WrestleMania X-Seven was the seventeenth annual WrestleMania PPV and was presented by Snickers Cruncher. It took place on April 1, 2001 at the Reliant Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The event was the first WrestleMania held in the state of Texas. A record-breaking attendance for the Reliant Astrodome of 67,925 grossed US$3.5 million. The main event was a No Disqualification match between Steve Austin and The Rock for the WWF Championship. The main matches on the undercard featured Triple H versus The Undertaker, the second Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, and Vince McMahon versus Shane McMahon in a Street Fight. With WWE's acquisition of long-time competitor WCW and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin joining forces with storied rival Mr. McMahon.
04-01-2001
3h 47m
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Main Cast
Movie Details
Production Info
Director:
Vince McMahon
Writers:
Bruce Prichard, Jim Cornette, Paul Heyman, Michael Seitz, Pat Patterson
Production:
World Wrestling Federation (WWF)
Key Crew
Producer:
Vince McMahon
Writers' Production:
Vince McMahon
Creator:
Vince McMahon
Executive Producer:
Vince McMahon
Executive In Charge Of Production:
Kevin Dunn
Locations and Languages
Country:
US
Filming:
US
Languages:
en
Main Cast
Dwayne Johnson
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.
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
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.
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
Mark LoMonaco is an American professional wrestler. He currently wrestles for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Bully Ray, where he is the President of the Aces & Eights stable. LoMonaco wrestled for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 1999 under the ring name Buh Buh Ray Dudley and for World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) as Bubba Ray Dudley from 1999 to 2005. He began performing with TNA in 2005 as Brother Ray before adopting his current ring name in 2010. Along with his kayfabe half-brother D-Von/Devon, LoMonaco is one-half of the tag team the Dudley Boyz (also known as Team 3D). Characterized by their unorthodox ring apparel and usage of tables in their matches, Team 3D are recognized as 23-time world tag team champions. Along with 10 WWE Hardcore Championship reigns, and his TNA World Heavyweight title reign, LoMonaco has held 34 total championships between WWE, ECW, TNA, and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
Devon Hughes is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as D-Von Dudley. He is also well known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under he ring name Devon. Along with his tag team partner Bubba Ray Dudley, Hughes is one-half of tag-team The Dudley Boyz (also known as Team 3D). Characterized by their unorthodox ring apparel and usage of tables in their matches, The Dudley Boyz are one of the most successful tag teams in the history of professional wrestling, recognized by TNA as 23-time world tag team champions. Including his two TNA Television Championships, Hughes has held 25 major championships between TNA, WWE, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
Jeffrey Nero Hardy is an American professional wrestler and musician. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is a former three-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion and a former two-time TNA World Tag Team Champion. He is known for his tenures in WWE and All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time as well as one of the most daring high flyers and risktakers throughout his career. Together with his brother Matt Hardy, the tag team The Hardy Boyz are widely regarded as one of the major teams that revived tag team wrestling during the Attitude Era and one of the greatest tag teams in professional wrestling history.
Matt Hardy is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand, and he is one half of the SmackDown Tag Team Champions with his brother Jeff Hardy
Along with his real-life brother Jeff, Matt gained notoriety in WWF's tag team division due to the Hardys' participation in tables, ladders, and chairs matches. As a tag team wrestler, he is a 14-time world tag team champion, having held six WWF/World Tag Team Championships, three WWE/Raw Tag Team Championships, one SmackDown Tag Team Championship, one ROH World Tag Team Championship, one WCW Tag Team Championship and two TNA World Tag Team Championships.
Wrestling in three separate decades, Hardy has managed to keep himself relevant through a variety of different gimmicks, character changes as well as his use of social media. In 2002, Hardy began a solo career in WWE and his subsequent "Version 1" persona was named Best Gimmick by Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Hardy's eccentric "Broken" gimmick, which he debuted in 2016, earned him multiple awards and praise from wrestling critics, including a second Best Gimmick award (in 2017, the character was renamed "Woken" within WWE). As a singles wrestler, Hardy is a three-time world champion, winning two TNA World Heavyweight Championships and one ECW Championship. In 1999, Matt, along with his brother Jeff, appeared as an uncredited wrestler on That '70s Show episode "That Wrestling Show". Matt and Jeff also appeared on Tough Enough in early 2001, talking to and wrestling the contestants. He appeared in the February 25, 2002 episode of Fear Factor competing against five other World Wrestling Federation wrestlers, including his brother. He won $50,000 for the American Cancer Society. Hardy also appeared on the October 13, 2009 episode of Scare Tactics, as a mental patient who threatens to attack the prank's victim.
Hardy's first WWE video game was WWF Wrestlemania 2000 in 1999 on the Nintendo 64 shortly followed by WWF SmackDown! in early 2000 on the PlayStation. He made several appearances later in WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It, WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw. He later returned to the series in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, which was his last WWE video game before his departure to TNA. Following his return to WWE in 2017, he was revealed as a DLC character in WWE 2K18 on September 25 that year alongside tag team partner and brother, Jeff Hardy. Hardy was revealed as a playable character in WWE 2K19 on August 30, 2018.
Adam Joseph Copeland, is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Edge. After making his professional wrestling debut in 1992, Copeland wrestled in various independent promotions, competing in singles and tag team competition, the latter with long-time friend Christian Cage. In 1997, Copeland signed a developmental deal with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and made his televised debut in 1998 as Edge. After winning his first WWF championship, the WWF Intercontinental Championship, in July 1999, Edge would form a tag team with Christian, and the two went on to win the World Tag Team Championship on seven occasions. During this time, they gained notoriety in the tag team division, partly due to their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. Edge split up with Christian in August 2001 and embarked on a successful solo career. Edge has won the second most championships in WWE history (after R-Truth), with a total of 31, as he has held the World Heavyweight Championship a record seven times, the WWE Championship four times, the Intercontinental Championship five times, the United States Championship once, the World Tag Team Championship a record twelve times, and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice. He is WWE's 14th Triple Crown Champion and 7th Grand Slam Champion. Edge won the King of the Ring tournament in 2001, was the first Money in the Bank ladder match winner in 2005, and won the 2010 Royal Rumble match, making him the first wrestler in history to achieve all three. Edge retired in 2011 due to several neck injuries, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the following year. However, he returned to competition in the 2020 Royal Rumble match, and subsequently won the 2021 Royal Rumble the following year, becoming the eighth man in history to win the Royal Rumble match twice, the third to win it as the first entrant, as well as the first to win it after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE, including WrestleMania XXIV and WrestleMania 37, and is one of the company's most prolific pay-per-view performers. Aside from professional wrestling, Copeland appeared in the fantasy film Highlander: Endgame and WWE Studios' Bending the Rules. He has made guest appearances on television shows such as Weakest Link, Mind of Mencia, Deal or No Deal, MADtv and The Flash. He appeared on the Syfy series Haven in 2015 as recurring character Dwight Hendrickson, and as recurring character Ketill Flatnose in the fifth and sixth seasons of Vikings (2017–2020).
William Jason Reso is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Christian Cage, where he is an associate of Jurassic Express. He is best known for his tenure in WWE under the ring name Christian where he performed regularly from 1998 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2014. He also worked for Impact Wrestling, then known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), from 2005 to 2008 and during a brief return in 2021.
