Virgil Riley Runnels III (born April 11, 1970; often called Dustin Runnels) is an American professional wrestler who has competed in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He is probably best-known for his WWE character Goldust, a sexually ambiguous movie star. He has also wrestled as Dustin Rhodes in WWE, WCW, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He is the son of Dusty Rhodes, one of the best-known wrestlers of the 1970s and 1980s.
Contents [hide]
1 Career
1.1 World Championship Wrestling 1991-1995
1.2 World Wrestling Federation 1995-1999
1.3 Back to WCW 1999-2001
1.4 World Wrestling Entertainment 2002-2003
1.5 Japan, Independents, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling 2004-2005
1.6 Return to WWE 2005-2006
1.7 Possible TNA Return
2 Wrestling facts
3 Championships and accomplishments
4 External links
[edit]
Career
[edit]
World Championship Wrestling 1991-1995
In February 1991, Runnels went to World Championship Wrestling, where he feuded with Larry Zbysko at the mid-card level. In April, Alexandra York offered him to join her heel York Foundation stable, but he turned her down. This started a feud with Foundation member Terrence Taylor that lasted several months. York, in reality, was Runnels' first wife, Terri.
At different times, he had Barry Windham, Sting, Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff as his tag partners.
October 1992 saw him reform his team with Windham to again win the Tag Team Titles. In November, Windham turned on him and started a brief feud. This involved him giving Goldust the name "Golden Testicles".
In January 1993, he won the United States Title and also began a feud with Rick Rude that would run through August. In October, he started feuding with Paul Orndorff and Steve Austin over the title, eventually losing it to Austin in December.
He became involved in a feud with Bunkhouse Buck and Col. Rob Parker in March 1994. Parker eventually brought in Terry Funk and Arn Anderson to feud with Dustin. Dustin brought in his father, Dusty, who had a previous long lasting feud with Funk, to help him. This feud lasted until December when Parker brought in The Blacktop Bully to feud with Dustin. Dustin and the Bully were both fired in March 1995 when they both "bladed" (cut themselves) during the King of the Road Match at the Uncensored PPV after they were told not to.
[edit]
World Wrestling Federation 1995-1999
In July 1995, Runnels made his debut in the WWF as Goldust. He would wear a gold colored jumpsuit and face paint along with a platinum blonde wig (over his short platinum blond hair) and play "mind games" with opponents. His primary psychological tactic was to make opponents think he was homosexual, usually by groping them and expressing affection. At the same time a major rift had grown between him and his father, supposedly over his marriage to Terri.
Goldust started a feud with Razor Ramon, where through late 1995 he would appear to be stalking Razor and sending him lewd messages. The feud culminated at the Royal Rumble in January 1996, where Goldust won the Intercontinental Title from Razor. Goldust surprised everybody by bringing his real life wife, Terri, in as his valet Marlena. Her gimmick was to act as a director, including sitting in a director's chair and giving him advice through his matches while smoking cigars.
Goldust and Razor Ramon were originally scheduled to have a rematch at WrestleMania XII, but these plans were dashed when Ramon was suspended by the WWF. Goldust then engaged in a feud with replacement opponent "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, which ended in a "Hollywood Backlot Brawl" at WrestleMania. Goldust lost the match, but not his Intercontinental Championship.
His time as champion included feuds with Savio Vega, The Ultimate Warrior and Ahmed Johnson, who finally won the title from Runnels.
In August 1996, he briefly had mind control over Mankind and feuded with The Undertaker. His attention soon turned to Marc Mero and his wife Sable. Goldust and Marlena attempted to get Sable to join their team but Mero won the feud and kept her by his side.
In May 1997, Goldust revealed his identity as Dustin Runnels, son of Dusty Rhodes. He started painting his face half as Goldust, and left the other side as Dustin and began a feud with Brian Pillman which saw Pillman win the services of Marlena for 30 days. When Pillman died in October, Marlena came back to Dustin. In November, Dustin dumped Marlena and got a new valet, Luna Vachon. He started dressing up as different people, (Shaftdust, Baby New Year, etc.). He feuded with Mero and Sable again this time with Luna by his side. During this period of time, he was billed as The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust.
In May 1998, he split with Luna, burned his Goldust suit on TV, and feuded with Val Venis who claimed to have impregnated Terri. Later that year he began acting like a preacher and would cut promos about "His return" (the "he" in this case being Goldust). In October, Goldust redebuted and feuded with Jeff Jarrett over the attentions of his valet Debra. Early 1999 also saw him feud with Al Snow briefly after stealing Head (Al Snow's "mascot"), The Blue Meanie, who had recently renamed himself "Bluedust" and adopeted many of Goldust's mannerisms. After defeating Bluedust at the St. Valentines Day Massacre pay-per-view, Goldust would relent and accept Bluedust as a sort of apprentice. He would also bring in Ryan Shamrock and the two would begin to fight for Goldust's attention. During this time he would win the Intercontinental Title from The Road Dogg and lose it two weeks later. During this period, mysterious taped vingettes appeared on Raw, supposedly from hidden cameras, showing wrestlers backstage flirting with valets, gossiping about other wrestlers, and other actions the victims certainly didn't want seeing the light of day. Originally named GDTV (standing for Goldust Television), it was renamed GTV when Runnels requested and was granted a release from his WWF contract. Had the angle played out as planned, it would have been revealed that Goldust was the "G/GD" in "GTV/GDTV", secretly filming people supposedly being another part of his mania. If the WWF kept the GTV angle running for quite some time after releasing Runnels, however the person behind it was never revealed. Even had Runnels stayed with the company it is doubtful that Goldust would have ever been revealed as the man behind GTV as the USA Network was very cautious about the gimmick because it "was a bit too controversial" for them. [1].
In an interview with former WWF beat writer Vince Russo conducted with WrestleCrap Radio, it was revealed that the man behind GTV would have been Tom Green.
[edit]
Back to WCW 1999-2001
When Runnels left WWF he took some time off, patched up his differences with his father (the two had not spoken for years) and rejoined WCW, starring in several vignettes (in August 1999) as a strange, white face painted dream villain, Seven. After seeing several of the promos that aired for the Seven character, Turner Standards and Practices thought that people would mistake his gimmick for that of a child predator, so they dropped the gimmick before he even wrestled. When he actually debuted in the ring, he took the Seven suit off and cut a promo on stupid gimmicks. He became Dustin Rhodes again and feuded with Jeff Jarrett. During this time he referred to himself as "The American Nightmare", a play on his father's "American Dream" nickname.
He feuded with Terry Funk in early 2000 after turning on him and was given time off due to differences with Vince Russo. He had gotten himself into trouble with Russo while appearing on the Internet radio program, WCW Live! when he made many disparaging remarks towards the WCW Creative team and Russo in particular, calling him a "sawed-off midget" and an "asshole". He came back in February 2001 to help his father feud with Ric Flair and Jeff Jarrett. When Vince McMahon bought WCW a month later, he did not acquire Dustin's contract.
In July 2001, he went to work for his father's new promotion, Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling.
[edit]
World Wrestling Entertainment 2002-2003
In January 2002, he returned as a heel again to the WWF as Goldust and won the Hardcore Title 9 times. He formed an unlikely team with Booker T and did comic backstage vignettes. One of these comedy scenes was "Booker T and Goldust at the Movies" where they reviewed The Scorpion King, starring The Rock (since Goldust was wearing a black wig, it is speculated that he was mocking Kelly Hu's character Cassandra). The duo was also involved in a vignette involving the WWE's current promotion with 7-Eleven with Goldust humorously quoting the chain's food staples to bother Booker T ("If you give me a lick of your Slurpee, I'll let you have a bite of my wiener.") The team turned out to be surprisingly popular amongst fans and helped propel both men during that time. Goldust pleaded to join the reformed nWo in July after Booker joined, even appearing painted up in the black and white nWo colors at one appearance, but they didn't want him. He rejoined with Booker when Booker was kicked out of the nWo literally by Shawn Michaels (Sweet Chin Music). During that time they both turned face. He had several feuds with other wrestlers while Booker was his partner after this. Among them were Lance Storm & Christian, Christian & Chris Jericho and Lance Storm & William Regal. In January 2003, he split with Booker and was largely taken off TV. It was during this period that a new gimmick for Goldust was introduced; he was jumped backstage by Evolution members Randy Orton and Batista in a worked assault, and accidentally hurled into an electrical junction box. The resulting shock gave Goldust a form of tourettism, causing him to stutter and yell random insults at people, and also preventing him from censoring himself; one memorable example had Goldust asking Eric Bischoff, "Eric, why are you such a Dic... Dic... Dic... Dictator, Dictator?" He then formed a tag team with Lance Storm, whom he tried to teach to be a more fun person, with humorous results. He continued to make occasional appearances until his contract ran out at midnight on December 31, 2003.
[edit]
Japan, Independents, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling 2004-2005
Dustin Rhodes during his time spent in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)Runnels went to Japan to work for Zero One as Dusty Rhodes Jr. (he had been billed as such in All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1990), but quickly left. He also worked a few independent dates under the name of Lonestar. He debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), under the name Dustin Rhodes, along with his father, Dusty Rhodes, who was TNA's "Director of Authority". He feuded with Raven, Kid Kash, and Bobby Roode during his time there.
On April 24, 2005, Runnels was arrested and detained by Orange County, Florida authorities following a domestic dispute with his girlfriend (he and Terri had divorced in 1999) at a hotel. He was later bonded and subsequently released, but the negative publicity generated by the incident, coupled with his father's subsequent (unrelated) departure from TNA, seemed to spell an end to his time with the promotion.
