Posted By admin on May 6, 2009

History and Biography of Randy Orton

Date of Birth: 1 April 1980, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

Birth Name: Randall Keith Orton

Son of legendary wrestler: Cowboy Bob Orton

Nickname: The Legend Killer
The Man of Destiny
Dream Killer

Height: 6′ 5¼” (1.96 m)

Pro debut: 2000

Debut: March 18, 2002

Weight: 245 pounds (111 kg)

Trained by: “Cowboy” Bob Orton,Jr.

Finishing move: RKO

Associates: Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes

Mini Biography:

Career Highlights: WWE Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, Intercontinental Champion, World Tag Team Champion and 2009 Royal Rumble winner.

About Randy Orton: Randal”Randy” Keith Orton was born on April 1, 1980 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Grandson of all time great wrestlers Bob Orton Sr. and son of “Cowboy” Bob Orton, Randy continue the Legacy of his family in wrestling profession. Randy is the eldest of his two brothers – Becky and Nathan. Randy has completed his graduation from Hazelwood Central High School in 1998. Later he joined the Unite States Marine Corps. After a year he was put into military prison for 38 days for disobeying his commanding officer. Orton gets training from his father “Cowboy” Bob Orton. Randy made his debut in WWE in 2001. Randy is the youngest to become “World Heavyweight Champion” at age of 24. He has also won World Tag Team Championship teaming up with Edge. This Legend Killer is also winner of 2009 Royal Rumble. Randy was the Ex-Member of group Evolution which consists of Triple H, Ric Flair and Dave Batista. On April 26, 2009, Orton teamed up with Ted DiBiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes to defeat Triple H, Batista and Shane McMahon at the 2009 Backlash pay-per-view.

Biography:

Randall Keith “Randy” Orton (born April 1, 1980 in Knoxville, Tennessee), is an American third-generation professional wrestler currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment’s SmackDown! brand.

Orton comes from a family of professional wrestlers starting from his grandfather Bob Orton, Sr. His uncle Barry O was also a former wrestler. After graduating from Hazelwood Central High School he was trained by his father, “Cowboy” Bob Orton, and made his professional wrestling debut in 2000 with the MMWA-SICW in his hometown of Saint Louis, Missouri, and had a match with another St. Louis group, Central Championship Wrestling, with O.G. Stevie B. Not long after, he signed a developmental deal with WWE and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling. He debuted on WWE programming in April 2002.

Career

Orton trained at Ohio Valley Wrestling in Louisville, until he was brought up to the main roster. He made little impact as a face on SmackDown! before being drafted to RAW, where he became a heel.

Orton’s heel turn was drawn out over several months. While sidelined with a separated shoulder, Orton launched the “Randy News Network”, a weekly vignette which featured Orton explaining the current status of his shoulder. He also provided an e-mail address by which fans could contact him to express their support (GetWellRandy@wwe.com). His smug, self-centred attitude gradually turned the fans against him.

Upon his return on January 20, 2003, Orton helped Triple H, Ric Flair and Batista beat down Scott Steiner, a rival of Triple H’s. Triple H later called the foursome Evolution. At this point Orton was given the gimmick of The Legend Killer which saw him defeating or humiliating legendary wrestlers and personalities. Orton gained infamy when he spat in the faces of wrestling legends Mick Foley and Harley Race. At Unforgiven 2003 on September 21, Orton defeated Shawn Michaels with the help of Ric Flair.

Orton went on to defeat Rob Van Dam for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Armageddon 2003 on December 14. He became one of the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champions of recent years, holding the title for seven months.

World Heavyweight Champion

On the July 26, 2004 episode of Raw, Orton won a 20-man battle royal to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. On August 15, 2004 at SummerSlam 2004, Orton defeated the World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit by pinfall following an R.K.O. to capture his first World Heavyweight Championship, making him the youngest ever World Heavyweight Champion in the WWE at the age of twenty-four. After the match, Orton and Benoit shook hands in which Benoit encouraged Orton to “Be A Man.” The match was held in Toronto, Ontario at the Air Canada Centre.

Orton was kicked out of Evolution the night after winning the World Heavyweight Championship, which the group’s leader, Triple H, believed belonged to him. Orton became a face, and Triple H began feuding with him over the title. Just under a month later on September 12, Orton lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Triple H at Unforgiven 2004. His short reign as World Heavyweight Champion was largely regarded as a dismal failure, in part due to his unwanted and sudden rise to main event status but largely because his face turn was not well received by the majority of the WWE audience, especially as Chris Benoit had clearly been a popular World Heavyweight Champion. Backstage politics by Triple H were also rumoured to have played a part in his short run as champion.

Orton vs Evolution

After being kicked out of Evolution the night after winning the World Heavyweight title, Orton began a lengthy feud with Triple H over the title. Towards the end of October, Orton was in a match where if he lost, he would not be allowed a shot at the title as long as Triple H was the champion, so when Orton was one of the one-night-only General Managers of RAW, he tried to make sure Triple H lost the title, by putting the belt on the line in a Battle Royal.

Orton, along with Maven, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, emerged victorious at Survivor Series 2004 in a match which entitled the winners to each be General Manager for one of the four weeks following the event. On the November 29, 2004, episode of RAW, Orton booked a Battle Royal for the World Heavyweight Championship. However, Vince McMahon overruled Orton, changing the Battle Royal to a number one contender match. Orton also gave Eugene and William Regal a match for the WWE World Tag-Team Championships against La Résistance, and scheduled a lingerie contest between several RAW Divas.

After the World Heavyweight Championship was vacated, Orton was chosen to face Triple H, Chris Benoit, Edge, Batista and Chris Jericho in an Elimination Chamber match at New Year’s Revolution to determine a new champion. Triple H managed to win the match, thus keeping their feud active for a longer period of time. He was later unsuccessful in his attempt to win back the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H at the 2005 Royal Rumble.

The Legend Killer

After Batista’s push began, Orton was marginalized. He began an onscreen relationship with Stacy Keibler and briefly feuded with Christian. After “Superstar” Billy Graham advised Orton to “go where no wrestler has gone before”, Orton challenged veteran SmackDown! wrestler The Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania 21, making the ambitious claim that he would defeat The Undertaker, thus ending Undertaker’s undefeated WrestleMania streak.

This feud saw Orton hitting the R.K.O. on Jake “The Snake” Roberts, who had warned him not to “bite off more than he could chew” by facing The Undertaker. Just two weeks before WrestleMania, Orton cemented his heel status by knocking Stacy out cold with the R.K.O. He went on to slap The Undertaker and assault him following a distraction by his father, Cowboy Bob Orton. Despite interference from his father, Orton was defeated by The Undertaker at WrestleMania 21 after he attempted a Tombstone Piledriver, but was off-balance, enabling The Undertaker to reverse the move into his own Tombstone Piledriver for the pinfall victory.

In storyline terms, a match with Batista the night after WrestleMania aggravated Orton’s shoulder problems stemming from the previous night (in real life he was sidelined for several months while recuperating from his third genuine shoulder injury). The following week, WWE showed footage of Orton undergoing shoulder surgery in a hospital, where he sent Batista a message. Stacy Keibler, watching along with some other RAW divas, stated “Orton got what he deserved.” He made an appearance on RAW on May 16 to talk about he was going to stay on RAW to get revenge on Batista and take his world title during the draft lottery and got in a confrontation with Vince McMahon. While Orton claimed that he could not be drafted to SmackDown! because he’s on the injured list, Vince McMahon cleared the air for Orton by saying “Even those on the injured list are not immune to the draft.”

Orton returned on the June 16, 2005 edition of SmackDown!, attacking The Undertaker and announcing that he had been drafted back to SmackDown! as the second pick in the 2005 draft lottery. On August 4, he challenged The Undertaker to a WrestleMania rematch at SummerSlam, and his challenge was accepted. Orton won his first two matches following his injury, defeating Kamala (with Kim Chee) and Chris Benoit in consecutive weeks, and went on to defeat The Undertaker at SummerSlam following interference from his father. As a result of his wins, Orton became increasingly self-confident, and announced that he was creating a retirement fund for The Undertaker, who was “dead and buried.” However, The Undertaker returned on the first episode of Friday Night SmackDown!, setting the check alight with a mysterious bolt of lightning.

On the September 15 episode of SmackDown!, Orton and The Undertaker fought for a third time. Before the match, Orton and his father attempted to shock The Undertaker by placing a casket in the ring with an effigy of The Undertaker inside. Despite the psychological attack, Orton lost the subsequent match. The following week, the Ortons brought another casket to the ring, containing what was purportedly the Undertaker mannequin from last week. However, while the Ortons cut a promo on the mannequin and claimed to have defeated The Undertaker mentally, if not physically, the mannequin (revealing itself to be The Undertaker in the flesh) caught Orton by the throat and threw him into the coffin. As a result of the events of previous weeks, the Ortons were scheduled to face The Undertaker in a handicap casket match at No Mercy on October 9.

On October 3 edition of WWE Homecoming, Randy and his father appeared and interrupted “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Mick Foley during Piper’s Pit, this caused a confrontation between Randy and Piper who brawled causing Foley and Bob to intervene between the two which ended with Bob fighting Foley. The segment ended with Randy giving the R.K.O. to Piper and inevitably adding “Rowdy” Roddy Piper to the list of legends killed. This later set up a match between Piper and Randy for October 7 edition of SmackDown!, 2 days before the Ortons faced The Undertaker at No Mercy.

Before meeting The Undertaker however, The Ortons would deal with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper when Piper showed up on SmackDown!, and was clearly unhappy with getting RKO’ed by Randy. The two Ortons challenged Piper to a handicap match in which Piper won due to Undertaker’s distraction. While The Undertaker was on the titan tron, four mysterious and dark dressed men approached the ring with a casket in which The Undertaker urged them to take a look inside. When the Ortons did, they were shocked to find two lifelike dummies of themselves resting in peace inside the casket.

At No Mercy, Randy and his father “Cowboy” Bob Orton managed to beat The Undertaker in their first ever casket match, thanks to Bob Orton blinding Undertaker with a fire extinguisher followed by a chair shot from Randy Orton. In an attempt to prove that he is a bonafide Legend Killer, Randy Orton attacked the casket with an axe before setting it alight while believing that The Undertaker was still inside the casket. However, when the flames died down and the casket was opened, Randy and Bob were shocked to find The Undertaker wasn’t there.

On the October 14 edition of SmackDown!, Orton fought Eddie Guerrero to determine the Number One Contender to Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship. As Guerrero climbed up to the top rope for his finisher Frog Splash, Bob Orton pushed Guerrero off the turnbuckles and into the ring. As a result of this, Guerrero was declared the winner via DQ.

Orton was scheduled for a Triple Threat match against Eddie Guerrero and Batista on the November 18 edition of Friday Night Smackdown, where the World Heavyweight Championship would be up for grabs. It was predicted that Batista would drop the title to Guerrero because of having to take time away from the ring for injuries. However, after the unexpected passing away of Guerrero, it was unknown what would happen concering the Championship.

The expected Buried alive match between Orton and The Undertaker was called off allowing Orton to take Eddie’s place to join Team SmackDown to face Team Raw at Survivor Series.

On the November 25 edition of Smackdown! it was announced that Orton would face Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship in a No Holds Barred match. With Batista’s future as Champion still unclear because of an injury, it was rumoured Orton may have won the title. The match though ended as a no contest as the Raw roster invaded Smackdown within minutes of the match starting.

At Survivor Series, Orton was once again the sole survivor for the 3rd year in a row as Team Smackdown! defeated Team RAW in a classic Survivor Series match. His victory was however short lived as a returning Undertaker came down and made Orton run out of the ring.

On a special live edition of Smackdown on November 29, Orton gave The Undertaker an RKO, hit him with a crowbar and draped him over the trunk of one of Eddie Guerrero’s lowriders that Rey Mysterio had driven to the ring in honour of Eddie. Orton then started the car and reversed it into the Smackdown set, causing the car and, supposedly, The Undertaker, to catch fire. This angle has already attracted a large number of complaints from fans saying that this was a slap to the face of Eddie Guerrero’s legacy just two weeks after his death.

On the December 2 edition of Smackdown, The Undertaker started playing his usual tricks on Orton, including a casket and striking lightning near Orton whenever he tried to escape from the ring. The feud was finally settled with a Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon, where The Undertaker offered to retire if he lost. On December 16, The Undertaker entered the ring to deliver a promo while one of his druids appeared to be standing in the ring. The Undertaker sustained an RKO from Orton in a surprise attack. The druid revealed himself to be Orton’s father, who gave Orton the Undertaker’s urn, which, according to the storyline, allowed whomever held it to control The Undertaker. The Undertaker, however, beat both Ortons in a Hell in a Cell match, which ended their nine-month-long feud with The Undertaker.

Following Armageddon, Orton entered the January 2006 Royal Rumble as the thirtieth wrestler to enter the match, but he was eliminated by Rey Mysterio. Mysterio won the match and a title shot, and Orton urged him to put the title shot at stake in a match at No Way Out. In the weeks preceding No Way Out, Orton made disparaging remarks about Eddie Guerrero, Mysterio’s friend, in an attempt to gain heel heat. Guerrero’s death had occurred only months previously, and many fans felt the comments were unwarranted and highly distasteful. Orton won at No Way Out, earning Mysterio’s title shot for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 22. General Manager Theodore Long re-added Mysterio to the WrestleMania 22 title match, however, making it a Triple Threat match between Orton, Mysterio, and then-champion, Kurt Angle. On April 2, at WrestleMania 22, Orton was pinned by Mysterio, making Mysterio the World Heavyweight Champion and ending their on-screen rivalry.

On April 4, 2006, Orton was suspended for sixty days for “unprofessional conduct.” In an interview, Orton stated, “my conduct was unbecoming of a champion, which is what I will be again when I return”. To cover for the suspension, a faked injury was devised, where Kurt Angle broke Orton’s ankle during a grudge match. In July, Orton said his suspension resulted from smoking marijuana backstage. Orton returned from his suspension in June to the Raw brand, where he engaged in a storyline feud with Hulk Hogan. Orton began cutting promos insulting the aging Hogan and flirted with Hogan’s eighteen-year-old daughter Brooke. At SummerSlam, the two met in a “Legend vs. Legend Killer” match, which Hogan won.

Rated-RKO and the Age of Orton

After the newly reformed D-Generation X (DX) (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) cost Edge the WWE Championship numerous times, Edge approached Orton and asked him to join forces to defeat the team. Orton, whose championship reign had been ended by Triple H in 2004, agreed, forming the tag team Rated-RKO. The two became the first to defeat DX since their reunion and quickly dominated the Raw brand’s tag team division to become tag team champions. As part of the angle, Rated-RKO attacked Ric Flair with steel chairs to enrage DX on November 27. At New Year’s Revolution, Rated-RKO faced DX in a title defense, but the match was declared a no-contest when Triple H suffered a legitimate injury during the match.

With Triple H out of action, Rated-RKO continued their on-screen rivalry with remaining DX member Shawn Michaels. Michaels teamed with John Cena to defeat Rated-RKO for the tag team championship on January 29. Orton and Edge suffered a series of losses to Cena and Michaels in the following months, building hatred towards one another. Edge and Orton also became rivals in their goals of achieving the WWE Championship. Neither Edge nor Orton won the Championship, and they lost their claims as number one contenders after a failed match with Cena at Backlash. Orton then continued his “Legend Killer” persona, attacking Shawn Michaels. Using frequent attacks to the head, including an elevated DDT and a running punt to the face, Orton defeated Michaels at Judgment Day. When the kayfabe wounded and concussed Michaels collapsed in the ring, the referee was forced to stop the match and award Orton the victory. Orton continued his attacks when he engaged himself in feuds with Rob Van Dam, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, and Sgt. Slaughter.

On the July 23 episode of Raw, Orton was named as the number one contender at SummerSlam for John Cena’s WWE Championship Weeks before their scheduled bout at SummerSlam, Orton attacked Cena on three separate occasions by performing RKOs on him. At SummerSlam, Orton lost the title match to Cena, who pinned Orton after executing an FU. The following night on Raw, Orton demanded a rematch for the title, but his request was declined by Raw General Manager William Regal. Orton then took his demands to Mr. McMahon, who also refused to give Orton a rematch unless he proved himself. That night, Orton interfered in Cena’s match by assaulting Cena and kicking Cena’s father, who was at ringside, in the head. Orton was granted his title rematch against Cena at Unforgiven and won by disqualification when Cena refused to stop punching Orton in the corner. Cena retained the WWE title because a title cannot change hands by disqualification. After the match, Cena’s father, who was again at ringside, kicked Orton in the head. At No Mercy, Orton was awarded the WWE Championship by Mr. McMahon after Cena was stripped of the title due to an injury the previous week, which also ended the Orton-Cena storyline prematurely. Orton then lost the title to Triple H in the opening match of the show, making Orton’s reign the third shortest in WWE history. Later in the night, Orton defeated Triple H in a Last Man Standing match to regain the title, thus becoming a two-time WWE Champion in one night.

Following No Mercy, Orton continued his feud with Shawn Michaels, who made his return on the October 8 episode of Raw and performed Sweet Chin Music on Orton. The two met in a title match at Cyber Sunday after a match was made in which the fans would get to vote on either Michaels, Jeff Hardy or Mr. Kennedy as the opponent. As a result, Michaels was voted to face Orton. In the match, Orton was disqualified when he performed a low blow on Michaels, but Orton retained the title. In a scheduled rematch, Orton successfully defended the title at Survivor Series against Michaels when he performed the RKO on Michaels for the win. The stipulation of the match was that if Michaels used Sweet Chin Music, the match would be stopped and Michaels would never get a chance at the WWE title, but if Orton got himself disqualified, he would lose the title.

After weeks of intensity between the two, Orton defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. Following this, he re-engaged in his feud with John Cena, who had returned from injury and won the 2008 Royal Rumble match. Instead of cashing in his title opportunity at WrestleMania XXIV, Cena decided to face Orton for the title at No Way Out. Orton lost the match after getting himself intentionally disqualified, thus retaining the title. At WrestleMania, Orton retained the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat match involving Cena and Triple H. Orton won the match by pinning Cena after a Pedigree from Triple H. The following month, at Backlash, Orton lost the title to Triple H in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match, which also included Cena and John “Bradshaw” Layfield. After failing to win the title back at Judgment Day, Orton faced Triple H in a Last Man Standing match at One Night Stand for the title. Orton lost the match and legitimately broke his collarbone.

The Legacy

He made his in-ring return on the November 3 episode of Raw losing to CM Punk by disqualification, after Ted DiBiase, Jr. interfered. As retaliation Orton went on to punt DiBiase in the head. On the December 1 episode of Raw, Orton proposed that he along with Cody Rhodes and Manu form an alliance. The following week, they made it official, by defeating Batista and Triple H, Orton’s former stablemates, in a three-on-two handicap match, dubbing themselves The Legacy. On January 25, 2009, Orton won the 2009 Royal Rumble match, by last eliminating Triple H. On the March 2 episode of Raw, Orton challenged Triple H for the WWE title at WrestleMania XXV. At the event, Orton lost the match. Orton, however, won the title at Backlash, in a six-man tag team match, with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, facing off against Triple H, Batista, and Shane McMahon.

Personal life

In November 2005, Orton announced his engagement to his girlfriend Samantha Speno. They married on September 21, 2007. In December 2007, Orton announced that he and his wife were expecting their first child, a daughter. Orton and his wife welcomed Alanna Marie Orton on July 12, 2008.

He had a tattoo on his left arm which read “USMC” for United States Marine Corps but covered it up after receiving a bad conduct discharge from the service. He was sent home after serving thirty-eight days in military prison at Camp Pendleton in California.

Orton suffers from hypermobile shoulders. After being medically cleared to wrestle, after he broke his collarbone in a Last Man Standing match at One Night Stand against Triple H, Orton re-injured his collarbone in a motorcycle accident.

Category: randy orton, Shawn Michaels, triple h, undertaker, WWE Biography, WWE Legends | 11 Comments »
Tags: Cody Rhodes, cowboy bob orton, evolution, R.K.O., Randall Keith Orton, randy orton, Ted DiBiase, the legend killer, World Heavyweight Champion, WWE Legends

Posted By admin on May 1, 2009

History and Biography of Edge

Ring name(s) Edge
Adam Impact
Damon Stryker
Adam Copeland
Sexton Hardcastle

Billed height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)

Billed weight 113 kg (250 lb)

Born October 30, 1973 (1973-10-30) (age 35)
Orangeville, Ontario, Canada

Resides Temple Terrace, Florida

Billed from Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Trained by Ron Hutchison
Sweet Daddy Siki
Bret and Stu Hart
Dory Funk, Jr.
Tom Prichard
Leo Burke

Debut July 1, 1992

Mini Biography:

– Copeland trained for a full year at Sully’s Gym in Toronto.
– Copeland made his ring debut in a tag match with the El Fuego Kid against Joe E. Legend (was Just Joe in the WWF) and Zakk Wylde on June 1, 1993.
– Copeland (Sexton Hardcastle) and Jay Reso (Christian Cage) formed a tag team called High Impact and later changed to the Suicide Blondz.
– In the summer of 1997, the duo wrestled in the Maritimes for Emile Dupre’s Atlantic Grand Prix promotion, and feuded with The Super Models, Rick Martel and The Jackyl (formerly Cyrus in ECW).
– In December 1997, the Suicide Blondz captured the ICW Streetfight Tag Team title.
– On May 3, 1998, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Copeland defeated Christian Cage.
– Edge made his WWF television debut on “Raw” on June 22, 1998 against Jose Estrada Jr.
– Edge was Sable’s (Rena Mero) mystery partner at the 1998 Summerslam. Edge and Sable defeated Marc Mero and Jacquelyn.
– Edge and Christian formed the Brood with Gangrel. The Brood eventually joined the Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness.
– The Brood defeated the JOB Squad at the 1998 Rock Bottom in Vancouver when Christian defeated Scorpio.
– After Edge and Christian left the Brood, Gangrel formed the New Brood with the Hardy Boyz.
– On July 24, 1999, Edge defeated Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental title at the Sky Dome in Toronto.
– At the United Kingdom only pay-per-view Rebellion ’99, Edge and Christian defeated the Holly’s and the Acolytes in a three-way dance.
– Edge and Christian defeated the Hardy Boyz at No Way Out 2000 to earn a WWF World Tag Team title shot.
– At Wrestlemania 2000 in Anaheim, CA, Edge and Christian defeated the Dudley Boyz and the Hardy Boyz in a “ladder” match to capture the WWF World Tag Team title.
– Edge and Christian defeated X-Pac and the Road Dogg Jesse James at Backlash.
– At the King of the Ring in Boston, MA, Edge and Christian over came Too Cool, T & A, and the Hardy Boyz in a four team elimination match to regain the WWF World Tag Team title.
– At Summerslam 2000, Edge and Christian successfully defended the WWF World Tag Team title against the Hardy Boyz and Dudley Boyz in a thrilling TLC (Tables, Ladders, and Chairs) match.
– On the September 4, 2000 episode of “Raw,” Edge and Christian defeated The Rock and The Undertaker to retain the WWF Tag Team title.
– At No Mercy in Albany, NY, Edge and Christian (under the hoods of Los Conquistadors) defeated the Hardy Boyz for the WWF World Tag Team title.
– Edge and Christian captured their fourth WWF World Tag Team title at Armageddon. The Canadian duo won a four corners tag team championship match over RTC (Bull Buchanan and the Goodfather), the Road Dogg and K-Kwik, and the Dudley Boyz.
– One day after dropping the WWF World Tag Team title to The Rock and The Undertaker on “Raw,” Edge and Christian regained the title at the Smackdown tapings on December 19, 2001 in Charlotte, NC. Kurt Angle served as the special guest referee.
– On the March 19, 2001 episode of “Raw,” Edge and Christian used outside interference from Rhyno to defeat the Hardy Boyz for the WWF World Tag Team title.
– At Wrestlemania XVII in Houston, TX, Edge and Christian won TLC II over the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz for their seventh WWF World Tag Team title.
– Edge and Christian defeated Nova and Frankie Kazarian on April 25, 2001 at an UPW (Ultimate Pro Wrestling) show in Santa Ana, CA.
– At Insurrextion in London, England, Edge and Christian won a four team elimination match over the Hardy Boyz, the Dudley Boyz, and X-Factor.
– Edge defeated Rhyno in the semi-finals, and Angle in the finals to become the 2001 King of the Ring.
– At Invasion, Edge and Christian defeated Lance Storm and Mike Awesome.
– At Summerslam ’01, Edge pinned Storm for the Intercontinental title in San Jose, CA.
– Edge defeated Christian in a ladder match to regain the IC title at the No Mercy PPV in St. Louis, MO.
– At the Rebellion ’01 PPV in Manchester, England, Edge again defeated Christian.
– On the November 12, 2001 episode of “Raw” in Boston, MA, Edge pinned Angle to capture the WCW United States title.
– At the 2001 Survivor Series in Greensboro, NC, Edge defeated Test in an Intercontinental/U.S. title unification match.
– Edge defeated William Regal at the Vengeance PPV in San Diego, CA to successfully defend the Intercontinental title.
– At Wrestlemania X-8, Edge pinned Booker T.
– At Judgment Day ’02 in Nashville, TN, Edge defeated Angle in a hair v. hair match.
– At the July 2, 2002 “Smackdown” taping in Boston, MA, Edge and Hulk Hogan defeated Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo to capture the WWE World Tag Team title.
– Edge defeated Eddy Guerrero at the 2002 Summerslam.
– At the November 5, 2002 “Smackdown” taping in Manchester, NH, Edge and Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Chris Benoit and Angle to capture the WWE Tag Team title.
– On March 10, 2003, Edge under went successful neck surgery in San Antonio, TX.
– Edge returned to WWE television on the March 22, 2004 edition of “Raw,” after being drafted by Eric Bischoff to join “Raw.”
– At Backlash ’04, Edge defeated Kane.
– On the April 19, 2004 edition of “Raw” in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Edge and Chris Benoit defeated Dave Batista and Ric Flair to claim the World Tag Team title.
– At Vengeance ’04 in Hartford, CT, Edge pinned Randy Orton to capture the Intercontinental title.
– At Summerslam ’04, Edge defeated Chris Jericho and Batista to successfully retain the Intercontinental title.
– On the September 6, 2004 edition of “Raw, Edge was stripped of the IC title by Eric Bischoff due to injury.
– At the 2005 Royal Rumble, Edge pinned Shawn Michaels.
– Edge won the “Money in the Bank” ladder match at Wrestlemania 21, overcoming Shelton Benjamin, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Christian and Kane to gain the victory.
– At Backlash ’05, Edge defeated Chris Benoit in a “last man standing” match.
– Edge defeated Matt Hardy at the 2005 Summerslam when the referee stop the match due to blood.
– Despite losing to Ric Flair via DQ at New Year’s Revolution ’06 in Albany, NY, Edge cashed in his money in the bank title shot after Cena had survived the elimination chamber match. In under two minutes, Edge pinned Cena to capture the WWE title.
– At Wrestlemania 22, Edge defeated Mick Foley in a “hardcore” match.
– At One Night Stand ’06, Edge, Foley and Lita defeated Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk and Beulah.
– Edge defeated Rob Van Dam and Cena in a triple threat no-DQ match on the July 3, 2006 edition of “Raw” in Philadelphia, PA to regain the WWE title.
– Edge defeated Cena at the 2006 Summerslam PPV to retain the WWE championship.
– At Cyber Sunday ’06, Edge and Randy Orton defeated DX (Triple H and Shawn Michaels). Eric Bischoff served as the special guest referee.
– At the November 13, 2006 Raw/ECW tapings in Manchester, England, Edge and Randy Orton defeated Roddy Piper and Ric Flair to capture the World Tag Team titles.
– Edge defeated Mr. Kennedy on the May 7, 2007 edition of “Raw” and captured Mr. Kennedy’s Money in the Bank briefcase.
– At the May 8, 2007 Smackdown taping in Pittsburgh, PA, Edge cashed in on his money in the bank title shot during The Undertaker-Batista cage match, and captured the World Heavyweight title.
– Edge defeated Batista at Judgment Day ’07 to retain the World Heavyweight title.
– At One Night Stand ’07, Edge defeated Batista in a steel cage match to remain World Heavyweight champion.
– Edge returned from an injury at the 2007 Survivor Series, and attacked The Undertaker during the Hell in the Cell match involving the “dead man” and Batista.
– Edge defeated Batista and The Undertaker at Armageddon ’07 in Pittsburgh, PA, to regain the World Heavyweight title.
– At Royal Rumble ’08, Edge defeated Rey Mysterio to remain World Heavyweight champion.
– Edge successfully defended the World title against an injured Rey Mysterio Jr. at No Way Out ’08.
– Edge defeated The Undertaker at One Night Stand ’08 in San Diego, CA in a TLC match to capture the vacant World Heavyweight title, and end the career of the “Dead man.”
– At Night of Champions in Dallas, TX, Edge defeated Batista, thanks to a belt shot to the head, to remain World Heavyweight champion.
– At the 2008 Survivor Series, Smackdown General Manager Vickie Guerrero added the returning Edge to the Triple H vs. Vladimir Kozlov WWE title match in Boston, MA, and speared Hunter to win the WWE championship.
– Edge defeated Jeff Hardy to regain the WWE championship at the 2009 Royal Rumble in Detroit, MI. In the end, Matt Hardy turned against his brother.
– At No Way Out ’09, Edge lost the WWE title in the Smackdown elimination chamber. Later in the night, he attacked Kofi Kingston and steal his spot in the Raw elimination chamber match. Edge out lasted John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Mike Knox and Kane to win the World Heavyweight title.
– At Backlash ’09 in Providence, RI, Edge defeated John Cena in a “last man standing” match to capture the World Heavyweight title.

