Royal Rumble (2003) was the sixteenth annual Royal Rumble PPV. It was presented by PlayStation and took place on January 19, 2003 at the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year's WrestleMania, for his choice at either the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship. Six professional wrestling matches were featured at the event. The main event was the annual 30-man Royal Rumble match, which featured wrestlers from both brands. The primary match on the Raw brand was Triple H versus Scott Steiner for the World Heavyweight Championship. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was between Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit for the WWE Championship. The featured match on the undercard was a Royal Rumble qualification match between Brock Lesnar and The Big Show.
01-19-2003
3h 0m
THIS
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Main Cast
Movie Details
Production Info
Director:
Kevin Dunn
Key Crew
Producer:
Vince McMahon
Locations and Languages
Country:
US
Filming:
US
Languages:
en
Main Cast
Kurt Angle
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.
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
is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Scott Steiner. Steiner is known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) alongside his older brother Rick as the Steiner Brothers and as a member of the New World Order. He is also known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA), World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (WWE) and Impact Wrestling.
Among other accolades, Steiner is a three-time world champion (a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, one-time WWA World Heavyweight Champion, and one-time WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion), a two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, two-time WCW World Television Champion and a one-time TNA World Tag Team Champion.
Career
Steiner first began training under The Sheik and debuting in the Indiana-based World Wrestling Association in 1986 as Scott Rexsteiner which was a variation of the spelling of his real last name. On August 14, 1986 in Dearborn, Michigan, Steiner defeated "The Great Wojo" Greg Wojciechowski for the WWA World Heavyweight Championship. He held the title until May 3, 1987, when he lost to Wojciechowski in Toledo, Ohio. Steiner then formed a tag team with Jerry Graham, Jr. and the partners defeated Chris Carter and Mohammad Saad with their manager, The Dark Angel, for the WWA Tag Team Championship on October 6, 1987.
World Wrestling Federation (1992-1994)
The Steiner Brothers left WCW in November 1992, with Scott vacating the WCW World Television Championship. They quickly signed contracts with the World Wrestling Federation, making their televised debut in an interview on the December 21, 1992 edition of WWF Prime Time Wrestling as babyfaces. They also appeared on the debut episode of Monday Night RAW on January 11, 1993. They made their WWF pay-per-view debut on January 24, 1993 at the Royal Rumble, defeating the Beverly Brothers (Blake and Beau). At WrestleMania IX on April 4, 1993, the Steiner Brothers defeated The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu).
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995)
The Steiner Brothers debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling on July 28, 1995 at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Middletown, New York, defeating Dudley Dudley and Vampire Warrior. They next appeared with ECW in The Flagstaff on August 4, 1995 in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, defeating Dudley Dudley and 2 Cold Scorpio. The Steiner Brothers made their debut in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ECW Arena on August 5 1995 at Wrestlepalooza, teaming with Eddie Guerrero in a loss to Scorpio, Dean Malenko, and Cactus Jack. On August 25 1995 in Jim Thorpe they defeated Scorpio and Malenko, and they went on to defeat Scorpio and Chris Benoit the following evening. On August 28 1995, they defeated Dudley Dudley and Dances With Dudley in the Big Apple Dinner Theater in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
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.
