Rhodes headlined multiple pay-per-view events for the WWF and WCW during the 1990s. He is also a former Sammy Guevara's Vlog champion.
Ronald Simmons is a retired American professional wrestler and football player. He performed for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his real name, and in WWE under both his real name and the ring names Faarooq Asaad (sometimes spelled Asad) and Faarooq (sometimes spelled Farooq). He is currently signed with WWE, working in their Legends program. In WCW, he was a one time World Heavyweight Champion; as the first of two African Americans to win the title, he is recognized by WWE as the first Black heavyweight world champion in professional wrestling history. He was also a one time World Tag Team Champion with Butch Reed and a one time United States Tag Team Champion with Big Josh. In the WWF, he was a three time Tag Team Champion with Bradshaw as one half of the Acolytes Protection Agency. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2012. Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Simmons was an American college and professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League, Canadian Football League and United States Football League for four seasons during the 1980s. He played college football for Florida State University, and was recognized as an All-American. He played professionally for the NFL's Cleveland Browns, the CFL's Ottawa Rough Riders and the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits.
Anthony Norris is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. He is best known for his appearances with the professional wrestling promotion WWE from 1995 to 1998, under the ring name Ahmed Johnson. He was one of the most prominent stars in the WWF in the early Attitude Era. In WWE, he held the WWE Intercontinental Championship, making him the first African American to win a singles championship in the WWE. He also headlined the In Your House 9: International Incident pay-per-view event.
Steven James Anderson, formerly Steven James Williams, better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. Austin wrestled for several well-known wrestling promotions such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and most famously, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which later became World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002. Billed as "The Most Popular Superstar in WWE History", he gained significant mainstream popularity in the WWF during the mid-to-late 1990s as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, a disrespectful, beer-drinking antihero who routinely defied his boss, Vince McMahon. This defiance was often shown by Austin flipping off McMahon and incapacitating him with the Stone Cold Stunner, his finishing move. McMahon inducted Austin into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009. Austin held nineteen championships throughout his professional wrestling career, and is recognized by WWE as a six-time world champion, having held the WWF Championship on six occasions, and the fifth Triple Crown Champion. He was also the winner of the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, as well as the 1997, 1998 and 2001 Royal Rumbles. He was forced to retire from in ring competition in early 2003 due to a series of knee and neck injuries sustained throughout his career. Throughout the rest of 2003 and 2004, he was featured as the Co-General Manager and "Sheriff" of Raw. Since 2005, he has continued to make occasional appearances. In 2011, Steve Austin returned to WWE to host the reality series Tough Enough. On August 14, 2002, Austin was arrested and charged with domestic abuse. He pleaded no contest on November 25, 2002, and was given a year's probation, a $1,000 fine, and ordered to carry out 80 hours of community service.] Marshall told Fox News that Austin beat her three times and that the 2002 incident was the result of roid rage. She also stated that WWE knew of the abuse, working to conceal the bruises on her face, and kept her from revealing that Austin hit her, as it would cost the company millions of dollars.
During his early years as a wrestler, Austin was a technical wrestler. However, after his neck injury against Owen Hart in 1997, he changed his style from technical to brawler. His most famous finishing move is the Stone Cold Stunner, or simply Stunner. During his time as The Ringmaster he used the Million Dollar Dream as finisher, since it was Ted DiBiase's finisher. During his time in WCW, Austin used the Stun Gun as finisher
One of Austin's taunts during the Attitude Era was to show the middle finger. In August 2001, Austin cut a promo, debuting his catchphrase "What?", which is used today by fans when they want to mock wrestlers during promos
Brian Keith Adams was an American professional wrestler. Adams is well known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), under the name Crush, and for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his real name. Trained in Japan by Antonio Inoki, Adams was a two-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, as well as a one-time holder of both the WWF World Tag Team Championship and the All Japan Pro Wrestling World Tag Team Championship, among other titles and accomplishments. In 2002, Adams briefly tried a career in boxing until he was forced to retire due to back and shoulder injuries. His cause of death was never officially confirmed.
Richard Bognar was a Canadian professional wrestler, actor, and motivational speaker, best known as the "fake" Razor Ramon who debuted in WWE alongside the "fake" Diesel in a storyline following the departures of Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) and Kevin Nash (Diesel) from WWE to WCW. He also wrestled as Big Titan in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling.