[edit]
Return to WWE 2005-2006
On October 31, 2005, Runnels donned the Goldust costume again and made a shocking return to WWE on RAW, along with Vader as a heel. Initially he was supposed to protect Jonathan Coachman from the likes of Steve Austin, but instead it was Batista he had to deal with. Despite Vader and Goldust's assistance, Batista defeated Coachman at Taboo Tuesday.
Goldust returned to the WWE again during the 2006 Royal Rumble as a surprise entrant at number 29 on January 29, 2006. He was eliminated shortly after by Rob Van Dam but Goldust would go on to return to the RAW roster.
Goldust would soon find himself on RAW's sister-show HEAT and after finding little success in the singles division, he was soon paired up with Snitsky as an "odd ball" tag team often known as "The Odd Squad"; in reference to the perverted Goldust and the toe sucking Snitsky. The team would come to a sudden end after Runnels was released from WWE due to missing a scheduled WWE appearance to deal with a personal court case between Runnels and his ex-wife without first informing WWE officials.
[edit]
Possible TNA Return
Rumours have been circulating the internet that Runnels is considering retiring all together, however TNA have been interested in rehiring there former employee.
[edit]
Wrestling facts
Finishing and signature moves
Curtain Call (Suplex slam, lifting inverted DDT, or shoulder neckbreaker)
Shattered Dreams /The Golden Globes (Cornered running kick to opponent's groin)
Shock Treatment / Lonestar State of Mind / Director's Cut (Powerslam pin)
Oscar Treatment (Mat slam)
Bulldog
Inverted atomic drop
Butt Bump (Hip attack)
Bronco buster with pelvic thrusts
Catapult backbreaker
Managers
Terri Runnels
Luna Vachon
Ryan Shamrock
Bluedust
Johnny Glitter
Dusty Rhodes
Nicknames
The American Nightmare
The Bizarre One
Lonestar
The Natural
The Prince of Perversion
The Prince of Perv
The Artist Formally Known as 'Goldust'
[edit]
Championships and accomplishments
World Wrestling Entertainment
3-time WWF Intercontinental Champion
1-time WWE World Tag-Team Champion (with Booker T)
9-time WWF Hardcore Champion
World Championship Wrestling
2-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion
2-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (once with Barry Windham, once with Ricky Steamboat)
1-time WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Champion (with Big Josh and Tom Zenk)
National Wrestling Alliance
1-time NWA World Tag Team Champion (with Barry Windham)
Florida Championship Wrestling
1-time FCW Heavyweight Champion
1-time FCW Tag Team Champion (with Mike Graham)
Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling
1-time TCW Heavyweight Champion
American Combat Wrestling
1-time ACW Heavyweight Champion
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI ranked him # 126 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003. He was also ranked # 87 of the best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Barry Windham.
Runnels won the 1991 PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year Award as Dustin Rhodes.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
1989 Rookie of the Year
1991 Most Improved Wrestler
[edit]
External links
Obsessed With Wrestling profile
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Virgil Runnels IIIRetrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgil_Runnels_III"
William Scott ("Bill") Goldberg (born December 27, 1966 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American professional wrestler and retired American football player.
Goldberg is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling between September 1997 and January 2001 and with World Wrestling Entertainment between March 2003 and March 2004. In addition to his sporting pursuits, he is also an actor.
Goldberg attended the University of Georgia from 1986 to 1989, earning a degree in psychology. While at university, Goldberg played college football as a nose tackle for the Georgia Bulldogs, and was named an All-American.
Contents [hide]
1 NFL career
2 Professional wrestling career
2.1 World Championship Wrestling
2.2 World Wrestling Entertainment
3 Acting career
3.1 Filmography
3.2 Television appearances
4 MMA career
5 Wrestling facts
5.1 Finishing and signature moves
5.2 Championships and accomplishments
6 Personal life
7 Books
8 References
9 External links
[edit]
NFL career
After graduating, Goldberg declared for the NFL Draft where he was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the eleventh round. In addition to playing in the National Football League, he competed in the World League of American Football, winning the World Bowl as a nose guard for the Sacramento Surge. In 1991 he signed with the Atlanta Falcons as a defensive lineman and played for them until 1994, when he suffered a torn abdominal muscle. He attended the first Carolina Panthers training camp in 1995 and was given a contract, but became the first player cut by the Panthers in team history after failing to fully recover from his abdominal injury. He later successfully sued the Panthers for misdiagnosing his abdominal injury and for loss of earnings. With his football career cut short, Goldberg worked as a personal trainer considering his future career options.
[edit]
Professional wrestling career
[edit]
World Championship Wrestling
Goldberg had met several employees of the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) professional wrestling promotion while living in Atlanta, Georgia, and decided to pursue a career in wrestling after meeting WCW employees Sting and Lex Luger in a gym. He was quickly signed to a contract by WCW and sent to the WCW Power Plant, a professional wrestling school owned by WCW and operated by former wrestlers such as Dwayne Bruce.
After training in the Power Plant for several months, Goldberg debuted on June 24, 1997, defeating Buddy Landell in a dark match under the ring name Bill Gold.
He made his first appearance on WCW television on the September 22, 1997 episode of WCW Monday Nitro, defeating Hugh Morrus as Goldberg. This match marked the first victory of Goldberg's "streak"—a series of 177 consecutive victories that took place on WCW television, pay-per-views and at house shows.
Goldberg as WCW World Heavyweight Champion.With his bald head, goatee and utilitarian black trunks, Goldberg was often compared to Stone Cold Steve Austin, a prominent wrestler in the rival World Wrestling Federation (WWF). However, WCW President Eric Bischoff later claimed that the original character of Goldberg was based not on Austin but on Ken Shamrock, another WWF employee and famed mixed martial artist. During his "streak" Goldberg also became known for his ring entrance, which saw him walk from his locker room to the stage with a police escort, exit the "tunnel" with pyrotechnics exploding around him while he screamed and proceed to walk to the ring while fans chanted "Goldberg, Goldberg".
Goldberg's succession of wins saw him quickly advance up the card, and he won the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship on April 20, 1998, defeating Raven. He vacated the title after winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from Hollywood Hogan on July 6, 1998. His reign, along with his streak, lasted until December 27, 1998, when he suffered his first defeat, losing to Kevin Nash at StarrCade 1998 after Scott Hall interfered, electrically shocking him with a taser. At the same time, the WWF began lampooning Goldberg with the character Gillberg, a perennial jobber who dressed similarly to Goldberg and mocked his signature entrance and mannerisms.
Goldberg became a two-time United States Heavyweight Champion on October 24, 1999 at Halloween Havoc by defeating Sid Vicious in an match that was stopped by referre Mickie Jay due to Sid's huge cut n his head that made the match a blood bath. Later that evening, he answered an open challenge from WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting, and defeated him within minutes of the opening bell. However, on the next night's episode of Nitro, commissioner J.J. Dillon ruled that the match had not been sanctioned by WCW and that, therefore, Goldberg's victory was void. Goldberg lost a second title that same evening when Bret Hart defeated him for the United States Heavyweight Championship. Shortly thereafter, Goldberg joined forces with Hart, teaming with him to defeat Creative Control for the WCW World Tag Team Championship on December 7, 1999. One week later, they lost the titles to The Outsiders.
At StarrCade 1999 on December 19, 1999, Goldberg challenged Hart for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. In the course of the match, which was won by Hart, Goldberg delivered a stiff kick to Hart's head, legitimately concussing him and tearing a muscle in his neck. This injury, combined with the various injuries Hart had suffered in the course of his lengthy career and the additional blows to the head he absorbed before being diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, forced Hart into retirement several weeks later.
Throughout 2000, Goldberg feuded with members of the nWo and the Millionaires Club. In October 2000 he began a new undefeated streak, with Vince Russo threatening to "fire" him if he lost. The streak was broken after thirty five straight victories on January 14, 2001 at WCW Sin when Goldberg, teaming with his Power Plant trainer, Dwayne Bruce, lost to Totally Buff in a tag team match after a fan maced him, enabling Totally Buff to pin him. The angle was intended to enable Goldberg to have shoulder surgery, but WCW was sold to the WWF in March 2001, with Goldberg still recuperating. The WWF did not buy out Goldberg's contract with Time Warner (the parent company of WCW) as they had done with several other WCW employees, and so he was not involved in the WWF "invasion" angle. Goldberg instead remained under contract to Time Warner until May 2002, when he agreed on a contract buyout.
Goldberg had suffered an arm injury during a celebrity car racing event in April 2002, but in August 2002, he returned to the ring in Japan. He initially joined All Japan Pro Wrestling, defeating Satoshi Kojima on August 30, 2002. He went on to defeat Rick Steiner in Yokohama in a match for the W-1 promotion, and teamed with Keiji Mutoh to defeat KroniK in Tokyo. His success in Japan led to the World Wrestling Federation - now renamed World Wrestling Entertainment - beginning contract negotations with him.
In the course of his WCW career, Goldberg suffered only six official singles defeats, three of them to Bret Hart.
[edit]
World Wrestling Entertainment
Goldberg was signed to a one year contract by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in March 2003. He debuted in WWE on the March 31, 2003 episode of RAW, the night after WrestleMania XIX, and immediately began a feud with The Rock by spearing him. His feud with The Rock culminated in a match at Backlash 2003, which was won by Goldberg. His first match on RAW saw him defeat Three Minute Warning in a handicap match.