Biography

The Edge was born David Howell Evans, in Barking, Essex in 1961. When he was 2 the family moved to Dublin. During his childhood he learnt how to play the guitar and the piano. In 1978 the Edge became the guitarist and keyboardist of U2. The Edge is still in the group, who have conquered the world for nearly 30 years. Edge debuted in the WWE in 1998 as a loner that would enter the ring through the crowd.

The Brood:
While feuding with Gangrel, his “brother” Christian debuted at the side of Gangrel. Edge eventually joined the Brood which was led by Gangrel. The Brood then became part of the Ministry of Darkness which later merged into the Corporate Ministry. Edge & Christian left the Brood and Gangrel in 1999 and went on to become the most successful team in WWE history.

Edge & Christian:
As partners they won the World Tag Team Titles on 7 different occasions. Their 3 way feud with the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz was a classic as were the TLC matches they had against those teams. By 2001, the two men became goofballs that would allow fans 5 seconds of flash photography among other zany antics. In 2001, Edge won the King of the Ring tournament and that set in motion the undoing of this team.

SmackDown Superstar:
In the original draft, Edge was taken number 6 by SmackDown. While there, he feuded with Kurt Angle and won the WWE Tag Team Titles with both Hulk Hogan & Rey Mysterio. In 2003, Edge needed neck surgery and was off for a year.

RAW Star:
In March 2004, Edge was drafted by RAW. In June, he became World Tag Team Champ with the World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit. In July, he became Intercontinental Champion by beating Randy Orton. He feuded with Evolution and Chris Jericho. In September, he suffered a groin injury and missed a month of action. When he returned, he asked the fans to vote for him to fight Triple H in the main event of Taboo Tuesday.

World Title or Nothing:
By fan vote, he and Benoit were to wrestle for the tag team titles at Taboo Tuesday. He walked out on his partner who would go on to win the belts. The Edge vs Benoit feud culminated in a 3 way match with Triple H for the World Title which resulted in the title being declared vacant. Around this time, Edge’s autobiography was released.

Matt Hardy & Kane:
Edge started 2005 off feuding with Shawn Michaels. At WrestleMania 21, he won a Money in the Bank ladder match which entitled him to wrestle for any championship whenever he wanted to within a year. A few months later, reality and wrestling story lines collided as he started going out with Matt Hardy’s girlfriend Lita. This led to a feud between the men and a feud with Kane who was “married” to Lita at the time.

Cashing in the Money in the Bank Twice:
At New Year’s Revolution 2006, he cashed in his title shot after John Cena survived an Elimination Chamber Match. He easily beat the worn out champ to win his first world title. He lost the belt a few weeks later at The Royal Rumble. A few months later he won the title from Rob Van Dam but lost it back to John Cena. In May 2007, he won the Money in the Bank title shot from Mr. Kennedy and used it to easily beat the Undertaker the following night after the Undertaker fought in a steel cage match against Batista and was beaten up after the match by Mark Henry.

WWE Champion (2006)
Edge and Flair formally met at New Year’s Revolution in 2006 in a match for Flair’s Intercontinental Championship where Edge was disqualified. Later that night, following the main event Elimination Chamber match, Vince McMahon appeared on stage and declared that John Cena would defend the WWE Championship he’d just retained. An already bloodied and fatigued Cena was forced into a match against Edge, who decided to cash in his Money in the Bank contract at that moment. Edge defeated Cena in less than two minutes after two spears to become WWE Champion for the first time. In an interview conducted after New Year’s Revolution on WWE.com, Edge announced that he and Lita would have “hot, nasty, sex” in the middle of the ring on Raw the next night to celebrate his victory. On Raw, Edge held up to that promise by engaging in foreplay with Lita until they were interrupted by Ric Flair, who called Edge a disgrace and “dead in the bed”. Flair, however, ended up on the receiving end of a con-chair-to on the announcers’ table until John Cena came out to rescue Flair and deliver an FU to a half-naked Lita much to the surprise of Edge. The “Live Sex Celebration” segment earned Raw a 5.2 rating, the highest Raw rating in over a year, leading Edge to call himself the “most-watched WWE Champion in the last 5 years”.

Three weeks later, at the Royal Rumble, Edge lost the WWE Championship back to Cena. He then lost a return match on a special Thursday edition of Raw held in February. Edge blamed special guest referee Mick Foley for his loss, claiming biased officiating and attacked him. At Saturday Night’s Main Event, Foley got revenge on Edge by assaulting him with a Con-chair-to. They feuded until WrestleMania 22 in April, where Edge defeated Foley in a Hardcore match by spearing him through a flaming table, but suffered second degree burns.

Edge used his victory over Foley to once again challenge John Cena for his WWE Championship. Triple H was involved in a feud with Cena at the time, resulting in a Triple Threat match at Backlash, where Cena pinned Triple H to retain the title. After Backlash, Edge continued his feud with Mick Foley as they entered a Triple Threat Hardcore Match. Foley, however, immediately attacked friend Tommy Dreamer with Edge’s assistance. Edge and Mick Foley then proclaimed that, because of their brutal match at WrestleMania, they were the true Hardcore Champions. At One Night Stand, Edge, Foley, and Lita defeated Dreamer, Terry Funk, and Beulah McGillicutty in an “Extreme Rules” tag team match. Edge later interfered in a WWE Title match between champion John Cena and challenger Rob Van Dam, helping Van Dam win the title. Edge was unable to win the title at Vengeance.

Two weeks later on Raw, Edge pinned Van Dam in a Triple Threat No Disqualification Match, after blindsiding Cena with the title belt, to become WWE Champion for the second time. The match marked the first time the WWE Championship changed hands on Raw since October 8, 2001. This re-ignited his feud with Cena, and Edge lost by disqualification at Saturday Night’s Main Event in order to retain his title. As a result of these tactics, Cena snapped and FU’ed him through the ECW announcers’ table. Subsequently, a match was made for SummerSlam with the stipulation that if Edge was disqualified, he would not only lose the match, but also his title. At SummerSlam, Edge retained his title by pinning Cena after he hit him in the back of the head with brass knuckles while Lita distracted the referee. The following night on Raw, Lita threw Cena’s customized “spinner” belt into the Long Island Sound at Edge’s command, who declared it the end of the “Cena era” in his life. Edge later unveiled the new “Rated R” version of the belt. Cena, however, interfered in Edge’s match later that night, chased him down to the outside of the building, beat him down, and tossed him into the polluted Long Island Sound himself. The next week, Cena made a deal with Edge: if Edge could defeat him in a match for the WWE Championship, he would sign a contract to move to SmackDown!. Edge agreed, on the condition the match be a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (TLC) held at September’s Unforgiven in Edge’s home town of Toronto. At the event, he lost the championship after Cena performed the FU on him, sending Edge crashing through two stacked tables from a ladder. At one point during the match, Cena locked in an STFU on Edge, who later said he was legitimately choked unconscious, the first time he had been knocked out in a match during his career.

Rated-RKO (2006–2007)
On the October 2, 2006 episode of Raw, interference from D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels and Triple H) cost Edge his “final chance” at Cena’s WWE Championship in a Steel cage match, though their interference was a response to the interference of Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. The following week on Raw, Edge used an edition of The Cutting Edge to join forces with Randy Orton to form Rated-RKO (although they did not use this name until several weeks later) and began a feud against DX. Edge cited Orton’s lack of success after being kicked out of Evolution by Triple H and DX’s “stale” antics “taking up TV time” as reasons to join forces. The duo succeeded early in defeating DX at Cyber Sunday due to the vote-in guest referee Eric Bischoff favoring Rated-RKO. The pair then won the World Tag Team Championship from Ric Flair and Roddy Piper on the November 13, 2006 Raw, making Edge a record holder of 11 World Tag Team Championship title reigns in his WWE career. The success halted at Survivor Series when Team Rated-RKO was defeated by Team DX in a clean sweep of 5–0. The feud with DX continued at New Year’s Revolution where Edge and Orton were battered by DX to end the match in a no contest. Edge and Orton, however, claimed victory on the grounds that Triple H legitimately tore his right quadriceps in the match. To Edge and Orton, this marked the end of DX. Shawn Michaels vowed to deal with Rated-RKO, and the next week on Raw he took out Orton with a con-chair-to while Edge looked on from the entrance ramp. On the January 29, 2007 edition of Raw, Rated-RKO lost the World Tag Team Championship to Michaels and John Cena.

In early February, Edge beat Rob Van Dam to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match, but suffered a legitimate broken jaw in the process. He remained on TV but avoided physical confrontations until WrestleMania 23. Meanwhile, his tag partner Orton also qualified for the Money in the bank match, which led to dissent between them. He failed to win at WrestleMania after Jeff Hardy removed them both from the match by performing a nearly 20-foot leg drop off a ladder onto Edge. He then entered a feud, along with former partner Orton, with John Cena and Shawn Michaels. All four men were aiming for the WWE Championship, and at Backlash they competed in a Fatal Four-Way match in which Cena successfully defended his title.

Love Leads to More Championship Gold:
Edge started a relationship with SmackDown GM that allowed him to gain an unfair advantage to continue winning championship gold. In the summer of 2008, the two got married. Edge has continued to win world championships in a cowardly fashion to live up to his nickname of “The Ultimate Opportunist”.

Personal life

Copeland used to play hockey with current Detroit Red Wing Aaron Downey. He is a New Jersey Devils fan. As a teenager, Copeland (along with his friend Jason Reso) attended WrestleMania VI sitting in the eleventh row at ringside. He was cheering on WWF Champion Hulk Hogan against The Ultimate Warrior, and he credits this match with making him realize he wanted to be a wrestler. Twelve years later Copeland returned to SkyDome as a competitor at WrestleMania X8

Copeland has been married two times. He was originally married to Alanah Morley on November 8, 2001, the sister of Val Venis, but they divorced after three years on March 10, 2004. He was then married to Lisa Ortiz on October 21, 2004, but they soon divorced on November 17, 2005.

His autobiography, titled Adam Copeland On Edge, was published on November 4, 2004. Unlike most wrestlers who used ‘ghost writers’ to write their autobiographies, Copeland wrote the entire book himself. Mick Foley wrote the foreword to his book. Copeland does not smoke. He claims he had his first cigarette when he was sixteen, hated it, and has not smoked since. Copeland has several tattoos. He has a tattoo of a red and black sun on his left upper biceps (which covers a tattoo of a muscular shark which resembled the Street Sharks), a star on his right upper biceps with several smaller stars below it, two skulls wearing bandannas, adorned with flowers and hearts, below said star tattoo, along with a tattoo of a cross on his left forearm, and another tattoo of a scroll like piece of paper that adorns the words Rise Above. Adam has also got a tattoo of a maple leaf on his foot. All of Copeland’s tattoos represent a stage in his career: his sun, which Copeland got while recovering from his neck injury, represents “looking towards brighter days.” The cross tattoo represents his time with the Brood, and his star and skull tattoos represent his Rated R Superstar persona and his self-proclaimed status as the “Guns ‘N Roses of wrestling”.

Category: Chris Jericho, edge, Hulk Hogan, John cena, Mick foley, triple h | 1 Comment »
Tags: Adam Copeland, Christian Cage, Dudley Boyz, edge, Hardy Boyz, The Brood, The Ultimate Opportunist, wwe championship, wwe hall of fame, WWE Legends

Posted By admin on April 16, 2009

History and Biography of Mick Foley

Date of Birth
7 June 1965, Long Island, New York, USA

Birth Name
Michael Francis Foley

Nicknames
The King of Hardcore
The Boiler Room Dwellar
The Deranged One
Mankind
Dude Love
Cactus Jack
The Hardcore Legend

Height
6′ 2″ (1.88 m)

Mini Biography:

Michael Francis “Mick” Foley was born in Bloomington, Indiana and grew up in Smithtown, New York. Foley attended Ward Melville High School, where he was a member of the wrestling team. After attending college, Foley wrestled under the name “Jack Foley”. He would later change this and wrestled under the name “Cactus Jack”. After wrestling for numerous independent promotions, Foley made his way to World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he wrestled once again as Cactus Jack. He would soon make a name for himself in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where his high risk wrestling was a better fit. It was during his time at ECW that Foley would become known as a hardcore legend.

After exiting ECW, Foley went on the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now known as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Upon entering the WWE, Foley adopted the persona of the masked madman Mankind. During his tenure at WWE, Foley was able to perform as Dude Love, a character he had created in his teens though he would soon revert to Mankind. It was as Mankind that Foley performed in one of his most noted matches, A Hell in a Cell match against the Undertaker. A match which garnered a standing ovation as well as multiple injuries, including the loss of a tooth.

In the following years, Mick Foley would win the WWE championship multiple times, enter into tag teams (including the notable Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) and would return to his Cactus Jack persona for a time before temporarily retiring from wrestling though he would later return to in ring performing and appearing in non wrestling roles such as commissioner and commentator During his career, Mick Foley has established himself as a legitimate writer, writing multiple autobiographical novels, fictional novels and children’s books.

Recently, Foley left WWE for Total Nonstop Wrestling (TNA)

Full Biography:

Intro:
Mick Foley was born on June 7, 1965, in Long Island, NY. As a teenager, he made a tape of himself as a wrestler named Dude Love and filmed himself jumping off a house onto his opponent. He was trained by Dominic DeNucci and made his debt in 1986. No longer a full-time active wrestler, he keeps himself occupied by writing and has two New York Times Best Sellers on his resume.

The Beginning:
One of his first matches was a televised WWF squash match against the British Bulldogs. He gained notoriety in the Texas based USWA as Cactus Jack Manson before joining WCW. His first WCW tenure highlight was a PPV title shot against Sting at Beach Blast 92.

King of the Death Match:
Cactus Jack spent a portion of the early ’90s in Japan. It was in Japan where he won a King of the Death Match tournament in matches featuring barbed wire, a bed of nails, exploding barbed wire, and a ring set to detonate with C4 explosives. While in Japan, he got his arm badly scarred by Leatherface.

WCW Part 2:
Cactus returned to WCW and found himself in a feud with Vader. This feud featured him get a concussion and lose his ear in a freak accident. While in WCW, he also appeared in ECW. When he left WCW he joined ECW. His anti-hardcore ECW promos are considered the best promos in the history of the business. While in ECW his two most famous incidents involved accidentally setting a fan on fire and having hundreds of chairs thrown in the ring by the fans.

The Three Faces of Foley:
Foley joined the WWE in 1996 and was renamed Mankind. He immediately started a feud with the Undertaker. In 1997, they showed his teenage Dude Love footage and he started to wrestle as Dude Love. Later in the year, during a feud with Triple H, he became Cactus Jack again. At the 1998 King of the Ring, he fought the Undertaker in a Hell in the Cell match featuring two of the most famous bumps ever.

The Champ:
On the December 29, 1998, edition of Monday Night RAW, Mankind won his first world title. He would trade the title with the Rock several times. In the last half of 99, he formed the Rock & Sock Connection with the Rock. He also released Have a Nice Day, which was a NY Times #1 Best Seller. In 2000, he stopped being a full-time active competitor.

WWF Championship and retirement (1998–2000)
Although conventional wisdom holds that the Hell in a Cell match was responsible for Foley’s rise to main event status, live television crowds did not initially get behind Mankind because of the match. Foley decided that crowds might respond better if Mankind were more of a comedy character, and so he became less of a tortured soul and more of a goofy, broken down oaf. While Vince McMahon was in a hospital nursing wounds suffered at the hands of The Undertaker and Kane, Mankind arrived to cheer him up. Having succeeded only in irritating McMahon, Mankind unveiled a sock puppet named Mr. Socko. Intended to be a one-time joke, Socko became an overnight sensation. Mankind began putting the sock on his hand before applying his finisher, the mandible claw, stuffing a smelly sock in the mouths of opposing wrestlers.

McMahon manipulated Mankind, who saw the WWF owner as a father figure, into doing his bidding. McMahon created the Hardcore Championship and awarded it to Mankind, making him the first-ever champion of the hardcore division. Mankind was then pushed as the favorite to win the WWF Championship at Survivor Series, as McMahon appeared to be manipulating the tournament so that Mankind would win. He and The Rock both reached the finals, where McMahon turned on Mankind. As The Rock placed Mankind in the Sharpshooter, McMahon ordered the timekeeper to ring the bell even though Mankind did not submit, a reference to the Montreal Screwjob from the year before.

After weeks of trying to get his hands on McMahon’s new faction, the Corporation, Mankind received a title shot with The Rock at In Your House. Mankind knocked The Rock out by shoving a dirty sweatsock in the Rock’s mouth, but McMahon ruled that the title would not change hands because The Rock never gave up. After several weeks of going after the Corporation, Mankind had his big night on December 29, where Mankind defeated The Rock and won his first WWF championship. The taped show was broadcast on January 4, 1999, so that is the date WWE recognizes as beginning the title run. Having title changes on broadcast television rather than pay-per-view was uncommon in professional wrestling, but because of the Monday Night Wars, TV ratings became more important. The rival WCW, attempting to take advantage of the fact that their show Monday Nitro aired live while Mankind’s title victory was taped the week before, had announcer Tony Schiavone reveal the ending of the Mankind-Rock match before it aired. He then added sarcastically, “That’ll put a lot of butts in the seats.” The move backfired for WCW, as Nielsen Ratings showed that Raw won the ratings battle that night, despite the Hogan vs. Nash main event which led to the reformation of the New World Order. Foley said that the ratings indicate that large numbers of viewers switched from Nitro to Raw to see him win the title and took great personal pride from this, and “Mick Foley put my ass in this seat” signs began showing up at WWF events.

Mankind first lost the WWF title to The Rock in a “I Quit” match at Royal Rumble. During the match, Foley took several bumps, including eleven unprotected chairshots. This match is featured on Barry Blaustein’s documentary Beyond the Mat, which shows the impact the match had on Foley and his family at ringside. The match ended after Mankind lost consciousness and The Rock’s allies played a recording of Mankind saying “I Quit” from an earlier interview. The match led to some legitimate tension between Foley and The Rock for a time, because in the planning for the match, far fewer chairshots were to have been used. The match was also voted 1999’s Match of the Year by the readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Mankind won the title back at a rematch on Halftime Heat, which aired during halftime at Super Bowl XXXIII, in the WWF’s first ever Empty Arena match. The two then competed in a Last Man Standing match at St. Valentines Day Massacre, which ended without a winner, meaning that Mankind retained the title. The next night, Mr. McMahon booked a ladder match for the championship, which The Rock won with help from The Big Show. Later in the year, Foley and The Rock patched up their friendship and teamed up to form a comedy team called the Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection, becoming one of the most popular teams during that time. The pair won the tag team titles on three occasions. Foley helped WWF Raw achieve its highest ratings ever with a segment featuring himself (as Mankind) and The Rock. The “This is Your Life” segment aired on September 27, 1999 and received an 8.4 rating.

Commissioner (2000–2001)
After retiring from active competition, Foley served as storyline WWF Commissioner under his real name rather than one of his personas. Foley has said that he intended for his Commissioner Foley character to be a “role model for nerds,” appearing as sort of an affable everyman, cracking lame jokes and making no attempt to appear tough or scary. Foley turned getting cheap pops into something of a catchphrase, as he shamelessly declared at each WWF show that he was thrilled to be “right here in (whatever city he was performing in)!” punctuated with an intentionally cheesy thumbs-up gesture. During this time, Commissioner Foley engaged in rivalries with Kurt Angle, Edge and Christian, and Vince McMahon without actually wrestling them. He left the position in December 2000 after being “fired” on screen by McMahon.

Foley made a surprise return on the Monday Night Raw just prior to WrestleMania X-Seven and announced that he would be the special guest referee in the match between Mr. McMahon and his son Shane at WrestleMania. After WrestleMania, Foley made sporadic WWF TV appearances throughout the spring and summer, at one point introducing Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura during a taping of Raw in the state as a foil to Mr. McMahon, as well as serving as the guest referee for the Earl Hebner versus Nick Patrick Referee match at the WWF Invasion pay-per-view.

Foley returned as commissioner in October 2001, near the end of The Invasion angle. During this brief tenure, Foley had the opportunity to shoot on the WWF’s direction and how dissatisfied he was with it. Saying that there were far too many championships in the company, he booked unification matches prior to the final pay-per-view of the storyline, Survivor Series. After Survivor Series, he ended his commissionership at Vince McMahon’s request and left the company. Foley and McMahon had a real-life falling out with each other at the time, and Foley was absent from WWE for almost two years.

Referee, sporadic wrestling, and color commentator (2003–2008)
Foley returned in June 2003 to referee the Hell in a Cell match between Triple H and Kevin Nash at Bad Blood. On June 23, during a Raw broadcast in Madison Square Garden, he was honored for his achievements in the ring and presented with the retired WWE Hardcore Championship belt. The evening ended with Foley taking a beating and kicked down stairs by Randy Orton and Ric Flair. In December 2003, Foley returned to replace Steve Austin as co-general manager of Raw. He soon grew tired of the day-to-day travel and left his full-time duties to write and spend time with his family. In the storyline, Foley was afraid to wrestle a match with Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton and walked out of the arena rather than face him.

In 2004, Foley returned briefly to wrestling, competing in the Royal Rumble and eliminating both Orton and himself with his trademark Cactus Jack clothesline. He and The Rock reunited as the Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection and lost a handicap match to Evolution at WrestleMania XX when Orton pinned Foley with an RKO as Foley pulled out Mr. Socko, this match turned out to be The Rock’s final match in the WWE. The two continued to feud, culminating in a hardcore match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Backlash, where Orton defeated Foley as his Cactus Jack persona to retain the title with a botched RKO onto a barbed wire wrapped baseball bat, which Foley now regards as possibly the best match of his career.

Foley appeared as a color commentator at WWE’s ECW One Night Stand, which aired on June 12, 2005, and subsequently renewed his contract with WWE. Foley returned in 2005 in a match where fans were able to vote on which persona he would appear as—Mankind, Dude Love, or Cactus Jack—against Carlito at Taboo Tuesday. Foley cut promos for each character and an online vote was held. The fans voted for Mankind, who went on to win the match. On the February 16, 2006 Raw, Foley returned to referee the WWE Championship match between Edge and John Cena. After Cena won, Edge attacked Foley, and the following week, Edge challenged Foley to a match at WrestleMania 22. Edge defeated Foley after Spearing him through a flaming table. In the weeks after the match, Foley turned heel and allied himself with Edge against the newly rejuvenated ECW. This would be the first WWE heel turn of Foley since his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin as Dude Love in 1998. At ECW One Night Stand, Foley, Edge and Lita defeated Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer and Beulah McGillicutty.