Dennis Knight is a retired American professional wrestler best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment as Phineas I. Godwinn and Mideon. Following his run with the WWF, Knight returned to his home in Tampa, Florida and spent time training students at Steve Keirn's Pro Wrestling school. During this time he also continued to wrestle for several Florida independent promotions such as IPW and the FSPW, as well as touring Europe.
Knight appeared at the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling event TNA Destination X 2005 on March 13, 2005 during the scheduled match between Monty Brown and Trytan. In the course of the match, the lights went off and Trytan vanished from the ring. When the lights came on, a masked Knight was in his place and was quickly pinned by Brown. TNA never revealed on air who was under the mask and release Knight the following day. In March 2006, Knight wrestled several dark matches for World Wrestling Entertainment under his own name.
Knight retired from professional wrestling in 2006. After retiring from professional wrestling, Knight began working as a chef in Clearwater, Florida.
Knight has an eyeball tattooed on the back of his head and a tattoo of Doc Holliday on his left arm. He also has other tattoos on both of his arms including a Confederate flag on his right arm.
Aurelian Smith Jr., better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American actor and professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW).s a second-generation American professional wrestler, the son of former wrestler Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith. He is best known by his ring name of Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and often brought snakes into the ring, including a boa constrictor named Damien and even a de-venomed cobra, named Lucifer.
Roberts is best known for his two stints in the World Wrestling Federation—the first between 1986 and 1992, and the second between 1996 and 1997—though he also 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 has made sporadic appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2006 through 2008.
Throughout his career he was known for his intense and cerebral promos, his dark charisma, his extensive use of psychology in his matches, and has been credited as inventor of the DDT maneuver. Roberts was also one of the subjects of the 1999 documentary film Beyond the Mat.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Jake Roberts, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
David "Davey Boy" Smith was a British professional wrestler, also known as The British Bulldog.
He found success as both a singles and tag competitor, holding every major title in the WWF except the WWF Championship. Although never a world champion, he headlined multiple pay-per-view events in the WWF and WCW.
Solofa Fatu Jr. is a Samoan American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Rikishi (which means sumo wrestler in Japanese) with WWE, where he was a one time WWE Intercontinental Champion, two time WWE World Tag Team Champion, and one time WWE Tag Team Champion. Rikishi is a member of the famous Anoaʻi family. He is the twin brother of Sam Fatu (The Tonga Kid/Tama), and both brothers have twins. Sam is the father of twins Marley and Myracle, and Rikishi is the father of twins Jonathan and Joshua Samuel, who currently wrestle in WWE as Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso.
Rikishi is the nephew of Sika Anoaʻi and Afa Anoaʻi, known as the Wild Samoans, and his cousins in wrestling are Rodney Anoaʻi (Yokozuna), Samula Anoaʻi (Headshrinker Samu), Matt Anoaʻi (Rosey), Joe Anoaʻi (Roman Reigns), Reno Anoaʻi (Black Pearl), Afa Anoaʻi Jr. (Manu), Lloyd Anoaʻi (L.A. Smooth) and Dwayne Johnson (The Rock).
Rikishi and his wife Talisua Fuavai-Fatu have five children. Jonathan and Joshua Samuel, Jeremiah Peniata and daughter Thavana Monalisa Fatu and Joseph. He is the older brother of the late Eddie Fatu (Umaga/Jamal), who died on December 4, 2009 from heart attack.
Solofa has a scar on his abdomen from a drive by shooting in 1987. He says he died for 3 minutes in the emergency room Rikishi is a playable DLC character in the Attitude Era-themed video game WWE '13. He also appeared in WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It, WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain, WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17, WWE 2K18, and WWE 2K19. Outside of the main series, he is featured in WWF No Mercy, WWF Raw, WWE Raw 2, WWE Wrestlemania X8 and WWE Wrestlemania XIX.
Fatu appeared in the Italian comedy film Natale a Miami. He also guest starred on the Nickelodeon show Victorious, as a sumo wrestler in the episode "Brain Squeezers."
Fatu appeared in the Netflix original film Sandy Wexler.
Fatu under his "Rikishi" ring name is the Samoan judge in the "Wall of the World" on the CBS show The World's Best.