Goldberg went undefeated over the subsequent half-year, feuding with Christian and Chris Jericho. He first challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship on August 24, 2003 at SummerSlam 2003 in the second Elimination Chamber match, but was pinned by the defending champion, Triple H, thus ending his undefeated streak. On September 21, 2003 he defeated Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at Unforgiven 2003. He successfully retained the title in a match with Triple H at the 2003 Survivor Series on November 16, 2003, but lost the title to Triple H at Armageddon 2003 on December 14, 2003 when Triple H pinned him in a triple threat match which also included Kane.
Goldberg entered the 2004 Royal Rumble in an attempt to regain the World Heavyweight Championship, but was eliminated after Brock Lesnar entered the ring and hit Goldberg with the F-5, enabling Kurt Angle to eliminate him. Goldberg gained revenge by attending No Way Out 2004 the following month and costing Lesnar his WWE Championship by interfering in a match between Lesnar and the challenger to the title, Eddie Guerrero. This led to a match between the two being scheduled for WrestleMania XX. Goldberg was not seen on WWE television for several weeks before the event, as he had already worked the maximum number of dates (bar one, his WrestleMania appearance) stipulated by his contract and would have had to have been paid a supplementary salary in order to make extra appearances. This may have hurt the build to the WrestleMania match, with the last episode of SmackDown! before WrestleMania featuring a confrontation between Lesnar and Stone Cold Steve Austin, the guest referee of the match, not Lesnar and Goldberg.
At WrestleMania, Goldberg defeated Lesnar, with both men receiving a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin after the match. Lesnar and Goldberg had both gone undefeated for long periods of time, leading many fans to label a match between the two a "dream match". However, as both Lesnar and Goldberg were known to be leaving the company immediately after WrestleMania, the match was poorly received by the audience, who soundly booed both competitors (in subsequent video releases of the show the sound has been "sweetened" to make the crowd seem more into the match). On March 31, 2004, Goldberg's contract expired and, following a short period of negotiations, was not renewed.
Since leaving WWE, Goldberg has primarily focused on his acting career. He has commented on his year with WWE in a highly critical fashion, arguing that his character was poorly utilised. In February 2006, several media outlets reported that Goldberg was in negotiations with the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling; possibly in response to these rumors, semi-retired wrestler Warrior commented on his website that he would be interested in wrestling Goldberg in TNA should TNA approach him with such an offer. In a series of interviews conducted in June 2006, Goldberg stated that he was mildy interested in working for TNA, particularly since his friend Sting had joined the promotion by then, but had several reservations.
[edit]
Acting career
Goldberg was the first-ever guest on the "Pain Clinic", a professional wrestling radio talk show based in Rochester, New York that debuted on November 14, 1998. He made several more appearances on the show, with his final appearance taking place on November 19, 2005.
Goldberg began acting while working for WCW in 1999. His appearance in Universal Soldier: The Return corresponded with him being featured in the music video for the Megadeth song "Crush 'Em," which was featured on the film's soundtrack. He went on to temporarily use "Crush 'Em" as his entrance music.
In 2003, Goldberg appeared on Punk'd, with Ashton Kutcher instructing a stunt performer to run over a replica of Goldberg's motorcycle with a truck while he watched. However, the prank went awry when the stunt performer missed the bike.
In June 2005, Goldberg began hosting a television program on The History Channel called Automaniac. He described the series as "a thirty minute show with thirteen episodes, talking about the history of automobiles and motorcycles, and what's their historical perspective." The series was cancelled in August 2005 after eleven episodes.
[edit]
Filmography
The Jesse Ventura Story (1999) as "Luger"
Universal Soldier: The Return (1999) as "Romeo"
Ready to Rumble (2000) as himself
Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) as "Mr. Smith"
The Longest Yard (2005) as "Battle"
Santa's Slay (2005) as "Santa Claus"
The Kid & I (2005) as himself
Half Past Dead 2 (announced)
[edit]
Television appearances
The Love Boat: The Next Wave (1998) in episode "Captains Courageous" as "Lou 'The Pariah' Maguire"
The Man Show (2000) in episode "Holiday Show II"
Yes, Dear (2002) in episode "Walk Like a Man" as "Big Guy"
Family Guy (2002) in episode "Family Guy Viewer Mail #1" as "Angry Bus Passenger" (voice)
Arliss (2002) in episode "In with the New"
Kim Possible (2002) in episode "Pain King vs. Cleopatra" as "Pain King"
Modern Marvels (2004) in episode "Private Collections" as himself
Punk'd (2003)
Desperate Housewives (2005) in episode "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" as "Inmate #2"
Automaniac (2005) as himself (host)
The Contender (2005) in episode "Who's Playing The Game?" as himself (uncredited)
Pros vs. Joes (2006) as himself
[edit]
MMA career
On June 14, 2006, the mixed martial arts promotion World Fighting Alliance (WFA) announced that Goldberg would serve as color commentator for their July 22, 2006 King of the Streets pay-per-view in Los Angeles, California.
In a news article releasd by WFA on July 11, 2006, it was revealed that Goldberg is interested in fighting in the World Fighting Alliance (WFA), but has doubts since the training he requires to get in fighting shape again would be too time consuming and it would require for him to quit several of his projects, something that he refuses to do.
[edit]
Wrestling facts
[edit]
Finishing and signature moves
Jackhammer (Suplex powerslam)
Spear
Double underhook suplex
Pumphandle fallaway slam
Single arm choke into gorilla press powerslam or gorilla press drop
Superkick
[edit]
Championships and accomplishments
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI ranked Goldberg # 75 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
PWI ranked him #2 in the 1998 PWI 500 (his highest-ever ranking)
PWI Rookie of the Year (1998)
PWI Most Inspirational (1998)
World Championship Wrestling
1-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion
2-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion
1-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (with Bret Hart)
World Wrestling Entertainment
1-time World Heavyweight Champion
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
1998 Rookie of the Year
[edit]
Personal life
Goldberg's mother, Ethel, is a classical violinist, while his father, Jed, a graduate of Harvard University, is an obstetrician and gynecologist. His brother, Michael, owns a cargo plane leasing company with close ties to former President of the United States Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party. His brother Steven owns several restaurants and the Belly Up Tavern music venues in San Diego, California and Aspen, Colorado. His sister Barbara is an accomplished equestrienne. His niece Katie works in the music industry.
Goldberg is Jewish.
On April 10, 2005, Goldberg was married to Wanda Ferraton, a stunt double who he met while filming The Longest Yard. He and Ferraton have a son together, Gage A.J. Goldberg, who was born one month prematurely on May 10, 2006.
Goldberg is an animal rights advocate and an ASPCA spokesperson, and has addressed the United States Congress in order to raise awareness of illegal animal fighting.
Goldberg owns and operates the "Extreme Power" Muay Thai training facility in Oceanside, California.
[edit]
Books
Goldberg, Bill and Goldberg, Steve (2000) I'm Next: The Strange Journey of America's Most Unlikely Superstar, ISBN 0-609-60780-4
[edit]
References
Goldberg at Accelerator3359.com
Goldberg at Bodyslamming.com
Goldberg at Canoe.ca
Goldberg at Gerweck.net
Goldberg at ObsessedWithWrestling.com
The Hebrew Hulk
The history of the Carolina Panthers
An interview with Goldberg, conducted by Ross Forman
Miami Herald's article on Bill Goldberg's WFA color commentator deal and acting projects
Wrestling with Their Son's Career
WFA's article that mentions Goldberg's interest in wrestling in WFA
[edit]
External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Bill GoldbergBillGoldberg.com - the official website of Bill Goldberg
Bill Goldberg at the Internet Movie Database
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Goldberg"
Categories: 1966 births | American color commentators | American film actors | American football defensive linemen | American television actors | American football linebackers | American professional wrestlers | Atlanta Falcons players | People from Atlanta | Entertainers who played football | Film actors | Georgia Bulldogs football players | Jewish American actors | Jewish American sportspeople | Living people | Los Angeles Rams players | People from Tulsa, Oklahoma | Professional athletes who wrestled professionally | Sacramento Surge players | SEMA Members | World Championship Wrestling alumni | World Wrestling Entertainment alumni | Family Guy actors | Kim Possible voice actors | Yes, Dear actors
ViewsArticle Discussion Edit this page History Personal toolsSign in / create account Navigation
Main Page
Community Portal
Featured articles
Current events
Recent changes
Random article
Help
Contact Wikipedia
Donations
Search
Toolbox
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Printable version
Permanent link
Cite this article
In other languages
Deutsch
Français
Italiano
עברית
Nederlands
日本語
Português
Suomi
Svenska
Türkçe
This page was last modified 16:25, 7 October 2006. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
The Basham Brothers are a heel professional wrestling tag team on World Wrestling Entertainment's Extreme Championship Wrestling brand consisting of Doug Basham and Danny Basham. Because each bears such a strong resemblence to the other, the Bashams were billed as brothers in WWE storylines; in reality, however, they are not even related. The Bashams also teamed on WWE SmackDown! and Ohio Valley Wrestling where they are former WWE Tag Team Champions and OVW Southern Tag Team Champions.