Reso made his debut in 1995. He wrestled in Canadian independent promotions early in his career, where he competed in singles and tag team competition with his friend Edge. In 1998, he signed a developmental contract with WWE and made his debut the following year, immediately capturing his first championship in the company, the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, in his debut match. Edge and Christian formed a tag team and gained notoriety for their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. They won the promotion's World Tag Team Championship on seven occasions. The team parted ways in 2001, after which, Christian held various singles titles, including the European Championship, the Hardcore Championship, and the Intercontinental Championship.
In 2005, Reso departed WWE and signed with TNA under his Christian Cage ring name, after which, he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship twice. He left TNA in late 2008 and re-signed with WWE in 2009, where he won the ECW Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship twice each until retiring in 2014 due to concussion issues. He was the twenty-third Triple Crown Champion and eleventh Grand Slam Champion in WWE history. He also headlined multiple pay-per-view events between WWE and TNA, and was one of WWE's most prolific pay-per-view performers. After making an unofficial in-ring comeback in June 2020 and appearing in the 2021 Royal Rumble match, Reso left WWE shortly after and signed with AEW, again reverting to his Christian Cage moniker, and officially resumed his in-ring wrestling career. Following this, he won the Impact World Championship at AEW Rampage, making his return to Impact Wrestling for the first time since Slammiversary 10 in 2012.
Shane Brandon McMahon is an American businessman, serving as the chairman of YOU On Demand. He is a member of the McMahon family. The former Executive Vice President of Global Media (as well as an occasional professional wrestler and referee) for the McMahon family-owned WWE, he is the son of WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and Linda McMahon. He is also the older brother of Stephanie McMahon-Levesque and brother-in-law of Paul "Triple H" Levesque. He worked for WWE for over 20 years before resigning in January 2010. In WWE, he is a one-time WWE European Champion and a one-time WWE Hardcore Champion. On July 12, 2013, Shane voluntarily stepped down as CEO of YOU On Demand & appointed Weicheng Liu as his successor, Shane will continue to serve as YOD’s principal executive officer and Chairman of the Board. In 2016, he returned to WWE.
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler, and is often referred to as the archetypal wrestling magnate. McMahon currently serves as the Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the professional wrestling promotion WWE and is the majority shareholder of the company, holding approximately 88% of the total voting power and 59% of the outstanding shares within WWE. Upon acquiring World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), McMahon's WWE became the sole remaining major American professional wrestling promotion until the national expansion of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Ring of Honor.
As an on-camera character, he can appear on all WWE brands (though the majority of the time, he appears on Raw). McMahon plays a character known by the ring name Mr. McMahon, based on himself. In the world of WWE, he is a two-time world champion, having won the WWF Championship and ECW World Championship. He was also the winner of the 1999 Royal Rumble. Vince is the husband of Linda McMahon, with whom he ran WWE from its establishment in 1980 until she resigned as CEO in September 2009.
Kurt Steven Angle is an American retired professional wrestler, Olympic gold medalist in American freestyle wrestling, and former collegiate wrestler. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
While at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Angle won numerous accolades, including being a two-time NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion in the heavyweight division. After graduating from college, Angle won the gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1995 World Wrestling Championships. He then won the freestyle wrestling gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics with a broken neck. He is one of four people to complete an amateur wrestling Grand Slam (Junior Nationals, NCAA, World Championships, and Olympics). In 2006, he was named by USA Wrestling as the greatest shoot wrestler ever and one of the top 15 college wrestlers of all time. He was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 for his amateur accomplishments.
Angle made his first appearance at a pro-wrestling event in 1996, and signed with WWE in 1999. Noted for his rapid comprehension of the business, he had his debut match that August within the company's developmental system after mere days of training, and participated in his first televised WWE storyline in March 1999. After months of dark matches, Angle made his televised in-ring debut in November and received his first major push in the company in February 2000, when he held the European and Intercontinental Championships simultaneously. Four months later, he won the 2000 King of the Ring tournament and soon thereafter began pursuing the WWE Championship, which he won in October. This capped off a WWE rookie year which is considered by many to be the greatest in history. Among other accomplishments in the WWE, Angle has held the WWE Championship four times, the WCW Championship once, and the World Heavyweight Championship once. He is the tenth Triple Crown Champion and the fifth Grand Slam Champion in WWE history. On March 31, 2017, Angle was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
After leaving WWE in 2006, Angle joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) where he became the inaugural and record six-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion, and the second Triple Crown winner in TNA history. Angle is also a two-time King of the Mountain. As part of TNA, he made appearances for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), holding the IWGP Heavyweight Championship once. In 2013, Angle was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame: he is the second wrestler, after Sting, to be inducted into both the WWE and TNA Halls of Fame.
Christopher Michael Benoit was a Canadian-American professional wrestler. During his professional wrestling career, Benoit worked for such major promotions as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE).
Among other accolades, Benoit is a two-time world champion: a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and a one-time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE. Benoit is the second of four men in history to achieve both the WWE and WCW Triple Crown Championships.
Chris Benoit murdered his wife and son on June 22, 2007 and was subsequently hanged on June 24, 2007. Since Chris Benoit's suicide, numerous explanations for his actions have been proposed, including brain damage, foul play, steroid abuse, carbon monoxide, burglary and even a possible failing marriage. Benoit last performed for WWE on their ECW brand. In 1995, while Benoit was contracted to the original ECW, he was intended to be booked to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship but this was thwarted by work visa problems; twelve years later, Benoit was booked by WWE to win the title at the pay-per-view event WWE Vengeance: Night of Champions, which again did not happen due to the family's death that night.
Scott Anthony Levy, better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, producer, writer/author, and actor. During his career he has held multiple championships across the world. He is a former two-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion and former one-time NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which he held whilst in TNA Wrestling. He also held the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship once, WCW United States Championship once, and is the record holder for most reigns as WWE Hardcore Champion with 27 reigns, which is also the record for most reigns of any title.[3] He has also held several world tag team championship, having won the ECW World Tag Team Championship four times and the WCW World Tag Team Championship once. He is the 2005 King of the Mountain winner at Slammiversary in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, being only the second person ever to win the annual event. Between WCW, TNA, WWE and ECW, Levy has held 37 total championships, in addition to numerous independent titles. Levy is the innovator of numerous types of "gimmick" wrestling matches, such as Clockwork Orange House of Fun match, Raven's Rules match and Hangman's Horror match. He, along with Devon Storm and Jerry Lynn are the only wrestlers to have wrestled for WWE, WCW, ECW, TNA, and Ring of Honor (ROH) in their careers.
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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Paul Donald Wight II is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as an in-ring performer, and as a commentator for its web television show, AEW Dark: Elevation, under his real name of Paul Wight. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1995 to 1999 as The Giant and with WWE from 1999 to 2021 under the ring name Big Show.
Wight began his career in 1994. In 1995 he signed with WCW, where, due to his very large frame, he was known by the ring name The Giant (and was initially introduced as "the son of André the Giant"). In early 1999, he left WCW to join WWE. Between WWE and WCW, he is a seven-time world champion, having held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice, the WWE Championship twice, WWE's World Heavyweight Championship twice and the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once, making him the only wrestler who has won all four titles. He is also an 11-time world tag team champion, holding the World, WWE and WCW World Tag Team Championships multiple times with various partners. Having also won the Intercontinental, United States and Hardcore championships, he is the 24th Triple Crown and 12th Grand Slam winner in WWE history. He also won the 60-man battle royal at World War 3 and the 30-man André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WCW and WWF/WWE since 1995, including the 2000 edition of WWE's premier annual event, WrestleMania.