Marc Mero is an American former amateur boxer and professional wrestler, as well as a motivational speaker. He is best known for his appearances with WWE under his real name and with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Johnny B. Badd. Today, Marc Mero contributes much of his time to the nonprofit organization he founded in 2007, Champion of Choices.
Mero was heavily pushed as a mid-carder as "Johnny B. Badd" in WCW during the early 1990s. He won the promotion's World Television Championship three times during the course of his career before departing the company due to creative differences in 1996. He would then compete in WWE under his real name, making his debut at WrestleMania XII and going on to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship. He would then feud with his wife Sable before departing in 1998. Mero's last mainstream appearance was in TNA, where he wrestled sporadically in the mid-2000s.
Juan Rivera is a professional wrestler. He began his career in the World Wrestling Council, where he won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship. During the mid-to-late 1990s, Rivera was an active wrestler in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF), initially performing under the ring name Kwang. He was later renamed Savio Vega, eventually becoming the leader of a Puerto Rican stable, Los Boricuas. Vega gave Stone Cold Steve Austin and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson their first singles losses in the WWF. During his feud with Austin, he was the first recipient of the Stone Cold Stunner. During his WWF run, he defeated several high-profile wrestlers, including Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Jeff Jarrett, Bradshaw and Yokozuna. After leaving the WWF, Rivera returned to Puerto Rico and joined Victor Quiñones' promotion, the International Wrestling Association, serving as a long-time General Manager and winning five titles, including the IWA Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship. In 2011, he was featured in an interpromotional angle between IWA and WWC, the first of its kind since both had co-existed. He won titles in Latin America, in promotions such as Panama's Revolution X-Treme Wrestling, the Dominican Republic's Dominican Wrestling Entertainment and Ecuador's Wrestling Alliance Revolution. Rivera has worked as a wrestling trainer and road agent for Total Nonstop Action and Ring Ka King.
Brian Girard "B.G." James is an American professional wrestler and former United States Marine. He is currently working for WWE as an agent, an occasional wrestler and as a commentator on the web series Are You Serious? James is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as The Roadie from 1994 to 1995 and as "The Road Dogg" Jesse James or simply Road Dogg from 1996 to 2001 and World Wrestling All-Stars. James has held numerous championships over the course of his career, including the WWF Intercontinental Championship once, the WWF Tag Team Championship five times with Billy Gunn as the New Age Outlaws, the WWF Hardcore Championship once, and the NWA World Tag Team Championship twice with Konnan and Ron Killings under the Freebird Rule as the 3Live Kru. He is also a one time world heavyweight champion, having held the WWA World Heavyweight Championship in 2001. WWE has described James as "one of the most popular Superstars of WWE's Attitude Era". James is a second generation wrestler; his father Bob wrestled, as did his brothers Scott, Brad, and Steve.
Bret Sergeant Hart is a Canadian on-screen personality, writer, actor and retired professional and amateur wrestler. Like others in the Hart wrestling family, Hart has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College. Along with his famed "Hit Man" nickname, Hart's agile, technical style earned him the moniker, "The Excellence of Execution". He was also known as "The Pink and Black Attack", in reference to his ring attire, as well as his signature mirrored sunglasses, which he would routinely give away to a young audience member before matches.
Hart debuted in professional wrestling in 1978 with his father, Stu Hart's promotion, Stampede Wrestling, and enjoyed mainstream popularity and championship success throughout the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF—later WWE), where he helmed the Hart Foundation, a faction of Hart family members and allies. He defected to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) following the controversial "Montreal Screwjob" in 1997, where he enjoyed continued championship success until his departure from that promotion in 2000, due to a concussion that would force his retirement that same year. Hart became the on-screen commissioner of World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) in 2001, but this role came to a premature conclusion when he suffered a 2002 stroke, which temporarily rendered him a wheelchair user. Upon recovering, he continued to make non-wrestling appearances with independent promotions throughout the remainder of the decade, and, in 2005, returned to WWE programming. Hart was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by former on-screen rival, Stone Cold Steve Austin, the following year. He returned to sporadic in-ring competition with WWE in 2010, where he won his final championship and also briefly served as the General Manager of Raw. Hart continues to make appearances on WWE programming.