Brock Edward Lesnar is an American professional wrestler, former mixed martial artist, amateur wrestler, and professional football player. He is currently signed to WWE and is the reigning WWE Champion in his seventh reign. Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is the only person to hold the primary heavyweight championships in WWE, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Lesnar competed in amateur wrestling for the University of Minnesota, winning the NCAA Division I national championship in 2000. He soon signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed WWE in 2002), rising to industry prominence in 2002 by winning the WWE Championship at age 25, setting the record for the youngest performer to win the championship. In 2004, Lesnar departed WWE to join the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL), but was cut from the team during pre-season. He won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in 2005 while with NJPW, and he re-signed with WWE in 2012; his 504-day reign as Universal Champion is the seventh-longest world championship reign in the promotion's history. He also won the Royal Rumble match twice, the Money in the Bank ladder match, the King of the Ring tournament, and has headlined several pay-per-view events, including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania four times (XIX, 31, 34, and 36); in addition, he also ended The Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania Streak in 2014. Lesnar began an MMA career in 2007, and signed with the UFC in 2008. He quickly won the UFC Heavyweight Championship, but was sidelined with diverticulitis in 2009. On his return in 2010, Lesnar defeated Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin to unify the heavyweight championships, becoming the only undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion. After a set of losses and further struggles with diverticulitis, Lesnar retired from MMA in 2011. He returned in 2016 and defeated Mark Hunt; his victory was overturned to a no-contest after Lesnar tested positive for clomiphene, a banned substance on UFC's anti-doping policy. Lesnar then retired from MMA for a second time in 2017. A box office sensation, Lesnar competed in some of the bestselling pay-per-view events in promotion history, including headlining UFC 91, UFC 100, UFC 116, and UFC 121.
Dawn Marie Psaltis is an American actress, nurse and a retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling valet. She is perhaps best known for her appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and the SmackDown! brand of WWE under her ring name Dawn Marie.
Before entering the sports entertainment industry, Psaltis made her living in real estate.[4] After deciding to pursue a career in modeling or acting, Psaltis began managing wrestlers on the independent circuit after meeting a wrestling promoter. She signed a deal with ECW after what was supposed to be a three-week stint. She managed The Impact Players and Simon and Swinger until ECW's bankruptcy in 2001.
Psaltis then joined WWE, where her most notable feud involved her marrying Al Wilson, the real-life father of her rival Torrie Wilson.
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).
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.
Lance Evers known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler. He is known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Ring of Honor (ROH). Between those four promotions, Storm won 13 total championships (seven being tag team titles), including holding three championships cocurrently during his WCW stint. After retiring from full-time wrestling, he runs a pro wrestling school, the Storm Wrestling Academy, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
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.
Paul Heyman is an American entertainment executive and performer. He is currently signed to WWE, appearing on the SmackDown brand as Special Counsel for Roman Reigns. Heyman owned and was the creative force behind the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion from 1993 until its closure in 2001. Before running and owning ECW, he was a manager under the ring name Paul E. Dangerously in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and other promotions. He is the co-owner of the Looking4Larry Agency in New York City, and was personally named one of Advertising Age's Top 100 Global Marketers. In WWE, Heyman has managed or has served as manager for a record six world champions: WWE Champions, Big Show, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Critics have praised his abilities at managing and on the microphone. Heyman has also competed sporadically in matches, including the WWE Championship main event of the 2002 Rebellion pay-per-view.
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom, better known by his ring name, Shawn Michaels, is an American professional wrestling personality, television presenter and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he has served as an ambassador for the company since December 2010. Michaels wrestled for WWE, from 1988 until his first retirement in 1998, owing to a severe back injury. He appeared in non-wrestling roles from 1998 to 2000 and resumed his wrestling career in 2002 until retiring ceremoniously in 2010. In the WWE, Michaels headlined major pay per view events in four decades from the 1980s to the 2010s, closing the company's premier annual event WrestleMania on five occasions
Michaels was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2011. Following Michaels' induction, WWE said of Michaels, "Ask any Superstar on the WWE roster who the most gifted sports-entertainer of all time is and nearly everyone will have the same answer Shawn Michaels." Michaels is a four time world champion: a three-time WWF Champion and a former World Heavyweight Champion. He was also the winner of the 1995 and 1996 Royal Rumbles and was the company's first Grand Slam Champion. He has also won the PWI Match of the Year Award a record eleven times. Michaels currently resides in San Antonio, Texas with his wife, Rebecca, and their two children.
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.
Oscar Gutierrez is a Mexican American professional wrestler with WWE. In WWE, Gutierrez was trained by his uncle Rey Misterio, Sr. and wrestled early on in Mexico where he learned the Lucha Libre high flying style that has been his trademark.
