Saturday, January 20, 2007

WCW: Ernest "The Cat" Miller

WCW: Ernest "The Cat" Miller
Ernest Clifford Miller was born January 14, 1964 in Atlanta, Georgia.
He is a former pro wrestler who worked in both the WCW and WWE. He was the karate instructor to R and B superstar Usher Raymond and TV star Emmanuel Lewis while they were younger, and has stated that, like his other students, both still refer to him as Mr. Miller as a sign of respect.

After a career as a karate tournament competitor, Miller was brought to the WCW by Eric Bischoff. Miller was teaching Bischoff's son Garrett, when Bischoff asked him to become a wrestler.

Starting out as Glacier's tag team partner in his feud with Mortis and Wrath, he soon left Glacier and became a heel with Sonny Onoo as his manager. It was during this time that Miller's popularity heightened.

As a heel, he often gloated that he could beat anybody within two minutes and managed to do so on several occasions using his signature move, The Feliner (Corkscrew roundhouse kick).
It was also around this time that Ernest Miller began wearing ruby slippers in the ring (?) and dancing in a James Brown-like fashion to celebrate his victories. This led to a PPV "dance-off" between Miller and James Brown, who had been brought in for this.
He also holds the distinction of being one of the only men to make the fiercely professional Gene Okerlund break character and visibly laugh during an interview (Okerlund told Miller that - due to Miller's unreliable nature - he would never buy a used car from him, at which point Miller retorted with "I'll sell my foot to your ass", causing Okerlund to visibly crack on screen). Miller even went as far promoting his own instructional, karate home video with a presumably pseudo infomercial.
During this time, Billy Blanks' Tae Bo exercise videos were quite popular, so Miller's infomercial was obviously a comedic parody that fit his gimmick. While Miller was most often a heel, he eventually turned face and became WCW Commissioner in 2000. He began the storyline as a heel but eventually turned face due to the high fan reaction he was getting whenever he entered an arena. He was feuding with Ric Flair's Magnificent Seven group when WCW was purchased by Vince McMahon.

He appeared at some World Wrestling All-Stars shows before going to the WWF where he had a somewhat brief career.

WCW: Ernest "The Cat" Miller

Popular Posts