Contents [hide]
1 WWE history
2 Signature moves
3 Championships and accomplishments
3.1 Championship succession
4 Trivia
[edit]
WWE history
The Basham Brothers made their official WWE debut on the May 29, 2003 edition of SmackDown! defeating Rikishi and Spanky. Shortly after this The Bashams (as they were commonly known) were later aligned with the valet, Shaniqua. As well as being portrayed with a bondage-based S&M gimmick, the "brothers" often switched places mid-match, so the "fresher" wrestler was always in the ring. In almost all cases the referee acted oblivious to the switch, despite their easily differentiated faces and won their first WWE Tag Team Championship from Los Guerreros on the October 23, 2003 edition of SmackDown!. The team would go on to lose the titles in February 2004 to Rikishi and Scotty Too Hotty. The Basham Brothers and Shaniqua faced Scotty 2 Hotty and Rikishi at WWE No Way Out 2004 in a handicapped match for the tag team titles but lost the match when Shaniqua was pinned. Right after this match The Basham Brothers would lose their manger Shaniqua as she was sent to OVW for training.For the next few months the Basham Brothers were regulars on WWE Velocity despite a few occasions On SmackDown! generally losing in the outcome.
The Basham Brothers would go on to join John Bradshaw Layfield's cabinet stable on the November 25, 2004 Smackdown!. Known as JBL's Co-Secretaries of Defense. Their role was often to sacrifice themselves to prevent Layfield from getting harmed after he had provoked an opponent. The Bashams would once again win Tag Team gold defeating four other teams including Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam, Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak, and Eddie Guerrero and Booker T. The Basham Brothers lost the titles to Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero at WWE No Way Out on February 20, 2005 from here on The Bashams would either be Jobbing on SmackDown! or defeating any team that came in their path on Velocity. The Basham Brothers quit Layfield's Cabinet on the June 16, 2005 episode of SmackDown!, claiming that they were tired of being "JBL's crash test dummies" and not getting enough respect.
On June 30, 2005, Danny Basham became one of the last minute trades in the 2005 WWE Draft lottery, which saw him jump from SmackDown! over to WWE RAW. This left both men in singles compitition in WWE on different brands. Both had short-lived, unsuccessful singles runs. Both men would soon disappear completely from WWE programming but would reunite in WWE's revived ECW brand in July 2006 as masked enforcers for ECW leader Paul Heyman.
[edit]
Signature moves
Last Impression (Doug's Running leg lariat)
Brain Damage (Danny's Chokebomb)
Double Brain Damage (Aided Chokebomb)
Ball and Gag (Russian leg sweep / clothesline combo)
Meat Curtain (Catapult / diving bulldog combo)
[edit]
Championships and accomplishments
Ohio Valley Wrestling
1-time OVW Southern Tag Team Champions
World Wrestling Entertainment
2-time WWE Tag Team Champions
[edit]
Championship succession
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship
Preceded by:
Rob Conway and Nick Dinsmore Second Succeeded by:
Rob Conway and Nick Dinsmore
WWE Tag Team Championship
Preceded by:
Eddie Guerrero & Chavo Guerrero First Succeeded by:
Scotty 2 Hotty and Rikishi
Preceded by:
Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam Second Succeeded by:
Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio
[edit]
Trivia
Doug Basham and Damaja (Danny Basham) had been embroiled in a bitter feud in Ohio Valley Wrestling just before getting called up by WWE.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basham_Brothers"
Categories: World Wrestling Entertainment teams and stables | Independent promotions teams and stables
ViewsArticle Discussion Edit this page History Personal toolsSign in / create account Navigation
Main Page
Community Portal
Featured articles
Current events
Recent changes
Random article
Help
Contact Wikipedia
Donations
Search
Toolbox
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Printable version
Permanent link
Cite this article
In other languages
Italiano
This page was last modified 03:11, 27 August 2006. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
Ron Simmons (born May 15, 1958 in Perry, Georgia) is an American retired professional wrestler and American football player. He was the first African American to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
Simmons was a Florida State University All-American football player, and played for the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League. He became a professional wrestler in 1986, and went on to wrestle in World Championship Wrestling under his real name and in the World Wrestling Federation under both his real name and the ring names Faarooq and Faarooq Asad.
Contents [hide]
1 American football career
2 Professional wrestling career
2.1 National Wrestling Alliance/World Championship Wrestling (1986-1994)
2.2 Extreme Championship Wrestling (1994-1995)
2.3 World Wrestling Federation (1996-2004)
3 Wrestling facts
4 Championships and accomplishments
5 References
6 External links
[edit]
American football career
Ron Simmons [[Image:|200px|center|]]
{{{Caption}}}
Date of birth May 15, 1958
Place of birth Perry, Georgia
Date of death
Position(s) Defensive linemen
College Florida State University
NFL Draft 1981 / Round 6/ Pick 160
AFL Draft [[{{{AFLDraftedYear}}} American Football League Draft#Round_{{{AFLDraftedRound}}}|{{{AFLDraftedYear}}}]] / Round {{{AFLDraftedRound}}}
Pro Bowls {{{ProBowls}}}
Awards
Honors
Retired #s Florida State Seminoles #50
Records
Career Record {{{Record}}}
Super Bowl
Wins {{{SuperBowls}}}
Championships
Won {{{Championships}}}
Playing Stats Pro Football Reference
Playing Stats DatabaseFootball
Coaching Stats Pro Football Reference
Coaching Stats DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a player
{{{years}}} {{{teams}}}
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
{{{coachingyears}}} {{{coachingteams}}}
College Hall-of-Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame, [[{{{HOF}}} in sports|{{{HOF}}}]]
Simmons attended Warner Robins High School, where he played American football. In 1976, he was named lineman of the year, and first team All-State by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Simmons was an All-American football player at Florida State University under coach Bobby Bowden (who Simmons described as "a second father"), spending four years as a defensive nose guard. In 1988, Simmons's jersey (number 50) was retired by Florida State University, the first time a number has been retired in FSU history. In addition, Simmons was inducted into the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame for his accomplishments while playing at Florida State University.
He later had a brief career in the National Football League, playing for the Cleveland Browns, and the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits in 1984 and the Memphis Showboats in 1985, but it was in Tampa where he was a teammate of future professional wrester Lex Luger and Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Nate Newton.
[edit]
Professional wrestling career
Simmons returned to prominence several years after the end of his football career when he was recruited by Japanese professional wrestling Hiro Matsuda. Simmons trained under Matsuda and debuted in October 1986.
[edit]
National Wrestling Alliance/World Championship Wrestling (1986-1994)
Ron Simmons teamed up with Butch Reed to form Doom. Doom defeated The Steiner Brothers for the NWA World Tag Team Championship, and would be recognized along with Reed as the first holders of the WCW World Tag Team Championship in January 1991.
On August 8, 1992, a scheduled title match between Sting and WCW World Heavyweight Champion Big Van Vader was cancelled after Jake Roberts injured Sting. WCW President Bill Watts responded by holding a raffle to determine the number one contender. Simmons won the raffle, and went on to defeat Vader to win the Championship. By defeating Vader, Simmons became the first ever African American WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
Simmons held the title for over four months, during which time he consolidated his reputation as a stiff wrestler. His reign ended on December 30, 1992 when Vader defeated him to regain the title.
[edit]
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1994-1995)
Simmons appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling from late 1994 to early 1995. During that time he unsuccessfully challenged ECW World Television Champion Shane Douglas at November To Remember 1994 and had matches with Mikey Whipwreck and 911.
[edit]
World Wrestling Federation (1996-2004)
Simmons joined the World Wrestling Federation and made his WWF debut on the July 22, 1996 episode of RAW is War. His first gimmick was that of Faarooq Asad, a gladiator who wore a black and blue gladiator outfit with a misshaped helmet. Simmons briefly feuded with Ahmed Johnson before changing his ring name to simply Faarooq.
As Faarooq, Simmons and his manager, Clarence Mason, formed a stable known as the Nation of Domination. The Nation of Domination was loosely based on the Nation of Islam, although the members of the stable were not exclusively African American. After Simmons threw the White American Crush and the Puerto Rican Savio Vega out of the Nation, Vega and Crush formed their own rival factions, known respectively as the Disciples of Apocalypse and Los Boricuas, and the three stables feuded with one another throughout 1997. In early 1998, Simmons's leadership of the Nation of Domination was usurped by The Rock, and he spent several months feuded with his former stablemates.
In late 1998, Simmons began teaming with Bradshaw as Hell's Henchmen. They were managed by The Jackyl until he left the WWF, at which point they were repackaged as members of The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness and were renamed The Acolytes, as they acted like acolytes to the Undertaker. The Acolytes recruited Phenius I. Godwinn and Mabel to the Ministry by kidnapping and brainwashing them (renaming them Mideon and Viscera, respectively), and feuded with The Undertaker's rivals, such as D-Generation X and The Brood. (The latter of which would later join the Ministry as well.)
After The Undertaker suffered an injury in late 1999, the Ministry of Darkess disbanded. Simmons and Bradshaw continued to team with one another, and eventually adopted the gimmick of two brawlers who enjoyed drinking beer and smoking cigars (much like The Crusher and Dick the Bruiser before them). After Bradshaw began hiring out the services of The Acolytes as mercenaries and bodyguards, the tag team was renamed the Acolytes Protection Agency.
The APA teamed together until 2002, when Simmons was drafted to the SmackDown! brand of the WWF (by then renamed World Wrestling Entertainment). Faarooq had a brief heel turn when he teamed with Reverend D'von till he retired in December 2002, Ron retired from professional wrestling but on June 2003 he returned to WWE with Bradshaw and the APA had reunited.
In his last WWE storyline, he was fired by former SmackDown! General Manager Paul Heyman after he disrespected Heyman (due to the WrestleMania XX issue between Heyman and Stone Cold Steve Austin during that night). At first the APA would be fired, but it turned out to only be Faarooq. Ron left the WWE(storyline) with hatred against Bradshaw because of him not being a faithful friend. During that event, Heyman told Layfield that it was time for him to break out on his own again. This made Layfield turn heel again.