Outside of professional wrestling, Wight has appeared in feature films and television series such as Jingle All the Way, The Waterboy, Star Trek: Enterprise, and two USA Network's comedy-dramas Royal Pains, Psych and the action-drama Burn Notice. He had lead roles in the WWE Studios comedy film Knucklehead and the Netflix sitcom The Big Show Show.
Lisa Mary Moretti is a retired American professional wrestler. She is best known for her appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment (previously the World Wrestling Federation) between 1999 and 2005 under the ring name Ivory. Moretti, however, began her career in the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling professional wrestling promotion, where she wrestled as Tina Ferrari from the mid-to-late 1980s. She then debuted in the World Wrestling Federation in 1999 as the manager for the team of Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown. She won the WWE Women's Championship twice before becoming a part of the Right to Censor, an alliance of wrestlers with conservative views, and winning the title for a third time. In her later years with the company, she only wrestled sporadically. She did, however, co-host The WWE Experience and act as a trainer on WWE Tough Enough. After being released in 2005, she wrestled a few matches on Women Superstars Uncensored, winning two other titles, and Moretti was also inducted into the WSU Hall of Fame. She also began working in the landscaping industry and volunteering with her local animal shelter. In addition, she opened an animal and grooming facility named Downtown Dog in her hometown in 2007. Moretti was born In Los Angeles, California and raised in Inglewood, CaliforniaShe has three siblings: two brothers and one sister.She studied public relations at the University of Southern California (USC),and she was a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League in the mid-1980s.Prior to beginning her career in wrestling, Moretti worked as a make-up artist for the cosmetic brand Revlon.
After leaving WWE, Moretti began working in the landscaping industry. Moretti also worked with her niece to help the pet population affected by Hurricane Katrina. In addition, Moretti volunteered for an organization called Best Friends Animal Society, which is a no-kill animal shelter (a shelter that does not euthanize to control animal populations) in Utah.She also worked with her local animal shelter on San Juan Island in northwestern Washington,where she has resided since 2000. While working at the shelter, she met her eventual business partner Jessica Ray, with whom she opened Downtown Dog in 2007. The facility is an animal daycare, as well as a training, grooming, and cat boarding company located in Friday Harbor, Washington. In June 2007, they expanded the business to include veterinary care and later the Bow Wow Bus, which takes the dogs on outings.Moretti has taken classes to learn how to groom animals and now grooms them as part of the business
Joan Marie Laurer was a former American professional wrestler, actress, bodybuilder and pornographic film actress who was under contract to Vivid Entertainment. Chyna first rose to prominence upon debuting in the professional wrestling promotion WWE in 1997, where she performed under the ring name Chyna and was billed as the "Ninth Wonder of the World" (André the Giant was already billed as the eighth). A member of the stable D-Generation X, she held the WWE Intercontinental Championship (the first female wrestler to do so) and WWE Women's Championship, and was the first female wrestler to participate in the Royal Rumble and King of the Ring events. Since leaving the WWE in 2001, Chyna had wrestled sporadically, most notably with New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2002 and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2011. Laurer had a strained relationship with her family. She last saw her mother at the age of sixteen, and she claimed that her father never got over her decision not to join the FBI. She also alleged that her father took out several student loans in her name and without her knowledge, leaving her with $40,000 in debt. On an episode of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2008, Laurer claimed to have a bad relationship with all of her family members, including her siblings. In September 2010, Laurer was hospitalized after overdosing on sleeping medication. As of February 2015, Laurer had reestablished a good relationship with her mother; her father died in May 2014.
Laurer taught English in Japan.
On February 9, 2015, during a WWE Network podcast with Steve Austin, Triple H mentioned that Chyna deserved to be in the WWE Hall of Fame but that problems with children Googling her prohibited it. After being in contact with Vince Russo she claimed in an interview that Triple H had hit her, which he later called a false statement.
Death
On April 20, 2016, Laurer was found dead at her home in Redondo Beach, California. She had been taking medication for anxiety and sleep deprivation. An official statement was posted to her Twitter account, saying "It is with deep sadness to inform you today that we lost a true icon, a real life superhero ... She will live forever in the memories of her millions of fans and all of us that loved her."
Eduardo Gory "Eddy" Guerrero Llanes was an American professional wrestler born into the Guerrero wrestling family. He wrestled in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions. In the United States, Guerrero wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and in WWE. Guerrero's gimmick was that of "Latino Heat", a crafty, resourceful wrestler who would do anything to win a match. His catchphrase became "I Lie! I Cheat! I Steal!," which was used in one of his entrance themes. Guerrero partly used this phrase in his autobiography Cheating Death, Stealing Life. Despite being a villain for most of his career, he got over in and outside the ring being the youngest, yet most popular and successful of the Guerrero brothers. Guerrero was widely regarded as one of the most respected and gifted technical wrestlers in history. Throughout his career, Guerrero encountered various substance abuse problems outside of wrestling, including alcoholism and an addiction to painkillers. His real-life problems were sometimes integrated into his storylineswhich he agreed to. Guerrero won 23 titles during his career, including the WWE Championship.
Andrew James Robert Patrick Martin was a Canadian professional wrestler. Under the ring name Test, Martin wrestled for WWE from 1998–2004, and 2006–2007. He last worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name "The Punisher" Andrew Martin. Martin won six championships in WWE. He found his greatest success as a singles competitor, winning the Intercontinental and European Championships once each, and the Hardcore Championship twice. Martin was also successful in the tag team division, twice becoming a world tag team champion with Booker T by winning the WWE and WCW World Tag Team Championships once each. Following these defeats, Test would seemingly disappear from WWE television. On February 18, WWE commentator Jim Ross, confirmed that Test had been suspended for 30 days for violating the WWE "Wellness Program" on his blog. A week after Ross made the announcement, it was reported that Test was officially released from his WWE contract. Martin released a statement through his MySpace saying that the release was mutual and he had requested it.
After his departure, Martin debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a face under his real name on the August 2, 2007 episode of TNA Impact!. He allied himself with Abyss and Sting and helped them defeat A.J. Styles and Christian Cage in a tag team ladder match. At Hard Justice, Martin wrestled his first and only match for TNA, as he teamed with Sting and Abyss to defeat Christian's Coalition in a Doomsday Chamber of Blood match, after Styles was slammed into a pile of broken glass and pinned by Abyss.
On December 19, 2007, Martin announced his retirement from professional wrestling, and that he would do one final tour of Britain, Ireland and France in February and March 2008 before retiring permanently. Martin finished his retirement tour in France, losing to Rene Dupree in a series of matches. However, Martin did wrestle one final match nearly a year later in February 2009, defeating Mitsuya Nagai, only a month prior to his death.
On September 14, 2007 and April 5, 2008, Martin was arrested for driving under the influence in Hillsborough County and Pasco County.He was booked into jail both times, but was released the following day after posting bail.
Martin was found dead in his Tampa, Florida condominium on March 13, 2009, four days prior to his 34th birthday.Police were called after a neighbor reportedly saw Martin had been motionless for some time, seeing him through a window outside Martin's condo. Police retrieved his body after scaling the apartment balcony and discovering that he was indeed dead. He is believed to have died the previous day.His death was ruled an accidental overdose of oxycodone. It was later determined by forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu that Martin had severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy, caused by repeated concussions and subconcussive head injuries He was cremated and his remains were flown to his family at his hometown of Whitby, Ontario, Canada.