Gutierrez originally worked for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) in Mexico, from 1992 to 1995. He wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 1996 and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1996 to 2001, as Rey Misterio, Jr./Rey Mysterio, Jr. but dropped the "Junior" from his name when he began working for WWE in 2002.
Mysterio is known for having a high flying style, which helped kick-start the cruiserweight wrestling revolution in the United States in the late 1990s during his time in WCW. In WCW he won the WCW World Tag Team Championship three times, and the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship once with Billy Kidman as part of the Filthy Animals. In WWE, Mysterio is a three-time world champion, having held the World Heavyweight Championship twice and the WWE Championship once, and is currently listed as the lightest world champion in WWE history. He has also held the WWE Tag Team Championship a record-tying four times, and the WWE Intercontinental Championship twice. He also held the WCW/WWE Cruiserweight Championship a record eight times (five times in WCW, three in WWE). All totaled, he has won 21 titles between WWE and WCW. Mysterio was the 21st person to win the WWE Triple Crown Championship, and was the winner of the 2006 Royal Rumble.
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.
Salvador Guerrero IV better known by his ring names Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr., is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He has previously worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), WWE, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Lucha Underground (LU), and Nación Lucha Libre (NLL). As a singles wrestler, he is a former ECW World Champion in WWE, and a six-time Cruiserweight Champion between WWE and WCW. He also achieved success in tag team wrestling, being a five-time world tag team champion – winning the WWE Tag Team Championship twice with Eddie Guerrero as Los Guerreros, the WCW World Tag Team Championship once with Corporal Cajun as the Misfits in Action, and the TNA World Tag Team Championship twice with Hernandez. Between WCW, WWE, and TNA, Guerrero has held a dozen total championships and one world championship.
Yoshihiro Tajiri is a Japanese professional wrestler, perhaps best known for his appearances with the American professional wrestling promotions Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment. He currently owns and operates Wrestling New Classic in Japan, where he also works as a wrestler, being in his first reign as the WNC Champion.
Robert Alexander Szatkowski, better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (RVD), is an American professional wrestler and actor. Szatkowski has held 20 championships between ECW, WWE, and TNA, as well as several regional titles in various promotions during his career. He is officially recognized by TNA as a three-time world champion having held the WWE Championship, ECW World Heavyweight Championship, TNA World Heavyweight Championship once each. On the independent scene, he has held the AWR World Heavyweight Championship twice, and he is currently the WSW World Heavyweight Championship. He the only man to hold the ECW and WWE Championships simultaneously, the only man to have won the ECW, WWE, and TNA World Heavyweight titles in his career, and the only man to win both WWE and ECW's version of the Triple Crown. He was also the winner of WWE's Money in the Bank ladder match in 2006 as part of WrestleMania 22.
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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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.
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.
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.
Matthew Anoa'i is a professional wrestler, best known for his time on the independent circuit under numerous ring names, and his time in WWE, where he competed as Rosey. Anoa'i, along with his late cousin Eddie Fatu, was trained at the Wild Samoan Training Facility headed by his uncle, Afa Anoa'i. Following his training, he competed in Afa's World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion. He began competing in tag team competition with Samu as the Samoan Gangsta Party. The team had a brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). Throughout the mid-1990s, Anoa'i competed in various independent promotions, winning various tag team championships. In 2001, Anoa'i signed with the WWE and was assigned to Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) in Cincinnati, Ohio. While situated at HWA, he was placed in tag team competition, alongside Fatu, in which they won the HWA Tag Team 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.
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied with Ric Flair for the most world championship reigns in professional wrestling history.