Ron Simmons retired from wrestling after this incident but continues to make appearances for the WWE in a promotional capacity.
In 2006, during a rebroadcast of FSU vs Oklahoma in the 1981 Orange Bowl on Sun Sports, Ron stated that since that time he has retired from wrestling action, but would like to continue or even improve his role with the WWE.
[edit]
Wrestling facts
Finishing and signature moves
Dominator (Inverted front powerslam)
Spinebuster
Scoop powerslam
Football tackle to the knees
Shoulder block
With Bradshaw
Aided powerbomb
Backdrop, neckbreaker combination
Double spinebuster
Managers
The Jackyl
Jacqueline
The Kat
Theodore Long
Clarence Mason
The Iron Sheik
Sunny
Woman
Nicknames
The All American
[edit]
Championships and accomplishments
Florida Championship Wrestling
1-time NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion
Memphis Championship Wrestling
1-time MCW Southern Tag Team Champion (with Bradshaw as the A.P.A.)
National Wrestling Alliance
1-time NWA World Tag Team Champion (with Butch Reed as Doom)
Ohio Valley Wrestling
1-time OVW Southern Tag Team Champion (with Bradshaw as the A.P.A.)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI ranked Simmons # 108 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.
PWI ranked Simmons # 91 of the best tag teams of the PWI Years (with Butch Reed as Doom).
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler Award (1992)
World Championship Wrestling
1-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion
1-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (with Butch Reed as Doom)
1-time WCW United States Tag Team Champion (with Big Josh)
World Wrestling Federation
3-time WWF World Tag Team Champion (with Bradshaw as the A.P.A.)
[edit]
References
An interview with Ron Simmons, conducted by Thomas Chamberlin
Ron Simmons at Accelerator3359.com
Ron Simmons at Canoe.ca
Ron Simmons at ObsessedWithWrestling.com
Solie's title histories
[edit]
External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Ron SimmonsRon Simmons at the Internet Movie Database
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Simmons"
Categories: 1958 births | American football defensive linemen | American professional wrestlers | African American football players | African American professional wrestlers | Cleveland Browns players | World Wrestling Entertainment alumni | Extreme Championship Wrestling alumni | World Championship Wrestling alumni | Entertainers who played football | Florida State Seminoles football players | Living people | People from Georgia (U.S. state)
ViewsArticle Discussion Edit this page History Personal toolsSign in / create account Navigation
Main Page
Community Portal
Featured articles
Current events
Recent changes
Random article
Help
Contact Wikipedia
Donations
Search
Toolbox
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Printable version
Permanent link
Cite this article
In other languages
Deutsch
日本語
This page was last modified 19:24, 2 October 2006. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
Christopher Michael Benoît (born May 21, 1967), is a French Canadian professional wrestler, currently wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on its Smackdown brand. He is world renowned for his technical abilities, hard work, and physicality in the ring. In the span of his career, he has held championships in numerous promotions, including WWE's World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
Contents [hide]
1 Career
1.1 Early Career
1.2 Extreme Championship Wrestling
1.3 World Championship Wrestling
1.4 World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment
2 Wrestling facts
3 Personal life
4 Championships and accomplishments
4.1 Records
5 References
6 External links
[edit]
Career
[edit]
Early Career
After years of hard work in the legendary Hart family "dungeon", Chris Benoit began his career in 1985 in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion. His first match was a tag team match on November 29, 1985 in Calgary, Alberta, where he teamed with Rick Patterson to defeat "Butch" Karl Moffat & Mike Hammer. During his time in Stampede, he won several International Tag Team and British Commonwealth titles, and had a singles feud with Johnny Smith that lasted for over a year and resulted in a series of now classic matches. When Stampede closed it's doors in 1989, Benoit departed for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Upon arriving in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Benoit spent about a year training in their "New Japan Dojo" before debuting, wearing a mask and assuming the name The Pegasus Kid; the name being a tribute to his wrestling hero the Dynamite Kid. While with NJPW, he came into his own as a performer in matches with luminaries like Jushin Liger, Shinjiro Ohtani, The Black Tiger, and El Samurai.
In 1990, he won his first major championship, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title, from Jushin Liger. He eventually lost the title (and his mask) back to Liger, forcing him to reinvent himself as Wild Pegasus. He went on to win the Super J Cup Tournament in 1994, defeating Black Tiger, Gedo and Great Sasuke in the finals, solidifying his status as one of the foremost junior heavyweights in the world.
[edit]
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Benoit eventually left New Japan to compete in Mexico and Germany, where he won a few regional championships including the WWF Light Heavyweight title (although this reign is no longer credited). He even had a short run in World Championship Wrestling between 1992 and 1993, but was unsuccessful in gaining any momentum in the company. He did, however, gain some respect from American fans for his battles against 2 Cold Scorpio and Alex Wright, attracting the attention of Paul Heyman.
In 1995, Benoit signed with the Heyman booked Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). While there, he dropped the "Pegasus" gimmick, becoming "The Canadian Crippler", because of his rougher style, and an incident where he took out Rocco Rock. Coincidently, after taking up this gimmick, Benoit was involved in a match with Sabu during which Sabu broke his neck. The injury came when Benoit threw Sabu with the intention that he take a face-first "pancake" bump, but Sabu attempted to turn mid-air and take a backdrop bump instead. He did not achieve full rotation and landed almost directly on his neck. The incident was traumatic for Benoit, and Paul Heyman took the opportunity to change Benoit's character even more. He changed him into a ruthless "wrestling machine" with no mercy for his opponents or their bodies. Heyman had him cut long monologue promos to give him the chance to come out of his shell and to express a tough, dark persona.
Benoit and Dean Malenko won the ECW World Tag Team Championship from Sabu and The Tazmaniac in February of 1995. After winning, they were initiated into the Triple Threat stable, led by ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Shane Douglas. The team lost the titles to The Public Enemy that April.
His appearances in ECW garnered the attention of World Wrestling Federation (WWF) bookers, which led to Benoit having three tryout matches for them. They intended to bring him in as "The Ringmaster" (a role that eventually went to Steve Austin), but when he was told that as a WWF competitor he would not be able to work in Japan, he declined a contract. After that, visa problems halted him from continuing to work for ECW, so he returned to Japan.
[edit]
World Championship Wrestling
New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) had a working relationship, and because of their "talent exchange" program Benoit signed with WCW in late 1995/early 1996.
Benoit started out in WCW as a member of the cruiserweight division, having lengthy matches against many of his former rivals in Japan. After impressing higher-ups, he became a member of the reformed Four Horsemen in 1995, alongside Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and Brian Pillman. When Pillman abruptly left the company for the WWF, Benoit was placed into his ongoing feud with (booker) Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan booked a feud in which Benoit was having an affair with Sullivan's (real life) wife Woman. Forced to spend time together to make the affair look real, (hold hands in public, share hotel rooms, etc.) Benoit and Nancy developed feelings for each other and began having a real affair and Nancy wound up leaving Sullivan and WCW in 1997. Because of this, Sullivan and Benoit had a contentious backstage relationship at best and even though Benoit defeated Sullivan in a Retirement match, Benoit believed that Sullivan continued to use his booking authority to "hold him back".
In 1998, Benoit had a long rivalry with Booker T. They fought over the WCW Television Championship until Booker lost the title to Fit Finlay. After Booker lost a rematch, a "Best-of-Seven" series was held between the two to determine a Number One Contender. Both men won three matches in a row (Benoit went up three before Booker caught up) forcing a final match on the Monday Nitro before the The Great American Bash pay-per-view. During the match, Bret Hart interjected himself, interfering on behalf of Benoit in an attempt to get him to join the New World Order. Benoit refused to win that way and told the referee what happened, getting himself disqualified. Booker refused that victory, instead opting for an an eighth match at the Bash to see who go on to fight Finlay later that night. Booker won the final match and went on to beat Finlay for the belt. This feud signifigantly elevated both men's careers as singles competitors, and both remained at the top of the midcard afterwards.
In 1999, Benoit teamed with Dean Malenko once again and defeated Curt Hennig and Barry Windham to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Later in 1999, he also won the WCW United States Championship before bringing together Malenko, Perry Saturn, and Shane Douglas to form "The Revolution". The Revolution (both kayfabe and legit) were a group of younger wrestlers who felt slighted by WCW management, believing they never gave them the chance to be stars, pushing older, more established wrestlers the top spots instead. Benoit's most notable match of 1999 occurred with Bret Hart on WCW Nitro in October 1999, in Kansas City, Missouri, as a tribute to Owen Hart, who had recently died due to an equipment malfunction.
Benoit was becoming more and more unhappy with WCW management and by January 2000, they made their last try at keeping him, putting the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on him at Souled Out. However, due to disagreements with management and to protest the promotion of Kevin Sullivan to head booker, Benoit left the company the next day alongside his friends Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn, forfeiting his title in the process. Despite the fact that this title win is recorded in wrestling history, Benoit himself rarely recognizes it, preferring his World Heavyweight Championship win at WrestleMania XX in 2004.
[edit]
World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment
Two weeks after being granted their release from WCW, Benoit, Malenko, Saturn and Guerrero made their WWF TV debuts on the January 31, 2000 episode of RAW is War, coming out of the crowd to attack the New Age Outlaws. They were later dubbed The Radicalz. After the group turned heel, Benoit feuded with Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle, capturing his first championship in the WWF, the Intercontinental Title, at WrestleMania 2000.