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 WWE 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 reprised his role as a color commentator for TNA's broadcasts, replacing Don West.
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.
John Charles Layfield is an American retired professional wrestler and current wrestling commentator/host for WWE, where he performs under the ring name John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL). Outside of his WWE work, Layfield is a financial analyst for Fox News. Within WWE, he was previously known by the ring name Bradshaw, and prior to that, the variations Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw and Blackjack Bradshaw (as half of The New Blackjacks with Blackjack Windham). As JBL, Layfield was WWE Champion for 280 days. Layfield's main gimmick as JBL—a wealthy, gladhanding, big-mouthed, fiery-tempered businessman—was based on Layfield's real-life accomplishments as a stock market investor. Layfield is a guest panelist on Fox News Channel's The Cost of Freedom, has appeared on CNBC, and has written a best-selling book on financial planning called Have More Money Now. Layfield also hosts a weekend talk radio program, syndicated nationally by Talk Radio Network, in which he discusses his conservative political views. Layfield is also employed by Northeast Securities as its Senior Vice President. In WWE, Layfield won 24 total championships including one reign as WWE Champion, one reign as United States Champion, one reign as European Champion, seventeen reigns as Hardcore Champion, one reign as Intercontinental Champion, and three reigns as World Tag Team Champion with Faarooq as part of the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA). He is also recognized as the twentieth Triple Crown Champion, and the Sports Illustrated has said that Layfield "has been accused for years of being a locker room bully", while Deadspin wrote that "backstage tales of Layfield's hazing and bullying have long been legend among hardcore wrestling fans."[136] Dayton Daily News described that "YouTube has dozens of interviews where former [WWE] performers discuss harassment, bullying and taking real blows from Layfield while wrestling him in supposedly choreographed matches." Le Journal de Montréal listed Mark Henry, Matt Hardy, René Duprée, Daivari, and Ivory, among others, as wrestlers who in interviews described Layfield as a bully.In 2010, The Miz referenced Layfield in an onscreen promo about hazing he faced in the locker room early in his career. Layfield admitted to hazing Miz and said that he did not regret doing so.
In April 2017, WWE commentator Mauro Ranallo took an absence from WWE, which Dave Meltzer reported had been triggered by hostilities with Layfield. The allegations coincided with the release of former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts' autobiography, in which he alleged that Layfield encouraged Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury to steal his passport. Angered WWE fans subsequently called on WWE to fire Layfield. On April 22, Newsweek reported that Ranallo and WWE "mutually agreed to part ways", and Ranallo released a statement in which he said his departure had "nothing to do with JBL" after liking tweets that implied JBL was the main reason. Layfield released a statement of his own, stating: "Admittedly, I took part in locker room pranks that existed within the industry years ago. WWE addressed my behavior and I responded accordingly, yet my past is being brought up because of recent unfounded rumors. I apologize if anything I said playing ‘the bad guy’ on a TV show was misconstrued.
Charles Wright is an American businessman and retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation throughout the 1990s and early 2000s under the ring names Papa Shango, Kama, Kama Mustafa, The Godfather, and The Goodfather (when he joined Right to Censor). After leaving the wrestling business he moved to Las Vegas, where he currently manages the strip club Cheetah's.
Sean Allen Morley is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by his ring name Val Venis, during his time with WWE. He has also worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. During his career in WWE, Morley held the Intercontinental Championship twice, the European Championship once, and the World Tag Team Championship once with Lance Storm. He is a one-time World Champion having won the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship. Morley toured in Japan with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), losing to Hiroshi Tanahashi on March 22, 2009, and with Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania: Let the Battle Begin tour of the world which started in Melbourne, Australia. Morley returned to Canada wrestling for Championship Wrestling International, Venis defeated former World Tag Team Champion Sylvain Grenier in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada.The following day Venis defeated Chris Masters at CWI Fall Brawl 2 in Caledonia, Ontario, Canada. Morley made his debut for TNA on the January 4, 2010 episode of Impact! in a backstage segment with the Beautiful People.On the January 14 episode of Impact! Morley had another segment, complete with revamped theme music, where he explained that he was no longer an adult film star, but rather an adult film producer. This led to Daniels coming to the ring and attacking him, setting up a match at the Genesis pay-per-view. At the pay-per-view Morley defeated Daniels in his first match for the company with his patented Money Shot.On the January 28 episode of Impact! Morley suffered his first loss in TNA, losing to Desmond Wolfe in an 8 Card Stud Tournament qualifying match.On the March 4, 2010 episode of Impact!, Morley pinned Jeff Jarrett in an impromptu Falls Count Anywhere match by order of Eric Bischoff, turning heel for the first time in TNA.However, the next day Morley announced on his Facebook page that largely due to the move of Impact! to Monday nights, his original plan to wrestle for both TNA and CMLL had to change and therefore he was done with TNA. Morley speaks social Spanish, which he learned during the time he spent in Mexican lucha libre promotions. His sister, Alannah Morley, married Adam "Edge" Copeland on November 8, 2001 and divorced him on March 10, 2004. Morley is an advocate for the legalisation of cannabis, and now works as a budtender at "Health for Life" marijuana dispensary in Mesa, Arizona
Christopher Keith Irvine, better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the stable known as Jericho Appreciation Society. Noted for his over-the-top rock star persona, he has been named by journalists and industry colleagues as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.
During the 1990s, Jericho performed for American organizations Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), as well as for promotions in countries such as Canada, Japan, and Mexico. At the end of 1999, he made his debut in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In 2001, he became the first Undisputed WWF Champion, and thus the final holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (then referred to as the World Championship), having won and unified the WWF and World titles by defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock on the same night. Jericho headlined multiple pay-per-view (PPV) events during his time with the WWF/WWE, including WrestleMania X8 and the inaugural TLC and the Elimination Chamber matches and the shows itself. He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2010.
Within the WWF/WWE, Jericho is a six-time world champion, having won the Undisputed WWF Championship once, the WCW/World Championship twice and the World Heavyweight Championship three times. He has also held the WWE Intercontinental Championship a record nine times and was the ninth Triple Crown Champion, as well as the fourth Grand Slam Champion in history. In addition, he was the 2008 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner and (along with Big Show as Jeri-Show) won the 2009 Tag Team of the Year Slammy Award—making him the only winner of both Superstar and Tag Team of the Year.
After his departure from WWE in 2018, Jericho signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he became a one-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, and becoming the first man to have held both the WWE and IWGP Intercontinental Championships. Jericho joined AEW in January 2019 and became the inaugural holder of the AEW World Championship in August of that year. All totalled, between ECW, WCW, WWE, NJPW and AEW, Jericho has held 36 championships (including seven World Championships, and 10 Intercontinental Championships).
In 1999, Jericho became lead vocalist of heavy metal band Fozzy, who released their eponymous debut album the following year. The group's early work is composed largely of cover versions, although they have focused primarily on original material from their third album, All That Remains (2005), onward. Jericho has also appeared on numerous television shows over the years, including the 2011 season of Dancing With the Stars. He hosted the ABC game show Downfall, the 2011 edition of the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, and the UK's Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards in 2012 and 2017.