Born and raised in West Newbury, Massachusetts, Cena moved to California in 1998 to pursue a career as a bodybuilder. He transitioned to professional wrestling in 1999 when he debuted for Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW). He signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 2001, where he was initially assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). He gained fame in the WWE after adopting the persona of a trash-talking rapper. He won his first singles title, the United States Championship, in 2004. The next year, he won the WWE Championship for the first time, and his character subsequently transitioned into a clean-cut "Superman-like" hero. He then led the company as its franchise player, and public face for the next decade.
A joint-record 16-time world champion, Cena has won the WWE Championship thirteen times, a record for the title. He is also a five-time United States Champion, a four-time world tag team champion, a two-time Royal Rumble match winner, a one-time Money in the Bank match winner, and has headlined several major WWE pay-per-view events, including their flagship event, WrestleMania, five times. His professional wrestling career has been met with mixed critical and audience reception, with praise for his character work and promotional skills, but criticism for his supposed over-representation and on-screen placement relative to other wrestlers.
Cena first starred in The Marine (2006), and gained praise for his performances in Trainwreck (2015), Ferdinand (2017), Blockers, and Bumblebee (both 2018). He starred in F9 and portrayed Peacemaker in The Suicide Squad (both 2021) and in the eponymous television series. His debut studio album, You Can't See Me (2005), was certified platinum. Outside his work in entertainment, Cena is known for his involvement in numerous charitable causes, namely with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, where he has granted the most wishes, at over 650.
Solofa Fatu Jr. is a Samoan American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Rikishi (which means sumo wrestler in Japanese) with WWE, where he was a one time WWE Intercontinental Champion, two time WWE World Tag Team Champion, and one time WWE Tag Team Champion. Rikishi is a member of the famous Anoaʻi family. He is the twin brother of Sam Fatu (The Tonga Kid/Tama), and both brothers have twins. Sam is the father of twins Marley and Myracle, and Rikishi is the father of twins Jonathan and Joshua Samuel, who currently wrestle in WWE as Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso.
Rikishi is the nephew of Sika Anoaʻi and Afa Anoaʻi, known as the Wild Samoans, and his cousins in wrestling are Rodney Anoaʻi (Yokozuna), Samula Anoaʻi (Headshrinker Samu), Matt Anoaʻi (Rosey), Joe Anoaʻi (Roman Reigns), Reno Anoaʻi (Black Pearl), Afa Anoaʻi Jr. (Manu), Lloyd Anoaʻi (L.A. Smooth) and Dwayne Johnson (The Rock).
Rikishi and his wife Talisua Fuavai-Fatu have five children. Jonathan and Joshua Samuel, Jeremiah Peniata and daughter Thavana Monalisa Fatu and Joseph. He is the older brother of the late Eddie Fatu (Umaga/Jamal), who died on December 4, 2009 from heart attack.
Solofa has a scar on his abdomen from a drive by shooting in 1987. He says he died for 3 minutes in the emergency room Rikishi is a playable DLC character in the Attitude Era-themed video game WWE '13. He also appeared in WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It, WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain, WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17, WWE 2K18, and WWE 2K19. Outside of the main series, he is featured in WWF No Mercy, WWF Raw, WWE Raw 2, WWE Wrestlemania X8 and WWE Wrestlemania XIX.
Fatu appeared in the Italian comedy film Natale a Miami. He also guest starred on the Nickelodeon show Victorious, as a sumo wrestler in the episode "Brain Squeezers."
Fatu appeared in the Netflix original film Sandy Wexler.
Fatu under his "Rikishi" ring name is the Samoan judge in the "Wall of the World" on the CBS show The World's Best.
Edward Fatu was a Samoan-American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Umaga. He was best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment. He was a member of the Anoa'i wrestling family and frequently worked as a part of a tag team – variously named The Island Boyz, the Samoan Gangstas, and 3-Minute Warning – with his cousin Matt Anoa'i. During Fatu's first stint with WWE, he was known as Jamal and Matt was billed as Rosey. In late 2005, Fatu returned to WWE. Repackaged under the ring name Umaga, Fatu went undefeated for many months on WWE's Raw brand throughout much of 2006, before suffering his first defeat under the Umaga name in January 2007. The following month, he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship for the first time, and won it for the second time in July 2007.
