Stacy Keibler - The Duchess of Dudleyville

Remember back when Stacy Keibler was the manager of The Dudley Boyz, the "Duchess of Dudleyville"?
Remember when The Dudley Boyz were "The Dudley Boyz"?

 Yep it was during the WCW/ECW Invasion storyine in the WWF.
Good times.

Kevin Thorn and Ariel - WWE Vampires

Since tomorrow is Halloween...here are the best vampires ever in the WWE, Kevin Thorn and Ariel!

 Okay...really the best Vampires might have been Gangrel and the Brood (aka Christian and Edge...remember that?) but I have a better picture of Kevin and Ariel.

 Actually Kevin, Gangrel and Ariel were supposed to be a faction on ECW, but it never materialized.

Kevin was released from his WWE contract in 2009 and went on to work for wrestling promotions like One Pro Wrestling, Dynamic Pro Wrestling, German Stampede Wrestling and Frontier Elite Wrestling.

Ariel (Shelly Martinez) was released after Kevin in 2007 and went on to TNA as "Salinas". After that she wrestled for the Perros del Mal promotion in Mexico, the World Independent Ladies Division Wrestling and is part of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour. Along with Raven, and Cheerleader Melissa she appeared in the music video for the Smashing Pumpkins' song "Owata".

WCW, Tom Brandi

Tom Brandi is a pro wrestler better know for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as Salvatore Sincere.
He is also know for his current work as The Patriot, working for wrestling promotions such as Pro-Wrestling WORLD-1, National Wrestling Superstars, and other independent wrestling promotions on the East Coast.
But before Tom showed up in the WWF as Salvatore Sincere, he worked for WCW as Johnny Gunn.
There he was pretty successful as one half of a tag team with "Z-Man" Tom Zenk.

Although he never held any titles in WCW, he did hold the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Tag Team Championship with Buff Bagwell, the Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) Tag Team Championship with Tommy Dreamer, the Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA) Heavyweight Championship, the International World Class Championship Wrestling (IWCCW) Tag Team Championship with King Mike Kaluah, the IWCCW Television Championship, and the NWA 2000 NWA National Heavyweight Championship.

Stephanie Bellars aka Gorgeous George - WCW

Stephanie Bellars was born on born January 25, 1978 in Rockford, Illinois.
She is best known for her time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Gorgeous George (not to be confused with 1950s wrestler, but looking at her picture, is there a chance of that?)
Stephanie made her pro wrestling debut in WCW at the 1999 Spring Stampede.
"Macho Man" Randy Savage was dating her at the time and brought her in as his valet.
This was after Savage and Miss Elizabeth had broken up again.
Savage was injured, so the two didn't make it back onto TV until April 1999. The Macho Man started a feud with Ric Flair, so Stephanie (as Gorgeous George) started a feud with Flair's handpicked referee, Charles Robinson.
There was actually a match at Slamboree on May 9, 1999 where George faced Robinson, with her using the Macho Man's moves and Robinson using Flair's.
George won the match with the flying elbow, but that was enough for Stephanie and she said she didnt want to wrestle anymore.
She claimed she was injured in the match and started using crutches, which she used on "Rowdy" Roddy Piper when she turned heel.

Stephanie left WCW and went to ECW in 2000. Since Savage had trademarked the name "Gorgeous George", she was simply called "George".
At Heatwave 2000, she was the valet of Tommy Dreamer, but she turned on him, joining Justin Credible.
During her time in ECW, she also had a feud with Francine.

In 2001, George married Misfits guitarist , Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, and she also worked for GLOW as a referee.
She then went to Xtreme Wrestling Federation (XWF) and formed the X-Girls with former Nitro Girls Kristina Laum and Chiquita Anderson.

She showed up a few times after that in 2004 on TNA as Minsa, but it never really lead to anything.

In 2005, her husband Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein formed his own band "Gorgeous Frankenstein" named after his beautiful wife.

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Terry Funk - Pro Wrestling

How would I even start to do an entry on Terry Funk?
He was born on born June 30, 1944 in Hammond, Indiana and at age 64, he is still going strong.
Besides holding a honorary lifetime title from ECW, this man has held a ton of belts.
He has held titles in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Stampede Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, Juggalo Championship Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and Championship Wrestling from Florida just to name a few.
And he has wrestled for ECW, WWF, WCW and WWE among others.
Along with his brother Dory, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009 by Dusty Rhodes.