Foley then engaged in a storyline rivalry with Ric Flair, inspired by real-life animosity between the two. In Have a Nice Day!, Foley wrote that Flair was “every bit as bad on the booking side of things as he was great on the wrestling side of it.” In response, Flair wrote in his autobiography that Foley was “a glorified stuntman” and that he was able to climb the ladder in the WWF only because he was friends with the bookers. The two had a backstage confrontation at a Raw event in 2003, but Foley has said that they have largely reconciled. To spark the feud, Flair again called Foley a “glorified stuntman” and Foley called Flair a “washed up piece of crap” and challenged him to a match. The result was a Two out of Three Falls match at Vengeance, where Flair beat Foley in two straight falls; with a rollup counter to the figure four in the first and by disqualification in the second after a trashcan shot. After the match, Flair was split wide open by Foley with a barbed wire bat. The two then wrestled an “I Quit” match at SummerSlam, which Flair won when he forced Foley to quit by threatening Melina with a barbed wire bat. On the August 21 edition of Raw, Foley literally kissed Vince McMahon’s buttocks as part of McMahon’s “Kiss My Ass Club” gimmick after he threatened to fire Melina. Shortly thereafter, she betrayed Foley and announced that he was fired.

Seven months later, Foley made his return to Raw on March 5, 2007, tricking McMahon into giving him his job back. On April 9, Foley contributed to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and helped a young child named Michael Peña to become an honorary General Manager of the night. Foley appeared again on June 11 for Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night insulting McMahon. Foley also announced his place as a number one contender for the WWE Championship. During the Raw broadcast before Vengeance, Foley was scheduled to make his official in-ring return in a match against Umaga but he attacked Umaga before the match, and the match was never started. At Vengeance, Foley wrestled in a WWE Championship Challenge match involving WWE Champion John Cena, Randy Orton, King Booker, and Bobby Lashley. Cena retained by pinning Foley. A month later, Foley made an appearance on Raw as the special guest referee for a match between Jonathan Coachman and Mr. McMahon’s storyline illegitimate son Hornswoggle. Hornswoggle won the match, after Foley handed him a miniature Mr. Socko. Foley then made an appearance on SmackDown the same week, where he defeated Coachman with Hornswoggle as the special guest referee. On the January 7, 2008 episode of Raw, Foley and his tag team partner Hornswoggle qualified for the Royal Rumble by defeating The Highlanders, but Foley was eliminated by Triple H during the Rumble.

Foley debuted as a color commentator for SmackDown alongside Michael Cole at Backlash in 2008, replacing Jonathan Coachman. On the August 1 edition of SmackDown, Foley was kayfabe attacked by Edge during Edge’s promo for his SummerSlam match against The Undertaker. Foley sat out the August 8 SmackDown to sell his recovery from the injuries. Tazz filled in for Foley as a color commentator on SmackDown, while Raw wrestler Matt Striker filled in for Tazz on ECW. Foley told the Long Island Press in August 2008 that “creatively, the announcing job wasn’t working out too well”. Foley allowed his contract with WWE to expire on September 1, 2008.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2008–present)
On September 3, 2008, Foley’s agency, the Gillespie Agency, issued a press release that stated Foley had signed a short-term deal with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Foley claimed in the statement to be “very excited about the specifics of this agreement and the potential it holds”. Foley made his TNA debut on September 5, at a TNA house show giving a short speech about how he loved the product. The official TNA Wrestling website featured an image of a smiley face with a variation of Foley’s catch phrase, “Have a nice day!” (and, before No Surrender, “Have a nice Sunday!”).

On the September 18, 2008 edition of Impact!, Foley made his first televised appearance for TNA, where Jeff Jarrett introduced him to the audience on the arena’s video wall. Two weeks later, Foley made his full television debut in a promo making comments about the WWE roster, Vince McMahon and Kurt Angle. At Bound for Glory IV, he was the special guest enforcer for Jarrett and Angle’s match. Later, on Impact!, Foley said goodbye, but was then approached by Jeff Jarrett with a new offer; he later indicated that they had come to terms on a new contract and would make a major announcement the next week. On the October 23 episode of Impact!, Foley announced that he was now co-owner of TNA along with Jarrett, just after Kurt Angle headbutted him.

On November 27, Thanksgiving day, TNA presented the Turkey Bowl. Alex Shelley ended up being pinned by Rhino, and Foley handed Rhino the check. After the match, Shelley was refusing to put on the Turkey Suit the person who was defeated had to put on, eventually he did put it on. However, Shelley “flipped off” Foley and was then beat down and Foley told him he was lucky he still has his job. The Main Event Mafia’s Kevin Nash, Booker T, and Scott Steiner were going to take on Brother Devon, A.J. Styles, and Mick Foley in his debut matchup at Genesis. Nash, however, suffered a legitimate staph infection and missed Genesis. He was replaced by Cute Kip. Foley got the pin when he hit Scott Steiner with a Double Arm DDT onto a chair. He is feuding with Sting and will fight him for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Lockdown.

Personal life

Foley is married to Colette Foley, née Christie. The couple have three sons and a daughter: Dewey Francis (born on February 20, 1992), Michael Francis, Jr. (born in January 2001), Huey (born in 2003), and Noelle Margaret (born on December 15, 1993).

Foley has participated in numerous Make-a-Wish Foundation events, made surprise visits to children in hospitals and has also visited schools and libraries, talking to students about the value of education and the importance of reading and traveled to various military bases and military hospitals to visit U.S. troops. Foley sponsors seven children with Christian Children’s Fund, a group he has been affiliated with since 1992. In recent years, he has become one of the fund’s leading donors, helping fund childhood education centers in the remote areas of the Phillipines and Mexico, as well as four small community schools in the war torn West African country of Sierra Leone. After visiting the country in November 2008, an experience he called “one of the best experiences of my life; maybe the best”. . Foley committed to funding a larger primary school as well.

Category: Mick foley, WWE Biography, WWE Legends | 2 Comments »
Tags: cactus jack, dude love, hardcore legend, hardcore wrestling, mankind, Mick foley, sting, Tna, wwe, wwe hall of famers, WWE Legends

Posted By admin on April 11, 2009

History and Biography of Steve Cold Steve Austin

Real name : Steve Williams
Height : 6’2″
Weight : 241 lbs.
Date of Birth : 12/18/1964
Lives in : Victoria, Texas
Wife: Debra
Ex-wife : Jeannie Clarke
Children : Jade (stepdaughter – 1981), Stephanie (1992), Cassidy (1996)
Finishing maneuver : Stone Cold Stunner

Mini Biography

The Beginning:
Steve Williams was born on December 18, 1964, in Victoria, TX. He was trained by Chris Adams and made his debut in 1990. He joined WCW in 1991. His WCW tenure is most known for his membership in the Dangerous Alliance and his tag team with Brian Pillman. Steve suffered an arm injury in late 1994 and was fired by Eric Bischoff over the phone.

ECW & The Ringmaster:
Steve returned to the ring in late 1995 wrestling for ECW. It was here where his mike skills were showcased. His bitterness and hatred for WCW came pouring out in his promos. He was then hired by WWE and spent his first six months as the Ringmaster and was managed by Ted DiBiase. Shortly after dropping DiBiase and the Ringmaster gimmick, Austin’s career skyrocketed.

Austin 3:16:
After winning the 1996 King of the Ring, Austin stated to the then-bible thumping Jake Roberts, “Austin 3:16 says I just kicked your a**”. The Austin 3:16 shirt went on to become the biggest selling shirt in the history of wrestling. Austin was a no-nonsense heel that the fans started to get behind despite being the bad guy.

Tha Hart Foundation:
In 1997, Austin’s feud with the Hart Foundation propelled him to the main event. His matches with Bret Hart were classics and featured the fans turn against the good guy Bret. He also feuded with Owen Hart and suffered a severe neck injury in their SummerSlam match. This injury forced him to miss several months and would eventually lead to his retirement.

The Champ and his Feud With Vince McMahon:
At WrestleMania 14, Austin became champion in a match that made headlines because of Mike Tyson’s involvement. His biggest rival was WWE owner Vince McMahon. The fans really got behind this feud as the fans liked seeing someone humiliate and beat up his boss. With the success of this feud, WWE took the lead over WCW in the Monday Night Wars.

The Rock & Neck Surgery:
Austin’s biggest rival in the ring was the Rock. Their feud originally developed as part of the Vince McMahon saga. They went on to main event 2 WrestleMania’s and wrestle in a third. Austin required neck surgery in late 1999 and missed most of 2000. By the time he returned to the ring, the Rock became a household name.

Leaving Wrestling:
By June 2002, Steve was very frustrated with his place in WWE. He was scheduled to lose a match to Brock Lesnar as the beginning of Brock’s push. Austin felt that was an insult and left. He returned in March 2003 to fight the Rock in what turned out to be his final match. Since then, he has been a TV personality for the company as GM & Sheriff. In 2007, he starred in the WWE Film, The Condemned.

Full Biography

Steve Austin is Born!

Steve Austin was born in 1990 when a 25 year old Steve Williams decided to pursue a life long interest and enrolled in a wrestling school run by Chris Adams. In 1991 ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin debuted in World Championship Wrestling.

Time in WCW and ECW

Steve Austin spent five years in WCW. He held the TV Title twice, the US Title twice, and the Tag Titles once with the late Brian Pillman.

1991-06-03 Steve defeats Bobby Eaton winning the WCW World TV Championship. On 1992-04-27 Barry Windham defeats Austin for the TV Title in a best of three. Austin’s reign fell 9 days short of Arn Anderson’s record. 1992-06-23 Steve Austin defeats Barry Windham for his second TV Title reign. On 1992-09-02 Austin loses the title to Ricky Steamboat in a no-DQ match.

1993-03-02 wins Tag Titles with Brian Pillman defeating Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas. The Hollywood Blondes become a top team. Several months later (1993-08-18) Pillman goes on the injured list and Austin loses the Tag Titles, with replacement Steven Regal, to Arn Anderson and Paul Roma.

The Blondes breakup.

1993-12-27 Steve defeats Dustin Rhodes (aka Goldust) two out of three to win the US Title. 1994-09-18 Austin regains US Title from Ricky Steamboat, who forfeited due to injury. Jim Duggan defeats Austin immediately after. At this point Austin is no longer given a push and is held back. Eventually Austin goes on the injured list and leaves WCW.

In the summer of 1995 ‘Superstar’ Steve Austin debuts in Extreme Championship Wrestling. Later that year Austin signs with the WWF.

Steve Austin’s rise thru the WWF

Steve Austin debuts as Ted Dibiase’s Ringmaster. Soon a feud with Savio Vega leads to a match, 1996-04-28, stipulating that if Austin loses Dibiase must leave the WWF. Austin later claims he threw the match to get rid of Dibiase. Austin begins to take on his Stone Cold persona.

1996-06-23 King of The Ring. Stone Cold defeats Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts marking the rise of Austin 3:16. Later that year, Austin begins bad mouthing Bret Hart. At the 1996 Buried Alive, Austin defeats Hunter Hearst-Helmsley (Triple H). 1997 Royal Rumble Austin defeats Bret Hart. At WM XIII Stone Cold loses to Bret Hart in a submission match, passing out rather than submitting. Thus elevating his career even higher.

(1997-05-27) Austin and HBK Shawn Michaels win the Tag Titles defeating Owen Hart and Bulldog. HBK takes time off, Austin is stripped of the Tag Titles. On July 14 Stone Cold is prepared to fight Owen and Bulldog by himself to reclaim the Tag Titles when none other than Dude Love, perhaps better known as Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) came to Stone Cold’s aid. Together they defeat Owen and Bulldog to recapture the Tag Team Championship belts.

(1997-08-3) Summer Slam. Austin defeats Owen Hart for his first IC Title win. But vacates the IC and Tag titles due to an injury sustained during the match by a badly executed pile-driver. Stone Cold returns to defeat Owen Hart at Survivor Series (1997-11-09) to win the IC Title a second time. On 1997-12-06 Austin defeats Rocky Maivia (The Rock) retaining the IC Title, however the next night on Raw he hands it to Rocky and goes after the WWF Championship. Actually the Rattlesnake took the IC belt and threw it in a river. Stone Cold eliminated Rocky at the 1998 Royal Rumble, earning his title shot at WrestleMania XIV. Steve Austin defeated HBK with Mike Tyson as the enforcer/referee and has fought to hang on to the title as much as possible since then. Stone Cold held the Tag Titles for a third time with, his then number one contender, the Undertaker. They defeated Kane and Mankind at Fully Loaded 1998. Austin’s most recent WWF Championship reign ended when Mankind won a Triple Threat match at Summer Slam 1999.

When Stone Cold walks to the ring in his black boots and black trunks everyone watching the show knows anything can happen (and probably will). Most of Stone Cold’s success may be attributed to three words: “Don’t trust anybody!”

On Byte This 1999-11-04 Austin said that he is indeed dating Debra, the two went on a hunting trip recently. He likes working with Triple H and said he, or the Undertaker, would be his first choice for a partner if he had to have one. On training he commented, “I like my hamburgers and beer.” Austin likes to enjoy life, so he doesn’t train as seriously as some other stars. He also mentioned that he may be getting new entrance music. One of his favorite past WWF stars was Ricky Steamboat. Also he remarked that Shawn Michaels was kind of a jackass.

Austin’s Injury and Return

At Survivor Series (1999-11-14) Steve Austin was hit by a car (scripted) in the parking area and Big Show took his place in the Triple Threat WWF Championship match defeating Triple H and Rock. Austin took the time off to undergo surgery to repair some prior injuries to his neck as well as film two more episodes of Nash Bridges which aired May 5 and May 19.

Austin underwent surgery in January of 2000. His return to the WWF in some capacity was definite but his in ring ability was questionable. The doctors stated a recovery time of around 6 months. On 2000-01-30 Stone Cold was interviewed at his home by Jim Ross, the Rattlesnake plans to be back in the ring in 3 to 4 months. But refuses to get back in at less than 100%. Steve was at the pre-WrestleMania show but did not get involved in any matches. His rehabilitation was going well but doctors still were reluctant to say he could ever compete again.

Austin appeared on WWF TV on SmackDown (2000-04-27). The Rattlesnake blew up the DX Express bus after Rock announced that Austin would indeed make an appearance. Then Stone Cold made his presence known at Backlash as he assisted Rock to regain the WWF Championship. Although it was a premature return since he was not physically ready for action.

On 2000-09-13 Steve Austin married Debra in a small Las Vegas ceremony. A couple weeks prior to Unforgiven 2000 Stone Cold announced he was going to be at the show to open the Stone Cold Court of Law and find the person who ran him down. Stating he had waived any legal proceedings he promised to open the biggest can of ‘whoop ass’ the WWF had ever seen.

Stone Cold continues his investigation through October, which mostly consisted of handing out stunners to much of the locker room. Commissioner Foley ends up suspending Austin until the investigation is finished. Finally on October 09 Rikishi (which didn’t make much sense) admits to running Austin down for The Rock. Commissioner Foley signs a match against Rikishi at No Mercy. Then Triple H reveals himself as Rikishi’s accomplice, marking his return as a heel. Stone Cold defeats Triple H in a no-DQ match at Survivor Series. Austin finds himself in a Six-Way WWF Championship Match at Armageddon.

January 2001 Stone Cold Steve Austin wins the Royal Rumble for a WWF Championship match. And then at WrestleMania XVII (aka X-Seven) Austin made one of the most surprising heel turns.

Stone Cold defeated The Rock on 2001-04-01 for the WWF Championship (5th time) then defected to the Alliance (WCW and ECW resurrected to take over Sports Entertainment). Austin’s ring time decreasesd during this period. He lost the title to Kurt Angle then regained it for a 6th reign as WWF Champion. Austin (WWF Champion) and The Rock (WCW Champion) were defeated by Chris Jericho in a tournament match to name an Undisputed Champion (2001-12-09).

2002 Austin Walks Out

Austin walked out on the WWF in June 2002. Mostly due to the frustration with his character and past injuries hindering his performance. While he was out of the WWE Austin and Debra went their separate ways.

Around this time the ECW and WCW were reabsorbed, then the WWF became the WWE, and RAW and SmackDown split the roster.

2003 Austin Returns in Limited Capacity

On March 30, 2003 Stone Cold made his way to WrestleMania XIX where he was finally defeated by The Rock.

2003-04-28 While Stone Cold was gone, Eric Bischoff mocked Austin a couple times and eventually drove Jim Ross to quit. Lita quit about a week later when Bischoff insisted she pose for Playboy. Linda MacMahon made one of her infrequent visits to Raw, on April 28th, and announced a co-general manager to keep Eric inline – Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Stone Cold remained as co-GM till November of 2003. Circumstances occurred that forbid Austin from striking a wrestler without being provoked. Austin put his career on the line at Survivor Series but his team lost and Stone Cold left Raw. He made an appearance at a special Christmas event for the troops in Iraq, he posed as Santa Clause and gave vince a stunner for a present. Fan response helped to bring Stone Cold back under his own terms; as Sheriff of Raw near the end of 2003.

Stone Cold Walks Again

Austin’s appearances were limited during his Sheriff reign in early 2004. (I went to one of the events where he road an ATV to the ring with Earl Hebner on the back. I’ll try to post some pictures eventually.) He refereed the Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg match at WrestleMania XX and shortly after WWE and Stone Cold went their separate ways, apparently over some contract dispute.

There was news of a multiple-movie contract with Stone Cold, backed by the WWE. One of the being The Longest Yard (2005) (Buy DVD)

2005 Steve Austin Returns Part Time

Stone Cold’s first TV appearance in about a year was at WrestleMania XXI. He made a couple appearances before making a bigger impact at WWE Homecoming. The three hour special return of WWE to the USA Network (here’s hoping they don’t get preempted by a dog show again…). Stone Cold showed up at Homecoming and gave a stunner to Vince, Shane, Stephanie, and for the first time ever Linda McMahon. Also during Homecoming, Hogan challenged Austin to a match.

Part–time appearances and the Hall of Fame

Austin made his first appearance on WWE programming in a year on April 3, 2005 at WrestleMania 21 where he was confronted by “Rowdy” Roddy Piper in Piper’s Pit until Carlito interrupted to insult both. This resulted in Carlito receiving a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin and Piper throwing him out of the ring. The segment ended with Austin and Piper celebrating with beer until Austin gave Piper a Stone Cold Stunner as well.

Then, at WWE Homecoming in October, Austin again returned to Raw, delivering Stunners to all four members of the McMahon family. An angle including Jim Ross being fired led to a match in which Austin agreed to face Ross’s replacement, Jonathan Coachman, at Taboo Tuesday, with the stipulation of Ross regaining his announcing job if Austin were to win and Austin losing his own job if he lost the match. Austin balked at the decision for Coachman to win, however, and once again walked out on the company after storyline disagreements. To explain away his failure to appear at Taboo Tuesday, Vince McMahon said on Raw that Austin had been involved in an accident, thus preventing him from competing. A substitution for Austin was made in the form of Batista, who faced the Coach along with Vader and Goldust, who was brought in to generate some last minute interest in the match. The stipulation was dropped due to Austin not competing.

Austin returned to WWE briefly to face John “Bradshaw” Layfield in a beer drinking contest at the March 5, 2006 edition of WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. The feat was declared a no contest when Austin saw JBL cheating by pouring the beer down his clothes. Austin gave a stunner to JBL and then celebrated with the Stone Cold “beer salute.” Austin then inducted Bret Hart into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006.

Austin returned to WWE programming (appearing on Raw, ECW, and SmackDown!) in March 2007, partially to promote his starring role in the release of WWE Films’ production, The Condemned. On March 31, 2007, Stone Cold inducted his friend Jim Ross into the WWE Hall of Fame. At WrestleMania 23, Austin, as a special guest referee, officiated the match between Bobby Lashley and Umaga. In the course of the event, Austin delivered stunners to Umaga, Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, and Donald Trump. He then appeared in a video on the June 11 edition of Raw as part of “Mr. McMahon’s Appreciation Night”, where he shared his thoughts on his past feuds with McMahon.

Austin as the special guest referee at the 2008 Cyber Sunday event.

Austin appeared on the August 18, 2007 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event, as a possible illegitimate child of Mr. McMahon and stunned McMahon and Jonathan Coachman. Austin appeared at SummerSlam where he was the replacement for Matt Hardy to battle Montel Vontavious Porter in a Beer Drinking Contest. The match ended in a no contest decision after Austin handed a beer to MVP and gave him the Stone Cold Stunner.

On the November 5, 2007 edition of Raw, Austin made an appearance to confront Santino Marella for bashing The Condemned. The argument ended as Marella received a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin, who then walked backstage only to return with a Budweiser beer truck to hose down Marella and his valet Maria with beer.

On December 10, 2007 during the Raw 15th Anniversary Spectacular, Austin returned after Vince McMahon received the mandible claw from Mankind and a chokeslam from The Undertaker for proclaiming himself “the greatest Raw superstar of all time.” Shortly after, McMahon received a Stone Cold Stunner as Austin called out all WWE stars in attendance to the ring to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Raw. The show closed as Austin, Triple H and Hornswoggle poured beer on McMahon, who was knocked out outside the ring.

On March 29, 2008, at the Amway Arena, in Orlando, Florida, Austin appeared as a guest at the 2008 WWE Hall of Fame, where at one segment of the taping when Dwayne Johnson was honoring his father and grandfather, the fans hinted to the two wrestlers for one more match, after The Rock on stage pointed out to Austin, and a match they had about 10 years prior.

On October 26, 2008 at Cyber Sunday, Austin was the special guest referee during a match between Batista and Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship. In between the match Stone Cold told a fleeing Jericho that if he was counted out or disqualified, Batista would win the Title. During the course of the match, Batista accidentally knocked Austin down. When Austin recovered, Randy Orton, who had come out as the third referee, knocked Austin back down, only to receive a Stone Cold Stunner when Austin recovered. Eventually Batista won the match by hitting his signature Batista Bomb on Chris Jericho, leading Austin to give the 3 count, making Batista the New World Heavyweight Champion.

On January 12, 2009 edition of Raw, Austin was announced to be the first member of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009. Austin was inducted by his long term on-screen rival WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.

At WrestleMania XXV, Austin was introduced alongside the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009. After the introductions, the segment became an instant curtain call. Austin’s theme music hit, and he re-entered the ringside area wearing a vintage “Austin 3:16” shirt driving an ATV. He drove the ATV around the ring, up the aisle, then in reverse next to the ring. Austin got in the ring, and it became what will be remembered as his farewell beer bash. He toasted the fans, and announcer Jim Ross, whom stated “We’ll never forget the night the Austin era began, and we’ll never forget the night it ended.” During the segment, announcers Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, and Michael Cole stressed that this was his “final time” in a WWE ring.

Personal life

Steve Williams dated Kathryn Burrhus throughout high school and college, and the two married on November 24, 1990. Nonetheless, Williams pursued a relationship with Jeannie Clark (“Lady Blossom”), whom he was working with. Subsequently his marriage to Kathy was quickly annulled on August 7, 1992 and Williams and Jeannie married on December 18, 1992. Together, they have two daughters, Stephanie (born in 1992) and Cassidy (born in 1994). He also adopted Jade, Jeannie’s daughter with former husband Chris Adams. They divorced on May 10, 1999 and their daughters now live in England with Jeannie.

On September 13, 2000, Austin married Debra Marshall. On June 15, 2002, however, police were called to their residence in San Antonio, Texas. They found a hysterical Debra with bruises. Austin had left the house and was asked by police not to return. On August 14, 2002, Austin was arrested and charged with domestic abuse. He pled no contest on November 25, 2002 and was given a year’s probation, a $1,000 fine and ordered to carry out eighty hours of community service. Debra would later claim that Steve Austin was a steroid user and this incident was the result of roid rage. Austin filed for divorce from Debra on July 22, 2002 and the divorce was finalized on February 5, 2003.

On November 13 2007, Austin was involved in an altercation at a Charlotte bar with former American Gladiator Jonathan Byrne. Byrne accused Austin of using steroids, and a heated argument ensued. Both men began shoving each other, but were soon separated by friends. Police were called, but no charges were pressed.

In December 2007, the Wrestling Observer newsletter reported that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin legally changed his real name (Steven Williams) to his wrestling name Steve Austin, following in the footsteps of former WWE Superstars Ultimate Warrior and Chyna.

Reported on March 3, 2009, TMZ cameras caught up with Austin walking out of the Fiuserefly restaurant in Venice Beach, California and it appears he has shaved off his trademark goatee beard for the first time in years, but he grew it again for the 2009 WWE Hall of Fame induction. The reporter also asked for Austin’s thoughts on steroids.

Category: Stone Cold Steve Austin, WWE Biography, WWE Legends | No Comments »
Tags: Bret hart, Eric Bischoff, Steve Cold, Steve Cold Steve Austin, wcw, wwe, WWE Legends

Posted By admin on March 21, 2009

History and Biography of The Rock

history and biography of the rock

Date of Birth
2 May 1972, Hayward, California, USA

Birth Name
Dwayne Douglas Johnson

Nickname
The People’s Champion
The Brahma Bull
The Great One
The Rock

Height
6′ 4″ (1.93 m)

Mini Biography:

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was born on May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California. He is a third generation wrestler. His father is Rocky Johnson and his grandfather, on his mother’s side, was the late Peter Maivia. He was a member of the 1991 national champion Miami Hurricane football team. While attending Miami, he met and later married Dany Johnson (Garcia). In 2001, they had a daughter named Simone Alexandra. The couple got divorced in 2008.

Rocky Maivia:

Dwayne was trained to wrestle by his father and Pat Patterson. He started wrestling in 1995. As Rocky Maivia, he made his WWE debut at the 1996 Survivor Series. He quickly went on to become the Intercontinental champion. Even though he was a face (good guy), the fans hated him. During his matches, the fans would chant “Rocky Sucks”. After a brief absence, Rocky Maivia turned into the Rock.

The Nation of Domination:

The Rock was an arrogant heel that spoke about himself in the third person. As a bad guy, his promos were incredible and he seemed to come up with a new catch phrase on a continual basis. It was during this time that he came up with his signature gimmicks “The People’s Eyebrow” and “The People’s Elbow” with the joke being that he was the bad guy that the people hated.

The People’s Champ:

While Steve Austin was the top performer in the company, it was obvious that The Rock was about to reach that level. The Rock became WWE Champion at the 1998 Survivor Series, which was his second anniversary in the WWE. He would go on to main event 3 WrestleMania shows against Austin. Starting in 2000, the Rock would take a lot of time off due to his new film career.

Best Selling Author and the Start of a New Career:

In 2000, his autobiography, The Rock Says, went to number 1. Hollywood took notice and he hosted Saturday Night Live to promote WrestleMania 2000. His performance was so good that he received the role of the Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns. While it was only a cameo role, he stole the movie and starred in the prequel, The Scorpion King.