Benoit and Jericho traded the title in May before Benoit lost it to Rikishi in June. A high-profile feud with The Rock (who was the WWF Champion at the time) filled out the remainder of 2000. Their feud revolved around Benoit being Shane McMahon's hitman trying to take down The Rock, and forcing him to tap out. In fact, Benoit "won" the WWF title twice during 2000, but both times the decision was reversed by then "Commissioner" Mick Foley and the matches restarted due to Benoit's cheating.
Benoit won the Intercontinental Title a third time in December 2000, but again lost the belt to Chris Jericho, this time in a ladder match at the Royal Rumble. He turned face after the other Radicalz kicked him out of the group. Just a few weeks later, he had an altercation with Kurt Angle over who was the better technical wrestler, and had a match against him at WrestleMania X-Seven. The two had a back-and-forth, highly mat-based match which Angle won by holding Benoit's tights for a pinfall. This started a major feud between the two, during which they had a variety of specialty matches. One was an "ultimate submission" match at Backlash, which Benoit won 4-3 at sudden death overtime. That led to a three falls match at Judgment Day, with one fall being a ladder match with Angle's medals suspended above the ring because Benoit stole them and put them in his pants a few weeks prior. Angle won this encounter due to Edge and Christian's appearance.
In May 2001, Benoit would later team with his old rival, Chris Jericho, to defeat Triple H and WWF Champion Steve Austin in a match for the WWE World Tag Team Championship. The same week, Vince McMahon booked the new champions in a TLC Match on Smackdown! against the masters of the match: Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boyz, and the Dudley Boyz. This was the first TLC match to be shown on network television, and Jericho and Benoit retained the titles. They held them for another month before losing to the Dudley Boyz. Benoit and Angle met again in a now famous steel cage match on RAW in June, which Steve Austin prevented Benoit from winning before attacking him with a chair to weaken him before a triple threat match at King of the Ring for Austin's WWF title.
At King of the Ring, Austin took advantage of the fierce fighting between the two opponents to retain the title. But more significantly, Benoit aggravated a neck injury while delivering a top-rope back suplex. Benoit underwent major neck surgery to repair a ruptured disc which had fragmented into his spinal column. Bone spurs came about after years of aggravation and the usual wear and tear, requiring a spinal fusion. The back suplex mentioned is now shown in the warning video attached to every WWE DVD, along with Benoit saying, "I fractured a disc, which fragmented into my spinal column".
During the first WWE Draft, he was picked by Vince McMahon third to be part of the new SmackDown! roster, although still on the injured list. However, when he returned, he did so as a member of the RAW roster, where he would feud with Steve Austin briefly. He and Eddie Guerrero were then moved to Smackdown during a storyline "open season" on wrestler contracts, with Benoit bringing his newly won Intercontinental championship with him briefly before Rob Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy in a Number 1 Contenders match and returned the title to RAW by beating Benoit at SummerSlam.
After returning to SmackDown! in October, he was crowned the first winner of the WWE Tag Team Championship, alongside foe and partner Kurt Angle after winning a tournament at No Mercy. They both turned face again by betraying Los Guerreros. The two made an impressive combination, but could not stand each other.
Angle won his third WWE Championship from The Big Show at Armageddon, and Benoit faced him for the title at Royal Rumble 2003. Although Benoit lost the match, he received a standing ovation for his efforts after a very exciting match. Benoit joined to the tag team ranks, teaming with the returning Rhyno. At WrestleMania XIX, the WWE Tag Team Champions, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, put their belts on the line against Benoit and his partner Rhyno and Los Guerreros in a triple threat tag team match. Team Angle retained by Shelton Benjamin pinning Chavo Guerrero.
Benoit stayed at the middle of the card for the next few months, feuding with John Cena and the Full Blooded Italians, teaming with Rhyno occasionally. In June 2003, the United States Championship was reactivated, and Benoit participated in the tournament for the belt, first beating Rhyno, then Matt Hardy in the second round, but losing the final to Eddie Guerrero at Vengeance after Rhyno turned on Benoit and Gored him. The two feuded over that title for the next month, and Benoit's popularity ascended to an all-time high. He defeated the likes of A-Train, The Big Show, and Brock Lesnar by submission. General Manager Paul Heyman began a vendetta against Benoit along with Lesnar, preventing him from gaining a shot at Lesnar's WWE Title. When Benoit won a qualifying match for the Royal Rumble against the Full Blooded Italians in a Gauntlet Match, Heyman named him as the number one entry, but Benoit swore victory.
On January 25, 2004, Benoit delivered. He won the 2004 Royal Rumble by last eliminating Big Show, and thus earned a WWE Championship title shot at WrestleMania XX. As a result of the long-standing Royal Rumble tradition that the winner receives a shot at the world champion at WrestleMania. The fact that there were effectively two world champions due to the brand split and because his was contractually prohibited from challenging for the WWE Title (kayfabe) by Paul Heyman, Benoit exploited a "loophole" in the rules and challenged World Heavyweight Champion Triple H instead of the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. This "loophole" clause has become standard storyline practice, with the Royal Rumble winner being free to choose which title he will challenge for.
With this win, Benoit became one of only two men to enter at #1 and win the Royal Rumble (Shawn Michaels being the first) and he set the record for being in a Rumble match the longest at 1:01:34, surpassing Ric Flair's legendary record of 59:26, Shawn Michaels' Rumble win, and narrowly surpassing Bob Backlund's record of slightly over an hour (1:01:10). However, this record would be surpassed by Rey Mysterio two years later at the Royal Rumble 2006 (Mysterio entered at #2 and lasted 62 minutes.)
Though the match was originally intended to be a one-on-one match, Shawn Michaels, whose Last Man Standing match against Triple H at the Royal Rumble for the World Heavyweight Championship ended in a draw, thought that he deserved to be in the main event. When it was time for Benoit to sign the contract putting himself in the main event, Michaels superkicked him and signed his name on the contract, which eventually resulted in a Triple Threat Match between Michaels, Benoit, and then champion Triple H.
Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero celebrate after Benoit won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XX.On March 14, 2004, at WrestleMania XX, in what is considered by many to be one of the most memorable moments in WWE history, Chris Benoit won the World Heavyweight Championship by forcing Triple H to tap out to his devastating signature submission move, the Crippler Crossface. It marked the first time the main event of a WrestleMania ended in submission (It happened again at WM 22). After the match, an emotional Benoit celebrated his win with his good friend Eddie Guerrero, the then reigning WWE Champion. The two of them came to WWE together and on that day, they were standing in the ring at Madison Square Garden, both of them world champions (this moment was considered significant because many felt that both men were once "too small" to be world champions). It is considered as the biggest win of Benoit's 19 year career, as he won his first official World Championship in the main event of the biggest show of the year (it would, in fact, be voted the 2004 PWI Match of the Year, only the sixth WrestleMania main event to receive this honor).
This was Benoit's first official WWE World title win - he had "won" the WWF Title on two occasions, once at Fully Loaded and once at Unforgiven 2000. However, both times the decision was over-ruled. This was Benoit's second World Heavyweight Title reign in any promotion after a series of controversially reversed decisions in both WWE and WCW. The triple threat was hailed by many fans as one of the year's best matches. The rematch - which was billed as a "Final Encounter" by Eric Bischoff - was held at Backlash in Benoit's hometown of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. At one point in the match, with the referee knocked out, Earl Hebner ran in to call the match while Michaels had Benoit in a sharpshooter, a clear reference to the Montreal Screwjob. However, it was Michaels who ended up submitting to Benoit's sharpshooter, allowing Benoit to retain his title, once again proving he was worthy of the main event. The next night in Calgary, he and Edge won the World Tag Team titles from Batista and Ric Flair, making Benoit a double champion.
On August 15, 2004, Chris Benoit was defeated by Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam. His reign lasted 5 months, and he gained 7 straight pay-per-view victories. Benoit then feuded with Edge leading to Taboo Tuesday where Chris Benoit, Edge, and Shawn Michaels were all put into a poll to see who would face Triple H. for the World Heavyweight Title that night. Michaels received the most votes and as a result, Edge and Benoit were forced to team up to face the then tag team champions, La Resistance, in the same night. However, Edge didn't show up for the match and Benoit was forced to take on both members of La Resistance by himself. He still managed to win the World Tag Team titles despite Edge's absense. At the 2004 Survivor Series, Benoit sided with Randy Orton's team while Edge teamed with Triple H's team, and while Edge was able to pin Benoit after a Pedigree, Orton's team won. This lead to various wrestling matches, as well as a steel cage and triple threat, also with Triple H.
The feud between Chris Benoit and Edge came to a strong point at New Years Revolution, as both displayed a valiant effort to try to win the World title they vacated themselves. The feud stopped abruptly, as Edge feuded with Shawn Michaels, and Benoit entered the Royal Rumble. The two then continued to have matches in the following weeks until the two of them, Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, Kane, and Christian were placed in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21. Edge won the match by knocking Benoit off the ladder. The feud finally culminated in a Last Man Standing Match at Backlash. Edge won with a brick shot to the back of Benoit's head.
On June 9, 2005, Benoit returned to SmackDown! after being the first man selected by the Smackdown side in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery, and participated in an ECW-style revolution against the SmackDown! heels. Benoit appeared at ECW One Night Stand, defeating Eddie Guerrero, and at the end of the night he delivered a flying headbutt to his former WCW boss and former RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff.
On July 24, 2005 at The Great American Bash in Buffalo, New York, Benoit failed to win the WWE United States Championship from Orlando Jordan, but he faced him in a rematch at SummerSlam 2005. Benoit defeated Jordan in 25 seconds with the Crippler Crossface to win the title. On the next two editions of SmackDown!, Benoit defeated Jordan by submission in 23.4 seconds and 22.5 seconds. Two weeks later, Benoit defeated Jordan by submission in 49.8 seconds. Benoit then started wrestling Booker T in some friendly competitions, but it was all a ploy, as Booker and his wife, Sharmell, cheated Benoit out of the US title on an episode of Smackdown!.