Terry won the Cauliflower Alley Club's Iron Mike Mazurki Award in 2005.
In 2004, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum.
Terry was in the first ever barbed-wire match in the 70s against Dusty Rhodes.
He's been in matches involving ladders, thumbtacks, exploding rings, C4 explosives and numerous "retirement" matches.
To put it mildly, this man has done it all.

"Beautiful Bobby" Eaton

"Beautiful Bobby" Eaton was born Robert Lee Eaton on August 14, 1958 in Huntsville, Alabama.
"Beautiful Bobby" is probably best known by wrestling fans as one half of the Midnight Express.
During his career, Bobby has worked for several wrestling promotions including Mid-America Wrestling, Continental Wrestling Association, Mid-South Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, WCW, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, ECW and TNA Wrestling.
Although most of his fame has been as a tag team wrestler, Bobby has held a few individual titles.
He was the NWA Georgia Television Champion, WCW World Television Champion, CWA World Heavyweight Champion, NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Champion, NWA Mid-America Television Champion and the SMW Beat the Champ Television Champion.

Even though Bobby wrestled most of his career as a heel, he is known as one of the nicest guys in pro wrestling.
Both Mick Foley and Stone Cold Steve Austin have pointed this out.
He is also known as one of the most under-rated wrestlers to have ever stepped into a ring.

Bobby Duncum, Jr. - WCW

Bobby Duncum, Jr. was born on August 26, 1965 in Austin, Texas.
He is the son of the famous Bobby Duncum.
And is one of the wrestlers that was billed from Texas, that really was from Texas.
Bobby was trained by Skandor Akbar.
He wrestled for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), All Japan Pro Wrestling and the WCW as a member of the West Texas Rednecks.
Bobby passed away after an accidental overdose of a prescription pain killer on January 24, 2000.

"The Franchise" Shane Douglas

Shane Douglas (Troy Shane Martin) wrestled for ECW and WCW as "The Franchise" Shane Douglas and for the WWF as Dean Douglas. He has also recently worked for TNA.
Shane was born in New Brighton, Pennsylvania on November 21, 1964.
He was trained by Dominic DeNucci (who also trained Mick Foley) and made his pro wrestling debut in 1982.
Besides ECW, WCW, WWF and TNA, he has wrestled for Border City Wrestling, International Wrestling Association, Major League Wrestling, Midwest Wrestling United and many more. In most of these promotions, he held the Heavyweight Wrestling Championship at one point or another.
Shane Douglas is currently doing motivational speaking and is writing his first book.

Mike Maraldo / Ace Darling

Mike Maraldo was born on June 27, 1975 in Jersey Shore Brick Township, New Jersey.
He is a pro wrestler best known by his wrestling name Ace Darling.
Ace has wrestled for many promotions including East Coast Wrestling Association, Jersey All-Pro Wrestling, New Jack City Wrestling, Independent Superstars of Pro Wrestling, ECW, and Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling.
He appeared on WCW in 1997 when he and Devon Storm (Crowbar) formed a tag team known as The Extremists.

Chastity - Denise Riffle - ECW and WCW

Denise Riffle was born June 18, 1971 in Baltimore, Maryland. She is an American former professional wrestling valet, better known as Chastity.

After training under Raven and Corporal Punishment, Denise Riffle became a wrestling valet in 1996, and worked on the independent circuit as Brittany Bottoms.

She joined ECW in 1997 and changed her name to Chastity. She was the valet for the bWo before joining Raven's Nest. She gained a reputation during this time for spraying her enemies with a fire extinguisher. When Raven left ECW to join WCW in late-1997, Riffle became the valet for Justin Credible. She had several catfights with Beulah McGillicutty, and received numerous piledrivers from McGillicutty's ally Tommy Dreamer. She left ECW shortly after being "fired" by Credible, who repeatedly struck her with his Singapore cane.

Riffle joined WCW in late 1998 and was reunited with Raven when she was featured in several vignettes as his wealthy sister. She began accompanying Raven to the ring, only to turn on him and join forces with Hardcore Hak. She interfered in most of Hak's hardcore matches until she was released in 1999, after WCW discovered that she had once been featured in an adult film titled "Live Bait".

Riffle re-emerged in Xtreme Pro Wrestling as the valet of Lizzy Borden. She helped Borden in her feud with Kristi Myst and was valet of Johnny Webb.