Hart has held championships in every decade from the 1970s onward, with a total of thirty-two held throughout his career, and seventeen held between the WWF/WWE and WCW. Among other accolades, he is a seven-time world champion, having held the WWF Championship five times (with the highest number of combined days as champion in the 1990s) and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice (being the first non-American born United States champion); a record-tying five-time WCW/WWE United States Champion, with his four WCW reigns being the most in the history of the organization; and the second WWF Triple Crown Champion. In addition to championships, he is the 1994 Royal Rumble winner (with Lex Luger), and the only two-time King of the Ring in WWE history, having won the 1991 tournament and the first King of the Ring pay-per-view in 1993. Hart has been described by WWE and WCW publications, fellow wrestlers, prominent industry figures and fans as one of the greatest, and most popular, professional wrestlers of all time.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Bret Hart, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Jerry O'Neil Lawler, better known as Jerry "The King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since April 2020. Prior to joining WWE in 1992, he wrestled in numerous territories, winning many championships, including multiple World Heavyweight Championships, throughout his career. Lawler is a one-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion and a three-time WCWA World Heavyweight Champion, making him a four-time world champion in AWA and WCWA. He unified the titles by defeating Kerry Von Erich at AWA Super Clash III, forming the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, a championship which he held 28 times. He is also known for his feud with comedian Andy Kaufman and he portrayed himself in the 1999 film Man on the Moon. Lawler has held more recognized championships than any professional wrestler in history, though he has never won any championships in WWE having wrestled sporadically whilst primarily providing color commentary, since joining the company. In 2007, Lawler was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Glenn Thomas Jacobs (born April 26, 1967) is an American politician, actor, and professional wrestler. As a Republican, he is the Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee since 2018. He is currently signed to WWE, where he works under the ring name Kane.
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, the younger half-brother of The Undertaker, with whom Jacobs would alternatively feud or team as The Brothers of Destruction.
Following his WWF debut, Kane remained a pivotal component of the company's "Attitude Era" of the late 1990s and early 2000s, defeating the era's "poster boy" Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship in his first pay-per-view (PPV) main event at King of the Ring in June 1998. He continued to headline PPV cards through 2018's Crown Jewel, and has appeared in more of such events than any other performer in WWF/WWE history.
Within WWE, Kane is a three-time world champion (having held the WWF Championship, ECW Championship and World Heavyweight Championship once each) and a 12-time world tag team champion (having held the World Tag Team Championship, WCW Tag Team Championship and WWE Tag Team Championships with various partners). He is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion and a Money in the Bank winner, as well as the third man to complete WWE's Grand Slam. The last title Kane won was the 24/7 Championship on September 16, 2019, the only title won under his real name. Veteran wrestler Ric Flair described Kane as "the best in the world", while Big Show dubbed him "the best big man ever". Kane holds the record for the most appearances in a Royal Rumble match at 20 as well as the highest cumulative total eliminations at 46. He headlined the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2021.
Outside of professional wrestling, Jacobs has made numerous guest appearances in film and on television, including the lead role in the 2006 WWE Studios production See No Evil and its 2014 sequel. He is also a longtime supporter of libertarian political causes. In March 2017, Jacobs announced that he was running for the mayoral seat of Knox County, Tennessee as a Republican. He went on to win the Republican primary election on May 1, 2018 and the general election on August 2, 2018.
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Michael Polchlopek is an American electrician, retired professional wrestler, and mixed martial artist. He is best known for his appearances with WWE from 1993 to 1999 under the ring names Bart Gunn and Bodacious Bart, as well as his appearances with All Japan Pro Wrestling from 1998 to 2002 and with New Japan Pro Wrestling from 2002 to 2004 as Mike Barton. After leaving All Japan, Barton and Steele signed with New Japan. Barton entered the 2002 New Japan Triathlon Series in November, teaming with Steele and Yuji Nagata. The team made it to the finals, but lost to Manabu Nakanishi, Osamu Nishimura and Yutaka Yoshie. In February 2003, Barton and Steele entered a #1 Contenders tournament for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. They ultimately emerged victorious, defeating Makai Club members Tadao Yasuda and Kazunari Murakami in the finals, but an injury to Steele prevented them from getting the title match. After Steele recovered, he and Barton returned to teaming. In October 2003, they entered the 2003 G1 Tag League. During the tournament, on October 21, the two received a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Title against champions Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yutaka Yoshie, but came up short. Barton and Steele finished the tournament in 5th place with 6 points.