Darren Kenneth Matthews is an English professional wrestler, author and color commentator currently signed to WWE under the ring name William Regal. He is also known for his time in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Steven Regal. Having started his career wrestling on a rare surviving carnival booth in England, Matthews moved on to wrestle for national-level promotions on the British wrestling circuit, including on UK television. He then progressed to touring around the world, in countries such as Germany and South Africa, before being called up to World Championship Wrestling in 1993. In 2000, after leaving WCW, Matthews joined the World Wrestling Federation (later World Wrestling Entertainment and now just WWE), where he became commissioner. More recently he has been General Manager of Raw, the 2008 King of the Ring and was briefly the official match coordinator for NXT Redemption in 2011. He is currently a color commentator on NXT. He's also known for being the first wrestler to beat CM Punk by submission. Matthews has achieved considerable championship success in professional wrestling, although he has never been a world champion. Throughout his career, he has won more than 60 titles worldwide, including four in WCW and 15 in WWE. He has overcome multiple drug problems as well as a major heart defect during his career, and he has written an autobiography.
Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri (Persian: حسین خسرو علی وزیری) better known by his ring name The Iron Sheik, is an Iranian retired professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and actor. He is the only Iranian champion in WWE history, having won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in 1983. His villainous character peaked during the 1980s WWF wrestling boom and his rivalry with Hulk Hogan turned Hogan into one of the greatest television heroes of the decade. He later formed a tag team with Nikolai Volkoff, which won the WWF Tag Team Championship at the inaugural WrestleMania event. In 2005, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. A heel throughout the 1980s, Sheik later gained popularity on Kidd Chris, The Howard Stern Show, and on the internet due to his shoot interviews, vulgar language, and his intense dislike for some of his fellow professional wrestlers, particularly Hulk Hogan.
Robert Rudolph Remus, best known by his ring name Sgt. Slaughter, is a retired American professional wrestler who is currently signed to WWE in the ambassador program.
From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, Slaughter had success in the National Wrestling Alliance, American Wrestling Association, and the World Wrestling Federation. He won the WWF Championship and headlined WrestleMania VII in 1991. Slaughter also captured the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship twice. He is a WWE Hall of Famer, inducted as part of the class of 2004. As Sgt. Slaughter, Remus became known for his dark sunglasses, his campaign hat, and his Vietnam War-era military fatigues. In the 1980s, an alternate version of the Sgt. Slaughter character was incorporated into the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toy line as well as its animated series and comic books.
The gimmick of Sgt. Slaughter is that of a former U.S. Marine who fought in the Vietnam War. Remus himself never served in the military. This has caused controversy because, at times, Remus has talked about military service while seeming to be speaking as himself, and not in character.
Bruce Prichard is a professional wrestling personality, best known as a manager and producer for WWE, where he portrayed Brother Love, the original manager of The Undertaker. After leaving WWE Prichard was the Senior Vice President of Programming and Talent Relations for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling until July 2013.
Steven Kenneth Lombardi is an Italian American professional wrestler and road agent. He is also known by his ring name The Brooklyn Brawler. He works for WWE as a road agent.
James Harris, was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Kamala. Nicknamed "The Ugandan Giant", Kamala portrayed a fearsome and simpleminded Ugandan who wrestled barefoot in war paint and a loincloth, and approached the ring wearing an African mask and carrying a spear and shield. He is best known for his appearances with WWE in the mid-1980s and early 1990s.
Brian Wickens is a semi-retired New Zealand professional wrestler best known as Luke Williams, one half of the tag team known as "The Sheepherders" on the independent scene and in the National Wrestling Alliance and as The Bushwhackers in the WWF. After leaving Stampede Wrestling, the Kiwis began doing double duty in NWA Pacific Northwest as well as the Canadian-based International All-Star Wrestling around 1979-1980 as "The Kiwi Sheepherders". In 1979, the team won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship on three occasions between 21 July and 5 August 1980, before they left the territory. On 22 September, the Sheepherders lost the gold to Dutch Savage and Stan Stasiak, only to regain them a week later. On 11 February 1980, the Sheepherders became double champions when they downed Dutch Savage & Stan Stasiak, this time for the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship. Top faces Rick Martel & "Rowdy" Roddy Piper teamed up in May, to take the NWA Canadian tag title from The Sheepherders and, in effect, run the duo out of the Northwest region by August, gaining the NWA Pacific Northwest tag titles when the Sheepherders left the promotion.
The next stop for The Sheepherders was a brief stay in the Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling territory run by Jim Crockett. In MACW, the two won the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship by beating Matt Borne & Buzz Sawyer for the gold. The Sheepherders held onto the gold for close to three months before dropping it to Dewey Robertson and Rocky Johnson on 12 December. After losing the titles, Luke and Butch headed for warmer weather as they traveled to Puerto Rico and began working for the World Wrestling Council as Los Pastores. While in Puerto Rico, the team won the WWC North American Tag Team Championship twice while touring the island
Michael David Droese is an American retired professional wrestler and special education teacher. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation between 1994 and 1996 under the ring name Duke "The Dumpster" Droese. Droese took part in the 1995 Royal Rumble and the 1995 King of the Ring, but did not win at either event. Later in 1995, Droese began feuding with Hunter Hearst Helmsley (later known as Triple H). At the 1996 Royal Rumble, Droese handed Helmsley his first WWF loss by disqualification in a match with the stipulation that the winner would enter the Royal Rumble match at number 30, while the loser would be obliged to enter at number one. Despite entering at number 30, Droese failed to win the Royal Rumble, and was eliminated by Diesel and Kama. The feud between Droese and Helmsley intensified on the January 27, 1996 edition of Superstars, when Helmsley attacked Droese after his match and cut off his hair. The feud culminated in a match that Helmsley won at In Your House 6 on February 18. Droese left the WWF in the summer of 1996, when he and Vince McMahon mutually agreed on a contract release due to the toll that extensive touring was taking in Droese. His final televised match was aired on the July 13, 1996 edition of Superstars, a loss to T.L. Hopper.
In 1997, Droese appeared with the European Catch Wrestling Association under the ring name Marshall Duke. On August 16 in Vienna, Austria, Droese defeated Ulf Herman to win the vacant CWA World Heavyweight Championship. The title was later vacated.
In the late 1990s, Droese began wrestling for Florida Championship Wrestling. In 2000, he won the FCW Heavyweight Championship. Droese went on to form a stable with Drake Dexton, Hack Meyers, and Tony Carlone. Droese and Dexton teamed together as "The Beach Bullies" and competed in the FCW tag team division.
Droese returned to the WWF for a single night on April 1, 2001 at WrestleMania X-Seven, reprising the Duke Droese gimmick in the "gimmick battle royal", which was won by The Iron Sheik.
Fred Ottman is a retired American professional wrestler best known as Tugboat or Typhoon, and for teaming with John "Earthquake" Tenta as The Natural Disasters in the World Wrestling Federation. Ottman is also well known for his infamous Shockmaster gimmick in World Championship Wrestling. In WWF, he is a one-time Tag Team Champion. Personal life
Ottman retired from wrestling after WCW folded in 2001. Ottman was one of the participants of the 20 Man Gimmick Battle Royal match at WrestleMania X-Seven as Tugboat. He now lives in Lakeland, Florida and works as a safety manager for Gaffin Industrial Services, a building cleaning service. He also coaches the little league team of his two sons and daughter, Berkley, Beau, and Bailey.