Kid Kash

David Cash, born July 31, 1969 in Waynesboro, Virginia, is better known by his wrestling name Kid Kash. He is an American professional wrestler who has worked for World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

On March 21, 2001 Kid Kash debuted as "Cash" in World Championship Wrestling on the finale of WCW Thunder. Cash was billed as the protege of former Tag Team Champion Ricky Morton. Cash lost his debut match to another former ECW Alumni Jason Jett.



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Chris Candito

Christopher Candito (March 21, 1972 – April 28, 2005) was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Chris Candido. Throughout most of his career, he was accompanied by his high school sweetheart Tammy Lynn Sytch, though despite a long-term relationship, the two were never legally married.

Candido held major titles in Extreme Championship Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation. His highest-profile role was in the World Wrestling Federation as Skip, part of the successful tag team known as The Bodydonnas with Zip, and his girlfriend and valet Sunny.

Candito was the grandson of "Popeye" Chuck Richards, a wrestler for the World Wide Wrestling Federation, a precursor to the WWF. He started training at age 14 with Larry Sharpe and wrestled for Sharpe's World Wrestling Association. He began using the alternate spelling of Candido for his ring name.

While in high school, he met and fell in love with Tammy Sytch, and the two began a lifelong relationship. Sytch would later become his valet.

In the early 1990s, Candido was a part of Eastern Championship Wrestling (later Extreme Championship Wrestling). While in ECW, he was part of a stable called The Suicide Blonds with Johnny Hotbody and Chris Michaels. The trio had two stints as the Tag Team Champions; the first from April 2, 1993 to May 15 after winning them from Tony Stetson and Larry Winters. They lost the titles to the Super Destroyers, only to regain them the same day. They later vacated the titles when Candido left the promotion.

Candido became famous in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW), alongside his manager and girlfriend Tammy Lynn Sytch.

On November 19, 1994, Candido won a 10-man tournament, defeating Al Snow, Dirty White Boy, and Tracy Smothers to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which had been won and immediately vacated by Shane Douglas and ECW that August.

Candido's reign came at a time when national exposure for the National Wrestling Alliance was at an all-time low, as there was no national television outlet for the organization. His title defense matches were mostly held in small independent federations and SMW. Candido dropped the belt to Dan Severn on February 24, 1995, whose subsequent reign lasted over four years.

Candido and Sytch moved on to the WWF where Sytch was dubbed Sunny and Candido Skip, the fitness fanatics The Bodydonnas. On March 31, 1996, Candido won the WWF Tag Team Championship with Zip (Tom Prichard) from The Godwinns during the finals of a tournament for the vacated titles. However, they lost the titles on May 19, 1996 at a house show. According to Tammy Sytch in interviews post Candido's death, Candito and Sytch had a brief separation behind the scenes while working for the WWF.

After leaving the WWF, Candido joined ECW again, becoming part of the revived Triple Threat stable alongside Shane Douglas. While in the Triple Threat, he developed a rivalry with fellow member Lance Storm, who was soon replaced by Bam Bam Bigelow. However, Candido teamed with Storm to win the ECW Tag Team Championship. They won the tag titles on December 5, 1997 from Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon. Despite being a reluctant team who hated each other, Candido and Storm had a lengthy championship run. The duo held the titles for approximately six months until they lost them on June 26, 1998 against Rob Van Dam and Sabu.

He also had a brief run in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which started when he was cleared to compete on March 16, 2000. During his stint there, he won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. He won the title on April 16, 2000 in a six-way match at Spring Stampede 2000 against The Artist, Juventud Guerrera, Shannon Moore, Lash LeRoux, and Crowbar. He lost the title on May 15 of that same year. Later, the Triple Threat reformed in WCW, with Candido, Douglas, and Bam Bam Bigelow. However, the reformation was short lived, after Tammy was released from WCW due to backstage problems with Kimberly Page.

Candido had two runs with Xtreme Pro Wrestling. The first was in 2000, and he won the XPW World Heavyweight Championship before leaving for WCW. The second run was from late 2002 until the company's final show in 2003.

Candido wrestled with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in early 2005, until he died from a post-surgery blood clot. Due to the fact that his last performance was taped to air later in the week, he was featured on an episode of TNA iMPACT! after his death.

In addition to wrestling, Candido also trained new wrestlers, including his brother Johnny Candido.

Cactus Jack / Mick Foley - WCW

Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. was born June 7, 1965 and is an American author and pro wrestler. He is currently signed to theWWE, as a color commentator on its SmackDown! brand.