Booker Tio Huffman, Jr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and commentator currently signed with WWE. He is better known by his ring names Booker T and King Booker. Booker is best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), WWE, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), holding 35 championships between those organizations. Regarded as one of the greatest stars in WCW's history, he is also the most decorated wrestler in that company's history, having held 21 titles including a record six WCW World Television Championships, and a record ten WCW World Tag Team Championships as one half of Harlem Heat with his brother, Lash "Stevie Ray" Huffman and an eleventh reign in the WWF with Test. Booker headlined many pay-per-view events in WCW, the WWF/E and TNA from the early 1990s to the late 2000s and is a six-time world champion, having won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship five times (four in WCW and once in the WWF) and a World Heavyweight Championship in WWE. He has also gained notable success as a tag team wrestler, being a fifteen-time World Tag Team Champion between WCW (eleven times), WWE (three times), and TNA (once). Additionally, he was the winner of the WWE King of the Ring tournament in 2006, the sixteenth WWE Triple Crown Champion and the tenth WWE Grand Slam Champion. As the ninth (and final) WCW Triple Crown Champion, Booker is the most recent of four men in history to achieve both the WWE and WCW Triple Crown Championships. Booker was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 6, 2013, by his brother, Lash Huffman, better known by his ring name Stevie Ray.
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.
Dustin Patrick Runnels is an American professional wrestler and trainer. He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Dustin Rhodes. He is best known for his multiple tenures with WWE from 1995 to 2019 under the gimmick and ring name Goldust. The son of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes and the half-brother of fellow wrestler Cody Rhodes (who later presented a deep and dramatic spin-off character of the Goldust gimmick, entitled Stardust), he is also known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now Impact Wrestling). Between WWE and WCW, Runnels has won 23 total championships. In WCW, he was a two-time United States Heavyweight Champion, a one-time Six-Man Tag Team Champion, and a two-time World Tag Team Champion. In WWE, he is a three-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, nine-time Hardcore Champion, one-time WWE World Tag Team Champion, and two-time WWE Tag Team Champion. Runnels has also appeared in the second most Royal Rumble matches, at 13. Rhodes headlined multiple pay-per-view events for the WWF and WCW during the 1990s. He is also a former Sammy Guevara's Vlog champion.
David Michael Bautista Jr. (born January 18, 1969) is an American actor of Filipino-Greek descent and retired professional wrestler. He had several stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019. In his acting career, he is most widely known for his portrayal of Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), up until leaving the franchise after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), and for his portrayal of Glossu Rabban Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve's Dune (2021) and its sequel, Dune: Part Two (2024).
Shelton James Benjamin is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment. He wrestled for Ring of Honor (ROH) for two years, and currently works for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Benjamin has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling in high school and at the University of Minnesota. In addition, Benjamin has acted as an assistant coach in amateur wrestling. He first spent time in Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he held the Southern Tag Team Championship four times. WWE then moved him to the main roster and put him into an alliance with Kurt Angle and Charlie Haas, known as Team Angle (and later the World's Greatest Tag Team). During his tenure with the company, he won the Intercontinental Championship three times, the United States Championship once, and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice with Haas.