Barton retired from professional wrestling in 2004 Following the NOAH exodus, Barton formed a new tag team with Jim Steele. In October 2000, Barton entered a tournament for the vacant Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, losing in the first round to Genichiro Tenryu. In November, Barton and Steele entered the 2000 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing in 4th place with 10 points.
On January 2, 2001, Barton won the annual January 2 Korakuen Hall Battle Royal. In the spring, Barton entered the 2001 Champion Carnival, placing 5th with 13 points. By the end of 2001, Barton had begun making appearances in New Japan Pro Wrestling as a member of the All Japan branch of Team 2000. In November 2001, Barton and Steele entered the 2001 G1 Tag League and made it to the finals, where they lost to Tencozy.
In the spring of 2002, Barton entered the 2002 Champion Carnival, making it to the finals but losing to Keiji Mutoh. On July 20, Barton and Steele won The Stan Hansen Cup Four Way against The Varsity Club, KroniK, and George Hines & Johnny Smith. On August 30, Barton and Steele challenged Kronik for the World Tag Team Championship, but lost. In the fall, Barton and Steele left All Japan.
Terrence "Terry" Funk was an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley. Funk has appeared in the NWA, AWA, WWF/E, WCW, ECW, USWA, ROH, and TNA.
Funk is a former two time world heavyweight champion, having held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once and the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship once. He also won ECW World Heavyweight Championship twice, the latter of which was also granted to him as an honorary lifetime title by ECW. He is the only man to have been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, the WCW Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, the NWA Hall of Fame, the Hardcore Hall of Fame, and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. Funk was a primary subject of the documentary film Beyond the Mat. Funk is often noted for the longevity of his career, which has included multiple "retirement" matches.
An American and Canadian actor, producer and semi-retired professional wrestler, signed with WWE. Johnson is half-Black and half-Samoan. His father, Rocky Johnson, is a Black Canadian, from Nova Scotia, and part of the first Black tag team champions in WWE history back when it was known as the WWF along with Tony Atlas. His mother is Samoan and the daughter of Peter Maivia, who was also a pro wrestler. Maivia's wife, Lia Maivia, was one of wrestling's few female promoters, taking over Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling after her husband's death in 1982, until 1988. Through his mother, he is considered a non-blood relative of the Anoa'i wrestling family. On March 29, 2008, The Rock inducted his father and his grandfather into the WWE Hall of Fame.
As of 2014, Johnson has a home in Southwest Ranches, Florida as well as Los Angeles, California. He also owns a farm in Virginia. In 2009, Johnson gained citizenship in Canada in honor of his father's background. Though Johnson was previously registered as a Republican, he voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 United States presidential elections and is now an independent voter. He stated he did not vote in the 2016 U.S. election.
In recognition of his service to the Samoan people, and because he is a descendant of Samoan chiefs, Johnson had the noble title of Seiuli bestowed upon him by Malietoa Tanumafili II during his visit there in July 2004. He received a partial Samoan pe'a tattoo on his left side in 2003,and, in 2017, had the small "Brahma bull" tattoo on his right arm covered with a larger half-sleeve tattoo of a bull's skull.
Johnson married Dany Garcia on May 3, 1997. Their only child together, a daughter named Simone, was born in August 2001. On June 1, 2007, they announced they were splitting up amicably. Johnson then began dating Lauren Hashian, daughter of Boston drummer Sib Hashian. They first met in 2006 while Johnson was filming The Game Plan. Their first child together, a daughter, was born in December 2015. Their second child, another daughter, was born in April 2018.
Johnson attended the 2000 Democratic National Convention as part of WWE's non-partisan "Smackdown Your Vote" campaign, which aimed to influence young people to vote. He also had a speaking role at the 2000 Republican National Convention that same year.
In 2006, Johnson founded the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation, a charity working with at-risk and terminally ill children. On October 2, 2007, he and his ex-wife donated $1 million to the University of Miami to support the renovation of its football facilities; it was noted as the largest donation ever given to the university's athletics department by former students. The University of Miami renamed the Hurricanes' locker room in Johnson's honor. In 2015, Johnson donated $1,500 to a GoFundMe to pay for an abandoned dog's surgery. In 2017, he donated $25,000 to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. In 2018, Johnson donated a gym to a military base in Oahu, Hawaii. After the 2018 Hawaii floods, he worked with Malama Kauai, a nonprofit organization, to help repair damages caused by the floods.