Throughout his wrestling career, Foley has wrestled for many different promotions, both under his real name and under various personas (most notably Cactus Jack, Mankind and Dude Love). He is the first ever WWF Hardcore Champion and became a three-time WWF Champion as Mankind. He is also one of the most successful tag team wrestlers in history, being an eight-time WWF Tag Team Champion, a two-time ECW World Tag Team Champion, a one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion and a one-time WCWA Tag Team Champion. He is also a one-time WCWA Light Heavyweight Champion.

Foley is a multiple-time New York Times bestselling author. He was also a subject of the documentary Beyond the Mat, which followed him at the peak of his career.

On September 5, 1991, Cactus Jack debuted as a heel and attacked Sting. After feuds with Van Hammer and Abdullah the Butcher, Cactus Jack faced Sting, then WCW champion, in a non-title Falls Count Anywhere match at Beach Blast 1992, which Sting won. For a long time, Foley considered this the best match he ever worked.

Cactus Jack first wrestled Vader on April 6, 1993. Foley and Leon White wanted an intense match, so they agreed that Vader would hit Cactus with a series of heavy blows to the face. WCW edited the match heavily because it was against their policies to show the heavy bleeding that resulted. Foley suffered a broken nose, a dislocated jaw and needed twenty-seven stitches, but won the match via countout. Because the title did not change hands on a countout, WCW booked a rematch. Foley, however, wanted some time off to be with his newborn daughter and get surgery to repair a knee injury. As a result, in the rematch with Vader on April 23, the two executed a dangerous spot to sell a storyline injury. Vader removed the protective mats at ringside and power-bombed Cactus onto the exposed concrete floor, causing a legitimate concussion and causing Foley to temporarily lose sensation in his left foot and hand. While Foley was away, WCW ran an angle where Cactus Jack's absence was explained with a farcical comedy storyline in which he went crazy, was institutionalized, escaped, and developed amnesia. Foley had wanted the injury storyline to be very serious and generate genuine sympathy for him before his return. The comedy vignettes that WCW produced instead were so bad that Foley jokes in Have a Nice Day that they were the brainchild of WCW executives who regarded a surefire moneymaking feud as a problem that needed to be solved.

Foley returned in the fall of 1993 to save the British Bulldog from an attack by Vader. He then proceeded to feud with Vader and other wrestlers managed by Harley Race, Jack's former manager. In one of WCW's most brutal matches of all time, Cactus faced Vader in a Texas Death match at Halloween Havoc. Race won the match for Vader by using a cattle prod on Cactus, knocking him out for over ten seconds. The level of violence involved in this feud caused WCW to refuse to ever again book Cactus Jack against Vader on a pay-per-view. On March 16, 1994, during a WCW European tour, Foley and Vader had one of the most infamous matches in wrestling history in Munich, Germany. Foley began a hangman, a spot where a wrestler's head is tangled between the top two ring ropes, which is usually painful but safe. Unbeknownst to Foley, however, 2 Cold Scorpio had earlier complained that the ropes were too loose, resulting in the ring staff tightening the ropes to the maximum. As Foley struggled to pull himself out, he tore off two-thirds of his ear and underwent surgery later that day to reattach the cartilage from the ear to his head, so that a total reconstruction would be possible in the future. Later that year, Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan were scheduled to win the tag team titles at Slamboree 1994. Foley had to choose between reattaching his ear or wrestling in the pay-per-view and winning the titles. Foley chose to wrestle and won his only championship in WCW. Foley has said several times that he was frustrated by WCW's reluctance to work a storyline around losing his ear.

On April 23, in a match with Vader, Foley again took a powerbomb onto the concrete. Expecting a brilliant remark from the commentators about the fact that it was the same move that disabled him exactly one year prior, Foley was left unsatisfied with Bobby Heenan's announcement of "That'll give you Excedrine Headache No. 9." Foley recounts this as the moment that set his intention to leave WCW. At Bash at the Beach, Cactus Jack and Sullivan lost the tag team titles to Pretty Wonderful (Paul Orndorff and Paul Roma), and Sullivan then blamed Cactus for the loss. Cactus Jack officially turned heel when he attacked Kevin's kayfabe brother Dave Sullivan, however, the Sullivan brothers aroused so little sympathy from viewers that the fans reacted as though Cactus were the face. Cactus and Kevin Sullivan engaged in a summer-long feud, which culminated in a Loser Leaves Town match at Fall Brawl, which Cactus lost, ending his WCW career. After losing, Cactus decided to split his wrestling between SMW, ECW, and Japan.