John Anthony Tenta, Jr. was a Canadian sumōtori and professional wrestler best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation as Earthquake. After a promising start to his sumo career, using the nameKototenzan, Tenta switched to professional wrestling and became a high-profile star for the WWF, feuding with Hulk Hogan and winning the WWF Tag Team Championship with partner, and personal friend, Typhoon. His professional wrestling career also encompassed runs in World Championship Wrestling, where he was known as Avalanche and The Shark, All Japan Pro Wrestling and a return to WWF as Golga. Tenta died in 2006 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Tenta retired from wrestling in 2004 after it was revealed that he had developed bladder cancer and was told he was given a 20% chance to live, assuming he continued with his chemotherapy treatments. During his November 18, 2005 interview on WrestleCrap Radio, Tenta announced that a recent radiation dosage did not go as planned, and had no effect on the tumor. He also announced that multiple tumors had spread to his lungs.
The first public notice of Tenta's death was posted on WWE.com on June 7, 2006. On the June 9, 2006, edition of SmackDown, and the June 12, 2006, edition of Raw, WWE showed a bumper that read "RIP 'Earthquake' John Tenta" before each show began.
Other media
John Tenta's professional wrestling career garnered him appearances in several video games. In 1991, Tenta as Earthquake was portrayed as a feature character in Technos' popular arcade video game WWF WrestleFest. He was also included in the 1992 home video game WWF Super WrestleMania by LJN for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (he wasn't in the Sega Genesis version). In 2004, the Japanese video game developer Spike released King of Colosseum II, a puroresu-wrestling game for PlayStation 2 that featured Tenta as a playable character; it was a Japan-only release. On April 14, 2009, Tenta was announced as downloadable content for WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 which was released April 16, 2009. On February 23, 2016, he along with Typhoon appeared as downloadable content for WWE 2K16. He also appeared in WWE 2K17 as well as WWE 2K18 along with Typhoon.
Josip Hrvoje Peruzović better known by his ring name of Nikolai Volkoff, was a Croatian-American professional wrestler who was best known for his performances in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Although the Volkoff character was often portrayed as a villainous Russian, Peruzović originated from Yugoslavia. In the 1970s, he was Bepo of the Mongols tag team, one of the masked Executioners and feuded with Bruno Sammartino over the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship as Volkoff. In the 1980s, he was known for teaming with The Iron Sheik, with whom he won the WWF Tag Team Championship at the inaugural WrestleMania event, and later with Boris Zhukov as The Bolsheviks. In 1990, he turned face and embraced America, briefly feuding with Zhukov and newly-turned Iraqi sympathizer Sgt. Slaughter. In 1994, after a hiatus, he returned as a destitute and desperate character, exploited by Ted DiBiase as the first member of his Million Dollar Corporation.
Michael Seitz is an American retired professional wrestler and former musician. Seitz is best known for leading The Fabulous Freebirds under the ring name Michael "P.S." ("Purely Sexy")Hayes and for his role as an announcer under the name Dok Hendrix in WWE. He currently works with WWE as one of the senior producers. He then became a backstage road agent (producer) and color commentator for WWE. Initially appearing for one night on the September 23, 1999 broadcast of SmackDown!, Hayes became a color commentator on Sunday Night Heat alongside Michael Cole and Kevin Kelly from 2000 to 2001, although he was mostly used on the international broadcasts of that show. At WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1, 2001, he competed in the gimmick Battle Royal, but was eliminated by The One Man Gang.
In October 2006, Hayes became the head creative writer for the SmackDown brand after Alex Greenfield's departure from the company. He can be seen on the second season of WWE Classics on Demand series Legends of Wrestling.
Hayes made occasional appearances on WWE programs: on the December 7, 2007 episode of SmackDown, Hayes was a guest of MVP's VIP Lounge. Hayes promoted the new Triumph and Tragedy of WCCW DVD and reinforced its anti-drug message. However, Hayes ended up being attacked by MVP before being saved by Rey Mysterio, Jr.
In October 2013, Hayes took a leave of absence from WWE for personal reasons,but he returned to work on December 2, 2013.
On August 1, 2014 Hayes appeared in a short segment on the online series JBL and Cole Show in which he stared at a "Free Birds, call to enquire" flier. In February 2015, Hayes partook in a WWE.com interview alongside Arn Anderson with Michael Cole to discuss Triple H and Sting's match at WrestleMania 31.
On April 2, 2016, Hayes was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame with the Fabulous Freebirds. Hayes accepted the award alongside Jimmy Garvin.
In 1987, on the back of the popularity of the "Badstreet USA" theme, Hayes recorded and released an album, Off The Streets. He also performed live concerts to promote the album with his backing band, the Badstreet Band. The July 1988 issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated (written circa March 1988) contained a bcolumn by writer Dave Rosenbaum in which he visited the box office for a Badstreet Band show and surveyed what sort of people would actually go to Hayes' concerts.
In 1992, Hayes performed a duet with music producer Darwin Conort called "Freebird Forever" on the WCW album, Slam Jam 1.
In 2011, Hayes paid tribute to his Freebird brother Terry Gordy, who died of a heart attack caused by a blood clot in 2001, with a song entitled "Freebird Road". His music video was an emotional and stirring trip down memory lane as a Freebird and shows shots of him at Gordy's grave.
George Gray is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The One Man Gang. For two years in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he was Akeem "The African Dream". Prior to this, he was the top heel for the WWF's short-lived national competitor, the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), and UWF Heavyweight Champion for six months in 1986 and 1987.
Barry Darsow is a former American professional wrestler who is known as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition, and as Krusher Khrushchev, Repo Man, and The Blacktop Bully. Throughout his career he worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, WWE, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and several regional promotions in the 1980s and 1990s. He is a four-time former world tag team champion, winning three WWE World tag team titles as part of Demolition and one NWA World tag team title as part of a three-man team with Ivan and Nikita Koloff (although the NWA no longer recognizes any former tag team champions prior to 1992; Darsow's championship is considered part of the WCW World tag team championship lineage), and a one-time NWA United States tag team champion.
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.
Amy Christine Dumas is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, and singer most recently signed with WWE as an analyst. She performed as a wrestler with WWE from 2000 to 2006, and has since made part-time appearances with the company. She was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 5, 2014.
Patricia Anne Stratigeas (born December 18, 1975) better known by the ring name Trish Stratus, is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and yoga instructor. She is currently signed to WWE. Often regarded as one of the greatest Women's Performers of all time, she was also one of the most popular wrestlers in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). She is considered one of the icons of the Attitude Era.
After beginning her career as a fitness model, Stratigeas began working for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which was later renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Early in her career, she was mostly involved in sexually themed storylines, such as managing the team T & A, and a kayfabe affair with Vince McMahon's Mr. McMahon character. As Stratus spent more time in the ring, her perceived wrestling skills strengthened and her popularity increased. Because of this, she was made a one-time WWE Hardcore Champion, three-time "WWE Babe of the Year" and was proclaimed "Diva of the Decade". After nearly seven years in the business, Stratus retired from professional wrestling on a full-time basis at WWE Unforgiven on September 17, 2006, after winning her record-setting seventh WWE Women's Championship.