Michael "Mick" Foley is a retired American professional wrestler and author, currently signed to WWE under its "Legends" program as an ambassador. Foley worked for several wrestling promotions including WWE, WCW, ECW, TNA, and NWA, as well as in Japan. A key figure of the Attitude Era and regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers in history, Foley participated in WrestleMania's main events in 1999 and 2000 and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Foley wrestled under various personas: Cactus Jack, Mankind, and Dude Love, collectively known as the "Three Faces of Foley." Notably, he entered the 1998 Royal Rumble three times under these different personas. Foley is a four-time world champion and an 11-time world tag team champion. His Hell in a Cell match against The Undertaker is remembered as one of the greatest and most controversial matches of all time, cementing his reputation as "The Hardcore Legend" due to his brutal and physical wrestling style.
Charles Bernard Scaggs is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name 2 Cold Scorpio (sometimes spelled Too Cold Scorpio). He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling and WWE (as Flash Funk) throughout the 1990s, along with his appearances in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah. Championships held by 2 Cold Scorpio over the course of his career include the ECW World Tag Team Championship, ECW World Television Championship, GHC Tag Team Championship and WCW World Tag Team Championship.
Marcus Canterbury is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation in the mid to late 1990s under the ring name Henry O. Godwinn. He is also known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling in the early 1990s as Shanghai Pierce. In 1996, Canterbury was reunited with Knight, who had been renamed Phineas I. Godwinn. The duo were portrayed as being cousins and were collectively known as "The Godwinns". The two were faces and were managed by Hillbilly Jim. They began to feud with the Body Donnas with Phineas having a crush on Sunny and signed her as their manager. They would beat the Body Donnas for the WWF Tag Team Championships. Eventually Sunny turned on them costing them their titles. The Godwinns feuded with the now heel Smoking Gunns, in losing efforts. In 1997, the Godwinns began a heel turn dropping Hillbilly Jim as a manager and picking up Uncle Cletus. The Godwinns quickly won the tag titles a second time from The Headbangers and began a heated feud with the Legion of Doom, which saw the team attempt to break Road Warrior Hawk's neck. They eventually dropped the titles to LOD in a match on WWF Monday Night Raw that had LOD's career on the line. Soon after that match they attacked and fired Cletus.
In April 1997, in a rematch between The Godwinns and the Legion of Doom, Canterbury cracked his C7 vertebra when he fell on his head after taking the Doomsday Device. He was advised by doctors to rest for fifteen weeks, but returned to the ring in less than eight weeks.
In 1998, Canterbury entered the Brawl for All, a shoot-fighting tournament held by the WWF. He lost in the first round to Bradshaw.
Later that year, the Godwinns dropped their pig farmer gimmicks, now going by their real names and wearing sharp suits under the name "Southern Justice", the bodyguards of Tennessee Lee. Six months later, Canterbury herniated his C7 vertebra and pinched a spinal nerve, necessitating spinal fusion surgery. This came as a result of him returning to the ring too early after his neck injury. He eventually left the WWF and retired, due to the neck injury suffered in 1997.
In September 2006, Canterbury wrestled several tryout matches with World Wrestling Entertainment. On September 15, 2006, WWE announced that he had been signed to a contract.[3] He debuted in Deep South Wrestling on November 30 as a tag partner for Ray Gordy. Gordy was known as Cousin Ray and they both reformed The Godwinns. Since both Gordy and Drew Hankinson went to the SmackDown brand, however, Godwinn's role remained uncertain.
On May 19, 2007, the Wrestling Observer reported that Canterbury had been released from his Personal life
Canterbury has two sons, named Shane and Jordan. Jordan was accidentally shot by a high school friend and died on October 31, 2003 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. On November 9, 2011, Mark suffered two punctured lungs, thirteen broken ribs and a broken leg in a car accident.
In July 2016, Canterbury was named part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit is litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.