Mike Awesome, part 3

He dropped the '70s gimmick in favor of a "Career Killer" and later "Canadian Career Killer" gimmick and joined the Team Canada stable with Lance Storm and Elix Skipper. A feud with the Filthy Animals led to Awesome challenging Billy Kidman to a Hair-vs-Hair match, however before the bout could take place, Team Canada attacked Kidman backstage leaving him unable to compete. Konnan (who had no hair) took his place, and got the win, giving the Animals the right to cut off Awesome's long-time mullet. Awesome then faded into the background, mostly helping Lance Storm in his battles against Ernest "The Cat" Miller.

After the March 2001 purchase of WCW by the World Wrestling Federation , Awesome became part of The Invasion storyline in the WWF. His WWF debut came on the June 25, 2001 episode of Raw is War during a match which saw Test defending his WWF Hardcore Title against Rhyno. After Rhyno Gored Test against a wall and pinned him he stood celebrating his new title only to be attacked by Awesome wielding a metal pipe. He then powerbombed Rhyno onto a ladder and pinned him, becoming champion himself due to the 24/7 rule. Awesome was the first "Invader" to gain gold in the WWF, stealing away with the Hardcore belt before any WWF wrestlers could catch him. Awesome's hardcore reign came to an end a few weeks later on the July 12 edition of SmackDown! when he was pinned by Jeff Hardy. Awesome's push slowly declined and he began appearing mostly on WWF's B-shows. He was left off the majority of the Invasion storyline pay-per-views, and was eventually sidelined with an injury in November 2001.

After The Alliance ended, Awesome was not used much in storylines or matches and was drafted to SmackDown! with the brand extension. As a part of the SmackDown! roster he was still rarely seen on TV, eventually being released in September of 2002.

After his release, Awesome made a few appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling but mainly competed on the independent circuit in both the United States and Japan. On the independent circuit, he had a short stint with Major League Wrestling where he won the MLW World Heavyweight Championship from Satoshi Kojima, only to lose it ten minutes later to Steve Corino (Kojima's employers, AJPW would not allow him to drop the title to an employee of a rival company ZERO-1).

Awesome made an appearance at the WWE's 2005 ECW One Night Stand reunion pay-per-view, again facing Masato Tanaka. Throughout the match, Joey Styles (who was doing commentary) frequently made references to the way Awesome left ECW in 2000, calling him a "Judas" and making somewhat disparaging comments about him and even going as far as to say that its a shame he didn't succeed at taking his life after doing a suicide dive, but also handing out praise for his in-ring work. The crowd also greeted Awesome with jeers at the beginning of the match, but by the end -- which Awesome won after Awesome Bombing Tanaka to the outside of the ring and through a table and following that up with a slingshot splash -- were chanting "This match rules!" and gave both men a standing ovation.

In February of 2006, Awesome announced his retirement from wrestling, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and adding that he felt underpaid for his work at the One Night Stand event and that he would only return to the ring "if the money was right". In his retirement he took up selling real estate.

On February 17, 2007, at around 10:30 p.m, a group of Awesome's friends found him hanged in his Tampa home. It is believed he committed suicide. WWE recognized Awesome's death on-air by displaying an "In Memory..." graphic at the beginning of the February 20 edition of ECW on Sci Fi, and an article about his death was posted on WWE.com, saying that Awesome was found dead but it never stated the cause of death. Awesome's marriage had suffered following his arrest for domestic abuse, and beyond distraught and depressed about his marriage, which he felt was stable and secure, he killed himself shortly after his release from jail. He is survived by his wife Delisa and two children, Casey and Carissa.

Mike Awesome, part 2

Awesome continued to be a major factor in ECW early in 2000, including teaming with Raven to beat Tanaka and Tommy Dreamer for the ECW World Tag Team Championship. He also gained a new manager, Judge Jeff Jones.

In April of 2000, Awesome shocked the wrestling world again, this time by making a surprise appearance on WCW Monday Nitro -- aiding the New Blood by attacking Kevin Nash -- while still reigning as ECW World Champion[. Awesome's friend Lance Storm has said that he had refused to sign a new contract with ECW until Paul Heyman paid him overdue wages.[6] Due to concern over legal issues WCW refrained from having Awesome appear on their television shows with the ECW belt. Eventually, a compromise was reached which resulted in one of the more bizarre moments in professional wrestling history. Awesome (a WCW employee and ECW champion) appeared at an ECW event, accompanied by WCW's head of security, where he lost the title to Tazz (a World Wrestling Federation employee), who lost it a week later to Tommy Dreamer (a full time ECW wrestler).