Following her full-time performing, she would make occasional appearances and wrestle part-time in WWE. In 2011, Stratus was a trainer for WWE Tough Enough. She was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2018, she returned to WWE, participating in the 2018 Women's Royal Rumble and later competing at the all-female Evolution event in October of that year. She had her latest match against Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam 2019. The following year she became the first woman to receive the Lou Thesz Award from the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. In 2021, WWE named Stratus as the greatest female superstar of all time.
Aside from professional wrestling, Stratus has appeared on a number of magazine covers and has been involved in charity work. She has also hosted several award and television shows and formerly owned a yoga studio. Stratus will be a judge on the second season of Canada's Got Talent, which aired in 2022.
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Michael Stephen Manna is an American professional wrestler and podcaster, better known by the ring name Stevie Richards. He currently works for Lucha Libre USA and previously wrestled for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He has also made appearances for Ring Of Honor (ROH). He has held over 40 titles in his career, including the WWE Hardcore Championship 21 times, the ECW World Tag Team Championship twice and the NWA National Heavyweight Championship once. He is the current (and first) Extreme Rising World Champion.
Perry Arthur Satullo is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Perry Saturn or simply Saturn. Since debuting in 1990, Saturn has wrestled for promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW),World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Championships won by Saturn include the ECW World Tag Team Championship (with John Kronus as The Eliminators) and WCW World Tag Team Championship (with Raven as The Flock and with Chris Benoit as The Revolution).
Stephanie McMahon Levesque is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is the chief brand officer (CBO)of WWE and appears as an authority figure on the Raw, NXT and SmackDown brands. On May 19, 2022, She announced that she was taking "a leave of absence" from WWE.
She is a fourth-generation wrestling promoter as a member of the McMahon family, she has worked for WWE since she was a young girl (modeling T-shirts and other merchandise for various WWE catalogs) working her way up to receptionist, then in various front office jobs up to and including her current CBO position. She is the great-granddaughter of Roderick "Jess" McMahon, granddaughter of Vincent J. McMahon, daughter of WWE Chairman and CEO Vincent K. McMahon and retired WWE CEO and former Administrator of the Small Business Administration Linda McMahon, the younger sister of WWE part-owner/wrestler Shane McMahon, and wife of WWE executive/wrestler Paul "Triple H" Levesque.
McMahon began appearing regularly on-air for WWE (then WWF as the World Wrestling Federation) in 1999 as a part of a storyline with The Undertaker. After a brief on-screen relationship with Test, she was engaged to Triple H — whom she married both on-screen and later in real life — which resulted in The McMahon-Helmsley Faction storyline. She has held the WWF Women's Championship once. In 2001, she was the on-screen owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling during The Invasion. The following year, she was the SmackDown General Manager, but stopped appearing regularly on television after an "I Quit" match with her father Vince McMahon.
After making only sporadic appearances for several years, McMahon began appearing regularly on Raw in 2008 as the Raw brand general manager before disappearing once again. By mid-2013, McMahon returned to regular on-air appearances in the WWE, this time under the gimmick of an unctuous, judgmental, bullying owner along with on-screen chief operating officer, her husband, Triple H. From 2013 to 2016, they acted as a power couple known as The Authority, making what were often shady decrees while claiming only to be concerned for "what's best for business," all the while romanticizing each other in the process with public displays of affection. The Authority later expanded into a stable, co-led by Triple H and herself.
Linda Marie McMahon is an American political executive, former Trump administration official, and former professional wrestling executive and performer. She served as the 25th administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019.
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.
Terrance "Terry" Gerin is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name Rhino (also spelled Rhyno in WWE). He is best known for his career in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico, World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He is currently employed by Ring of Honor. Gerin is a two-time World Champion, having held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (last champ in original ECW), and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once each. He is also a three-time WWF Hardcore Champion, a two-time (and final) ECW World Television Champion and a one-time United States Champion, which he won in the WWF during the Invasion storyline. He also has held several independent championships in his career as well. On the July 26 episode of SmackDown Live, Rhyno returned to attack "free agent" Heath Slater with a Gore.[109]On the August 9 episode of SmackDown Live, the two wrestled each other with the stipulation that if Slater won, he would be signed to the SmackDown roster; however, Rhyno defeated Slater. On the August 23 episode of SmackDown, Slater was offered a spot in the tournament for the newly instated SmackDown Tag Team Championship if he found a partner. After struggling to find a partner, Rhyno approached Slater and agreed to be his partner for the tournament. Rhyno and Slater defeated The Headbangers in the first round and The Hype Bros in the semi-finals to advance to the finals at Backlash,where they defeated The Usos to become the inaugural champions, while also granting Slater a contract.On the September 13 episode of SmackDown Live, Rhyno and Slater defeated The Ascension to successfully retain the titles in their first defense following Slater's official live contract signing. At No Mercy, Rhyno and Slater retained the titles against The Usos. At Survivor Series, Rhyno and Slater were the team captains for Team SmackDown in the 10–on–10 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match, where they were defeated by Team Raw. At TLC on December 4, Rhyno and Slater's tag team championship reign came to an end at 84 days after they were defeated by The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton) Two days later on SmackDown Live, Rhyno and Slater received their rematch, but failed to regain the titles. At Elimination Chamber on February 12, 2017, the duo were the first entrants into the tag team turmoil match for the titles, eliminating Breezango and The Vaudevillains before being eliminated by The Usos. At WrestleMania 33, Rhyno competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which was won by Mojo Rawley. Gerin is close friends with Adam Copeland and Jay Reso, best known by their ring names Edge and Christian. Following the SmackDown taping on September 16, 2011, Gerin made a one-night return to WWE as a part of an "Appreciation Night" to celebrate Edge's career. He also made an appearance at Edge's induction ceremony into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2012
Matthew Jonathan Hyson is a semi-retired American professional wrestler, best known for his performances in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name "Little" Spike Dudley and in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Brother Runt. In ECW, he was a two-time Tag Team Champion. In WWE, he was a one-time Cruiserweight Champion, a one-time World Tag Team Champion with Taz, a one-time European Champion and an eight-time Hardcore Champion.
Dean Simon is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Dean Malenko. He is currently signed to WWE working as a road agent. He is best known for his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Malenko was known by the nicknames "The Man of 1,000 Holds" and "The Iceman", the former in recognition of his technical wrestling ability, and the latter for his cold and calculating demeanor. Although never a world champion, Malenko achieved significant championship success in ECW, WCW and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), holding multiple titles in each organization. Pro Wrestling Illustrated named Malenko the #1 wrestler in the world in 1997.
Sean Michael Waltman is an American professional wrestler currently signed with WWE under their WWE Legends program. He wrestled there under the ring names 1–2–3 Kid and X-Pac off and on from 1993 to 2002,World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Syxx, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Syxx-Pac and also under his real name. Waltman has won a dozen total championships between WWE, WCW, and TNA, with the majority of them being cruiserweight and tag team titles. He is the only wrestler in history to have held the TNA X Division Championship, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship and the WWE Light Heavyweight Championship; he also held the WWF/WCW Cruiserweight and Light Heavyweight titles simultaneously at one point. Waltman is a member of the group known in wrestling as The Kliq; which consists of Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. On April 2, 2011, Waltman returned to WWE television to celebrate, with Kevin Nash and Triple H, their longtime friend Shawn Michaels' induction into the 2011 WWE Hall of Fame.