Owen James Hart was a Canadian professional and amateur wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and most notably, WWE. A member of the Hart wrestling family, Hart was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada the youngest of 12 children to Stampede Wrestling promoter and WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart and Helen Hart. Among other accolades, Hart was a one-time USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion, two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, one-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, one-time WWE European Champion and four-time WWE World Tag Team Champion. He was also the winner of the 1994 WWE King of the Ring. Although he never captured the WWE Championship, he competed for the title on multiple occasions and has been cited by a number of peers as one of WWE's most talented professional wrestlers. Hart tragically died on May 23, 1999 when an equipment malfunction occurred during his entrance from the rafters of Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S., at WWE's Over the Edge pay-per-view event.
Octavio López Arreola, better known by the ring name Cibernético, is a Mexican professional wrestler, currently working for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA).
Euforia is currently in his second stint with the Los Nuevos Infernales stable, under the leadership of El Satánico. He was formerly a part of Los Cancerberos del Infierno under the leadership of Virus, while also forming a tag team with Nosferatu. He was also formerly a part of Los Guerreros del Infierno/Los Guerreros Laguneros under the leadership of Último Guerrero.
William Alvin "Bill" Moody, better known by his ring names Paul Bearer and Percival Pringle III, was a professional wrestling manager and former wrestler. He is best known for his time in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (later WWE) where he was the manager of multi-time world champions The Undertaker, Kane, Mick Foley and Vader.
Accie Julius Connorbetter known by his ring name D'Lo Brown (also formatted as D-Lo Brown), is an American professional wrestling road agent and semi-retired professional wrestler. Brown is well known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation between 1997 and 2003, where he held the WWF Intercontinental Champion and WWF European Championship. He is also known for his appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he held the NWA World Tag Team Championship, Ring of Honor and in Japan with the promotions All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah. In September 2009, Connor was re-signed by TNA as their lead agent. Additionally, D'Lo was in charge of talent development and acquisitions heading up the TNA Gut Check program.
On the March 7, 2013 episode of Impact Wrestling, Brown attacked Kurt Angle and revealed himself as the Vice President of Aces & Eights, turning heel in the process. Three days later at Lockdown, Brown interfered in Angle's steel cage match against fellow Aces & Eights member Wes Brisco, costing Angle the match. Later that evening, the President of the Aces & Eights was revealed to be Bully Ray.Brown wrestled his first televised match in four years on the May 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, losing to Kurt Angle in an I Quit Match.As a result of his loss, Brown was demoted to a prospect the following week. On July 17, Brown announced his release from TNA
Return to AJPW (2013)
On August 11, 2013, All Japan Pro Wrestling announced that Brown would be returning to the promotion the following month to take part in the 2013 Ōdō Tournament.Brown returned to the promotion on September 11 in a non-tournament tag team match, where he and Bambi Killer defeated Burning (Atsushi Aoki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru), with Brown pinning Kanemaru for the win.Three days later, Brown was eliminated by Kanemaru in his first round match in the Ōdō Tournament.For the rest of the tour, which lasted until September 23, Brown worked midcard tag team matches, suffering pinfall losses in most of them.On October 3, Brown was announced also for All Japan's next tour, which started October 12. Brown continued teaming regularly with Bambi Killer, which eventually led to the two forming a heel stable named DK (Dark Kingdom) under the leadership of Kenso on November 21.
Future Stars of Wrestling (2014–2015)
Brown formerly held a weekly class on Friday for "Future Stars of Wrestling" training center in Las Vegas.
Personal life
Conner is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) graduating from the University of Maine.He and his wife Jennifer were married in 2001 and have two daughters, Bria (born in 2003) and Payton (born in 2009).
Kelly Warren Wolfe is an American professional wrestler. Wolfe is perhaps best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and Extreme Championship Wrestling under the ring name Wolfie D (as one-half of the tag team PG-13), as well as for his appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Slash (as a member of the stable the Disciples of The New Church). He is a former NWA World Tag Team Champion and one-half of the reigning Traditional Championship Wrestlin tag team champions. Wolfe got his start in Jerry Lawler's United States Wrestling Alliance (USWA) and soon allied himself with J.C. Ice, forming a tag team with a white rapper gimmick known as PG-13. The team won the USWA Tag Team Championship on fifteen occasions. In 1996, PG-13 lost a Loser Leaves Town match against Ice's father, "Superstar" Bill Dundee. Shortly thereafter, a new masked tag team known as "The Cyberpunks" (Fire and Ice) appeared, which was really PG-13 in disguise. After a number of attempts to unmask them failed, they unmasked themselves upon having PG-13 reinstated into the USWA.