Now with WCW, Awesome continued to be a major factor with the New Blood for the next month, teaming with Billy Kidman occasionally to aide him in his feud with Hulk Hogan. Awesome also engaged in an on-and-off feud with Kevin Nash, as well as feuding with Kanyon. During 2000, his gimmick was tweaked, with him becoming infatuated with heavyset women and calling himself ""The Fat Chick Thriller" Mike Awesome"". Awesome later changed his gimmick and became "That '70s Guy" Mike Awesome (a reference to the hit TV series, That '70s Show), dressing in various 1970s inspired outfits and hosting the "Lava Lamp Lounge" interview segment. At one point, he was even given a bus painted in the style of the one featured on The Partridge Family to drive into arenas for his entrance. During this time, he had a feud with Vampiro, which created many brawls between Awesome & Vampiro's allies in the Insane Clown Posse. At one point, Awesome battled Shaggy 2 Dope & Violent J in a Handicap match, which led to Awesome Powerbombing 2 Dope on top of his van (who then slid off, injuring himself). In May of 2000, Awesome was involved in a memorable moment during which he threw Chris Kanyon off the top of the first level of a triple cage onto the entrance ramp.

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Mike Awesome, part 1

Mike Lee Alfonso (January 24, 1965 – February 17, 2007) better known by his ring name Mike Awesome, was an American professional wrestler best known in America for his work in ECW, WCW, and in WWE and also in Japan for his work with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling under the name The Gladiator. Throughout his career, he was known for being exceptionally agile for his size.

Alfonso grew up with Michael Bollea. As a result of Awesome's aunt (his father's sister) marrying Hulk Hogan's brother, Awesome and Bollea (the future Horace Hogan) were cousins and the two began to consider a career in wrestling during Hulk Hogan's famous WWF run in the 1980s. Alfonso received training from Steve Keirn's training camp based out of the Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF). After wrestling for the PWF in 1989, teaming occasionally with Brett Sawyer, Alfonso moved around throughout various independent promotions, including a brief stint in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) under the tutelage of Nate The Rat, a manager there. In that same year, he made his first television appearance for World Championship Wrestling -- as a masked jobber from San Juan, Puerto Rico named The Pro.

Early 1980s: "Big Mike" graduated from King High School in Tampa and worked out at the infamous Stan's Gym on 56th Street. He exuded energy and had an aggressive sense of humor, the baseline of his career to come. Mike was known to say "I can’t see him, but I can smell the smallness". His work ethic made him a fixture and standout at the hardcore bodybuilding cauldron.

Alfonso moved on to Japan, joining Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in late 1990 and using the name The Gladiator.

In 1993, Alfonso appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) for a short period (as "Awesome" Mike Awesome) before returning to FMW. In 1994, the Gladiator finally captured his first title, teaming with Big Titan to defeat Atsushi Onita & Katsutoshi Niyama in the finals of the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship Tournament. They lost the title that April, but Awesome won them again with new partner Mr. Pogo in October. As the Gladiator, he faced and defeated Hayabusa for his first major singles title, the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship in September of 1995, but was forced to vacate it due to (legit) injury the next February. In May of 1996 he won the title for a second time, then unified it with the FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship after defeating W*ING Kanemura in that December. The next August, teaming with Hisakatsu Ooya & Mr. Gannosuke he won the vacated FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag-Team Titles, holding all three belts at once, but within a month lost all three during an epic feud with Masato Tanaka.

Awesome was involved in a backstage altercation with members of a Yakuza group at an FMW event, as a result of several Yakuza members beating up his friend and fellow wrestler Sabu. As a result, Awesome, along with the rest of the foreign wrestlers, didn't leave their locker room for over two hours, because Yakuza members were waiting in the hallway. It took Atsushi Onita to smooth things over with the group and get the foreign wrestlers safe passage out of the arena.