Charles Doyle "Charlie" Haas II is an American professional and amateur wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with WWE in the 2000s. Haas was an amateur wrestler in high school, and attended Seton Hall University on a wrestling scholarship, before becoming a stockbroker. He became a professional wrestler in 1996, and teamed regularly with his brother, Russ, with the two winning numerous championships on the independent circuit, including the CZW World Tag Team Championship and the JAPW Tag Team Championship. After signing contracts with WWE, The Haas Brothers were assigned to WWE's developmental territories, where they won the MCW Southern Tag Team Championship on three occasions. After Russ' death in 2001 due to a heart attack, Haas began wrestling in singles competition, winning the HWA Heavyweight Championship once. Haas formed a team with Shelton Benjamin and the two debuted on SmackDown in December 2002. They won the WWE Tag Team Championship twice, and dubbed themselves The World's Greatest Tag Team before they split in 2004. Haas won the WWE Tag Team Championship once more with Rico, and gained Miss Jackie as a valet. Haas then transferred into singles competition before being released from WWE in 2005. After a short stint in Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) and other independent promotions, Haas was re-signed to WWE in April 2006. He formed a short-lived team with Viscera, before reforming the World's Greatest Tag Team with Benjamin. After Benjamin transferred to the ECW brand, Haas began wrestling with a comical luchador persona, before developing a character where he imitated other wrestlers and WWE Hall of Famers. In addition, Haas won the last ever match on WWE Heat when the show ended on May 30, 2008. He was released from WWE in February 2010. He soon returned to the independent circuit, including returning to JAPW and appearing for Ring of Honor. In September 2010, he won the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship. On April 1, 2011, Haas and Benjamin won the ROH World Tag Team Championship and held it until December 2011. Haas announced his retirement from professional wrestling in March 2013. Aside from wrestling, Haas and his wife Jackie run a nutritional store, Custom Muscle Nutrition and Smoothie Shop, in Frisco, Texas, which they opened in October 2008.
Richard Morgan Fliehr, known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career that has spanned almost 50 years. He is noted for his tenures with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Much of his career was spent in JCP and WCW, where he won numerous titles. Since the mid-1970s, he has used the monikers "The Nature Boy" and "Slick Ric". Flair is also a founding member of the original Four Horsemen stable alongside Tully Blanchard and The Andersons, managed by JJ Dillon. A major pay-per-view attraction throughout his career, Flair headlined the premier annual NWA/WCW event, Starrcade, on ten occasions, while also co-headlining its WWE counterpart, WrestleMania VIII (8), in 1992, after winning that year's Royal Rumble. PWI awarded him their Wrestler of the Year award a record six times, while Wrestling Observer Newsletter named him the Wrestler of the Year (an award named after him and Lou Thesz) a record eight times. The first 2-time WWE Hall of Fame inductee, first inducted with the class of 2008 for his individual career and again with the class of 2012 as a member of The Four Horsemen, he is also a member of the NWA Hall of Fame, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Flair is officially recognized by WWE as a 16-time world champion (8-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, 6-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and 2-time WWE Champion), although the number of his world championship reigns varies by source, ranging from 16 to 25. He has claimed to be a 21-time champion. He was the first holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (which he also held last). As the inaugural WCW World Heavyweight Champion, he became the first person to complete WCW's Triple Crown, having already held the NWA\WCW United States Heavyweight and NWA\WCW World Tag Team Championships. He then completed WWE's version of the Triple Crown when he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship, after already holding the WWE Championship and the WWE World Tag Team Championship on previous occasions.
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.
Michael Sean Coulthard, better known by his stage name, Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, wrestling show host, seldom wrestler, and former news journalist. He is signed to WWE where he served as commentator for SmackDown starting in 1999, before being shifted to the company's flagship program, Raw, where he's been since 2008 to the present. In gimmick, as a catty, antagonistic commentator, Cole is prone to insinuations, harassment, and especially giving guest commentators a hard time. In addition, he's noted for his locutions, such as "Vintage," references to his fans as "Cole Miners," and while speaking on behalf of the anonymous RAW general manager, "Can I have your attention please. And I quote..." When he first started out as a regular WWE commentor in 1999, he was a face. In 2010, however, he transformed into a heel for the first time. By September 2012, he became a face once more. Beyond doing commentary for Raw, Cole performs in several other positions for the WWE: As of October 2012, he has done commentary for WWE Main Event; since December 7, 2012, Cole and former wrestler JBL, both notorious for their mouthy and aggressively opinionated gimmicks, have hosted their very own WWE YouTubeweb series, The JBL and Cole Show.