Chris Benoit appeared on RAW on November 14, 2005 for Guerrero's tribute show hosted by both RAW and SmackDown! superstars. Benoit was devastated at the loss of his best friend and was very emotional during a series of video testimonials, where he said that he loved Eddie and will never forget him, eventually breaking down on camera. The same week on SmackDown! (taped on the same night as Raw), Benoit defeated Triple H in a tribute match to his fallen friend. Following the contest, Benoit, Helmsley, and Dean Malenko all assembled in the ring and pointed to the sky in salute of Guerrero.
After controversy surrounding a US title defense against Booker T, Theodore Long set up a "Best of Seven" series between the two. Booker T won three times in a row, due largely to his wife's interference, and Chris Benoit faced elimination in the series. Benoit won the fourth match at Armageddon to stay alive, but Booker then suffered a legitimate groin injury. Randy Orton was chosen as a stand-in, and Benoit defeated Orton twice by disqualification. However, in the 7th and final match, Orton defeated Benoit with the help of Booker T, Sharmell, and Orlando Jordan, and Booker T captured the US title. Benoit feuded with a Booker-assisted Orton, but Benoit was given one last chance at the US title at No Way Out. He won the title by making Booker submit to the Crippler Crossface, ending the feud.
The next week, Benoit accidentally but legitimately broke John Bradshaw Layfield's hand, which was parlayed into a feud, leading to a match between them at WrestleMania 22 for the U.S. title. JBL won the match and the title with an illegal cradle. Benoit used his rematch clause a week later in a steel cage match on SmackDown!, but JBL again won with duplicity.
Benoit entered the 2006 King Of The Ring tournament only to be defeated by Finlay in the opening round. At Judgment Day 2006 Benoit gained some revenge by defeating Finlay with the Crippler Crossface in a very physical grudge match. On the May 26, 2006 edition of Smackdown!, Mark Henry attacked Benoit during a match, giving him a kayfabe back and rib injury. Benoit then announced a sabbatical to heal nagging shoulder injuries.
He is scheduled to return to action this weekend at Smackdown's Pay-Per-View, No Mercy against M.V.P who makes his debut.
[edit]
Wrestling facts
Finishing and signature moves
As Chris Benoit
Crippler Crossface (Crossface hold with an armbar)
Sharpshooter
Diving headbutt
Dragon suplex (1995-1996)
Rolling German suplexes
Three Amigos (Combination three vertical suplexes)
Snap suplex
German suplex
Backhand chop
High angle belly to back suplex
Powerbomb
Gutwrench suplex
Northern Lights suplex
Lariat
Forearm tackle
Superplex
Muta lock
Suicide dive/Topé
Elevated Boston crab
As Pegasus Kid and Wild Pegasus
Pegasus Piledriver (Second rope tombstone piledriver)
Top rope gutwrench suplex
Top rope diving leg drop
Front dropkick
Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker
Superbomb
Springboard clothesline/forearm smash
Signature Double Team moves
Double submission
Crippler Crossface and Walls of Jericho (with Chris Jericho)
Crippler Crossface and Ankle Lock (with Kurt Angle)
Crippler Crossface and Texas Cloverleaf (with Dean Malenko)
Diving Headbutt while a chair is placed on an opponent's head (with Dean Malenko and Arn Anderson)
Nicknames
The Crippler
The Most Respected Athlete in the WWE
The Canadian Crippler
The Rabid Wolverine
Wild Pegasus
Managers and valets
Arn Anderson
Woman
Shane McMahon
Shane Douglas
Signature taunts
Throat slash; Benoit slowly takes his thumb, and intensely makes a slashing motion across his throat, usually followed by the diving headbutt or Crippler Crossface.
Cutting the air; as an alternative to the throat slash, he takes his arms, and makes an "X" in the air, then goes to the top turnbuckle.
Rubbing his hands together; Paul Heyman promoted Benoit as having "ice water running through his veins", and Joey Styles quipped that he "kept warm by rubbing his hand together". This was usually followed by locking them together to symbolize the end of an opponent.
Blowing snot onto his opponent, then ascending to the top turnbuckle.
Pound the chest; as a tribute to Eddie Guerrero, Benoit will perform the Three Amigos, then, like his regular taunt to cut the throat, he looks around, and slaps his chest with one hand like Guerrero did, usually resulting in an "Eddie" chant.
Theme Music
Benoit started out with a more contemporary version of Dynamite Kids old theme song in Japan.
During his ECW tenure, Benoit used the song "Back In The Saddle" by Aerosmith as his theme music
In WWE he was given a more generic theme song entitled "Shooter", which is a more intimidating version of his Japanese theme.
In 2002, the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace performed a version of "Shooter" with lyrics entitled "Whatever". This song is still used by Benoit today.
[edit]
Personal life
Benoit idolized the Dynamite Kid growing up, and stylized himself after him. When he began wrestling, he wrestled as "Dynamite" Chris Benoit, as a tribute to the Kid. He also began using the Diving Headbutt and the Snap Suplex, some of the Kid's trademark moves. He started weight-lifting to imitate the look of his idol, and when he met him, Benoit's biceps impressed Dynamite.
When he was in WCW, Benoit was booked to have an affair with rival Kevin Sullivan's wife Woman, aka Nancy Daus. The feud was booked to look as real as possible, and soon became reality. Nancy left Sullivan and the company in 1997. Sullivan used his booking power to get revenge on Benoit, burying him at all turns. This eventually led to The Radicalz leaving WCW for WWF in early 2000 when Sullivan was given full control of the company. He had his first child with Nancy Daus-Sullivan together on February 25, 2000, a son named Daniel Christopher Benoit. Benoit has a son, David, and a daughter, Megan from his ex-wife.
Benoit's lost tooth is usually credited to training or an accident early on in his wrestling career. It actually resulted from an accident involving his pet Rottweiler. One day, Benoit was struck with the top of the Rottweiler's head beneath his chin, and his tooth "popped out".
Although Benoit had been previously introduced as hailing from Edmonton, Alberta, WWE decided in 2003 that he was to be billed from Atlanta, Georgia, as Benoit had been living there since his time in WCW. The rationale was that American fans would be more likely to get behind him if he were perceived to be American (the same happened to Chris Jericho when they started introducing him as "born in Manhasset, New York").
Benoit had met his best friend, Eddie Guerrero, in a match in Japan, when he utilized an Enziguri kick, and knocked him out cold, thus starting a friendship lasting until Eddie's death.
In the book, The Rise and Fall of ECW, Paul Heyman spoke very highly of Benoit's abilities in the ring, and had plans on making Benoit the long term ECW Champion, but Benoit left before it could happen.
[edit]
Championships and accomplishments
Extreme Championship Wrestling
1-time ECW World Tag Team Champion (with Dean Malenko)
New Japan Pro Wrestling
1-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion
Stampede Wrestling
4-time British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Champion
4-time Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Champion (1-time with Ben Bassarab, 1-time with Keith Hart, 1-time with Lance Idol, 1-time with Biff Wellington)
World Championship Wrestling
1-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion
2-time WCW United States Champion
3-time WCW World Television Champion
2-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (1-time with Dean Malenko and 1-time with Perry Saturn)
WCW Triple Crown Champion
WCW Grand Slam Champion
World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment
1-time World Heavyweight Champion
4-time WWF/E Intercontinental Champion
2-time WWE United States Champion
3-time WWF/E World Tag Team Champion (1-time with Chris Jericho and 2-time with Edge)
1-time WWE Tag Team Champion (with Kurt Angle)
2004 Royal Rumble winner (one of only two wrestlers, along with Shawn Michaels, to enter at #1 and win)
Thirteenth Triple Crown Champion
Other Titles
1993 Top of the Super Junior tournament
1994 Super J Cup tournament
1995 Best of the Super Junior tournament
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
He is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 2003)
1994 Best Technical Wrestler
5 Star Match: vs. Great Sasuke (Super J Cup '94, New Japan Pro Wrestling)
1995 Best Technical Wrestler
1998 Most Underrated Wrestler
2000 Most Outstanding Wrestler
2000 Best Technical Wrestler
2002 Match of the Year (with Kurt Angle vs Edge and Rey Mysterio)
2003 Best Technical Wrestler
2004 Most Outstanding Wrestler
2004 Feud of the Year (vs Triple H and Shawn Michaels)
2004 Best Technical Wrestler
2004 Best Brawler
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI ranked him # 69 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
2004 PWI Wrestler of the Year (won with a PWI record of 72% by voters)
2004 Feud of the Year (vs. Triple H)
2004 Match of the Year (vs. Shawn Michaels and Triple H)
PWI ranked him # 1 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of 2004.
[edit]
Records
Chris Benoit is the first person to retain the World Heavyweight Championship belt in an Iron Man Match, as he successfully defended the title against Triple H on the July 26, 2004 edition of RAW. Shawn Michaels won the WWF World Championship at WrestleMania 12 in an Iron Man Match against Bret Hart, Brock Lesnar won the WWE Title from Kurt Angle in an Iron Man Match in September 2003, and Triple H won the WWF Championship from The Rock in an Iron Man Match in May 2000, at Judgment Day.
Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle were the first WWE Tag Team Champions on WWE SmackDown!