The Transition From Wrestler to Actor:

By 2001, his wrestling career was a few months on and a few months off. However, his matches were always the main event and while his feuds were short they were memorable. In 2002, the fans were treated to a dream match when he finally got in the ring against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X-8. In 2004, he wrestled his final match at WrestleMania XX.

Biography:

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was born on May 2nd 1972 in Hayward California. Dwayne has many Relitives that were/are professional wrestlers. His father Rocky Johnson inspired him to do alot, and to get into the wrestling biz. Dwayne was very good at football and carried it into college and high school. Johnson received collegiate football scholarship offers from several universities and settled on the University Of Miami. In 1991, he was part of the Miami Hurricanes’, but after getting an injury that kept him sidelined, he was replaced. There at Miami, Johnson met his future wife, Dany Garcia. Johnson graduated from the University of Miami in 1995 with a degree in criminology. Johnson continued his football career by after being passed over by the NFL, but he was cut two months into the season.

Johnson married Dany Garcia on May 3rd, 1997 a day after his 25th birthday. Dwayne and his wife have a daughter, Simone Alexander, born August 14th 2001. But sad things happen because on June 1, 2007, Johnson and Garcia announced that they would be splitting up after 10 years of marriage. But they said that they would stay bestfriends.

The Rock actually has made many charity donations and has started a charity called The Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation.

Finnaly, Dwayne Johnson joined the WWE in 1996 as Rocky Mavia! He was WWE’S first 3rd generation superstar. He debuted at Survivor Series 1996 as a babyface(good guy). On RAW Feburary 1997, he won the Intercotinental championship from Hunter Hearst Helmsley and it was only his 3rd month with the company. But fans were getting sick of his good guy gimmick due to the popularity of Stone Cold Steve Austin. So during some of his matches the fans would chant “Die Rocky Die!” and “Rocky Sucks!”

After losing his Championship to Owen Hart and coming back from an injury, Dwayne was able to turn Heel(bad guy). He joined the Nation Of Domination.

He used the nickname of “‘The Rock’ Rocky Maivia,” which was eventually shortened to just “The Rock.” The Rock soon drove out the leader, Faarroq and soon starting his sentences with “The Rock says……” Johnson was regonized as for the best cutting promos in the industry.

As you could see, he took classes at Miami university for speech, which he got “A’s” in. Rock spent the end of 1997 and the beginning of 1998 feuding with both Austin and Ken Shamrock.

Johnson next feuded with Faarooq, who was angry at the Rock for usurping his position. The Rock Recieved the Intercotinental after Vince told Stone Cold to release it to the Rock. He soon moved to a feud with Triple H and D-Generation X. Nation members would fight DX while the Rock would fight Triple H over the Intercontinental Championship. The Rock had many battles with Triple H for the belt, but soon lost it to him in a ladder match at SummerSlam 1998. At BrekDown, Rock defeated Ken Shamrock and Mankind in a triple threat steel cage match to become the #1 contender to the WWF Championship. After feuding with Mark Henry, The Nation was disbanded.

Johnson’s popularity as The Rock propelled him to the WWF Championship. Soon the reaction from the Crowd turned him Face again, and he began a fued with Mr. McMahon who said he has a “problem with the people” and thus he should target the “People’s Champion” (as The Rock claimed himself to be).
The Rock soon won his first WWF Championship against Mankind in Survivor Series 1998 in the finals of the “Deadly Game” tournament. At the time, he was the first African American Champion, and the youngest one too. Once again, The Rock turned heel after joining Vince and Shane Mcmahon in the Corporation. Later, At the Paper View In Your House, The Rock had a rematch against Mankind for the WWF Championship. Mankind won by submission but Mr. McMahon said that since The Rock did not tap out that The Rock would retain his title. The Rock began a feud with Mankind over the WWF Championship, during which the title changed hands back and forth between the two. Soon The Rock won his 2nd WWF Championship.

This feud lasted until Feburary 15th edition of RAW is WAR, where The Rock won his third WWF Championship in a ladder match after The Big Show chokeslammed Mankind off a ladder.
before losing to Undertaker at King Of The Ring 1999, for Undertaker’s WWF Championship where Undertaker retained the title. With Mankind out of the way, The Rock had to defend his WWF Championship at WrestleMania XV, but lost the belt to Stone Cold. Rock also lost the tittle rematch at Backlash. WWF fans began to cheer The Rock despite him being a heel, due to his comedic interviews, promos and segments which mocked wrestlers and announcers and made him popular to the fans. Soon The Rock turned Face again after being betrayed by Shawn Micheals, and started a feud with The Undertaker, Triple H, and the Coporate Minisrty. Sometimes he found himself working together with Austin. Rock defeated Triple H at historic Over The Edge 1999 before losing to Undertaker at King Of The Ring 1999, for Undertaker’s WWF Championship where Undertaker retained the title. He continued his rivalry with Triple H, after losing to him in a #1 contender’s match at Fully Loaded.

The Rock found himself in several singles and tag championship opportunities, so he teamed with former enemy Mankind to create The Rock N Sock Connection. And The Rock N Sock connection won the WWF tag team tittles 3 times. Aside from the championships, the team was regarded as one of the most entertaining teams in history, as Mankind imitated The Rock, who ignored Mankind, with both wrestlers having support from the crowd.. The team was also involved in a segment which occurred on RAW is WAR called “This Is Your Life,” in which Mankind brought out people from The Rock’s past, such as his high school girlfriend and gym teacher. The segment earned an 8.4 Nielsen Rating and is, to this day, one of the single highest rated segments in terms of viewership in RAW history.

The Rock soon entered the 2000 Royal Rumble and was left with the Big Show as the final two. The Big Show looked like he was going to eliminate The Rock in a choke-slam position, but The Rock reversed it, and sent the Big Show flying down the ropes, as the Rock came back up. The Rock’s feet, however, hit the floor first, although those watching the event did not see that. The Big Show attempted to prove that the Rock’s feet, not his, touched the ground first. He did manage to prove it, by providing video footage showing that he was the rightful winner. . Despite that, the decision that The Rock had won the Rumble match could not be reversed, so a number one contender’s match for the WWF Championship at No Way Out 2000 was held, which saw the Big Show come out on top after Shane McMahon interfered, knocking The Rock in the head with a steel chair. The Rock soon won agaist The Big Show again, and earned the right to face Triple H at the WrestleMania 2000. Triple H retained the title when Vince turned on The Rock, giving him two vicious chair shots, allowing Triple H to pin The Rock for the three-count. Over the next couple of months The Rock feuded with Triple H over the WWF Championship. A month after the match at WrestleMania 2000, The Rock had a rematch with Triple H at Backlash 2000 in which The Rock won his fourth WWF Championship. Later he won his fifth WWF championship at the 2000 King Of The Ring in a tag team match. He successfully defended the championship against superstars such as Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Triple H, Kane, The Undertaker, and Shane McMahon. He soon lost his Tittle to Angle at No Mercy in 2000. Before the match of the Amageddon Hell In A Cell, The Rock cut one of his most successful promos ever, making fun of the other five competitors. Around that same time, Rock held the WWF Tag Team Championship with The Undertaker and the duo exchanged the titles with Edge and Christian.After fueding with Angle for the WWF championship, The Rock finally came out on top and regained the WWF Championship.

Afterwards, he feuded with the Royal Rumble 2001 winner, Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Rock went into Wrestle Mania 17 as the WWF Champion, but he was defeated after a shocking turn from Austin, who used Mr. McMahon to win the title. Soon Rock went on to film the movie “The Mummy Returns” after a storyline suspension from Mr. McMahon.

In early 2002, Rock feuded with Jericho and challenged him for the WWF Undisputed Championship at Royal rumble 2002, but lost the match. After losing to Jericho, Rock engaged in feuds and wrestled the likes of The Undertaker at No Way Out 2002 and Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8. On July 21st, The Rock won his record-breaking seventh and final WWE Championship, which was then under the name “WWE Undisputed Championship”.

After fueding with Lesnar, UnderTaker, Angle and Triple H, The Rock lost his last Championship reign to Lesnar.

The Rock’s last heel turn began on SmackDown in February 2003, where he publicly criticized Hulk Hogan. The Rock later drafted himself to RAW and started a feud with the Hurricane and other babyfaces.
He also had a comical gimmick, where he played the guitar and sang songs mocking the host city for the event.When Stone Cold Steve Austin returned, they once again feuded, and the Rock defeated Austin at WrestleMania XIX, which was Austin’s last major appearance in a wrestling role. The Rock then had a feud with former WCW star Bill GoldBerg, to whom Rock lost at Backlash 2003. In this match, both superstars received a mixed reaction from the fans. The Rock then turned face once more by engaging in a one night feud against then-heels Chris Jericho and Christian. Despite that, he declared Christian as his favorite wrestler, and Christian began calling himself the “new people’s champion” and referring to his fans as “his peeps.”

The Rock has made occasional appereances with the WWE. Including standing up for Eugene, making a cameo appearance in his home-town of Miami and helping Foley turn back La resistance. He hosted a “Pie-Eating Contest” during the Diva Search 2004 and ended the segment by giving Johnathan Coachman a Rock Bottom and a People’s Elbow. After this appearance, Johnson reported in several interviews that he was no longer under contract with WWE. He also reported that the reason he was able to continue using the name “The Rock” was part of a dual ownership between him and WWE. The Rock made an appearance on WWE after a near three year absence, appearing on RAW via a pre-taped segment on the titantron.
The Rock’s latest apperances was inducting his father and his granfather into the WWE Hall Of Fame.

Category: the rock, WWE Biography, WWE Legends | No Comments »
Tags: Dwayne Johnson, The Brahma Bull, The Great One, The People's Champion, the rock, WWE Legends

Posted By admin on March 3, 2009

History and Biography of Chris Jericho

History and Biography of Chris Jericho

Birth Name: Christopher Keith Irvine
Birth Place: Manhasset, NY
Date of Birth / Zodiac Sign: 11/09/1970, Scorpio
Profession: Pro wrestler; actor; singer

Mini Biography

Chris Jericho was born November 9, 1970 in Manhasset, New York and was raised in raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His real name is Christopher Keith Irvine. He joined the Hart Brothers School of Wrestling when he was 19 year old. His father, Ted Irvine, is a former National Hockey League (NHL) player.

He is presently working with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), on its Raw brand. Chris is married to Jessica Lee Lockhart. On September 24, 2004 they were blessed with a son and on July 18, 2006, they were blessed with twin daughters. Jericho has also appeared on World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).

On September 25, 1997, Chris Jericho joined the Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame. He was given the award of The Order of the Buffalo Hunt in a ceremony held in Manitoba for his achievements in wrestling and working with underprivileged children.
In 1992, he came to Mexico where he did many small and largest wrestling companies, he also worked for Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL). In 1994 he moved to Japan where he competed for the Wrestling and Romance (WAR) promotion.

Jericho joined WCW on August 26, 1996 and his first match with Chris Benoit at Fall Brawl held on September 15, 1996. On June 28, 1997 Jericho won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship and in 1997 he won again.

On August 9, 1999 Jericho made his first appearance on WWE held in Chicago. He introduced himself as Y2J. When The Rock was in the ring doing a promo, Jericho interrupted him.

Full Biography

1990–1996

A year after graduating from college, Irvine was setting up rings for promoter Bob Holliday. At age nineteen, he entered the Hart Brothers School of Wrestling. Two months later, he was ready to start wrestling on independent shows, making his debut in October 1990. He took the name “Jericho” from the Helloween album, Walls of Jericho and from his Christian beliefs.

Jericho worked for Tony Condello in the tours of Northern Manitoba with future superstars Adam Copeland (Edge), Jason Reso (Christian Cage), and Terry Gerin (Rhino). He also wrestled in Calgary’s Canadian National Wrestling Alliance (CNWA) and Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling (CRMW). In the winter of 1992, he traveled to Mexico where he wrestled for several small wrestling companies as well as the largest in the country, Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL). In EMLL, Jericho took on Silver King, Negro Casas, and Último Dragón en route to an eleven-month reign as the NWA Middleweight Champion that began in December 1993. His burgeoning wrestling skills also took him to Japan in 1994 where he competed for the Wrestling and Romance (WAR) promotion, facing the likes of Gedo and Último Dragón, to whom he lost the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship. 1994 also saw Jericho reunited with his former teammate from CRMW, Lance Storm, as the Thrillseekers in Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling promotion. In 1995, Jericho competed in the second Super J Cup Tournament, hosted by WAR, losing to Chris Benoit.

In 1996, thanks to a recommendation by Mick Foley to promoter Paul Heyman, Jericho began wrestling for the Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion, winning the ECW Television Championship in June 1996. While in ECW, Chris Jericho made a name for himself, wrestling top talent such as Taz, Sabu, Rob Van Dam, Cactus Jack, Shane Douglas, and 2 Cold Scorpio. It was during this time that he drew the attention of WCW.

World Championship Wrestling (1996–1999)

On August 26, 1996 Jericho made his first appearance with WCW, and on September 15, he appeared at his first pay-per-view show, in a match against Chris Benoit at Fall Brawl. On June 28, 1997, Jericho defeated Syxx in Los Angeles, California to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship for the first time. He won the title again on August 12, 1997, by defeating Alex Wright.

Jericho began his WCW heel run when he won the title a third time, defeating Rey Mysterio, Jr. at Souled Out 1998 by forcing him to submit to the Liontamer. After the match, Jericho assaulted Mysterio’s knee with a toolbox. Mysterio needed six months of recovery before he could return to the ring. Jericho then had a short feud with Juventud Guerrera with Guerrera repeatedly wanting a shot at Jericho’s Cruiserweight Championship but constantly being rebuffed. This resulted in a Title vs. Mask match at SuperBrawl VIII. Guerrera lost the match and was forced to remove his mask. Following this match, Jericho began his ongoing gimmick of collecting and wearing to the ring trophy items from his defeated opponents, such as Guerrera’s mask, Prince Iaukea’s Hawaiian dress, and a headband from Disco Inferno.

Jericho then began a long feud with Dean Malenko in which Jericho constantly claimed to be a superior wrestler but refused to wrestle Malenko. Due to his mastery of technical wrestling, Malenko was known as “The Man of 1000 Holds,” so Jericho claimed to be “The Man of 1004 Holds.” During the March 30, 1998 episode of WCW Monday Nitro, after defeating Marty Jannetty, Jericho pulled out a long pile of paper that allegedly listed each of the 1004 holds he knew and then recited them to the audience. Many of the “holds” were fictional, and every other hold was an armbar. On the March 12, 1998 episode of WCW Thunder, Malenko appeared to defeat Jericho who was wearing the mask of Guerrera, however, this was revealed to have been a bribed Lenny Lane, resulting in a minor feud over Jericho not paying Lane for his role. At Uncensored Jericho finally wrestled Malenko and defeated him, leading to Malenko taking a leave of absence from wrestling. Jericho then proceeded to bring with him to the ring a portrait of Malenko, which he insulted and demeaned. Just prior to Slamboree, J.J. Dillon (referred to by Jericho as “Jo Jo”) scheduled a cruiserweight Battle Royal in which the wrestler who won would immediately have a shot at Jericho’s Cruiserweight Championship. Jericho accepted on the grounds that whoever had to face him would not have nearly enough energy to wrestle two matches in a row. At Slamboree, Jericho came out to announce the competitors in insulting fashion before the match started and then went backstage for coffee. The battle royal was won by what appeared to be Ciclope after Juventud Guerrera shook Ciclope’s hand then eliminated himself but was in fact a returning Malenko in disguise who proceeded to defeat Jericho for the championship. This led to Jericho claiming to be a victim of a carefully planned conspiracy to get the belt off of him. He at first blamed the WCW locker room, then added J.J. Dillon, Ted Turner, and finally in a vignette, he walked around Washington, D.C. with the sign “conspiracy victim” adding President Bill Clinton to the list of conspirators after being rejected from a meeting. Eventually Malenko vacated the title. In the match to decide the champion, Jericho ended up defeating Malenko at The Great American Bash to win the vacant title due to Malenko being disqualified after hitting Jericho with a chair. The next night Malenko was suspended for his actions.

At Bash at the Beach, Jericho was defeated by the recently returned Rey Mysterio, Jr. (who had recovered from his knee injury) in a No Disqualification match when the still suspended Malenko interfered. The next night, however, Jericho regained the Cruiserweight Championship from Mysterio after he interrupted J.J. Dillon, who was at the time giving the championship to Mysterio. Jericho was again awarded the championship. Eventually, Jericho decisively lost the title to Juventud Guerrera at Road Wild with Malenko as special referee. On August 10, Jericho defeated Stevie Ray to win the WCW World Television Championship (Stevie Ray substituting for the champion Booker T).

Soon after this, Jericho attempted to instigate a feud with the WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg, calling him out repeatedly but never actually wrestling him. Jericho began referring to him as “Greenberg”. At Fall Brawl, Jericho, Ralphus, and the Ninja participated in a scene where before coming to the ring they attempted to replicate Goldberg’s guided ring entrance from his locker room but got lost repeatedly. At one point Jericho yelled “Rock and Roll! Hello Winston-Salem!” in reference to a similar scene from the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. When Jericho finally reached the entrance to simulate Goldberg’s pyro, the resulting pyro was so poor it caused Jericho to flip out and start kicking it. Then, a four and a half foot tall midget instead of Goldberg came out and was easily defeated by Jericho, who now claimed to be 1-0 against Goldberg to satirize Goldberg’s undefeated streak. This occurred three more times, eventually ending with Jericho claiming to be 4-0 against Goldberg, though they never actually wrestled once.

On November 30, 1998 Jericho lost the Television Championship to Konnan. Jericho then began a feud with Perry Saturn in early 1999. The feud saw Jericho and Saturn instigating bizarre stipulation matches, such as at Souled Out, where Jericho defeated Saturn in a “loser must wear a dress” match. At SuperBrawl IX Jericho and Saturn wrestled in a “dress” match which again saw Jericho defeat Saturn. Saturn finally defeated Jericho at Uncensored in a Dog Collar match.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

Jericho alternated between WCW and a number of Japanese tours before his debut with the World Wrestling Federation. The build-up to Jericho’s arrival was a clock labeled “countdown to the new millennium,” counting down over the weeks prior to his arrival. On the home video, Break the Walls Down, Jericho states he was inspired to do this as his entrance when he saw a similar clock in a post office. Vince McMahon gave him the green light to use it as his intro to the WWF. The clock finally ran down on August 9, 1999 in Chicago, Illinois while The Rock was in the ring doing a promo. Jericho, a heel, who was actually being cheered instead of getting booed, entered the arena and proclaimed himself “Y2J” (a play on the Y2K bug). The Rock proceeded to verbally mock him for his interruption.

Jericho feuded with Chyna for the Intercontinental Championship. After losing to Chyna at the Survivor Series 1999, Jericho won his first Intercontinental title at Armageddon. This feud with Chyna lasted for many months, including a controversial decision during a rematch in which two separate referees declared each one of them the winner of a match for the title. As a result, they became co-owners of the title until Jericho attained sole ownership at the Royal Rumble. He ended up dropping the title to Kurt Angle at No Way Out.

On April 2, Jericho participated in a Triple Threat match against Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 2000. Angle entered the match-up as both the WWF European and WWF Intercontinental Champion. The first man to score a pinfall or submission would be declared Intercontinental Champion. The second man to score a pinfall or submission would be declared European Champion. Jericho was first pinned by Benoit and pinned Benoit later on in the match, making Jericho the new European Champion. Jericho lost the title the next day to Eddie Guerrero on Raw after Chyna turned heel to side with Guerrero, claiming she could not resist his Latino Heat. On the April 17 edition of Raw, Jericho upset Triple H in a WWF Championship match. Referee Earl Hebner had made a fast count when Jericho pinned Triple H, giving Jericho the title. After previous weeks of assault on referee Earl Hebner, Triple H told him that if he reversed the decision, then he would never touch him while he was under contract. After Hebner reversed the decision, he fired Hebner and assaulted him. Despite the pinfall win over Triple H, WWE does not recognize Jericho’s reign as champion. After the controversial decision, Jericho went on to feud with Chris Benoit. On the May 4 edition of SmackDown!, Jericho defeated Benoit to become Intercontinental Champion for the second time, but lost the title back to Benoit four days later on Raw.

Jericho’s popularity skyrocketed when he started feuding with Triple H and his wife (just married in the storyline at the time) Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. Fans took particular delight in his promos toward Stephanie, as he showered her with insults, calling her a “filthy, dirty, disgusting, brutal, bottom-feeding, trash-bag ho” and throwing a pie in her face. He got the best of Triple H on more than one occasion, even helping the Brooklyn Brawler, a renowned jobber, gain an upset victory over the then four-time WWF Champion. Their feud climaxed at Fully Loaded, when they competed in a Last Man Standing match, with Jericho only losing the match to Triple H by one second and thanks to multiple occasions of Stephanie helping Triple H, especially in the final moments.

2001 – 2002

At the 2001 Royal Rumble, Jericho defeated Chris Benoit in a Ladder match to win the Intercontinental Championship for the third time. At WrestleMania X-Seven, he successfully defended his title in a match against William Regal, only to lose it four days later to Triple H.

At Judgment Day, Jericho and Benoit won a “Tag Team Turmoil” match, earning a shot at Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H for their WWF Tag Team Championship on Raw the next night. Benoit and Jericho won the match, in which Triple H legitimately tore his quadriceps and spent the rest of the year injured, and Jericho became WWF Tag Team Champion for the first time. The team defended their title in the first Fatal Four-Way Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match where Benoit sustained a year-long injury doing a diving headbutt through a table. Despite being carried out on a stretcher, he returned to the match to climb the ladder and retain the championship. The duo lost the titles one month later to the Dudley Boyz on June 19, 2001.

In the following months, Jericho became a major force in The Invasion storyline in which WCW and ECW joined forces to overtake the WWF. Jericho remained on the side of the WWF (despite previously competing in WCW and ECW) and retained his status as a face. However, signs of a heel turn slowly became obvious as Jericho began to show jealousy toward fellow WWF member, The Rock. The Rock kept reminding Jericho that he had never won “the big one” (a world championship), and wrote Jericho off as a “comedy act”. Jericho faced The Rock in a match at No Mercy for the WCW Championship after Jericho defeated Rob Van Dam in a number one contenders match. Jericho finally won “the big one”, pinning The Rock after debuting a new finisher, the Breakdown. This championship victory was Jericho’s first official world championship victory (Jericho had actually won the WWF Championship from Triple H on April 17, 2000 only to have that match stricken from the record 15 minutes later.) One night later, the two put their differences aside and won the WWF Tag Team titles from the Dudley Boyz, with Jericho becoming a double champion. After they lost the titles to Test and Booker T, they continued their feud. On the November 5 edition of Raw, The Rock defeated Jericho to regain the WCW Championship with a surprise roll up. Following the match, Jericho savagely attacked The Rock with a steel chair, thus marking a full-fledged heel turn that lasted for two years. At the Survivor Series, Jericho would almost cost The Rock, and the WWF, victory in their elimination matchup by attacking him again. On December 9, at Vengeance, Chris Jericho defeated both The Rock for the rechristened World Championship, and Stone Cold Steve Austin for his WWF Championship, on the same night to become the first-ever wrestler to hold both championships at the same time, making him the first WWF Undisputed Champion. He fought both of the men he defeated at Vengeance on separate occasions and retained his title at the next two pay-per-views, Royal Rumble (vs. The Rock) and No Way Out (vs. Stone Cold).

Jericho lost the title to Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania X8. After his title loss Jericho became a member of the SmackDown! roster and continued his feud with Triple H, helping cost Triple H his newly won Undisputed Championship at Backlash. The rivalry culminated at Judgment Day when Triple H defeated Jericho in a Hell in a Cell match. Jericho then started a short feud with Edge. Shortly thereafter, Jericho was drafted back to Raw, where he captured the Intercontinental Championship from Rob Van Dam and teamed with Christian to capture the tag team titles from The Hurricane and Kane on October 14, 2002.

2003-2005

On January 13, 2003, Jericho won an over-the-top-rope challenge against Kane, RVD, and Batista to select his entry number for the Royal Rumble match, choosing number two in order to start the match with Michaels. After Michaels’ entrance, Jericho entered as the second participant. Christian, in Jericho’s attire, appeared as the real Jericho attacked Shawn from behind. He eliminated Michaels shortly afterwards, but Michaels got his revenge later in the match by causing Jericho to be eliminated by Test, whom Jericho would feud with simultaneously along with Michaels and Jeff Hardy. The two fought again at WrestleMania XIX. In the end, Michaels managed to get a roll-up and score the victory. Jericho, however, hit Michaels with a low blow after the match following an embrace.

Later in 2003, Jericho began a romance with Trish Stratus as tag team partner Christian began one with Lita. This, however, to be a bet over who could sleep with their respective female first, with a Canadian Dollar at stake. Stratus overheard this and broke it off with Jericho, who then tried to make it up to her by saving her from Kane. Stratus agreed that the two of them could just be “friends”. After Christian was put in a match against Stratus, where he put her in the Walls of Jericho, Jericho sought revenge on Christian, which led to a match at WrestleMania XX. Christian defeated Jericho after Stratus ran down and “inadvertently” struck Jericho (thinking it was Christian) and Christian got the roll-up. After the match, Stratus turned on Jericho and revealed that she and Christian were a couple. This led to a handicap match at Backlash, which Jericho won.

Jericho won his seventh Intercontinental Championship at that year’s Unforgiven in a ladder match against Christian, the title previously being stripped from Edge due to an injury. Jericho’s seventh reign was short lived, as he lost it at Taboo Tuesday to Shelton Benjamin, who the fans voted to be his opponent.

Jericho then teamed up with Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, and Maven to take on Triple H, Batista, Edge, and Snitsky at Survivor Series, where the stipulation stated that the winning team would become the General Manager of Raw throughout the next four weeks. Jericho’s team were victorious, so they took turns as General Manager. During Jericho’s turn as General Manager, Triple H was stripped of his World Heavyweight Championship because a Triple Threat match for the title a week earlier had ended in a draw. At New Year’s Revolution, Jericho competed in the Elimination Chamber against Triple H, Chris Benoit, Batista, Randy Orton and Edge for the vacated World Heavyweight Championship. Shawn Michaels was the special guest referee. Jericho began the match with Benoit but was ultimately eliminated by Batista.