Waltman attended the Hall of Fame again, with The Kliq. On July 23, he, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg returned to join Shawn Michaels and Triple H for a D-Generation X reunion on the 1000th episode of Raw. In early 2013, The Kliq/DX reunited for an episode of NXT.
In early March 2013, Waltman signed a WWE Legends contract (a long-term contract which gives WWE merchandising rights to a wrestler's name and likeness, requires occasional appearances and prevents them from working for competing major promotions, but allows for independent appearances).
On April 5, 2014 the night before WrestleMania XXX, Waltman joined Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Kevin Nash at Scott Hall's WWE Hall of Fame induction, reuniting The Kliq.
On the January 19, 2015 episode of Raw, labelled Raw Reunion, Damien Mizdow appeared with Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, Scott Hall and Triple H dressed as X-Pac, only for X-Pac to confront him (finding the impersonation funny), until The Miz interrupted them to tell them that Mizdow was only his stunt double, and that the party was over. He appeared again with Hall and Nash, being interrupted by The Ascension, who were attempting to attack them, only to be joined by The APA and The New Age Outlaws in fending off The Ascension. At WrestleMania 31, X-Pac along with the New Age Outlaws and Shawn Michaels helped Triple H win his match against Sting. They were backstage at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in August 2015. Waltman returned at Raw 25 and reunited with DX and Scott Hall. He also appeared at NXT TakeOver: WarGames (2018) in the crowd with his dog.
Peter Joseph "PJ" Polaco is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and WWE under the ring name Justin Credible. He is also known for his earlier stint with WWE under the ring name Aldo Montoya. In WWF/WWE, he was an eight-time WWF/E Hardcore Champion. In ECW, he was a one-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion and a two-time ECW World Tag Team Champion with Lance Storm as the Impact Players. Polaco returned to the independent circuit in 2007 using the name "Justin Time". He wrestled for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate promotion, along with fellow original ECW wrestlers Sabu, Danny Doring and Julio Dinero, as well as making appearances for the Insane Clown Posse owned Juggalo Championship Wrestling. On March 29, 2009 he became the Big Time Wrestling Champion, defeating "Hurricane" John Walters with Ric Flair as special guest referee, but Credible was stripped of the title in August of the same year. Justin is also the topic of an upcoming documentary The Price of Fame which also includes Ted DiBiase and Sean Waltman. He was inducted into the New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame on July 12, 2009. On August 8, 2010, Polaco returned to TNA to take part in the ECW-themed pay-per-view Hardcore Justice where he performed as P.J. Polaco due to the WWE owning the rights to the Justin Credible name; Polaco was defeated by Stevie Richards. Afterwards, he was assaulted by former rival The Sandman with a Singapore cane. On January 14, 2012, Credible returned to the former ECW Arena, when he was defeated by Sabu at an Evolve event in the venue's final professional wrestling match. On April 28, 2012, Polaco was scheduled to wrestle on Shane Douglas' Extreme Reunion show, but was removed from the card, as well as the building after being found "slumped over, passed out asleep" in a chair. While he begged management to be let back on the show, they denied his request and kicked him out a second time. On August 8, 2012, Chikara announced that Polaco, returning to his Aldo Montoya character, would be making his debut for the promotion in the following month's 2012 King of Trios tournament, where he would team with the 1-2-3 Kid and Tatanka as "Team WWF". In their first round match on September 14, Team WWF was defeated by The Extreme Trio (Jerry Lynn, Tommy Dreamer and Too Cold Scorpio). Polaco retired on November 20, 2015, after facing long-time rival Tommy Dreamer at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate event. Credible faced Matt Tremont in a winning effort at CZW show in August 2016. In March 2017, he returned to wrestling, and teamed with The Sandman & New Jack in a winning effort at ECPW show. Polaco is of Portuguese ancestry. His parents emigrated to the United States from Portugal three years before he was born. He speaks Portuguese fluently. Peter and his wife Jill Marie Polaco née Jurecki were married on June 4, 1997. They have a son Nicholas (born April 2000).
Steve Blackman is a former American professional wrestler who is best known for his career in WWE. Nicknamed 'The Lethal Weapon', Blackman won the Hardcore Championship six times in his tenure with the company. After the Head Cheese team went their separate ways, Blackman entered WWE's Hardcore Division. At the time, the title was defended 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as established by Crash Holly. Because of this, WWE often ran matches wherein the champion was attacked and defeated in locations not typically associated with wrestling matches, such as backstage or in a hotel. With Blackman as champion, however, surprise attacks no longer resulted in title changes: within the matches, Blackman was so dangerous in hand-to-hand combat that surprise attacks were not effective enough to defeat him. During his stint as Hardcore Champion, Blackman's full martial arts talent was utilized. The first time he lost the title for a significant amount of time was against Shane McMahon, largely due to interference from Test, Albert, Edge, and Christian, with Mick Foley suspending the 24/7 rule to make sure McMahon didn't try to get out of facing Blackman in a rematch. At SummerSlam, Blackman fought McMahon for the title. During that match, they both climbed the TitanTron with Blackman able to knock Shane off with a Singapore cane, then performed a diving elbow drop for the pin fall . Blackman would go on to defend the title on several occasions, but he would ultimately lose the title on a more permanent basis to Raven in late 2000. At Unforgiven, he retained the WWE Hardcore Championship against Test, Funaki, Al Snow, Crash Holly, and Perry Saturn. Later, he was ordered by Shane McMahon to come out and speak after he accused Blackman of running over Stone Cold Steve Austin at Survivor Series the previous year. Before he could speak, Austin came down to the ring and stunned both Blackman and McMahon.
Early in 2001, Blackman formed another tag team, this time with Grandmaster Sexay. Blackman again played the straight-faced man: a recurring element was that Grandmaster would always try to convince Blackman to dance with him after their matches. In the summer of 2001, Grandmaster was released from his WWE contract. Blackman was then sidelined due to an injury. He made his last TV appearance on June 25, 2001 episode of Raw with APA and other mid-card superstars planning a fight against The WCW Invasion. Blackman left WWE in October 2002.
Sporadic appearances
Blackman opened a self-defense school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania called "BlackmanMMA" in mid-2003, teaching jujitsu and wrestling. Blackman and MMA fighter (UFC Hall of Famer) and wrestler Ken Shamrock were brought in to help promote a clothing line for professional fighters, called Ground 'n' Pound gear (GnP). As of July 2006, Blackman has re-opened "Steve Blackman's Fighting Systems", which features MMA classes. Blackman has hosted four MMA events in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania starting in 2009 and the most recent being on November 20, 2010, at the Zembo Mosque. The events are part of the Pennsylvania Fighting Championships (PFC).
Brian Christopher Lawler is an American professional wrestler. He is the son of color commentator and professional wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler and brother of wrestling referee Kevin Christian. He is well known for his career in World Wrestling Entertainment, where he performed as Grand Master Sexay as part of the tag team Too Cool with Scotty 2 Hotty and Rikishi.
Matthew Jason Bloom is an American former professional wrestler and professional football player. He is currently employed by WWE, where he is the head trainer at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
Bloom is best known for his in-ring appearances with WWE as Prince Albert, Albert and A-Train from 1999 to 2004, and as Lord Tensai and Tensai from 2012 to 2014, as well as for his appearances in Japan from 2005 to 2012 with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) as Giant Bernard. Championships held by Bloom over the course of his career include the GHC Tag Team Championship, IWGP Tag Team Championship and WWE Intercontinental Championship.