In 1995, PG-13 began wrestling occasional matches in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The following year, they joined the Nation of Domination stable. They rapped to introduce the stable before matches, but they did not actually wrestle during this period. They also appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), competing against the team of Mikey Whipwreck and Spike Dudley and unsuccessfully challenging Buh Buh Ray and D-Von Dudley for the ECW Tag Team Championship at Hardcore Heaven in 1997. In 2000, the team appeared for a few months in World Championship Wrestling, competing against the Yung Dragons and 3 Count.
After splitting from Ice, Wolfie worked in the Memphis area with his accomplice, the helmeted driver known only as the Getaway Guy. Wolfie performed particularly evil misdeeds in the ring and would immediately head for the back of the arena, where his Wolf Mobile, a bright yellow Mustang drag car racer waited. The Getaway Guy, dressed in black leather and wearing a black helmet that could not be seen into, waited with the motor running. Wolfie would leap into the car and they would drive out of the arena parking lot, well ahead of any wrestler chasing them. It was later revealed that the Getaway Guy was manager Nick Nitros.
Slash
On March 5, 2013, Slash and Sinn appeared at TNA One Night Only Hardcore Justice 2. The Disciples of the New Church were defeated by Latin American Xchange.
He also currently wrestles in Traditional Championship Wrestling as Cerebus teaming with storyline brother, Roosevelt, as the Hounds of Hell.
Curtis Hughes is an American professional wrestler, better known under the ring name Mr. Hughes. He is best known for his stints in the World Wrestling Federation. In addition to the WWF, Hughes has also worked for World Championship Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association, the American Wrestling Federation, and Extreme Championship Wrestling. Hughes currently trains wrestlers in the WWA4 Training School and wrestles on the independent circuit. In 1999, Hughes lost a lot of weight and began working on the independent circuit and later became head trainer at the Atlanta-based World Wrestling Alliance's WWA4 Wrestling School. In late 2003, Hughes worked for the newly formed All World Wrestling League/Big Time Wrestling. In 2006, WWA4 launched a locally-aired professional wrestling program, which Hughes co-hosted with announcer and the executive producer, Taylor McKnight. When Mcknight left WWA4 for Great Championship Wrestling, Dave Wills co-hosted with Hughes. After beginning classes at the WWA4 school, Hughes' weight dropped from 310 pounds to 250 pounds.
In 2007, Hughes began a high-profile Memphis Wrestling feud when he called Jerry Lawler a "sell out" for not showing up for a scheduled match against Hulk Hogan (Lawler worked for World Wrestling Entertainment, who objected to the match). Hughes shoved Lawler's real life girlfriend, Renee, on an episode of Memphis Primetime, and the two battled three weeks later at Sam's Town River Palace Arena in Tunica, Mississippi. The match ended when Hughes kneeled and apologized to Lawler, before hitting him with a low blow and punching Renee in the face, thus losing by disqualification.
In March 2011, Hughes headlined the inaugural Redneck Wrasslin Organization card in Springfield, Illinois, teaming with Pretty Boy Floyd and Beast to defeat Team Dragonfire.
On February 18, 2012, Hughes won a 34-man battle royal for the vacant Peachstate Wrestling Alliance Heritage Championship.
On April 11, 2016, he stepped down as head trainer of WWA4 with his trainee AR Fox taking over the role
Terri Runnels, an American retired professional wrestler, manager, and television host, made her mark in the wrestling world under various personas. She started her career in WCW as Miss Alexandra York before transitioning to WWF/WWE where she was known as Marlena and later used her real name.
During her time in WWE, Runnels became well-known for managing several high-profile wrestlers, including her then-husband Dustin Runnels (Goldust), the Hardy Boyz, and Edge & Christian. She also had memorable on-screen feuds, including a rivalry with The Kat. Beyond managing, she served as a host and interviewer, and even briefly held the Hardcore Championship.
After retiring from professional wrestling, Runnels has dedicated her time to philanthropic endeavors.