At WrestleMania 21, Jericho participated in the first-ever Money in the Bank ladder match. The match concept was suggested by Jericho, and he competed in the match against Benjamin, Chris Benoit, Kane, Christian, and Edge. Despite coming up with the idea for the match, he lost the match when Edge claimed the briefcase. At Backlash, Chris Jericho yet again challenged Shelton Benjamin for the Intercontinental Championship, but failed in his attempt to win the belt. On June 12, 2005 Jericho wrestled in the first match of the ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view event, against Lance Storm. Jericho used his ‘Lionheart’ gimmick, instead of his more well known ‘Y2J’ gimmick. Jericho lost after interference from Jason and Justin Credible; Jericho was hit in the head with a Singapore Cane, allowing Storm to pin him.

Later that June, Jericho became a heel for the third time in the WWE by turning on WWE Champion John Cena. Jericho lost a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship at Vengeance which also involved Christian to Cena. The feud continued throughout the Summer and Jericho lost to Cena in a championship match at SummerSlam. The next night on Raw, Jericho faced Cena in a rematch, this time in a “You’re fired” match, where the loser would be fired. Cena won again, and Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff kayfabe fired a pleading Jericho, who was carried out of the arena by security. WWE’s official website confirmed on July 28, 2005 that Chris Jericho signed a short-term contract extension to stay with the company after his long-term contract expired, which presumably ended after his loss to Cena on August 22. On August 25, Jericho announced his departure from WWE in a statement on (and later pulled from) his official website, saying that after 15 years of wrestling he was mentally burnt out and no longer challenged by wrestling at that point in time, noting that he has done everything he has ever wanted to do in the business. He said that the “You’re fired” match with John Cena was his last match “for now,” but said he was not done with wrestling or WWE, and that if he returned to wrestling, it would be with WWE. On his official website he added a press release saying he is touring with Fozzy, acting, hosting his XM Radio show, The Rock Of Jericho, appearing on VH1’s Best Week Ever, and being a guest commentator on MuchMusic’s Video on Trial.

2007–present

His return had been promoted since September 24, 2007 with a viral marketing campaign using a series of 15-second cryptic binary code videos, similar to the matrix digital rain featured in The Matrix series. The videos contained hidden messages and biblical links related to Jericho, although speculation existed throughout WWE fans over who the campaign targeted. The text “Save Us” and “2nd Coming” were most prominent in the videos. The campaign spread throughout the internet with numerous websites, though no longer operational, that featured hidden messages and biblical links to further hint at Jericho’s return.

Jericho made his return to WWE television on the November 19, 2007 edition of Raw, where he interrupted Randy Orton during Orton’s orchestrated “passing of the torch” ceremony. Jericho revealed his intentions to reclaim the WWE Championship in order to “save” WWE fans from Orton, with a new haircut and the Y2J gimmick again. Jericho wrestled in his first match in over two years on the November 26 edition of Raw, debuting a new finishing maneuver called the Codebreaker, to defeat Santino Marella. At his first pay-per-view appearance, Armageddon, he was booked in a WWE title match against Randy Orton. Jericho, however, defeated Orton by disqualification when John “Bradshaw” Layfield (JBL) interfered in the match. As a result, Orton retained the title. He began a feud with JBL and met him at the Royal Rumble. Jericho was disqualified after hitting JBL with a steel chair. At No Way Out, Jericho competed in his fourth Elimination Chamber match alongside Triple H, Shawn Michaels, JBL, Umaga, and Jeff Hardy. He was the third man eliminated when Hardy pinned him following Michaels’ Sweet Chin Music. On the March 10 edition of Raw, Jericho captured the Intercontinental Championship for a record eighth time, this time defeating Jeff Hardy.

On the June 9 edition of Raw, Jericho turned heel once again by attacking Shawn Michaels during his talk show segment The Highlight Reel, and after that developed a “self-righteous businessman” gimmick, wearing a suit and tie. At Night of Champions, he lost the Intercontinental title to Kofi Kingston after a successful distraction by Shawn Michaels. He hosted the final version of The Highlight Reel on the July 28 edition of Raw. At Unforgiven, Jericho lost an Unsanctioned match to Michaels. But in the main event, Jericho entered in the Championship Scramble as a replacement for the defending champion CM Punk and subsequently won the World Heavyweight Championship. On the September 22 edition of Raw he successfully retained his title in a Steel Cage match against CM Punk. Later on, it was announced that Jericho would defend his World Championship against Shawn Michaels at No Mercy, thus continuing the feud between the two. He successfully defended his title against Michaels at No Mercy in a ladder match. At Cyber Sunday, Jericho dropped the title to Batista with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest referee. Eight days later, however, on a three hour special episode of Raw, he defeated Batista to win back the title in a steel cage match. This reign would last until the 2008 Survivor Series, where Jericho lost to the returning John Cena. On the December 8 edition of Raw, he won a Slammy Award for the Superstar of the Year. On the January 12, 2009 episode of Raw, Jericho was involved in a narrative in which WWE Executive Vice President Stephanie McMahon kayfabe fired him. The next week, he was rehired by McMahon after a forced apology to her and the fans. Jericho became an entrant on the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber Match when he defeated CM Punk for a spot. On No Way Out, he survived to the final three as he eliminated Mike Knox and helped eliminate the champion John Cena. He was pinned by Rey Mysterio when he reversed the Walls of Jericho.

Personal life

His father, Ted Irvine, is a former National Hockey League (NHL) player.

Jericho currently divides his time between homes in Los Angeles, California and Tampa, Florida. Jericho’s wife is named Jessica Lee Lockhart, with whom he has a son, Ash Edward Irvine (born September 24, 2003) and two daughters, twins Cheyenne Lee Irvine and Sierra Lorreta Irvine (born July 18, 2006). Cheyenne and Sierra’s births were premature, at the 27 week mark, and they weighed 2 pounds 7 ounces and 2 pounds 5 ounces.

Despite being born in the prominent Long Island neighborhood of Manhasset, New York, Jericho is a proud Canadian, having been raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He also mentioned that he was pulling for Canada when Canada played the United States in the 2002 Olympic gold medal hockey game. In fact, Vince McMahon felt that by introducing him as “born in Manhasset, New York”, American fans would be more likely to get behind him. He shares dual citizenship with both Canada and the United States.

Jericho was inducted into the Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame on September 25, 1997. On July 5, 2004, Jericho was awarded The Order of the Buffalo Hunt in a ceremony held in Manitoba for his achievements in wrestling and his continual commitment to working with underprivileged children. The award has previously been given to Pope John Paul II, Chicago mayor Richard Daley, Desmond Tutu, and Mother Teresa.

In 2008, while wrestling against Shawn Michaels in a ladder match at No Mercy, Jericho broke one of his front teeth when he was hit in the face with a ladder by Michaels. The damaged tooth has since been fixed.

On February 7, 2009, Jericho was involved in an altercation with fans outside Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, British Columbia after a World Wrestling Entertainment live event. A man and woman were detained by police and released without charge regarding the incident, and police continue to investigate.

Category: Chris Jericho, WWE Biography, WWE Legends | No Comments »
Tags: Chris Jericho, wresting legends, Y2J

Posted By admin on February 19, 2009

History and Biography of Macho Man Randy Savage

Real Name:	Randy Mario Poffo
Birthday:	November 15, 1953
Hometown:	Originally: Downers Grove, Illinois Moved to Sarasota, Florida
Marital Status:	Once dated Debbie Combs. Divorced from Elizebeth Once dated Georgous George
Height & Weight:	6’2″ – 273 lbs
Trained by:	Angelo Poffo
Debut:
Previous Gimmicks:	Destroyer (Lexington) Executioner (ICW) Spider (Indies) Mr. Madness (WWF) Macho King (WWF)
Finishing Move:	Flying Elbow Drop
Favorite Moves:
Notable Feuds:
Austin Idol Rock N Roll Express Jerry Lawler Rick Rude King Kong Bundy Eddie Gilbert George Steele Billy Jack Haynes Junkyard Dog Ricky Steamboat Ted Debiase Andre The Giant Bad News Brown	Akeem Big Bossman Hulk Hogan Brutus Beefcake Jim Duggan Dusty Rhodes Ultimate Warrior Ric Flair Razor Ramon Crush Giant Lex Luger Diamond Dallas Page Kevin Nash

Mini Biography:

Intro:

Randy Poffo was born on November 15, 1953, on the campus of Ohio State University, He is the son of wrestler Angelo Poffo and the brother of “Leaping” Lanny Poffo. Randy was a baseball player and was in the farm systems of the Cardinals, Reds and White Sox. He became a wrestler in 1975.

WWE:

Randy gained national attention in 1985 when he joined the WWE. In a surprise, he named the lovely Miss Elizabeth to be his manager. In real life he was married to the late Elizabeth Heulette. Within months, he had beaten Hulk Hogan twice at Madison Square Garden before winning the Intercontinental Championship from Tito Santana.

The Longest Reigning Intercontinental Champion:

His title reign lasted over a year and was the longest title reign to that point. His most notable feuds were with George Steele, who had a crush on Elizabeth, and Ricky Steamboat. He crushed Steamboat’s larynx and lost the title to Steamboat in a classic match at WrestleMania 3. Later in the year he feuded with the Honky Tonk Man over the belt and became friends with Hulk Hogan in the process.

The Mega-Powers:

Savage and Hogan teamed up to form the Mega-Powers. When Hogan was cheated out of his title, Savage won the belt in a tournament by beating four men at WrestleMania IV with some help from Hogan. For the next year their relationship started to get sour and finally collapsed on NBC in a prime time Main Event special. Hogan beat Savage for the title at WrestleMania V.
The Macho King, Marriage and World Champ Again:

Shortly after losing the title he became the Macho King. At WrestleMania VII, he lost a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior but after the match made up with Elizabeth. A few weeks later he proposed to her and they were married at SummerSlam. Jake Roberts gave her a cobra as a wedding gift which led to his eventual return. He would win the WWE Title from Ric Flair at WrestleMania VIII in a feud where Flair claimed that “Elizabeth was mine before she was yours!”.

WCW:

After being relegated to announcing, Savage went to the WCW in 1994. His feud with Flair was reignited when his father was attacked. Savage was turned on by Hogan when Hollywood Hogan formed the New World Order. A little while later, Savage joined the NWO and feuded with Dallas Page. In 1999, Savage wasn’t resigned by WCW due to cost cutting.

Retirement:

In his retirement, Savage stared in Spider-Man as Bonesaw McGraw. He also made a rap album in which he challenges Hulk Hogan to a fight due to his real life beef with Hogan over the breakup of several of his relationships. On May 1, 2003, his ex-wife Miss Elizabeth died from an overdose of a combination of alcohol and pain pills at the home of her boyfriend, former WCW Champion, Lex Luger.

Main Biography

Southeastern Tag Team titles w/Ole Anderson;

ICW World Heavyweight title;

WWF Intercontinental title defeating Tito Santana (February 8, 1986);

WWF King of the Ring Tournament Winner defeating King Kong Bundy in the Finals (April 9, 1987);

WWF World Heavyweight title defeating Ted DiBiase in a Tournament Final (March 27, 1988);

WWF World Heavyweight title defeating “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair (April 5, 1992);

WCW World Heavyweight title by winning a 3-ring World War III Battle Royal (November 26, 1995);

WCW World Heavyweight title defeating “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair (January 22, 1996);

WCW World Heavyweight title defeating Sting (April 19, 1998);

Obsessedwithwrestling.com Hall of Fame Inductee (2004);

In the Beginning

Randy Poffo was a baseball player and had stints as a catcher with several minor league systems;

~~~The St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox for five years..

Randy Poffo was still playing ball when his father, pro wrestler Angelo Poffo, got Randy into wrestling..Randy Poffo

November 1973: Randy Poffo, all 175 pounds of him, had his first match against Paul Christy..

~~~Randy Poffo eventually gave up baseball and got into wrestling full-time..

1974: Randy Poffo began wrestling in the Georgia and Florida areas occasionally competing under a mask as “The Spider”..

Randy Poffo met up here with a pair of longtime friends, the Anderson Brothers..

Randy Poffo teamed with Ole Anderson to win the Southeastern Tag Team Championship..

Randy Poffo held the Southern Tag Team titles with his brother Lanny Poffo a few years later..International Championship Wrestling

Ole Anderson once commented on how Randy wrestled like a savage, that prompted him to change his name to Randy Savage..

1978: Randy’s father Angelo Poffo began his very own wrestling promotion, called International Championship Wrestling (ICW)..

1979: Randy Savage defeated his brother Lanny Poffo to become the second ICW World Heavyweight title..AWA Memphis & Jerry Lawler

1983: Randy Savage left ICW and signed with the Memphis-based AWA, which was one of ICW’s competitors..

~~~Angelo Poffo and Lanny Poffo later joined Memphis when ICW folded..

1984: Randy Savage won the AWA International Heavyweight title from Austin Idol..

Randy Savage and Lanny Poffo feuded with the RockNRoll Express..

Randy Savage would (briefly) become a member of Gary Hart’s first family, and received shots at AWA Southern champ Jerry Lawler..

Randy Savage once again turned heel by first defeating Jerry Lawler for the Southern title..

~~~Randy Savage then piledrove Jerry Lawler on a metal plate, putting him in the hospital..

~~~This would begin one of the bloodiest feuds in Memphis history..

~~~No DQ matches. Barbed Wire matches. Cage matches. Fireballs. Nothing seemed to be able to settle this feud..

Randy Savage lost the Southern title to Jerry Oske, but regained it shortly after..

Randy Savage signed a loser-leaves-town match against Jerry Lawler..

~~~Randy Savage lost the bloody brawl, and was forced to leave Memphis for at least one year..World Wrestling Federation

1985: Randy Savage entered the WWF and became the target of several managers hoping to sign him..

Randy Savage was known as Randy “Macho Man” Savage from then on..

~~~Randy Savage would turn down Mr. Fuji, Jimmy Hart & Bobby Heenan before before aligning himself with Elizabeth..

Randy Savage made it to the finals of the WWF’s “Wrestling Classic” tournament before losing to the Junkyard Dog..

February 6, 1986: Randy Savage defeated Tito Santana to win the Intercontinental title at the Boston Garden..

Randy Savage challanged Hulk Hogan for the WWF Heavyweight title in matches all over the World..

Wrestlemania II: Randy Savage successfully defended the IC title against George “The Animal” Steel..

November 1986: On WWF Television, Randy Savage took on Ricky Steamboat and seriously injured Ricky’s throat..

~~~Randy Savage used the timekeeper’s bell and jumped off the top rope jamming Steamboat’s throat!

~~~A few weeks later Rick Steamboat returned and had a bloody feud with Randy Savage..

March 29, 1987 – Wrestlemania III: Randy Savage was defeated by Ricky Steamboat in the greatest match in WWF history..The Mega Powers

Randy Savage (freshly turned babyface) challanged Honky Tonk Man (who had defeated Steamboat for the IC Title)..

~~~Randy Savage delivered his flying elbow finisher to the champion, when Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart spoiled the finish!

~~~HTM, The Harts beat-down Savage, and then held him in place while Honky prepared to strike Randy with his guitar..

~~~Elizabeth tried to intervene, but was shoved down by Honky Tonk Man and she left for the locker room..

~~~Honky Tonk smashed the guitar over Savage’s head, when suddenly from the back came Elizabeth along with Hulk Hogan!

~~~Hulk Hogan charged the ring and along with Randy Savage, sent Honky Tonk and The Harts fleeing..

~~~Randy Savage then extended his hand to his former rival, and Hulk Hogan accepted..

March 27, 1988 – Wrestlemania 4: Randy Savage won a 14-Man Tournament to crowned the WWF Undisputed Champion!

~~~Randy Savage defeated Butch Reed, Greg Valentine, One Man Gang & then Ted DiBiase in the finals..

~~~Randy Savage was helped by Hulk Hogan in the finals against DiBiase who was being helped by Andre The Giant..

~~~Randy Savage & Hulk Hogan then became known as the MegaPowers after the handshake felt ’round the world!

August 28, 1988 – Summerslam: The Megapowers defeated Ted DiBiase & Andre the Giant with Jesse Ventura as referee..

~~~Elizabeth caused a distraction at the end of the match but pulling off her skirt, allowing the Megapowers to win!

November 24, 1988 – Survivor Series: The Megapowers were the sole survivors in their match against DiBiase’s Team..

~~~Tension began to form between the MegaPowers, when Hogan also took Elizabeth on as his manager..

Fall 1988: The Big Boss Man attacked Hulk Hogan on the Brother Love Show..

~~~Randy Savage & Hulk Hogan started a feud with the The Big Bossman & Akeem (known as The Twin Towers, managed by Slick..

January 15, 1989 – Royal Rumble: Hulk Hogan accidentally eliminated Randy Savage, prompting a verbal altercation between the two..

~~~Eventually, Elizabeth ran down and got between the two men, saving them from coming to blows..

February 3, 1989 – The Main Event: The MegaPowers defeated the Twin Towers with a truckload of contraversy..

~~~During this match, Savage was thrown from the ring by Akeem and fell onto Elizabeth, rendering her unconscious..

~~~Hulk Hogan rushed to her side and carried her back to recieve medical attention, leaving Savage to battle their opponents alone..

~~~Hulk Hogan eventually returned to the ring to re-join Savage, but as Hulk reached for a tag, he was slapped by the Macho Man!

~~~Randy Savage then grabbed his WWF title belt and left Hogan to fend for himself, eventually picking up the win..

~~~After the match, the MegaPowers got into a verbal altercation in the back at Elizabeth’s bedside..

~~~Randy Savafe accused Hulk Hogan of lusting for Elizabeth and viciously attacked him with the title belt!

~~~Hulk Hogan’s longtime friend, Brutus Beefcake, attempted to come to Hogan’s aid, and was also beaten up by Randy..

April 5, 1989 – Wrestlemania V “The Mega Powers Explode”: Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage to win the WWF Heavyweight title..

~~~Elizabeth chose to take a neutral corner for this match, but ultimately put an end to her alliance with Randy Savage..

~~~Hulk Hogan got up from Macho Man’s flying elbow during the match, and pinned him to capture the championship..Battling Hulkamania

Randy Savage aquired the services of “Sensational” Sherri Martel as his new manager..

Randy brought in Tom “Tiny” Lister (aka Zeus), who had starred in the movie “No Holds Barred” with Hogan..

Summerslam 1989: Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake defeated Randy Savage & Zues..The Macho King

Randy Savage turned his sights to “King” Jim Duggan and the “crown” of wrestling..

Randy defeated Jim Duggan to become the new “King of Wrestling” with the help of Sherri, who would become “Queen Sherri”..

Randy Savage was then to be known as “The Macho King”..

Wrestlemania VI: Macho King & Queen Sherri were defeated by Dusty Rhodes & Sapphire in the WWF’s first intergender match..

Summerslam 1990: Macho King defeated Dusty Rhodes..

Royal Rumble 1991: Macho King interfered in the Ultimate Warrior’s title match, causing him to lose the belt to Sgt Slaughter..

Wrestlemania VII: The Ultimate Warrior defeated the Macho King in a “Retirement Match” forcing Randy into retirement..

~~~Sherri (disgusted with her King) attacked and beat on Nacho after the match..

~~~Elizabeth (sitting in the audience) jumped the rail and rescued her former friend!

~~~Randy Savage & Elizabeth were reunited in one of the most emotionally charged moments of all time..“Retirement”

Randy Savage began doing commentary on the WWF Superstars television program..

Randy Savage proposed on live television to Elizabeth, who accepted with an emotional “Oooh, yeah!”..

Summerslam 1991: Randy & Elizabeth were married in the middle of the ring in what was called “A Match Made in Heaven”..

~~~During their reception, they were presented with a gift box from Jake “The Snake” Roberts..

~~~When they newlyweds opened the box, they were horrified to find a King Cobra waiting inside!

A few weeks later, Randy Savage was attacked by Jake Roberts, and tied up in the ropes..

~~~Jake Roberts then allowed his cobra snake to literally bite Randy Savage’s bicep in a horrifying moment!

Randy began to campaign to WWF President Jack Tunney to reinstate him as a wrestler so that he could do battle with Jake Roberts..

~~~Jack Tunney eventually agreed..Out of Retirement

December 3, 1991 – “Tuesday in Texas”: Randy Savage defeated Jake Roberts..

~~~After the match, Roberts gave Randy his DDT finisher several times..

~~~Elizabeth entered the ring and begged Jake Roberts to leave Randy alone..

~~~Jake Roberts struck her in the face!

~~~Randy Savage & Jake Roberts engaged in a feud that saw them do battle across the United States..

February 8, 1992 – SNME: Randy Savage defeated Jake Roberts to finally end the feud..Randy Savage vs Ric Flair

Ric Flair (then WWF Champion) began making claims that he was having an affair with Elizabeth..

Wrestlemania VIII: Randy Savage defeated Ric Flair to become WWF Heavyweight champion for the second time in his career!

Summerslam 1992: The Ultimate Warrior defeated Randy Savage by COUNT OUT after Ric Flair & Mr Perfect interfer..

September 1, 1992: Ric Flair took advantage of Savage’s injured leg and defeated him to regain the WWF title..End of an Era

Wrestlemania X: Randy Savage defeated Crush in a “Falls Count Anywhere Match”..

1994: Randy Savage appeared occasionally in Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling promotion..

Fall 1994: Randy Savage’s WWF contract expires and Randy departs the federation after 9 years..World Championship Wrestling

Randy signed with WCW, joining his friend (and enemy), Hulk Hogan, who was feuding with the “The Dungeon of Doom”..

November 26, 1995 – WCW’s World War III: Randy won the WCW World title by winning the 60-man three-ring battle royal..

1996: Randy Savage joins the new World order..

Randy Savage took a hiatus from the company, only to return with a new look, a new attitude..

~~~Randy Savage also brought with him a new manager, his then 22 year old girlfriend, Gorgeous George..

1999: Randy Savage’s WCW contract expires, and he isn’t re-signed..Retirement

Randy Savage appeared in the smash hollywood movie “Spiderman” as the character “Bonesaw McGraw”..

Randy Savage releases his first rap album (yes you heard me) a rap album, with a song entitled “Be A Man Hulk!”

October 8, 2003: Randy Savage got a brutal review for his CD in yesterday’s New York Post.

~~~~~~~Dan Quilante wrote that the record, “defies the laws of physics by blowing and sucking at the same time”

November 7, 2004 – TNA Victory Road: Randy Savage makes his shocking debut, proclaiming that there is a NEW sherriff in town!

~~~Reports circulate that Randy Savage had an unspecified (and uncomfortable) confrontation with Hulk Hogan backstage..

November 9, 2004: Randy Savage phoned in and informed the TNA office that he was cancelling all future appearances with TNA..

~~~The report states that Randy Savage cited an “unsafe working environment” as his excuse for pulling out of his dates..

November 19, 2004 – TNA Impact: Randy Savage renotiated with TNA and appeared on TNA confronting the Kings of Wrestling..

November 26, 2004 – TNA Impact: Randy Savage showed up at the end of the show leading the force against the King of Wrestling..

December 5, 2004 – Turning Point: Randy Savage & Jeff Hardy & AJ Styles defeated The Kings of Wrestling (Jarrett & Nash & Hall)..

December 8, 2004: Randy Savage is gone from TNA again over a disagreement on the finish of the next scheduled PPV..

January 2005: Randy Savage appeared at several WLW shows and took park in several training sessions with Race’s students..

~~~Savage apparantly got a little too involved and took a bad bump and injured his back when he landed badly..

February 18, 2005: Randy Savage told a Missouri newspaper that he can’t wrestle right now because of “health concerns”..