In the summer of 1998, Awesome began appearing for ECW again, continue his feud with Masato Tanaka in the United States. Awesome began in ECW by losing to Tanaka on an episode ECW's weekly Hardcore TV. However, following the match, he delivered an Awesome Bomb to Tanaka over the top rope through a table set up on the outside. In his final appearance of his second ECW stint, Awesome lost to Tanaka again at the August Heat Wave pay-per-view event (which Awesome claimed he was never paid for).

After returning to Japan, Alfonso seriously injured his knee during a match with Super Leather, taking him out of wrestling for nearly a year. When he returned, he continued to wrestle as The Gladiator for a brief period in All Japan Pro Wrestling before returning to ECW. Almost immediately upon arriving in ECW for his third stint, he shocked the wrestling world by winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at Anarchy Rulz by defeating the reigning champion Tazz and arch nemesis Masato Tanaka in a three-way dance, which was signed on the spot.

"Stunning" Steve Austin

Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson Williams on December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold", is an American film and television actor and semi-retired professional wrestler. Austin wrestled for several well-known wrestling promotions such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and most famously, World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which became World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002. In the late 1990s, in WWF, Austin gained significant mainstream popularity, comparable to that of Hulk Hogan in the 1980s, as Stone Cold, a disrespectful, beer-drinking anti-hero who routinely defied his boss, Mr. McMahon. This defiance was often shown by Austin flipping McMahon off and incapacitating him with the Stone Cold Stunner, Austin's finisher.

He retired as a regular in-ring performer in 2003 due to neck, ankle and knee injuries sustained throughout his career. However, he still makes occasional in-ring appearances, often to only perform his finishing move, the Stone Cold Stunner, normally followed by an extended beer drinking session punctuated by him slamming two beer cans together in a distinctive style then pouring the beer over his face. Austin had his first starring film role as Jack Conrad in the 2007 thriller The Condemned.

Austin is a six-time WWF/E Champion, the 1996 King of the Ring, and winner of the 1997, 1998 and 2001 Royal Rumbles, and is the only man in WWE history to win the Royal Rumble three times.

Austin debuted in World Championship Wrestling in 1991 as "Stunning" Steve Austin, initially managed by Vivacious Veronica. Almost immediately after Austin's debut, Lady Blossom became his valet. Austin defeated Bobby Eaton for the WCW World Television Championship on June 3, 1991, just weeks after his debut. In late 1991, Austin joined Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance. Austin lost the WCW Television Championship to Barry Windham in a two out of three falls match on April 27, 1992. He regained the title from Windham on May 23, 1992. He enjoyed a second lengthy reign before losing to Ricky Steamboat on September 2, 1992. The Dangerous Alliance disbanded shortly thereafter. At Halloween Havoc, he replaced Terry Gordy, teaming with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to wrestle Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham for the unified WCW and NWA World Tag Team titles. The pair wrestled to a thirty minute time limit draw.

In January 1993, Austin formed a tag team with Brian Pillman known as the Hollywood Blonds. The Blonds won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on March 3, 1993, defeating Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas. The Hollywood Blonds held the titles for five months. At Clash of the Champions XXIII the Blonds faced Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in a two out of three falls tag team title match. Flair and Anderson defeated the Blonds, but were not awarded the titles as one fall had been determined by a disqualification.

At Clash of the Champions XXIV, Austin and Pillman were scheduled to defend the titles against Arn Anderson and his new partner, Paul Roma. An injured Pillman, however, was replaced by Steven Regal. Austin and Regal lost to Anderson and Roma. With Pillman still injured, Austin then joined Colonel Robert Parker's Stud Stable. After Pillman returned, Austin betrayed and defeated him in a singles bout at Clash of the Champions XXV.

At Starrcade 1993, in a two out of three falls match, Austin defeated Dustin Rhodes in two straight falls to win the WCW United States Championship. He lost the title to Ricky Steamboat on August 24, 1994. Austin was scheduled to face Steamboat in a rematch for the title at Fall Brawl, but Steamboat was unable to wrestle due to a back injury, and Austin was awarded the title by forfeit. His second reign ended just minutes later when he lost to Steamboat's replacement, Jim Duggan in a match that lasted twenty-nine seconds. Austin then challenged Duggan for the United States Championship at Halloween Havoc 1994 and Clash of the Champions XXIX. On both occasions, Austin lost to Duggan by disqualification. After returning from his knee injury in early 1995, he took part in a tournament for the vacant WCW United States Heavyweight title, where he defeated Duggan in the first round, but lost to Randy Savage in the quarterfinals.

Scott Armstrong / Joseph James, Jr.