Chris Benoit became the second person to win the Royal Rumble match with the #1 draw. The first was Shawn Michaels in 1995. Chris Benoit won the Royal Rumble match in 2004, by eliminating Big Show last.
Chris Benoit is the third shortest, and third lightest WWE World Heavyweight Champion ever, behind Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio, at a billed height of 5 ft 10 in, and a billed weight of 234 pounds (100 kg.)
Chris Benoit had the record for staying in a Royal Rumble the longest time, up to the 2006 Royal Rumble match. In the Royal Rumble 2004 (which he won), he stayed in there for 61:34, surpassed by Rey Mysterio's 62:15.
Chris Benoit won the WWE United States Championship in 25.5 seconds, the shortest match held for that title that resulted in the championship changing owners. He also holds the record for quickest title defense, which was 22.5 seconds.
Dave Meltzer has named him the Year's Best Technical Wrestler five times, more than anyone else. The years were 1994, 1995, 2000, 2003, and 2004.
While in WWE, Dave Meltzer rated six of his matches 4 3/4 stars. Benoit also has the highest amount of 4 3/4 star matches for one person in the country.
[edit]
References
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Chris BenoitNews story on Benoit's return at 411Mania.com
News story on Benoit's appearances at PWInsider.com
Card for 10/21 SD! brand show in Manila, Philippines (subject to change)
Card for 10/22 SD! brand show in Manila (subject to change)
[edit]
External links
WWE profile
OWW Profile
SLAM wrestling biography
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Benoit"
Categories: 1967 births | Alberta sportspeople | Canadian professional wrestlers | Dungeon graduates | Extreme Championship Wrestling alumni | French Quebecers | Living people | People from Edmonton | People from Montreal | Quebec sportspeople | Stampede Wrestling alumni | The Four Horsemen | World Championship Wrestling alumni
ViewsArticle Discussion Edit this page History Personal toolsSign in / create account Navigation
Main Page
Community Portal
Featured articles
Current events
Recent changes
Random article
Help
Contact Wikipedia
Donations
Search
Toolbox
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Printable version
Permanent link
Cite this article
In other languages
Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
עברית
日本語
Norsk (bokmål)
Português
Svenska
This page was last modified 06:44, 5 October 2006. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
Orlando Mason Jordan (born July 10, 1978 in Salem, New Jersey) is a professional wrestler who is currently working for TNT Pro Wrestling but is best known for working for World Wrestling Entertainment on its SmackDown! brand. He was famous for being a skilled amateur boxer and amateur wrestler in his own home-state at Florida.
Contents [hide]
1 World Wrestling Entertainment
2 In wrestling
3 Championships and accomplishments
3.1 Pro wrestling accomplishments
3.2 Amateur wrestling accomplishments
4 Title lineage
5 Trivia
6 External links
[edit]
World Wrestling Entertainment
Jordan made his WWE TV debut on the May 31, 2003 episode of Velocity defeating Jamie Noble. On June 26, 2003, Jordan made his first SmackDown! appearance as a face at Madison Square Garden against heel John Cena. Although he did not win the match he was impressive enough that when Cena attacked Jordan after the match was over The Undertaker came to the ring and helped Jordan to his feet. Taker took time to shake Jordan's hand and congratulate him on a good effort; the ultimate sign of respect for a WWE rookie.
Later he would turn heel by joining JBLs Cabinet as his "Chief of Staff".
Jordan and fellow cabinet members (co-Secretaries of Defense) Bashams were one of the main reasons JBL managed to keep his title for nearly 10 months, though after WrestleMania 21, JBL stated that his Cabinet had been holding him back, which caused the departure of the Bashams.
On a SmackDown! episode which aired on March 3, 2005 from the Pepsi Arena in Albany, NY, Orlando Jordan defeated John Cena with the help of JBL to win the WWE United States Championship. He successfully defended his title against Heidenreich in his first pay-per-view defense at Judgment Day 2005 on May 22, 2005.
For a brief time, Orlando Jordan was the top champion on the SmackDown! brand due to the fact that the WWE Champion at the time, John Cena, was drafted to the RAW brand. This, however, was never acknowledged. Orlando Jordan and the United States Title remained on SmackDown!'s secondary program WWE Velocity and although he was the top champion he never got a main event push even though it would have only been for an extremely brief period of time. SmackDown! soon got the World Heavyweight Championship and it's holder, Batista.
At The Great American Bash 2005, Jordan started his biggest feud against Chris Benoit. Orlando Jordan defeated Benoit and retained his United States Championship after removing the turnbuckle pad and shoving Benoit head-first into the exposed steel and covered him for the win.
Feeling cheated, Benoit continued to chase Jordan for the title. He finally defeated Jordan (in 25 seconds) at SummerSlam 2005 to win the title. Following this quick match Jordan attempted to win his title back on multiple occasions, leading to 3 consecutive losses, with all matches lasting less than a minute.
The first match lasted 23.4 seconds. The second match, Jordan actually almost knocked out Benoit with a punch but still lost at 22.5 seconds, faster than the first. The third match Jordan stalled until the time (being displayed on the TitanTron) went over 25 seconds. He got so excited when his time went over 30 seconds that he dropped his guard and Benoit took the opportunity to lock on the Crossface for a win at the 49.8 second mark. After losing the US Title, Jordan broke away from JBL, and was hardly seen on TV.
When Booker T got injured half-way through his Best of Seven series for the United States title, he needed a replacement to face Chris Benoit. As the series was at 3-1 to Booker, Booker T only needed his replacement to win one match in order to become the United States Champion, Orlando approached him about the position but Booker T and his wife Sharmell laughed in Orlando's face and made jokes about Orlando's quick tap outs to Benoit.
Booker would instead ask Randy Orton to substitute for him. Orton, however, would fail to win the deciding match leading Orlando Jordan to once again ask for the position the next week. Booker T and his wife laughed at him and turned him down once again though. During the sixth match in the series Orlando Jordan jumped the rail, grabbed Booker T's crutch and hit Chris Benoit for a DQ finish and Chris Benoit was announced as the winner, tying the Best of Seven Series at 3-3. (Orlando Jordan in fact botched the finish and accidentally hit Orton first but it was edited out of the show.) The next week Orlando Jordan ran to ringside to prevent Booker T winning the Championship but was unable to prevent Randy Orton to eventually beating Chris Benoit and winning the series for Booker T.
WWE was attempting to push Orlando as a face, but when the fans failed to get behind him, he remained heel and his push was dropped after he was easily defeated by The Boogeyman on February 17, 2006 edition of SmackDown!.
It was widely reported that WWE intended to repackage Orlando with a bisexual gimmick involved in a "love triangle". He was to be given a female valet named "Tampa" (to be played by OVW's Trinity) and a man named Eric was to be brought in as the third person. However, the idea was dropped and Jordan remained on Velocity defeating jobbers.
Orlando made his final SmackDown! appearance on the May 5, 2006 edition of SmackDown! in a backstage segment telling Nunzio that he had seen someone who looked an awful lot like his partner Vito dressed in drag at a night club during the recent UK tour.
His final WWE appearance was a loss to Gunner Scott on the May 13 edition of Velocity.
Jordan was released from WWE on May 26, 2006.
[edit]
In wrestling
Finishing and signature moves
Fameasser (Leg drop bulldog)
Black Out (Reverse STO)
Black Ice (Double knee backbreaker)
Johnson Shuffle (Punching combination)
Last Call (Fallaway slam)
Orlando Magic (Swinging neckbreaker)
Reverse Twist of Fate
Running powerslam
Shoulder jawbreaker
Spinebuster
Top-rope flying cross-body
Missile dropkick
Nicknames
"The Policy"
"Secretary of State"
"Chief of Staff"
[edit]
Championships and accomplishments
[edit]
Pro wrestling accomplishments
Maryland Championship Wrestling
2-time MCW Heavyweight Champion
World Wrestling Entertainment
1-time WWE United States Champion
[edit]
Amateur wrestling accomplishments
2-time National Wrestling Champion
2-time All-American Wrestling Champion
3-time Central Region (Richmond, VA) Wrestling Champion
1-time Virginia Commonwealth Games Freestyle Wrestling Champion
1-time Virginia State Wrestling Champion (AAA)
[edit]
Title lineage
WWE United States Championship
Preceded by:
John Cena First Succeeded by :
Chris Benoit
MCW Heavyweight Championship
Preceded by:
Jerry "The King" Lawler First Succeeded by :
The Bruiser
Preceded by:
The Bruiser Second Succeeded by :
The Bruiser
[edit]
Trivia
Jordan's WWE theme song was "Do It Big" by Silkk Tha Shocker.
Orlando Jordan stands as the longest reigning United States Champion in the title's WWE history and the longest reigning US Champ in 11 years.
Orlando Jordan was once substitute WWE Champion. On an episode of SmackDown! during his time in The Cabinet, JBL was ordered to defend the title. However he was injured at the time. Because of this, he had OJ defend it as a substitute.
Jordan is bi-sexual, something which the WWE was going to bring into the storylines, before his release. However, when Jordan was released, these storylines were dropped.
[edit]
External links
Official MySpace page
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_Jordan"
Categories: 1978 births | American professional wrestlers | Living people | People from Florida
ViewsArticle Discussion Edit this page History Personal toolsSign in / create account Navigation
Main Page
Community Portal
Featured articles
Current events
Recent changes
Random article
Help
Contact Wikipedia
Donations
Search
Toolbox
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Printable version
Permanent link
Cite this article
In other languages
Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
日本語
Português
Suomi
Tagalog
This page was last modified 02:52, 30 September 2006. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
hope this helps
2006-10-07 17:37:05
·
answer #10
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
4⤋