June 2005: Randy Savage has stopped taking bookings since he hurt his back working for Harley Race’s WLW promotion..

~~~Reports have circulated that he has dropped a lot of weight and shaved his beard, making him unrecognizable..

Post-wrestling career

His former wife Elizabeth Hulette was found dead in the home of professional wrestler Lex Luger on May 1, 2003 from a drug overdose. According to a 2003 shoot interview with Lanny Poffo (Savage’s brother), Savage has no animosity towards Luger, and feels that Elizabeth brought about her own death due to her drug use.

In 2003, Savage was interviewed in the premiere issue of WWE SmackDown! Magazine.

In 2005, Savage told a Missouri newspaper that he couldn’t wrestle right now at the moment because of “health concerns”.

DVD: “Macho Madness” (2009)

It was recently announced on the wrestling internet website WrestleView.com that a WWE DVD documentary on Randy Savage is scheduled for a June 9, 2009 release. This DVD will be titled Macho Madness and it will include three discs. In the past WWE has canceled plans on the much-awaited Macho Man documentary.

Category: Macho Man Randy Savage | No Comments »
Tags: Hulkamania, Macho Man, spiderman, The Macho King, The Mega Powers, WWE Legends

Posted By admin on February 10, 2009

History and Biography of John Cena

Ring name(s)
John Cena
Prototype
Dr. of Thuganomics
The Franchise
The Marine
The Champ

Billed height: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)

Billed weight: 240 lb (110 kg)

Born: April 23, 1977 (1977-04-23) (age 31)
West Newbury, Massachusetts

Debut: February 16, 2000

Mini Biography

John Felix Anthony Cena or better known as John Cena, the WWE superstar was born on April 23rd, 1977 in West Newbury, Massachusetts. When he was in college, he played football. He then continued on to be a bodybuilder and a limousine driver. The 6-foot-1 tall star weighs exactly at 240 pounds and is a very successful superstar in the WWE.

The Dr. of Thuganomics started training to be a wrestler at Ultimate Pro Wrestling where he also created the character, The Prototype. Cena fist appeared on WWE in a match against Kurt Angle on the 27th of June, 2002 which ended up with him losing.

In 2004, John Cena’s status as a celebrity began to develop. Cena won the United States Championship from Big Show. Not too long later, Cena lost the title but he gained it back soon. Cena then lost the title again to fellow WWE superstar, Carlito. During that time, Cena apparently got stabbed in the kidney by one of Carlito’s bodyguard. This resulted him to stay out of action for a month.

In 2005 and 2006 respectively, Cena has made a few controversies. He had a feud with champion John Bradshaw Layfield, manager Eric Bischoff and fellow wrestler Chris Jericho. Cena also made feuds with Edge and Umaga at that time. But even so, some friendships were formed. Cena is said to be friends with Carlito after they won a match with Jeff Hardy against Edge, Randy Orton and Johnny Nitro.

The year 2007 became a big year for Cena as he got involved in a wrestling match with Britney Spears’ ex and rap star, Kevin Federline. John ended up losing that match thanks to some assistance from Umaga to Kevin Federline. Later that night, Cena took revenge by body slamming Kevin Federline backstage. The year 2007 also started pretty well for John Cena as he became the first person to defeat the Samoan Bulldozer, Umaga that year. The Chain Gang Soldier also teamed up with Shaun Michaels defeating the RKO tag team, Randy Orton and Edge. The match ended up with Cena and Michaels winning.

As of October 2007, Cena lost his WWE Championship title because of an injury. While wrestling against Mr. Kennedy, Cena tore his pectoral muscle while executing a hip toss. Even though he finished the match and completed the rest of the scripted event, check up the next day found out that John’s pectoral major muscle was torn completely from the bone, requiring seven months to a year rehabilitation. Because of not being able to perform, WWE’s CEO, Vince McMahon stripped him off the title and ended his reign.

In the year 2008, Cena made an unannounced return to action on January 27 as the final participant of the Royal Rumble match. He won the match, and the traditional WrestleMania title shot. Cena also had a match against JBL, which he defeated at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match. However, JBL defeated him at the New York City Parking Lot Brawl. In the month of August, Cena had to replaced by Rey Mysterio after it was announced Cena had suffered a herniated disk in his neck which will require surgery and he will be out of action indefinitely. According to reports, Cena underwent successive surgery to repair the herniated disk in his neck with Doctor Joseph Maroon on August 25.

Aside from wrestling, John has also made his own name in the movie business. In 2006, a WWE franchise movie titled The Marine was released with John playing the lead character, John Triton. The movie received mix reviews due to the poor storyline and discrimination to the US Marines. Even so, fans queued up to watch the movie as this was John’s first big screen appearance.

The WWE wrestler also adds recording artist to his resume as he released his debut rap album “You Can’t See Me” which debuted at #15 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album was recorded with his cousin Tha Trademarc. The album features his entrance theme song, ‘The Time Is Now’ & a host of other singles performed by Cena & one the songs he performed with popular rap band Estoric & a number of other songs Cena performed with famous rapper Bumpy Knuckles. Cena is the only professional wrestler to ever perform on BBC Two’s long running TV show Top of the Pops.

While still being active with WWE, Cena made a couple of guest appearances Jimmy Kimmel Live! twice to promote his album. He has also appeared on popular shows like Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Fuse’s Celebrity Playlist, Fox Sports Net’s The Best Damn Sports Show Period, MADtv, G4’s Training Camp and two appearances on MTV’s Punk’d. He also served as a co-presenter, with Hulk Hogan, at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards, as a guest judge during the third week of the 2006 season of Nashville Star, and appeared at the 2007 Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards 2007.

In fashion, The Champ has also made a few trademarks. Cena is often seen with knee-high denim jeans and throwback jerseys when he first started on WWE. Lately, Cena has been wearing a lot of Chain Gang merchandise. When his movie, The Marine was released, John was seen to be adding more military-inspired clothing to his outfit to promote his movie.

Cena graduated from Springfield College, Massachusetts with degrees in exercise physiology and human anatomy. He applied for 60 colleges and he got accepted by 58 of them but in the end, he chose Springfield College. He is the second eldest of five brothers and is said to be a family guy when he is not wrestling. His good friends are fellow wrestlers, John Hennigan, Batista, Randy Orton, Carlito, Jeff and Matt Hardy among whom he will have to fight with.

John Cena is definitely going to be a big inspiration to all whether in wrestling, fashion, music or even movies as his participation in the industry is already more than regular celebrity. With all he has achieved, fans can definitely expect to see more of this WWE superstar in the coming future.

Also recently he has completed his new movie 12 Rounds produced by WWE Films. This movie was said to be completed when John suffered from his injury in 2007.

Full Biography:

John Felix Anthony Cena, Jr. (born April 23, 1977) is an American professional wrestler, hip hop musician and actor. He is signed to World Wrestling Entertainment and wrestling on the RAW brand where he is the reigning World Heavyweight Champion.

Career

Early career

Cena first started training to become a wrestler in 2000 at the California-based Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) where he created the character The Prototype. This period of his career was documented in the Discovery Channel program Wrestling School. After UPW, he was signed to a World Wresting Federation developmental contract and assigned to “farm territory” Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).

During his time in OVW, he also appeared on the UPN reality show Manhunt under the pseudonym “Big Tim Kingman”, the “lead hunter” in a team “hunting” contestant with paintball guns. The show was produced in association with WWE. It was later revealed that many of the scenes in the show were re-shot or staged to enhance the drama, contests were rigged to eliminate contestants, and other contestants read from scripts. As a result of the controversy, WWE has never referenced the show or Cena’s part in it.

World Wrestling Entertainment

2002-2003

Cena’s first televised WWE match was in answer to an open challenge by Kurt Angle on June 27, 2002. Inspired by Vince McMahon’s speech to WWE’s rising stars, exhorting them to show “ruthless aggression” to earn a place among the legends, Cena took advantage of the opportunity and almost beat Kurt Angle kicking out of the Angle Slam and enduring the ankle lock submission hold, but ultimately lost to a hard, amateur-style pin.

Cena then played the role of a typical underdog face in each match. After losing alongside Billy Kidman in a tournament match for the WWE Tag Team Championships, Cena turned heel, blaming Kidman for the loss. Shortly after his heel turn, on a Halloween episode of SmackDown!, he performed a freestyle rap for Stephanie McMahon while wearing a Vanilla Ice costume prompting a gimmick change to a white rapper. At first, this gimmick got Cena heel heat from the fans, but his frequent comical “freestyles” about other wrestlers helped to gain him a following. During this time Cena adopted the classic WWF logo (without the “F”) along with the slogan “Word Life” as his “signature symbol”. He was joined by an enforcer, first Bull Buchanan, who was rechristened B-2 (also written as B�, pronounced “B-Squared”). Buchanan was later replaced by Rodney Mack under the moniker “Red Dogg”.

Cena eventually received a shot at the WWE Championship after the Champion Brock Lesnar almost ended his career after a previous match between the two. During the feud he unveiled a new signature finishing maneuver, the F-U, as a counterpart to Lesnar’s similar F-5 (the name being derived from a combination of “F-5” and the shorthand for “Fuck You”). Cena was unsuccessful at winning the WWE title. He later turned face and started a new feud with Lesnar as a part of Team Angle against Team Lesnar, establishing his signature “you can’t see me” catch phrase and hand gesture in the process.

2004

During 2004 Cena’s popularity began to increase. At the start of the year, he participated in the annual Royal Rumble, lasting up to the final 6 before being eliminated by the Big Show. After the elimination Cena and Big Show began a feud, leading to Cena winning the United States Championship from Big Show in a match at March’s WrestleMania XX. Cena claimed the title, his first in WWE, by distracting the ref and using his signature brass knuckles on Big Show before hitting him with the F-U. In July he was stripped of the title by SmackDown! General Manager Kurt Angle, whom he had a contentious relationship with, after “attacking” him.

He won the title back at October’s No Mercy after winning the final match of a Best-of-5 series with Booker T. This second reign was short-lived, however, as he lost the title to the debuting Carlito in the very next week’s SmackDown!.

This started a feud with Carlito. The storyline said Cena was attacked in a Boston nightclub by Carlito’s bodyguard, Jes�s, who stabbed him in the kidney, keeping him out of action for a month. In truth, this event was set up to allow Cena time off to film The Marine. Upon his return, Cena exacted revenge on Carlito in a SmackDown! match, winning back the U.S. title. During this reign he debuted a “custom made” spinner style title belt.

2005

At the 2005 Royal Rumble, Cena and Batista went over the top rope at the same time to end the match, prompting Vince McMahon to demand the match be restarted and go into “sudden death”.

With Batista winning, and choosing to vie for the (RAW exclusive) World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 21, SmackDown! held a tournament to determine #1 contendership for the their top title, the WWE Championship. In the tournament finals Cena pinned Kurt Angle to win the WrestleMania title shot.

In the following weeks, Cena feuded with champion John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) and his Cabinet, including losing his United States Championship to Cabinet member Orlando Jordan, who (with JBL) proceeded to “blow up” the custom spinner belt. It was during this feud that Cena first began referring to his fans as “Chain Gang Soldiers” (often shorted to just “Chain Gang”).

On April 3, at WrestleMania 21, Cena defeated JBL to win the WWE Championship. As part of the storyline, he then had a custom WWE Championship belt made similar to his custom U.S. title belt, featuring a spinner-type WWE logo plate. This belt also featured a ‘winged eagle’ at the top, which is a staple of the WWE Championship belts. Meanwhile, JBL took the original belt and claimed he was still the WWE Champion until Cena reclaimed that belt following an “I Quit” match at Judgment Day in May.

On the June 6 episode of RAW, John Cena became the first wrestler selected in the annual draft lottery, when Eric Bischoff drafted him from SmackDown! over to RAW. Upon arriving on RAW, Cena immediately entered a program with Chris Jericho and Christian, two wrestlers with strong cult followings. Taking on these two began a trend of “fan backlash” against Cena.

During this feud Cena made enemies with RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff, because he didn’t wish to play Bischoff’s political games. Bischoff vowed to make Cena’s stint on RAW difficult and chose Chris Jericho to take Cena’s title from him.

On August 22, Cena beat Jericho in a “You’re Fired” match for the WWE Championship – despite interference from Bischoff which included giving Cena a low-blow and handing Jericho a pair of brass knuckles. After the match, with Jericho now off of RAW due to his loss, Kurt Angle came to the ring and attacked Cena, with Bischoff revealing that Angle was his new “hand picked” number one contender for Cena’s world title. Despite Angle’s failed attempts to attain heel heat through their feud, the fans continued to cheer him and boo Cena.

After several weeks, Angle and Cena main evented September’s Unforgiven, where Cena hit Angle with the WWE title belt, losing by disqualification but remaining champion (titles don’t change hands on a disqualification). They met again at November’s Survivor Series, with Cena picking up a clean win.

The night after, Bischoff put Cena in the ring against Kurt Angle and Chris Masters in a triple threat submission match for the title, which Cena won by making Masters tap out for the first time to his new submission maneuver, the STFU. Its name is derived from a combination of the STF name (although Cena’s submission sometimes resembles an STS), and his other move, the F-U.

When Vince McMahon returned to RAW to put Bischoff “on trial” in December, Cena made his opinion of Bischoff known and eventually helped Vince McMahon remove Bischoff from the show by delivering the F-U to the former RAW GM, effectively ending the hostilities he had with Bischoff.

2006

Cena successfully defended his WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber at the January New Years Revolution to kick off 2006. After the match, however, Vince McMahon appeared on the stage and announced that Cena was going to have to defend the title again, this time against Edge, who was cashing in his previously earned Money in the Bank title shot. Edge delivered two spears to a battered, bloody, and exhausted Cena, pinning him in short order to win the WWE Championship. Cena’s championship reign ended at 280 days, matching that of previous champion JBL.

Three weeks, to the day, after losing the title Cena defeated Edge at the Royal Rumble to regain the WWE Championship. During this time WWE announcers, most notably Jim Ross, were forced to acknowledge the negative reactions Cena was getting and began to refer to him as a “controversial champion” saying that he was alienating some fans with his “unorthodox style”.

Jerry Lawler would often suggest that Cena was too young, “edgy” and original for the older audience to appreciate. Cena continued to polarize crowds leading up to WrestleMania 22, during which he was soundly jeered by half the crowd during his main event win over Triple H, a victory by submission. Vince McMahon was reportedly upset by fans’ negativity, though Cena stated that the fans “obviously had a choice in deciding whom they wanted to root for”.

The crowd began to cheer Cena once again after April’s Backlash, most notably when he began to side with the popular Shawn Michaels in matches against the Spirit Squad. After Cena stopped taking part in this angle and moved on to working against Rob Van Dam there was once again a notable mixture of cheers and boos in most arena’s he visited, with some being more pro-Cena and some more against him.

On the May 22 edition of RAW, Rob Van Dam informed Cena that he intended to cash in the Money in the Bank title match contract he won at WrestleMania at the upcoming ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view event. The event saw Cena get his most negative reaction yet from the very pro-ECW crowd, including profanity-laced chants and anti-Cena signs (most memorably one reading, “If Cena wins, we riot,” which has been used since then, with different names in place of Cena’s). Cena was visibly affected, and tried to use moves outside of his usual moveset in order to play to the crowd. The crowd responded with “You still suck”, “Same old shit!”, and “You can’t wrestle!”. Cena lost the title at the event when Edge appeared from under the ring and speared Cena through a table, setting him up for Van Dam’s Five-Star Frog Splash. With two referees “knocked out” (the first by Cena, the second by Edge) Paul Heyman ran down the entrance aisle and counted the three count, giving Van Dam the win and his first World Title. On the next nights RAW Paul Heyman announced that the title change was official, as the match was under “Extreme rules”. Coincidentally, both of his WWE Championship losses in 2006 were as a result of the Money in the Bank title contract.

When Edge won the title from Van Dam in a Triple Threat match (also involving Cena) it re-ignited the feud between Edge and Cena. The opening stages of the feud saw Edge taking constant shortcuts in order to keep his title (losing by disqualification) while still seemingly getting positive reactions from most crowds. This lead to a Cena and Edge match at SummerSlam in a match where, if Edge was disqualified, he would not only lose the match but his title. Edge ultimately defeated Cena by pinfall after hitting him with a pair of brass knuckles while the referee was distracted to retain the title. Around this time Cena began a shift in his ring attire and mannerisms, utilizing things more military related, while promotion for his film The Marine was going on.

Having beaten Cena, Edge debuted a new “Rated R” version of the spinner belt, having Lita toss Cena’s version into the Long Island Sound and declaring “the end of the era of Cena in [his] life”. The “Rated-R” belt looked almost exactly like the “Spinner” belt that came before it, only with a spinning ‘Rated-R Superstar’ logo in the center. Cena would convince Edge to give him one more match for the title with an added stipulation — if Cena lost, he would leave RAW for SmackDown!. Edge accepted, on the grounds that the match also be a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at Unforgiven in his hometown of Toronto. In their match Cena defeated Edge, retrieving the title after hitting an FU on Edge from the top of a ladder and through two stacked tables. He brought back the original spinner belt on the following night’s RAW.

Following the Edge feud Cena was placed in an interbrand program to determine the “Champion of Champions”. Cena, along with King Booker (SmackDown!’s World Heavyweight Champion) and The Big Show (ECW’s World Champion), were engaged in a mini-feud leading to a match at Cyber Sunday where one of the three championships would be placed on the line.

At the same time Cena became involved with Kevin Federline when he began appearing on RAW at the side of Johnny Nitro and Melina. After getting into a (worked) physical altercation with Federline on RAW Federline appeared at Cyber Sunday, hitting Cena with the World Heavyweight Title belt during the main event Triple Threat match helping King Booker retain his title.

Cena and Big Show continued their feud after Cyber Sunday, having a traditional Survivor Series matchup at the 2006 event — with Team Cena consisting of Cena, Sabu, Rob Van Dam, Bobby Lashley, and Kane and Team Big Show having The Big Show, Test, Finlay, Montel Vontavious Porter, and Umaga. Cena and Lashley were the only Survivors. Cena then went on to tag with World Heavyweight Champion Batista at Armageddon to battle King Booker and Finlay, which saw Batista and Cena emerge victorious after Batista pinned Booker following a Batista Bomb.

The year ended with Cena beginning a feud with the undefeated Umaga over the WWE Championship.

2007

2007 began with Cena wrapping up the Kevin Federline feud by being pinned by him in the first RAW match of the year, after an assist from Umaga — although later in the night he was able to get his hands on and FU Federline. His feud with Umaga continued on to New Year’s Revolution, where Cena retained his championship and ended Umaga’s undefeated streak. Their rivalry continued, with Umaga putting Cena through a table on an episode of RAW and causing a (kayfabe) spleen injury, putting a scheduled Last Man Standing match title rematch at the Royal Rumble in jeopardy. After refusing to accept medical treatment, fearing a medical suspension, Cena defeated Umaga in their match with the STFU, choking him a ring rope that had been removed by Estrada at the same time. One night after the Royal Rumble, an impromptu teaming of Cena and Shawn Michaels found themselves defeating Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) for the World Tag Team Championship, making Cena a double champion.

2008

Cena made an unannounced return to action on January 27 as the final participant of the Royal Rumble match. He won the match, and the traditional WrestleMania title shot, by last eliminating Triple H. Instead of waiting until WrestleMania, the title shot was cashed in against WWE Champion Randy Orton at February’s No Way Out, in a match Cena won by disqualification, resulting in him not getting the championship. The night after his No Way Out win, Cena was placed back in to WrestleMania XXIV’s WWE Championship match, making it a triple threat match also involving Triple H, during which he was pinned by Orton. At Backlash, Cena failed to regain the title in a Fatal Four-Way elimination match, in which he was pinned by Orton. Triple H won the title during that match. During that match, Cena eliminated John “Bradshaw” Layfield (JBL), thus renewing their feud from 2005. Cena defeated JBL at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match. JBL, however, defeated him in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash. On the August 4 edition of Raw, Cena became a World Tag Team Champion for a second time when he teamed up with Batista to defeat Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase for the World Tag Team titles, but they failed to retain the titles the following week against the former champions. Cena was defeated by Batista at SummerSlam. Cena was named one of four contenders for CM Punk’s World Heavyweight Championship in the Championship scramble match at Unforgiven but was replaced by Rey Mysterio after it was announced Cena had suffered a herniated disk in his neck which will require surgery and he will be out of action indefinitely. Cena underwent successive surgery to repair the herniated disk in his neck with Doctor Joseph Maroon on August 25.

Cena made his in-ring return at November’s Survivor Series event where he defeated Chris Jericho to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. The two continued their rivalry up to Armageddon (2008) where Cena retained his title by making Jericho submit to the STFU.

Outside of wrestling

Music

In addition to his time in the ring, Cena is a rap music artist. He performed his fifth WWE entrance song, “Basic Thugonomics,” which was featured on the WWE soundtrack album WWE Originals. His track “Untouchables” was featured on Theme Addict, another WWE soundtrack album. His debut album, which he recorded alongside his cousin Tha Trademarc, You Can’t See Me features his current entrance theme “The Time is Now”. The first single from the You Can’t See Me album was “Bad, Bad Man”, a music video of which featured a parody of 1980s culture and the television show The A-Team. A second video was later made for the second single, “Right Now”, and premiered on the August 8 edition of RAW.

John Cena has worked with several personalities in the Hip-Hop industry, such as Bumpy Knuckles, 7L & Esoteric, MURS (including a music video), E-40 and Chingo Bling. He and Method Man were also featured in SmackDown! magazine and MTV.com. Cena and Tha Trademarc are also featured on a track by The Perceptionists named “Champion Scratch.” Cena was also the only professional wrestler to ever perform on BBC Two’s long running Top of the Pops.

Film

WWE Films, a division of World Wrestling Entertainment which produces and finances motion pictures, produced Cena’s first movie – The Marine, which was distributed theatrically by 20th Century Fox America beginning on October 13, 2006.

He will also have a role in Jornada del Muerte, another WWE Films production which will star Triple H.

Fashion

Cena’s attire in and out of the ring reflects the old school hip-hop culture that his character represents. He previously wore throwback jerseys, though now he generally wears WWE produced “Chain Gang” related merchandise. He has also worn a chain with a lock on it to the ring which was at times utilized as a weapon. This chain was replaced by a chromed and diamond studded “Chain Gang” spinner medallion after his WrestleMania 21 WWE Title win that was very reminiscent of the ones worn by members of G-Unit.

When Cena was part of the SmackDown! brand, his apparel bearing the suggestive spoonerism “Ruck Fules” was censored when he wore it on camera. They were not censored by UPN, but by WWE to sell more shirts under the premise that it was “too hot for TV”.

Around the time Cena’s film, The Marine, was released he began wearing attire more military related, including camouflage shorts, dog tags, a Marine soldier cap and a T-Shirt with the words “Chain Gang Assault Battalion”, reflecting his new Marine soldier gimmick.

Guest appearances

Prior to his WWE debut, Cena made a guest appearance on the Internet stream show Go Sick in 2001 as Bruebaker, an angry, cursing wrestler.

During his WWE career, Cena has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live numerous times.

* He first appeared on the July 23, 2005 episode in order to promote his CD, the 2005 SummerSlam pay-per-view, and WWE in general.
* He appeared again on March 14, 2006 to promote Saturday Night’s Main Event and WrestleMania 22.

He has also appeared on popular morning radio shows

* He appeared on the Opie and Anthony show on their CBS Radio Show and later their XM Satellite Radio show on October 10, 2006 contributing to their “walkover”.
* He appeared on the Howard Stern show on Sirius Satellite Radio on October 11, 2006.

Other appearances have included Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Fuse’s Celebrity Playlist, Fox Sports Net’s Best Damn Sports Show Period, MADtv, G4’s Training Camp (with Shelton Benjamin) and an August 2006 appearance on MTV’s Punk’d, where he was the victim of a practical joke. He’s also served as a co-presenter, with Hulk Hogan, at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards, and as a guest judge on Nashville Star.

* Cena will be one of several celebrities featured in ABC reality series, Fast Cars and Superstars: Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, which is scheduled to start in June.

Commercials

Beginning in October 2002, Cena was featured rapping in commercials for the energy drink YJ Stinger.

In November 2006, Cena filmed a number of advertisements with Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle for Subway restaurants, which began airing in January of 2007.

Personal information

Cena’s father, John Cena Sr., works in the professional wrestling business as an announcer for New England based Chaotic Wrestling under the name “Johnny Fabulous”. He also acts as “commissioner” for East Coast Championship Wrestling.

Cena graduated from Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts with a degree in exercise physiology.

After playing college football, where he achieved Division III All-American status as a center, Cena pursued a career as a bodybuilder.

He is second eldest of five brothers – Dan, Matt, Steve and Sean.

Cena is known to be a fan of cartoons and has mentioned on “5 Questions” that his favorite animated movie is Fist of the North Star.

Cena is left-handed.
Before becoming a professional wrestler, Cena was a limo driver, (as stated in WWE magazine) He admitted he usually got lost and was late picking up and dropping off people.

Category: John cena, Vince McMahon, WWE Biography, WWE Legends | 8 Comments »
Tags: Dr. of Thuganomics, John cena, The Marine, wrestler biographies, wrestling legends

Posted By admin on January 31, 2009

History and Biography of Vince McMahon

Ring name(s)
Vince McMahon
Mr. McMahon
Vince McMahon, Jr.

Height
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)

Weight
248 lb (112 kg)

Born
August 24, 1945 (1945-08-24) (age 63)

Resides
Greenwich, Connecticut

Debut
1971

Mini Biography

Vince McMahon started out in poverty and rose to become a billionaire.

Vince McMahon was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina in 1945. As a young child Vince didn’t know his father and lived in a trailer with his mother. He says he was beaten and sexually abused by one of his five stepfathers. When he was 12 years old he finally met his real father and they had an instant bond.

Vince’s father, Vincent James McMahon was a wrestling promoter who ran the Capitol Wrestling Federation. He was a moderately successful man who loved the wrestling business. Vince had wanted to go into the sport in some way, but his father wanted him to become a lawyer or accountant and live better than he did. So Vince was sent to military school. Even then he was against authority, as he was the first cadet in the history of the school to be court marshaled.

When he left school he fell in love with Linda Edwards. They soon married while Vince was unemployed. Vince was ready for his first shot in the wrestling business. After firing an announcer before a show, Vince Sr. needed a replacement. Vince Jr. stepped in and had his first job as an announcer. He knew from that point on that wrestling was what he wanted to do.

Picking up tips from his father as he went along, Vince quickly learned what it took to be successful as a wrestling promoter. He and his father created the WWWF (World Wide Wrestling Federation) and became one of the top organizations in the US. In 1982, Vince Sr. decided to retire and sold the business to his son. Changing the name to the WWF, Vince started an empire. He created stars such as Hulk Hogan and Randy “Macho Man” Savage.

Vince made up his mind to do something that nobody else had done. He risked the entire company with wrestling’s biggest event ever, Wrestlemania. Since Pay-Per-View wasn’t around in 1985 so this super event was shown on closed circuit television. Vince had spent his entire fortune renting out over 100 arenas. The idea was crazy, to have people pay to enter an arena and watch wrestling on a giant screen. But it worked and Wrestlemania made Vince McMahon a millionaire.

Wrestling gained popularity throughout the 80’s. Wrestlemainia became an annual event and at Wrestlemania III, having over 93,000 people jam the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan set a new indoor attendance record. Vince formed Titan Sports, the new parent company of the WWF. He also celebrated the birth of 3 healthy children. Everything was going great for Vince and the World Wrestling Federation, until 1992.