Terri Runnels, an American retired professional wrestler, manager, and television host, made her mark in the wrestling world under various personas. She started her career in WCW as Miss Alexandra York before transitioning to WWF/WWE where she was known as Marlena and later used her real name.
During her time in WWE, Runnels became well-known for managing several high-profile wrestlers, including her then-husband Dustin Runnels (Goldust), the Hardy Boyz, and Edge & Christian. She also had memorable on-screen feuds, including a rivalry with The Kat. Beyond managing, she served as a host and interviewer, and even briefly held the Hardcore Championship.
After retiring from professional wrestling, Runnels has dedicated her time to philanthropic endeavors.
James William "Jim" Ross is a professional wrestling commentator, referee, restaurateur, occasional wrestler, and former company executive of WWE, where he works as a commentator on NXT, interim commentator on Raw, and as a talent relations consultant. Ross was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest announcers in wrestling history. He is known affectionately by wrestling fans as "Good Ol' JR". Outside of professional wrestling, Ross has developed his own brand of barbecue sauces and cookbooks.
Jerry O'Neil Lawler, better known as Jerry "The King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since April 2020. Prior to joining WWE in 1992, he wrestled in numerous territories, winning many championships, including multiple World Heavyweight Championships, throughout his career. Lawler is a one-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion and a three-time WCWA World Heavyweight Champion, making him a four-time world champion in AWA and WCWA. He unified the titles by defeating Kerry Von Erich at AWA Super Clash III, forming the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, a championship which he held 28 times. He is also known for his feud with comedian Andy Kaufman and he portrayed himself in the 1999 film Man on the Moon. Lawler has held more recognized championships than any professional wrestler in history, though he has never won any championships in WWE having wrestled sporadically whilst primarily providing color commentary, since joining the company. In 2007, Lawler was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Howard Finkel is a semi-retired professional wrestling ring announcer, being employed by WWE since 1977. He began working for Vince McMahon, Sr.'s World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in 1975, making him the company's longest tenured employee, and has been a ring announcer since 1977.
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
Eric Aaron Bischoff is an American entrepreneur, television producer, professional wrestling booker, on-screen personality and occasional wrestler. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later President ofWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later, the General Manager of World Wrestling Entertainment's Raw brand. Bischoff is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) where he serves as Executive Producer of Impact Wrestling. With an amateur background in taekwondo, Bischoff also sporadically performed as an in-ring competitor, and is a former WCW Hardcore Champion.[2] He wrote an autobiography, titled Controversy Creates Cash, that was released in 2006 under WWE Books.
Randal Keith Orton is an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time he is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand and is one half of the current Raw Tag Team Champions with Riddle in their second reign. Orton is a third generation professional wrestler; his grandfather Bob Orton, father Bob Orton Jr., and uncle Barry Orton were all wrestlers. Before being signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), he trained in and wrestled for the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association and Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling. He was then signed by the WWF and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he held the OVW Hardcore Championship twice. He became a member of the stable Evolution shortly after his WWE debut, which quickly led to an Intercontinental Championship reign, his first championship with the company. He also acquired the moniker "The Legend Killer" during a storyline where he began disrespecting and then physically attacking WWE Hall of Famers and wrestling veterans. At the age of 24, Orton became the youngest world champion in WWE history after he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. With this win, he departed from Evolution and a feud with his former stablemates began. In 2006, Orton joined forces with Edge in a tag team known as Rated-RKO. Together, they held the World Tag Team Championship. After Rated-RKO disbanded in mid-2007, Orton gained two WWE Championship reigns in one night, becoming the second youngest two-time WWE Champion at the age of 27. He formed the group The Legacy with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. in 2008. They disbanded in 2010, and Orton returned to singles competition. From 2013 to 2015, he was aligned with The Authority, who named him the "face of the WWE". In 2016, he joined The Wyatt Family, winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championship with Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper before turning on them in 2017. He won his first United States Championship in 2018, becoming the 18th overall Grand Slam Champion after already having been the 17th Triple Crown Champion. Orton has held the WWE Championship 10 times and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship four times. He was the final holder of the World Heavyweight Championship, which he unified with the WWE Championship to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in 2013. Orton is recognized by WWE as having the third-most world championship victories in history at 14, behind John Cena and Ric Flair (both 16) and tied with Triple H (also at 14). All totaled, Orton has won 20 championships in WWE. He is also the winner of the 2013 Money in the Bank ladder match, as well as a two time Royal Rumble match winner (2009 and 2017) and has headlined multiple WWE pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania 25 and WrestleMania XXX. Following his match at the 2021 Survivor Series, he broke Kane's record for wrestling the most PPV matches in WWE history.