A doctor had admitted to a federal jury that he had supplied wrestlers with steroids. Vince was brought to trial and testifies that he had used steroids when they were legal and had never distributed or promoted the use of steroids to his wrestlers. With the support of several wrestlers, Vince was cleared of all charges. The trial was over, but it took Vince away from wrestling for two years. When he returned, he found his company in financial trouble and a new monster organization was dominating, WCW.

The Ted Turner owned WCW had quickly gained the top talent by spending insane prices to acquire them. It had worked though, and WCW had become the leading wrestling organization by the mid-90’s. This period is sometimes referred to as the dark ages for the WWF. The matches and storylines were getting stale and every huge new star WWF got, WCW convinced them to jump ship. There was only one way to get out of this slump, and that was to change the rules.

How could Vince change the rules of wrestling? I don’t mean the rules of matches; I mean the rules of the business. Well he let wrestlers do more than they ever could before. During the 80’s, wrestling was geared toward children and family. That meant no cussing and no sex appeal. Well Vince started to use cuss words, sex appeal, and anything else he could come up with to bring the WWF on top. While they lost a lot of their fanbase, they found a whole new market. Instead of kids watching the shows, the WWF’s viewers changed into males between the age of 13-25. This was a much larger market, and the new WWF fit their tastes perfectly.

With starts such as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Triple H, and The Rock, Vince brought the WWF back to the top, and better than ever. One reason may be that Vince put himself in the ring. For years we had known Vince as just an announcer, but it was told that he was the owner of the WWF. He started an angle with Steve Austin where the no-nonsense toughguy fought the rich boss; This turned out to be one of the most profitable feuds in wrestling history.

In 2001, McMahon was interviewed by Playboy magazine alongside his son, Shane McMahon. More recently, in March of 2006, sixty-year-old McMahon was featured on the cover of Muscle & Fitness magazine.

Today, the WWE empire, which McMahon has steadily built, continues to flourish, and McMahon’s worth is estimated at a staggering $1.7 billion dollars.

Main Biography

Vincent Kennedy McMahon (born August 24, 1945 in Pinehurst, North Carolina) is an American Billionaire wrestling promoter, professional wrestler, on-screen personality, and former play-by-play announcer. He is the Chairman of the Board, Co-Founder and majority shareholder of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE).

Early life

Vincent Kennedy McMahon was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina. He attended Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Virginia, where he became the first cadet in the school’s history to be court-martialed. He was not convicted, however. He graduated from East Carolina University in 1968 with a degree in Business Administration/Marketing. He had married Linda Edwards (also an ECU graduate) in his junior year in 1966. His son Shane Brandon McMahon was born in 1970.

Vince was raised as Vinnie Lupton. His mother Victoria ‘Vicki’ Lupton remarried after her first marriage to famed wrestling promoter Vincent James McMahon failed during World War II. Vince also has a slightly older half-brother Rodney McMahon, who is understood to work in the steel industry in Texas.

Vince didn’t meet his biological father Vincent J. McMahon until he was twelve. Living in a trailer park in Havelock, North Carolina, he had only known a string of abusive stepfathers until his mother revealed that his father was Vincent J. McMahon. McMahon’s company the WWWF (World Wide Wrestling Federation) and its parent company the Capitol Wrestling Corporation had dominated pro wrestling in the northeastern United States during the mid-twentieth century when the wrestling industry was divided into strictly regional enterprises.

Father and son quickly bonded. The elder McMahon was willing to give his son, then a struggling traveling salesman, a shot in Bangor, Maine. In 1971, he promoted his first wrestling card there. In 1972, in addition to promoting, McMahon provided play-by-play TV commentary for the WWWF, but promotion was his real interest.

Career

Throughout the 1970s, McMahon became a prominent force in his father’s company, and pushing for the renaming of the company to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The young McMahon was also behind the famous Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki match of 1976, the year that his daughter Stephanie was born. In 1979, the WWWF became the WWF, and Vincent K. purchased the Cape Cod Coliseum, which held both hockey and wrestling events. In 1980, he incorporated Titan Sports, Inc., which would purchase the Capitol Wrestling Corporation from his father in 1982.

Against his father’s expressed wishes, McMahon began a national expansion process that would fundamentally change the business. By 1983, Vince had full control and ownership of the WWF and its future direction, having bought out all of his father’s former partners, including the legendary Gorilla Monsoon. As part of the deal, Vince promised Monsoon lifetime employment, and Monsoon did in fact remain affiliated with the WWF until his death. Vince’s father died in 1984, leaving his son behind to carry on his pro wrestling legacy. The first thing that he did as full owner of the WWF was to break away from the National Wrestling Alliance, as his vision of a new, national wrestling promotion was incompatible with their old-school promoting philosophy.

In Rocky III, Hulk Hogan began to expand on his new-found celebrity and returned to Vince McMahon’s all-new WWF. Hogan won the WWF Championship on January 23, 1984—just weeks after his return—and McMahon helped engineer Hogan’s immersion into the mainstream entertainment media, in which Hogan was portrayed as the ultimate all-American good guy. McMahon did not stop there, however, inviting rock and pop stars such as Alice Cooper and Cyndi Lauper to participate in WWF storylines in what would come to be called the “Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Connection.” The popularity of the WWF increased exponentially as MTV often featured wrestling in its programming to follow the exploits of music stars and other celebrities in the wrestling world. McMahon called the incorporation of pro wrestling among other types of entertainment such as music and movies Sports Entertainment. With Hulk Hogan as the performer and McMahon as the promoter, the two worked to take the pro wrestling business to places that no one ever deemed imaginable.

Around the same time, McMahon publicly admitted the secret behind kayfabe in pro wrestling: that its outcomes were predetermined, moves planned and rehearsed, and that wrestlers played character roles much like Hollywood actors do. While general knowledge to most wrestling fans, this admission broke the final taboo of the old ways of wrestling and earned McMahon much ire among old-school fans, wrestlers, and promoters, who were already incensed at McMahon for his invasion into long-held NWA territories. Then-NWA Champion Harley Race was very vocal of his frustrations toward McMahon and the WWF; when promoting a show in his hometown of Kansas City, Race supposedly attempted to burn down a WWF ring. Interestingly, Race jumped ship to the WWF just two years later and became “King” Harley Race.

The culmination of the Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Connection was the first-ever WrestleMania event at Madison Square Garden in New York City. McMahon promoted the event across the country on closed-circuit TV (Pay-per-view technology was not yet sufficiently developed.), pouring all of his and his company’s resources into what was widely seen in the business as a long shot The investment paid off, and the inaugural WrestleMania was a resounding financial success. The show became an annual event, held every March or April. McMahon followed the success of the event by launching a series of other yearly pay-per-view events including Survivor Series, held roughly every Thanksgiving, SummerSlam in 1988 and the Royal Rumble in 1989.

McMahon ventured outside of wrestling by founding a bodybuilding company called the World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF). At roughly the same time, some die-hard NWA territories run by Jim Crockett, Jr., badly bruised by McMahon’s tactics of attempting to undermine Crockett’s shows by threatening PPV carriers of withholding his WrestleMania if they showed Crockett’s shows and placing his shows directly opposite of Crockett’s (a tactic that Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff would later employ on McMahon), as well as WWF’s garish comic book heroes, sold up to Ted Turner, thus creating World Championship Wrestling (WCW). WCW never really troubled the WWF at this juncture when it came to TV ratings or attendances.

However, around 1992, things began to change. The WBF went out of business as alleged steroid abuse among both McMahon’s wrestlers and bodybuilders came under scrutiny. By 1994, things were slowly turning in WCW’s favor, especially when they signed Hulk Hogan.

McMahon was put on trial in 1994, accused of distributing steroids to his wrestlers. As a legal move, his wife Linda was made CEO of the WWF during the trial. He was acquitted of all charges but later admitted to taking steroids himself in the ’80s. The prosecution made Hulk Hogan its star witness, and his testimony in the trial severely damaged the two’s friendship even though Hogan’s testimony defended McMahon. After Hogan’s testimony, McMahon would go before the media declaring that he wished that Hogan had not lied about him on the witness stand. McMahon’s rationale for stating such a comment was later revealed to be his attempt at vilifying Hogan before he entered WCW. Despite not being convicted, McMahon and the WWF took a major public relations hit. The WWF’s popularity sharply declined from that point, mainly in part to even more poor ideas and matches being served up in Vince’s enforced absence.

Mr. McMahon

In 1997, the WWF and its flagship show on the USA Network Monday Night RAW were consistently losing the ratings war with WCW and its new show WCW Monday Nitro, which premiered in September 1995. Despite the fans loud yearning for less over-the-top gimmicks like The Patriot and Doink the Clown, McMahon resisted, and the WWF’s product quality continued to sink. WWF fans now witnessed McMahon – who to many was known more for being an enthusiastic face announcer rather than the WWF owner, although despite being lesser known as owner of the WWF, no secret was made of it – “screw” Bret Hart out of the WWF Title “for real.” This also made Vince turn heel for the very first time. After the 1997 Survivor Series and his participation in the Montreal Screwjob, McMahon inserted himself into the WWF show as the hot tempered, unfair evil owner character “Mr. McMahon”, who conspired and meddled in the affairs of other fan favorite wrestlers. He eventually led various heel stars in the Corporation stable, which complemented the Austin vs. McMahon feud that saw popular beer-guzzling anti-hero Stone Cold Steve Austin challenge McMahon’s authority every week on RAW and business really picked up again. In the spring of 1998, the WWF solidified itself as the wrestling ratings king and never looked back. As both a face and a heel, the Mr. McMahon character would play a prominent on camera role, feuding with top stars such as The Undertaker, The Rock and Triple H. One storyline even involved him becoming WWE Champion. Storylines would also involve the character feuding with members of his own immediate family – Stephanie, Shane and Linda.

The new millennium and the birth of WWE

In 1999, McMahon took the WWF public; the McMahon family retained the vast majority of voting shares, however. Forbes placed his net worth at $1.7 billion.

In 2001, his company created a joint venture with NBC for a new professional football league called the XFL. The league folded after one season and is widely regarded as a colossal failure. He and NBC lost over 30 million dollars that year. Also in 2001, the North American wrestling landscape changed forever when the WWF purchased the assets of its long-ailing rival, WCW. AOL Time Warner, then WCW’s parent company, was looking to cut costs dramatically in the wake of its merger. McMahon eventually purchased the rights to ECW’s video library and trademarks. With these purchases, WWE became virtually the only pro wrestling organization in North America. McMahon ruled North American wrestling virtually unchallenged until 2002, when veteran wrestling promoter Jerry Jarrett and his son, former WWF and WCW star Jeff, created Total Nonstop Action (TNA).

In May 2002 (as noted by the interchangeable usage of different acronyms for the company in this article), McMahon changed the WWF’s name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in the midst of an ongoing lawsuit with the World Wildlife Fund over the use of and trading using the WWF initials. Eventually McMahon hired his heated rival, former WCW President Eric Bischoff to play an on-camera, kayfabe role as RAW general manager, effectively signaling the end of the WCW/WWF rivalry.

On-camera return

After feuds with Ric Flair, a returning Hulk Hogan and the Undertaker, McMahon’s on-camera character would become less prominent for two years. However, the character resumed a more regular role after WWE Homecoming. This time he allied himself with Shane, Linda and Stephanie McMahon. His on-camera persona resumed a feud with Steve Austin. Shortly after, he started a feud with Shawn Michaels and eventually Triple H, which led to the return of D-Generation X. During this feud he claimed that Michaels was saved from destruction at WrestleMania 22 by God and formed his own religion (McMahonism). His on-camera storylines involved him firing Jim Ross and on-camera RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff. Mr. McMahon began serving as the interim General Manager of RAW, although he gave the primary duties to “Executive Assistant” Jonathan Coachman.

Gimmicks

The “Mr. McMahon” character has several gimmicks that have become integral parts of McMahon’s on-camera persona. The crowd has responded to him in chants such as “ASSHOLE”. Some fans bow showing their honorable respect for Vince McMahon and what he has made the company of what it is today.

The Power Walk

When Vince walks down the ring, he usually performs a certain “strut” in which is called by WWE Commentator Jim Ross as The Power Walk. This is practically an overexaggerated strut that Vince performs while walking down the ring while swinging his arms- and this is usually aided with comments by Jim Ross such as “There’s only one man that walks like that”, or “The Power Walk means bad news for somebody”. The Power Walk is used to get a reaction out of the crowd (especially when he’s a heel) but it also provides comic relief for fans as well. WWE Superstar Mick Foley had joked on the “Raw Exposed” special that aired before WWE Homecoming, that Vince “somehow walks like he’s got a broomstick shoved up in his ass”.

“Firings”

In wrestling storylines, one of McMahon’s more notable gimmicks is his ability to terminate whomever he feels from either a position or the company. When “firing” an employee, McMahon’s mannerism is usually an over-the-top utterance of “YOU’RE FIRED!” This is a list of those whom he has “fired.”

* Kane (Kane was quickly rehired for that one night.)
* Mick Foley (as Commissioner, twice, then fired again after joining the “Vince McMahon Kiss My Ass Club”. Used Melina for this firing.)
* Paul Heyman (as an announcer for Raw)
* Hulk Hogan (after it was proven that Hogan was indeed “Mr. America”, coinciding with the end of his contract at that time)
* Kurt Angle (as SmackDown! General Manager and forced back as wrestler)
* Eric Bischoff (Twice. The first time he was fired was around October of 2004, however, Vince McMahon later called on the “New General Manager” to make his way down to the ring. At first, a stunned crowd saw Jim “Good Ol’ J.R.” Ross walk down to the ring, however, he was trying to plead with McMahon to get his job back because he was fired unfairly by Bischoff. Moments later, an even more shocked (and then very annoyed) crowd witnessed Eric Bischoff walk down to the ring to reclaim his spot as G.M. the same night in which he had been fired earlier. The second time because was the RAW brand lost to SmackDown! at Survivor Series 2005 in a 5-on-5 tag team match, Bischoff also had pledged to beat SmackDown! G.M. Theodore R. Long and failed at that, as well. Part of the reason for his “firing” was also for failing to accomplish “his goals”.)
* Stone Cold Steve Austin (numerous times)
* Jeff Jarrett the night WCW and then WWF merged as one show.
* Jim Ross (blamed for being Stone Cold’s friend, representative of an off-screen decision to replace Ross, partially due to Ross having major colon surgery. Joey Styles replaced Ross as play-by-play commentator. However, Ross did commentary for Saturday Night’s Main Event, WrestleMania 22 and Backlash 2006 and has since returned to RAW due to the kayfabe “quitting” of Joey Styles.) Jim Ross is now back on the RAW announce team replacing Joey Styles who is working the ECW shows. He has also been “fired” repeatedly
* Shawn Michaels (as Commissioner, although Shawn notified Vince that he couldn’t be fired as per his contract)
* The Undertaker (though Linda McMahon signed him to a new contract just eight months later)
* Dude Love (for not being able to defeat Steve Austin at In Your House: Over the Edge in 1998. However, Mankind came back later in the night.)
* Every WWE fan – One night in the ring Vince claimed to hire every person watching, for the sole purpose of firing them a few seconds later
* Marty Jannetty (For failing to beat a wrestler of Vince’s choosing, therefore he couldn’t get his WWE contract)

Kiss My Ass Club

McMahon’s other trademark gimmick is the “Vince McMahon Kiss My Ass Club.” It refers to those people who have literally kissed Mr. McMahon’s backside, often involuntarily, in order to either get or keep a job, or secure future championship opportunities within the company.

It is a trademark gimmick that is popular with the fans, despite the character status (face or heel) Vince McMahon may be playing. It is mainly used for comic relief. However, some fans find this gimmick to be disrespectful to those involved, particularly to the long-time WWE alumni Jim Ross and Shawn Michaels.

William Regal was the first member of the club. WWE RAW announcer Jim Ross, the second member, was forced to join when McMahon spotted him laughing; the Undertaker seemed to come to Ross’ rescue, but made his last heel turn to date when he shoved “Good Ol’ JR’s” face into McMahon’s rear.

During McMahon’s feud with Shawn Michaels, the “Heartbreak Kid” was forced to join the club after being knocked out with a steel chair saving Marty Janetty from joining the club at the hands of Chris Masters. Shane McMahon shoved the unconscious Michaels’ face into his rear. The elder McMahon tried to force Michaels to kiss his ass a second time at WrestleMania 22, but this time, Michaels got the upper hand and it was Shane who suffered the indignity of kissing his unknowing father’s rear.

Mick Foley is the most recent inductee of the club, having voluntarily joined in order to save the job of WWE Diva Melina after Vince explained that it wasn’t Foley who would be fired if he didn’t kiss his posterior. Melina then gave Mick a low blow from behind, and the trio of Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon, and Melina fired Foley instead.

Several attempts to have others join the “Kiss My Ass Club” have failed, including Zach Gowen, Steve Austin, Trish Stratus, Marty Janetty, and most recently Triple H. Stratus was saved by The Rock, Gowen and Austin low-blowed McMahon, while Triple H gave him a Pedigree. In addition, Eric Bischoff was offered a chance to join the Kiss My Ass club in 2003, but when he refused, McMahon told Bischoff that he would be the first member of the “Vince McMahon Kick Your Ass Club” when he ordered Bischoff to face the returning “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at the 2003 WWE No Way Out PPV.

Controversy

On February 1, 2006, McMahon was accused of sexual harassment by a worker at a Boca Raton tanning bar. The worker said that he “groped her and harassed her.” The charge was thought to have been discredited as McMahon was at the post-Royal Rumble company meeting in Miami during the alleged event. However, Dave Meltzer reported that confusion about the alleged day occurred due to a Florida newspaper reporting that the accuser had stated that the incident took place on Sunday when it in fact is reported to have taken place Saturday. Meltzer reported that “The confusion is because the alleged victim told police the story on Sunday, but apparently not that it happened on Sunday.” The Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that police reports say that the reported incident took place Saturday. On March 27, 2006, a Television station in Florida reported that no charges would be filed against Vince McMahon as a result of the investigation into allegations that he groped a tanning salon attendant.

McMahon has also come under fire for constantly placing himself into sexual angles with many WWE Divas, including Sable/Rena Mero and Trish Stratus.

McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment as a whole has been the center of controversy in the past, especially in the “Attitude Era” of what was the World Wrestling Federation. The sexual references and the ever popular and also controversial group of D-Generation X has been the center of this as well as Stone Cold Steve Austin for his trademark drinking of beer (sometimes the beer was labeled as “Steveweiser”) and gesturing his middle finger quite often. (Though the latter was initially not liked by McMahon himself, according to Austin on the A&E Biography featuring Austin.)

The new McMahon DVD features commentary from Stephanie where she says that she had to nix a potential incest angle. According to her, Vince to reveal himself as the father of her baby and when she said no, he pushed for Shane to be the father. Stephanie turned that idea down also. She also said no to Vince’s idea that her wedding to Triple H be aired live on PPV and that the only reason Vince ever hired Eric Bischoff was just to be able to say that his longtime nemesis once worked for him.

Other media

In 2001, Vince McMahon was interviewed by Playboy for the second issue of Playboy Magazine in the year.

In March 2006 (at age sixty) McMahon was featured on the cover of Muscle & Fitness magazine, displaying a well-chiseled physique. In the months after its publication, it could be seen in McMahon’s office during backstage segments. A large version of the cover was used as a weapon during McMahon’s match with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 22 and was defaced by D-Generation X upon their reunification during an episode of RAW.

McMahon DVD
The McMahon DVD cover features a split image of McMahon in a business suit and in wrestling attire. On August 22, 2006, a two-disc DVD set showcasing McMahon’s career was released. The DVD is simply titled McMahon.

The DVD includes the following McMahon matches:

* vs. Steve Austin (RAW is WAR, April 13, 1998, Philadelphia, PA)
* vs. Steve Austin – Steel cage match (St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, February 14, 1999, Memphis, TN)
* with Shane McMahon vs. Steve Austin – Handicap ladder match (King of the Ring, June 27, 1999, Greensboro, NC)
* vs. Triple H – No Holds Barred match (Armageddon, December 12, 1999, Sunrise, FL)
* vs. Shane McMahon – Street Fight match (WrestleMania X-Seven, April 1, 2001, Houston, TX)
* vs. Ric Flair – Street Fight match (Royal Rumble, January 20, 2002, Atlanta, GA)
* vs. Hulk Hogan – Street Fight match (WrestleMania XIX, March 30, 2003, Seattle, WA)
* vs. Stephanie McMahon – “I Quit” match (No Mercy, October 19, 2003, Baltimore, MD)
* vs. The Undertaker – Buried Alive match (Survivor Series, November 16, 2003, Dallas, TX)

While much of the DVD paints McMahon in a good light (the chapter on the XFL gives the impression it was a daring idea not a massive failure), several segments did point out some of his drawbacks. Greg Gagne accuses Vince of destroying his father Verne and the AWA, almost everyone besides Vince talks of how horrible the Katie Vick angle was and many wrestlers discuss how stubborn Vince can be and how he refuses to listen to others.

Personal life

Vince married Linda McMahon on August 6, 1966 in New Bern, North Carolina. The two met in church when Linda was 13 and Vince was 16. They were introduced by Vince’s mother, Vicky Askew. They have two children: Stephanie and Shane, both of whom work for WWE. A third child was falsely rumored, but the rumor stemmed from a picture featuring Shane, Vince, Stephanie, Linda and Marissa Mazzola-McMahon, Shane’s wife. He has a 12 million dollar penthouse in NYC, a 40 million dollar mansion in Greenwich, CT. and a 20 million dollar vacation home in Boca Raton, Fl, he is also the owner of the famous 30 million dollar WWE jet that was recently seen on RAW when Kayfabe story had Shawn Micheals and Triple H spray paint the Jet. He became a billionaire in 2000 and is still considered the most powerful man in sports entertainment.

Vince has two grandsons: Shane’s sons, Declan James McMahon and Kennedy Jesse McMahon, and one granddaughter, Aurora Rose Levesque, daughter to Stephanie and Paul Levesque, A.K.A Triple H.

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Tags: linda mcmonh, Mr. McMahon, shane mcmahon, triple h, Vince McMahon, wwe chairman, wwe hall of fame, WWE Legends, wwe owner

Posted By admin on January 27, 2009

Date of Birth
22 July 1965, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Birth Name
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom

Nickname
The Showstopper
Heartbreak Kid
The Main Event
The Icon
HBK
Rocker
The Boy Toy
Midnight Rocker
The Pitbull
The Wrestler of the 90s

Height
6′ 1″ (1.85 m)

Mini Biography

Began his career in Texas. Trained by the legendary Jose’ Lathario, Shawn Michaels wrestled in Kansas, where he met fellow wrestler, Marty Jannetty. A year later, after sending tapes of his matches to the major wrestling companies at the time, he was contacted by the AWA, who proposed that he team up with Marty Jannetty. Together, Michaels and Jannetty became known as the Midnight Rockers. The AWA had just recieved a TV deal with ESPN, which did wonders for his career. The Midnight Rockers had a major feud with “Playboy” Buddy Rose, and “Pretty Boy” Doug Somers. Their matches were considered bloodbathes at the time. Eventually the Midnight Rockers came out the victors and were the AWA World Tag Team Champions. The WWF (now WWE) noticed their efforts and signed them to a deal. Both Michaels and Jannetty were soon fired for a incident in a bar, which Michaels claims never happened. The duo went back to the AWA for a brief time. After a while, they contacted the WWF, who gave them a second chance and they returned in late 1988. They were known simply as The Rockers. The duo had a great influence on many of the present teams in wrestling. Their trademark was being tag team specialists and using great double team moves on their opponents.

They had major feuds with The Brain Busters, The Fabulous Rougeaus, The Hart Foundation, The Orient Express, and Power & Glory. At one point the Rockers won the WWF Tag Team Title by accident. They weren’t actually supposed to beat the Hart Foundation, yet it happened. They were stripped of the tag team title which was returned to the Hart Foundation with the explanation that the ring ropes were loose which caused the match to go bad for both teams. Shortly after the Rockers were split apart and Shawn Michaels became a singles wrestler, after turning on his partner Marty Jannetty. In a related story, Michaels actually met with Vince McMahon to discuss his charactor. He told him he worked hard and would like to be pushed as a singles wrestler. He wanted to know what he had to do to convince Vince McMahon to do so. McMahon told him he just did it by coming to him. Michaels defeated Tito Santana in his first Wrestlemania as a singles wrestler. He was managed by Sherri Martel, who supposedly had a crush on him. In a major upset, Michaels defeated The British Bulldog on Saturday Night’s Main Event. Michaels won the Intercontinental Title from the Bulldog. At the 1993 Royal Rumble, Michaels wrestled former partner Marty Jannetty with the Intercontinental Title on the line. The match became Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Match of the Year. Michaels won the bout.

The following year, Michaels wrestled Razor Ramon (Scott Hall, who is one of his best friends) in a ladder match. This match was voted by Pro Wrestling Illustrated as the Match of the Year, and became one of the innovating matches of the last decade. In 1995, Michaels was again voted in match of the year by wrestling another great friend, Diesel (Kevin Nash) at Wrestlemania 11. Michaels won both the 1995 and 1996 Royal Rumbles, and again was in match of the year when in 1996 he wrestled Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 12 in a one hour Iron Man Match. Michaels was involved in the big Montreal Screwjob on Bret Hart, that Vince McMahon was behind. The match was stopped and awarded to Shawn Michaels because Vince McMahon was worried that Hart would refuse to lose and take the WWF Title Belt to WCW Nitro. This severed a friendship between Michaels and Hart. Michaels originally denied knowing about it in advance. Later on he admitted he knew but wouldn’t refuse to do what Vince McMahon wanted him to, since Vince McMahon made his career. Michaels innovated another match against the Undertaker, when he wrestled him in a Hell in the Cell Match. After Wrestlemania 14, Michaels didn’t wrestle for 4 years due to a back injury, but maintained an on air role on occasion. During his time off, Michaels became a father, and also became a Christian. At Summerslam 2002, Michaels returned to the ring to face his friend Triple H. The two had a great feud, and Michaels who didn’t think he could wrestle as well as he used to, dazzled the audience. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to continue his normal wrestling schedule due to the nagging injuries, but since then, he has been going strong. He won the Raw Heavyweight Title from Triple H, which he held for 2 months. Michaels had a great match at Wrestlemania 19 with Chris Jericho, which he won. Currently, Michaels can be seen on Monday Night Raw.

Biography

Who is “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels?

He was born on July 22, 1965 in Scottsdale, Airzona at Williams Air Force Base. He grew up in San Antonio, Texas under the name Michael Shawn Hickenbottom. He is 6’0″ 234lbs and made his pro wrestling debut on October 16, 1984. He has spent his entire wrestling career (in the big two) using the name Shawn Michaels and has only wrestled as a part of the WWF. He trained under former pro wrestler Jose Lothario in San Antonio after his parents gave him their blessing so that he could realize his dream of becoming a pro wrestler. Under the tutelage of Lothario his career took off and he turned into the one of the greatest superstars ever. Two individuals, “Sensational” Sherri in 1992 and Jose Lothario in 1996, have managed Shawn. To see the progress Shawn has made here’s a look at his ratings in the annual PWI 500. 1991 – #37, 1992 – #16, 1993 – #3, 1994 – #5, 1995 – #2, 1996 – #1, 1997 – #18, 1998 – Injured.

The Rocker Years

Shawn’s partner was his good friend Marty Jannetty who he teamed with to form one of the most exciting teams in wrestling history. The Rockers were together from the summer of 1988 until the end of 1991 in the WWF. Prior to that, they wrestled as the “Midnight Rockers” in the AWA.

They were both young men who were just getting their start in the wrestling business, as they tried their best to make a name for themselves. A lot of people do not know this but the Rockers never did win the tag titles although they teamed for more than three years. They had won the tag belts at house shows although they never were recognized on WWF TV as the champions nor are they listed as champions in the PWI Almanac. They were a team that gave fans exciting wrestling featuring plenty of moves that were not common to North American fans. They were doing hurricanranas and moonsaults before anybody else in the WWF and they earned a reputation as the best high flyers in the WWF. One of the best tag team matches of all time featured Michaels and Jannetty in a Royal Rumble ’91 battle against the Orient Express (Pat Tanaka and Kato who is Paul Diamond). I suggest you get your hands on this tape because this was one of the best tag team matches of all-time.

The Heartbreak Kid is Born

The Heartbreak Kid is a personality of Shawn Michaels that was launched in early ’92 after the Rockers breakup. When the HBK persona was born Shawn was only 27 and had great potential in him athletically. What everyone soon found out was that HBK was very good on the mic to go along with his tremendous workrate. His ability to get the crowd to hate him was evident as soon as he turned heel. He then established a regular talk show segment on WWF shows called the “Heartbreak Hotel.” This cocky, young, brash superstar spent his time gaining a reputation as a guy who did a lot of talk yet he was still able to back it up because of his in ring talent.

His first taste of WWF gold came in a match against the British Bulldog on October 27, 1992 when Shawn won the Intercontinental title. A month later wrestled Bret Hart at Survivor Series in a match he lost for the WWF world title. This was the first of three PPV matches these two had. It did not really have as much hype as you would expect although it was still a classic match.

Shawn’s IC title reign lasted for seven months, ending when he lost it to his former partner Jannetty in May ’93. Although he did lose the title, he regained the title only a month later. He never lost the belt in a match though. He had to give it up due to “not meeting certain contractual obligations.” In a span of a year he held the Intercontinental Title for 11 months. Shawn only lost IC title once and that was to Jannetty. He was stripped of it in ’93 as well as in ’95 when he couldn’t compete due to getting attacked outside of a Syracuse nightclub in October of ’95. I’ll have more on that story a bit later on.

He was stripped of the IC title in ’93 because he was in a contract dispute with WWF management. Because of the dispute, he did not defend the title within thirty days so he was stripped of the title in reality and in terms of storylines.

Being stripped of the IC title turned out to be a good thing for Shawn because of what happened at WrestleMania X. After coming to terms with management, a feud was built up between Shawn and Razor Ramon (the IC champ at the time) over who was the real IC champion. For storyline sake, Shawn carried around the IC title that he was stripped of a few months earlier. He claimed that he did not lose the IC title so the WWF decided to hang both IC titles from the ceiling and have a ladder match. The first ladder match saw Shawn losing the match to Razor in a match that determined the “real” IC champion. Despite the loss, both men came away winners because it was arguably the best match in the history of the WWF at the time.

Due to the success of the first ladder match, Shawn went on to have another ladder match with Ramon on PPV, this one coming at Summerslam ’95. This time Shawn came in as the face, walked in with the title and also walked out with the title still around his waist. I will have an article detailing the WrestleMania X ladder match in the future because it was one of the best matches that I have ever seen. Not only are these two of the best matches in Shawn’s career but they are the two of the best matches in wrestling history. After people saw these matches it seemed obvious that Shawn wasn’t just good in the ring, he was extraordinary.

The Rockers alliance ended when Shawn turned heel by throwing Jannetty through a mirror in Brutus Beefcake’s barber shop segment. It was one of those moments that will be etched in the minds of wrestling fans forever. It was the start of something special, it was the start of Shawn Michaels singles career as a heel.

1995 Starts out Great but…

In the eyes of many people, 1995 was supposed to be the year in which Shawn took that giant leap from midcarder to main eventer. He continued his role as a heel and was successful in terms of getting over. He “hired” Sid Vicious as his bodyguard because he claimed that he was too important to the WWF to get hurt. Although it was for the storyline, there was some validity behind it. He won Royal Rumble ’95 as he became the first wrestler ever to be the first participant in the match and come out of it as the winner. He earned the shot to face Diesel (Kevin Nash) at WrestleMania XI for the world title. It seemed as though it was the perfect time to put the big belt around the qualified waist of Shawn. He seemed ready, he seemed qualified but it did not happen. He lost to Nash cleanly in the center of the ring in what turned out to be a pretty good match. Maybe it’s because Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy were at ringside for that match. Nevertheless, Shawn’s stock rose after his great performance at WM XI.

The next night on Raw, Shawn was powerbombed by his “bodyguard” Sid Vicious who claimed that Shawn was stealing his spotlight. With every powerbomb the sympathy for Michaels grew. He took a short break in order to sell the powerbombs and when he returned he was one of the biggest babyfaces in the company.

At the July ’95 IYH PPV Shawn captured the IC title for the third time in a matchup against Jeff Jarrett. To this day the pop that Shawn received at the end of the night was one of the loudest that I have ever seen. I think it was important to Shawn because it was the first title he won while he was wrestling as a face. He defended the title at Summerslam ’95 against Razor Ramon in the aforementioned second ladder match. This time around, they were both babyfaces and after twenty-five minutes of showstopping action the two hugged in the ring to the delight of the crowd. Sadly, all of that jubilation was quickly forgotten due to an unfortunate incident that took place a few months later.

…Ends on a Sour Note

In October ’95 Shawn suffered a beating at the hands of several men outside of a nightclub in Syracuse, New York. This was not a work, it was a true story. The details of the incident are not fully known although there are many things that we do know about the altercation.

Shawn Michaels, Davey Boy Smith (British Bulldog) and Sean Waltman (X-Pac) were at a bar in Syracuse. At some point during the evening the three WWF wrestlers were confronted by a pack of men. Nobody really knows how many men were there although it is believed that it ranged from anywhere between 8-14 of them. When they left the bar these men met them out by their car and began provoking them. A few of the men held back Smith and Waltman while the others attacked Shawn probably because he was the Intercontinental Champion at the time and the most famous of the three. On WWF TV, they said that nine men attacked Michaels although nobody really knows if that is true. For the purpose of storylines, they did not mention that Waltman and Smith were there. The extent of Shawn’s injuries are not fully known although most believe that he had minor injuries because of the assault.

He appeared at the October ’95 PPV and forfeited the title to Dean (Shane) Douglas who in turn lost the belt to Razor Ramon. On the episode of Raw following Survivor Series ’95, Shawn took an enziguri kick from Owen Hart that forced Shawn to suffer from “post concussion syndrome.” In reality, Shawn was 100% healthy by that time and only sold the Owen Hart kick so that he can return in ’96 as the federation’s top babyface. I repeat, it was an angle, he did not really suffer an injury from Owen during that match. It was one of the first “worked shoot” angles that the company ever did. They fooled a lot of people with it and it also helped build Shawn up as a sympathetic babyface that the fans could get behind at the start of the new year.

“The Clique” and “The Kliq”

You may be looking at this heading and wondering what I am talking about. What I am referring to by “The Clique” is Shawn’s relationships with his best friends in the wrestling business. “The Kliq,” not the spelling, is the name he had for his legions of fans. The Clique consists of Shawn, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Triple H, and Sean Waltman aka X-Pac. These are his best friends in the wrestling business. Although other people may be friends of these five men it is widely known that these men are the main members of “The Clique.”

The Kliq, Shawn’s fans, was formed in late ’95 after Shawn started getting sympathy babyface heat which was a result of the attack in October. It was also pushed by the WWF after Owen Hart nailed him with an enziguri causing HBK to suffer from post concussion syndrome. This was just an angle to get easier babyface pops for Shawn. It worked because when Shawn came back to the ring in January ’96 he was by far the most popular wrestler in the WWF as he proved to the world that he can carry a company.

1996: The Championship Year

If you were to single out 12 months of Shawn’s career that brought out the best in him it would have to be the year of 1996 because that is when he won his first WWF title. It all started in January at Royal Rumble ’96. Shawn was completely healthy by the time of the Rumble even though he did not wrestle for a few months prior to the big battle royal. He won the 30 man over the top rope battle royal propelling himself into the main event at WrestleMania 12.

Prior to wrestling in the main event Shawn had to beat Owen Hart to get revenge for putting him out of action for a couple months. After he beat Owen at the February ’96 PPV it was onto WM12 where he would face Bret Hart for the second time on PPV.

This was the Iron Man match that lasted over 62 minutes. It was a superb match by both men as they wrestled gallantly for 62 minutes without getting a pinfall. I always felt that if the match was 45 minutes instead of 60 it would have been the greatest match ever. Because of the extra fifteen minutes there were times when the crowd was silent and the action was slowed down by rest holds. Everything between the resting was dynamite and so was the ending to the match. Shawn won it with his “Sweet Chin Music” (a Super-kick) and as Vince McMahon said it best: “Shawn Michaels has just turned his boyhood dream into a reality.” Finally Shawn Michaels became a world champion.

In April ’96, Shawn had a memorable match against Diesel in what was probably Kevin Nash’s best match ever. It was a no-holds barred match that signified the start of the WWF going to the extreme in their matches. Better yet, it was the start of the “attitude” era. Shawn showed Nash the door that led to WCW and began to take on all comers who wanted a shot at his coveted world title.

Shawn’s next feud, May and June ’96, was against the British Bulldog. This one became heated after the Bulldog falsely accused HBK of sexually harassing his wife Diana. Shawn ends up winning this feud at King of the Ring ’96. That great match is often overlooked because it was the same night that Austin 3:16 was born. Although the feud was not legendary it did provide several good matches and it elevated a deserving competitor in The British Bulldog.

At Summerslam, HBK faced another big test who turned out to be Vader. At the time Vader was made to look as if he was unbeatable especially after pinning Shawn in a tag match at the July ’96 IYH PPV. In this match Shawn turned the tables and won with a moonsault in a 20 minute match that was one of Vader’s best matches in the WWF. Vader actually won the match on two separate occasions (countout and disqualification) but his manager Jim Cornette ordered the match to continue which led to Shawn’s victory. The highlight of the match was probably when Shawn took a Vader powerbomb on the concrete floor, which was something few people would do four years ago.

At the September ’96 PPV, Shawn participated in one of the most brutal matches that I have ever seen. It was a wild brawl against Mankind that provided some of the craziest bumps in the careers of these two amazing superstars. As Mick Foley said in his book, this was the match that Foley was most proud of in his illustrious career. It was arguably Mick Foley’s greatest match and is among the top four matches in Shawn’s career. Sadly, both men retired before they turned 35 years old due to their willingness to take suicidal bumps. Simply put, this was another great match that is often overlooked due to the fact that it was on a poor PPV and it ended with a DQ finish. No doubt about it, this was one of the best matches that I have ever seen anywhere in the world.

At the Survivor Series in November ’96, Shawn went into battle against yet another monster, Psycho Sid. Sid ended up winning the title from Shawn thanks to the fact that Sid knocked out Jose Lothario and then nailed Shawn with a video camera to win the title.

Shawn ended up winning his title back at Royal Rumble ’97 in front of his hometown crowd in San Antonio to be the WWF champ for the second time. On both occasions Shawn proved why he was such a great wrestler because he was able to carry a pile of crap like Sid to a good match. Is there anything he can’t do?

Shawn’s role in the WWF during this time was very important because of the lack of success the WWF was having in the mid ’90s. Wrestling in the United States was suffering in ’95-’96 due to the WWF’s tendencies to produce characters with outrageous gimmicks rather than promoting good wrestling. After Kevin Nash’s unsuccessful world title reign in ’95, highlighted by horrible feuds with Mabel (Viscera) and Sid, Shawn was given the title for nearly eight months. While Shawn’s reign was in full force the WWF’s former champion Bret Hart took a seven month leave of absence to think about his future in wrestling. Without Bret around to produce good matches and with Austin and Foley climbing the WWF ladder, Shawn seemingly carried every PPV during the year. His matches with Bulldog, Vader and Mankind were all very good.

He was so productive during this time period that many critics offered the same praise to him that Ric Flair was given several years earlier. They said that Shawn could carry a broomstick to a **** match which backs up my claim that 1996 was as good a year that any wrestler has ever had in the history of wrestling. It came at the perfect time because without Shawn as their leader who knows where the WWF would be today. Wrestling would not be where it is today without all of the hard work put in by the Heartbreak Kid when the business was struggling to keep its head above water.

World Title Reign Number Two is a Short One

During an edition of Raw in February ’97 Shawn Michaels “lost his smile” on Thursday Raw Thursday. He went on the show and forfeited the world title. His reason was that he had a knee injury although some people, like Bret Hart, believed that he could have worked through it. Bret was upset about it because Shawn was scheduled to drop the title to Bret at WrestleMania XIII to return the job Bret did to Shawn the previous year. He missed the PPVs in February, March, April and May due to the knee injury and various other injuries that nagged him throughout his career.

The Dream Team of Wrestling: Michaels and Austin

Although Shawn missed a few months with a knee injury he came back as a force to form an impromptu tag team with Stone Cold Steve Austin. At the time, Shawn was a face and Austin was quickly becoming the most popular wrestler ever so the team was over huge. During an episode of Raw on May 25, 1997 they teamed up to take the tag straps away from long time champions, Owen Hart and the British Bulldog. It was one of the greatest tag team matches in the history of Raw due to the fact that it lasted nearly 20 minutes with a ton of heat and featured four workers who were very good.

At King of the Ring ’97, a year after Austin won KOTR, the tag team champions participated in a one on one match. As far as I know, this was the only one on one PPV match that these two had against eachother when they were healthy. It ended up being a short match that ended in a no contest finish that I am still complaining about to this day! I understand the WWF’s position at the time because they did not want either man to do job. I assume that they felt that Michaels and Austin had several other PPV battles ahead of them but sadly that never came to pass. Due to Shawn’s back injury and Austin’s neck injury the only other time they wrestled against each other one on one was at WrestleMania XIV in what turned out to be Shawn’s last WWF match.

In July, the team was stripped of the titles because of Shawn’s real life backstage fight with Bret Hart. On camera, they said he had an injury to cover it up. He sat out of the Canadian Stampede PPV in July ’97 due to the bogus injury. The main event of Stampede was a ten men tag where Shawn was rumored to be pinned which forced his critics to once again claim that he was avoiding doing a J.O.B. Although the Austin/Michaels team did not last for a long time it was fantastic to see two of the best wrestlers of all time on the same team.

At Summerslam in August ’97 he played the role of referee in the Hart/Undertaker world title match when he “accidentally” cost the Undertaker the match. This was when he turned heel, this was when he released the monster known as DX.

Degeneration X is Born

“The icon. The showstopper. The main event.” Those are the phrases used to describe Shawn during his DX days. There are many questions as to when DX was officially born. The first time Shawn and Triple H wrestled on the same team was on Raw in the middle of August ’97. It was a tag match that saw Shawn and Triple H taking on their rivals at the time, the Undertaker and Mick Foley. Therefore, the unofficial beginning of DX was on the August 18, 1997 edition of Raw. Following that tag match, Shawn and Triple H appeared on camera together often although the name Degeneration X did not debut on WWF TV until October ’97. If my memory serves me correctly, Bret called Shawn and Hunter degenerates (another word would be wicked or immoral). The term degenerate was coined by WWF hater Phil Mushnick and that word was the one he used to describe fans of the WWF. Chyna and the late Rick Rude later joined the group although Shawn and Triple H were the only ones that actually wrestled at the time.

Shawn Michaels defeated the British Bulldog at the UK PPV “One Night Only” for the European title on September 20, 1997 making him the first grand slam champion in federation history. He beat the Bulldog in his own country and then went on to heat up his feud with Bret Hart.

Bret was a big time heel in his role where he bashes America in every speech while HBK was attempting to be a heel by doing cheap tactics and basically anything for the win. This was one of the things that led to the downfall of Bret Hart. It is believed that the European belt was given to Shawn because Vince McMahon wanted to punish Bret for refusing to do the job at Survivor Series ’97. Since The Bulldog is Bret’s brother-in-law, McMahon felt that by punishing Bret’s family member it would lead to Bret changing his stance on the Montreal finish. Shawn walked away with the title even though he was never scheduled to win the belt in the first place.

Meanwhile, Degeneration X was growing on people quickly. They were doing such a good job as heels that Shawn had vaulted himself over Bret in terms of being the number one heel in the company. This caused a lot of tension between Shawn and Bret because Bret was promised the spot as the #1 heel because he was willing to do the anti-American angle.

Before the famed Survivor Series ’97 match, Shawn wrestled in a match that was just as memorable as the more popular Montreal match. It was the first ever Hell in a Cell match against the Undertaker at the October ’97 PPV called Badd Blood. This match changed Shawn’s career forever as he proved yet again that he was the best man to introduce a gimmick match. Just like he proved during the ladder match in ’94, Shawn was able to produce another five star performance in a gimmick match that nobody had seen previously. He took a huge bump when he fell from three quarters high up the cage onto an announce table that waited about 10 feet below. He ended up winning the match, thanks to the debut of Kane, in what was one of the most brutal matches anybody has ever seen. For the fourth year in a row Shawn delivered one of the greatest matches in wrestling history. Without Shawn, ladder matches and HIAC matches would not exist. He set the trend and now everybody is doing their best to follow the model provided by the greatest wrestler to ever grace a WWF ring. The HIAC match was so good that I wrote a full length column about the match which you can read by clicking HERE.

Feuding With Bret Hart On and Off Screen

The names of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels will always be linked together due to their relationship on WWF television and their supposed hatred for eachother out of the ring. Shawn was the man who ended up defeating Bret in what was Bret’s last match in the WWF at Survivor Series ’97. It was probably the most controversial moment in the history of wrestling. By now, I think every wrestling fan knows the outcome of this match. Shawn had Bret in Bret’s finishing maneuver, The Sharpshooter, when WWF owner Vince McMahon told the timekeeper to “ring the f**king bell.” The scheduled finish for the match was supposed to see Bret’s family members run in and cause a DQ. However, Vince McMahon changed that outcome without telling Bret thus providing wrestling fans with what many people believe to be the “biggest screwjob in wrestling history.” The whole thing is detailed on the Wrestling with Shadows documentary.

Whatever role Shawn Michaels played in this match is unknown to this day. The only ones that really know are Vince McMahon, Bret Hart and Shawn himself. In my opinion it really does not matter what role, if any, Shawn played in this whole situation. It was an issue between an employee, Bret, and his boss, Vince. Sure, Shawn could have been in on it but does it really matter what role Shawn played in this whole thing? It is something between Vince and Bret so instead of sitting here and speculating on the behaviour of Michaels I think it would be best if I just moved on.

One thing we do know is that Shawn and Bret did not like eachother during Bret’s last year in the WWF. The biggest reason is probably because of the perception that Shawn refused to job to Bret at WrestleMania 13 as originally scheduled. To add heat to an already hot fire, the two men often made shoot (meaning real) comments about one another on camera. The rivalry came to a head in June ’97 when Shawn and Bret apparently participated in a pull apart brawl backstage at a WWF show. Although the relationship between the two deteriorated in the summer of ’97 it seemed as though they were able to look past their differences. By the time Survivor Series ’97 came around they were on good enough terms that they were willing to change in the same dressing room. In recent interviews, Bret has said that he really doesn’t blame Shawn for everything that happened because, in Bret’s view, everything Shawn did was because of the orders of Vince McMahon. Nobody really knows what the relationship between Shawn and Bret is today but I doubt that any of you will be seeing them having a drink in your local bar. In the battle between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels I think it’s pretty obvious that Shawn was the winner out of the ring AND in the ring.

The Injury That Ended It All

After winning the title at Survivor Series ’97, Shawn retained the title at the December ’97 PPV against Ken Shamrock. At Royal Rumble ’98, Shawn once again defeated the Undertaker in a casket match at the Royal Rumble thanks to Kane again. During the casket match Shawn took a bump that would end up forcing him to retire from full time in ring competition. He took a bump on his back that caused him excruciating pain. He had suffered a major problem with the lower disks in his back forcing him to cut back on his schedule drastically. It is believed that the injury occurred when the Undertaker tossed Shawn over the top rope causing Shawn to land on the corner of the wooden coffin. It is one of those injuries that looks as bad as it sounds. Remarkably, Shawn was able to wrestle another fifteen minutes and finish the match. His career, however, would come to an end a few months later.

The Final Match

Many people felt that Shawn would be unable to defend the world title at WrestleMania XIV against Stone Cold but he made it and delivered yet again. This match was hyped unbelievably for a couple of reasons. It was the last big match in Shawn’s career so the WWF went all out in building up a good storyline. Austin and Michaels were the two wrestlers in the business which led to an unbelievable PPV buyrate but there was something else that helped their cause. The WWF brought in the $2 million nutcase Mike Tyson to be a part of this classic match. Tyson was playing the role of enforcer/referee in the match. He brought in interest from non wrestling fans to see what Tyson would do. Prior to the match it appeared that Tyson had joined Shawn in DX as Shawn attempted to “stack the deck” against Austin. As you all know, Austin won the match in what was a relatively clean match. Even though Shawn did not win the match he still put in a tremendous effort. He could not bump the way he used to and at several points in the match you could see him wincing in pain. This put an end to Shawn’s in ring career. He put the deserving man over and he walked away without any regrets. Although he didn’t win his last match, I have no trouble saying that Shawn Michaels went out on top like the true champion that he is.

The Return:

In his time away from the ring, he was briefly an on air commissioner and trained several wrestlers, including Matt Bentley and Spanky. He also became a born again Christian. Shawn returned to the ring at SummerSlam 2002 and feuded with Triple H. This feud has gone on for several years and has resulted in some of the best matches of his career. In addition to feuding with Triple H, he has also feuded with Kurt Angle and Hulk Hogan. In 2006, Shawn and Triple H reformed D-Generation X.

The Present:

On the January 29 episode of Raw, Michaels captured the World Tag Team Championship with WWE Champion John Cena after defeating Rated-RKO. He then defeated both Edge and Orton in a Triple Threat number one contender’s match on another episode of Raw to earn a shot at the WWE championship. At WrestleMania 23, Cena retained the championship, after he made Michaels submit to the STFU. The next night on Raw, Michaels and Cena competed in two back-to-back ten team battle royals, winning the first and losing the titles in the second to The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) when Michaels threw Cena over the top rope. Michaels’ feud with Cena continued and he faced off with Cena, Edge and Randy Orton in a standard wrestling match involving four wrestlers at Backlash for the WWE championship. Cena retained the championship when Michaels performed Sweet Chin Music on Cena causing him to fall on Orton, which gained Cena the pinfall.

Michaels then entered a feud with Randy Orton when Orton claimed that he could beat Michaels. The week before their scheduled match at Judgment Day, after Michaels won a match against Edge, Orton interfered, punting Michaels in the head, this kick sees the wrestler take a run up to a kneeling opponent and strike him in the head with the sole of his foot. Orton assaulted Michaels again, just prior to their match at Judgment Day, interrupting Michaels’ interview segment. Michaels collapsed during the course of their match, causing Orton to win by referee stoppage. Afterwards, Orton continued the beating, when he performed a jumping cutter to a fallen Michaels. Michaels was then removed out of the ring in a stretcher. During the feud, Michaels conjured a storyline concussion. This injury was used to keep Michaels out of action, as he required surgery for his knee. Michaels made his return on the October 8 episode of Raw, performing a superkick to newly-crowned WWE Champion, Orton, during his title ceremony at the end of the show and then celebrating over the knocked-out champion as Vince McMahon watched. At Cyber Sunday, Michaels was voted by the fans to face Orton for the WWE Championship; though he won via disqualification when Orton hit Michaels with a low blow, which resulted in Orton retaining the championship. Michaels got another opportunity at the WWE championship, when he was granted his rematch against Orton at Survivor Series. In their match, Michaels was banned from using Sweet Chin Music upon request by Orton, referring to as Michaels superkicking Orton week after week. Michaels lost the match, when Orton performed a jumping cutter for the win. Michaels’ pyrotechnics going off during his ring entrance

As part of the storyline involving Ric Flair, Michaels faced Flair in a Career Threatening match at WrestleMania XXIV, in which he won by performing Sweet Chin Music and thus ending Flair’s career. Afterwards, Batista confronted Michaels about his actions at WrestleMania, calling him selfish and egotistical. The two faced off at Backlash with Chris Jericho as the guest referee. Michaels won after faking a knee injury and performing Sweet Chin Music. Jericho then confronted Michaels on this matter, in which Michaels admitted to faking the injury in order to defeat Batista. Michaels then defeated Jericho at Judgment Day. At One Night Stand, Michaels lost to Batista in a stretcher match, a match where the objective is to place the opponent on a stretcher at ringside and move it across a line located on the entrance ramp, thus ending their feud. On the June 9 episode of Raw, Michaels was attacked by Chris Jericho during his talk show segment, The Highlight Reel, being thrown directly through a television screen. The following week, it was revealed that, within the context of the storyline, Michaels had suffered a detached retina. At The Great American Bash, a match between Michaels and Jericho was scheduled, in which Jericho assaulted Michaels’ eye, which caused Jericho to win by referee stoppage. A month later at SummerSlam, Michaels was scripted to announce his retirement from professional wrestling, though the staged rivalry between Jericho and himself continued after Jericho punched Michaels’ wife in the face. On the August 25 episode of Raw, Michaels denounced his decision to retire and challenged Jericho to an unsanctioned match at Unforgiven, which Jericho accepted. The following week, Michaels and Jericho held a scripted official contract signing for the unsanctioned match. During the contract signing, a confrontation with Jericho occurred. A predicament insured when Michaels suffered a small tear on his left triceps. Though, Michaels was medically cleared to compete in the match. At Unforgiven, Michaels defeated Jericho, after the referee stopped the match, due to the severity of the beating Michaels was giving Jericho.

Personal life

Hickenbottom’s marriage to his first wife, Theresa Wood, was brief and ended in divorce, but was amicably settled. He is now married to former WCW Nitro Girl, Rebecca Curci (Whisper). They were married on March 31, 1999 at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada in a small ceremony. The only people present were Hickenbottom, Rebecca Curci, and an Elvis impersonator. Hickenbottom and Curci have a son, Cameron Kade (born on January 5, 2000) and a daughter, Cheyenne Michelle (born on August 19, 2004).

Shawn Michaels Tattoos

Hickenbottom has several tattoos. He has a tattoo of a heart with a sword through it, that has a snake around it in the shape of an “S.” He has one on his wedding finger, that has an R for his wife Rebecca. Another in his left wrist, is a bracelet design that says “Cameron” for his son. On his left leg he has a picture of his wife,the other leg has a picture of the state of Texas. Finally, he has a small broken heart with the letters “HBK” above it, tattooed on his right hip.

Category: Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Shawn Michaels, triple h, WWE Biography, WWE Legends | 2 Comments »
Tags: Bret hart, Degeneration X, hbk, Heartbreak Kid, Hickenbottom, Rebecca Curci, Shawn Michaels, the Rockers, The Showstopper, Theresa Wood, triple h, Vince McMahon, WCW Nitro Girl, wrestling legends