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.
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.
Shannon Moore is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1999 and 2001 and with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for several years in the 2000s. He has also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Moore befriended Matt and Jeff Hardy as a child, and they later trained him to wrestle. He debuted in 1995, and competed for several North Carolina-based promotions, winning several Light Heavyweight Championships. He also wrestled for the Hardys' promotion, Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA), where he won the OMEGA Light Heavyweight Championship twice and the OMEGA New Frontiers Championship once. In 1999, he signed with WCW, and became part of 3 Count, a boy band parody. The three members of 3 Count jointly won the WCW Hardcore Championship in 2000.
In 2001, he briefly held the NWA Wildside Tag Team Championship with Shane Helms. He later joined the then-WWF in 2001, and was assigned to Heartland Wrestling Association, a developmental territory, where he won the HWA Tag Team Championship with Evan Karagias. After debuting on the SmackDown brand, he became a follower of 'Mattitude' and appeared regularly as Matt Hardy's sidekick. Between late 2003 and 2005, Moore was used mainly in WWE's cruiserweight division, until his release in July 2005. After a stint on the independent circuit, Moore joined TNA in December 2005. In March 2006, he re-signed with WWE, initially appearing on the ECW brand, before returning to SmackDown in 2007. He formed a tag team with Jimmy Wang Yang, and the pair challenged unsuccessfully for the WWE Tag Team Championship on several occasions. Following his release in August 2008, he once again returned to the independent circuit, before rejoining TNA in January 2010. He soon formed a tag team, known as Ink Inc., with Jesse Neal in April. Aside from wrestling, Moore is also a tattoo artist, and owns a tattoo parlour known as Gas Chamber Ink in Southern Pines, North Carolina. He is also a musician, having written his own entrance music.
Americo Sebastiano "Rico" Costantino is an Italian American professional wrestler and wrestling manager. He is best known by his ring names Rico Costantino and Rico in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from 2001 to 2004. He is currently wrestling for the Future Stars of Wrestling promotion in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Stacy Ann-Marie Keibler is an American retired professional wrestler, former cheerleader, actress, dancer, and model. She is specifically known for her work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and WWE.
Keibler began her professional wrestling career as a part of the Nitro Girls in WCW. She quickly moved on to a more prominent role in the company as the manager Miss Hancock. As Miss Hancock, Keibler was known for doing table dances, her relationship with David Flair, and a pregnancy angle. After WCW was purchased by the WWE in 2001, Keibler moved to the new company, using her real name and taking part in the Invasion storyline, also managing The Dudley Boyz. Keibler also managed Test and Scott Steiner. Before her departure from WWE in 2006, she was affiliated with The Hurricane and Rosey and nicknamed "Super Stacy."
Keibler was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars: season two, where she placed third. She has also appeared on other ABC series such as What About Brian, George Lopez, and October Road, as well as the 100th episode of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother as a bartender and on the USA Network show Psych. Keibler has also modeled, appearing in both Maxim and Stuff magazines.
Keibler is considered to be a sex symbol and is known for her unusually long legs. During Keibler's time on Dancing with the Stars, judge Bruno Tonioli nicknamed her "The Weapon of Mass Seduction."