Joseph James, Jr.(born on May 4, 1959) in Marietta, Georgia is a professional wrestler and referee better known as Scott Armstrong. He is the oldest son of Bob Armstrong and has three brothers that wrestle, Brad, Steve and Brian. He currently works for WWE on their ECW brand as its senior referee.

Scott James started wrestling in 1983 as Scott Armstrong. He wrestles primarily in the Georgia and Alabama areas but has wrestled for the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions and WCW, where he formed a tag team called "The James Boys" with brother Steve.

He also wrestled as Dixie Dy-no-mite in Smoky Mountain Wrestling.

He was also a referee for WCW and TNA Wrestling.

Armstrong appeared on the July 28, 2006 SmackDown! refereeing the WWE United States Championship match between Finlay and William Regal.

In August 2006 Scott Armstrong was hired as a full time WWE referee, in WWE's ECW Brand. He became senior referee in February 2007 after Mickie Henson was moved to Smackdown.


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Brad Armstrong

Brad Armstrong (born Bradley James on June 15, 1961) is an American professional wrestler. He is the son of Bob Armstrong and has three brothers that also wrestle, Steve, Scott and Brian. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment working on its ECW brand.

Brad started out in Southeast Championship Wrestling in 1980. He was a face, or good guy, due to his good looks and superb wrestling ability. He feuded with Jerry Stubbs and Tom Prichard during his stay there and won the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) US Junior Heavyweight title there.

Later he moved to the Georgia part of the NWA and feuded with Ted DiBiase and with father Bob, the Fabulous Freebirds of Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts. He also became friends with Tim Horner. He and Horner formed a team called the Lightning Express, due to Horner's nickname of "White Lightning" and Armstrong's quickness.

Brad wrestled in the Universal Wrestling Federation with Horner and they feuded with the "Sheepherders", later known as The Bushwhackers, Butch Miller and Luke Williams. They also had some matches with future superstars Sting and Rick Steiner.

In 1991, Brad was put in a mask as Badstreet, the masked member of the Fabulous Freebirds along with Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin. They won the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) World Six-Man Tag Team Titles. Brad never revealed his Badstreet identity on television.

Later that year he was given another masked gimmick, Arachnaman, who looked so much like Spider-Man that Marvel Comics sued WCW, who soon dropped the gimmick. In July 1992, Brad won the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship (also known as the first incarnation of the WCW Cruiserweight Title). He soon injured his knee and he was stripped of the title two months later. He returned in early 1993 and remained with the company until early 1995.

Armstrong worked for Smoky Mountain Wrestling for the rest of 1995, capturing their title in the process, but eventually returned to WCW. In 1999, he was repackaged as "B.A.", a member of the No Limit Soldiers stable. One feud was against Berlyn, who attacked Armstrong's brother Scott. The feud ran through the Halloween Havoc pay-per-view, where Armstrong defeated Berlyn. Shortly after that, the No Limit Soliders disbanded, Then he was given the gimmick of Buzzkill, a takeoff of his brother Brian's gimmick Road Dogg. In fact, the theme song he used for the character was very similar to the New Age Outlaws theme song in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The gimmick was less successful due to fans feeling it an imitation of the Road Dogg persona, as well as a lack of awareness that the two were brothers.

He injured his knee early in 2000, his WCW contract expired in 2001, and left the business for a few years, until returning to the independent circuit in 2004.

On September 12, 2006, Armstrong signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and began wrestling at ECW brand house shows and acting as a trainer to the younger members of the roster. In December, around the time rumors of ECW color commentator Tazz leaving the company began to circulate, Armstrong began to make sporadic appearances as a "guest commentator" on the brand. The three man booth, originally for a single match on the December 19 episode before expanding to a full show on January 9, did not last and Armstrong resumed his role as a producer.



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WCW: Tex Slazinger

Dennis Knight, born December 26, 1968 in Biggers, Arkansas, is an American professional wrestler best known for his appearances with the WWF as Phineas I. Godwinn and Mideon.

While working as a bouncer in Clearwater, Florida, in 1989, Dennis Knight was introduced to Steve Keirn, who trained him as a professional wrestler. He debuted in the same year using the name Tex Slazinger, facing his stepfather in his first match. When Slazinger signed with the United States Wrestling Association he was given a Leatherface gimmick based on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre character complete with “bloodstained” apron, leather mask and chainsaw (without the chain though). He was pushed as a “Monster” into a program with Jerry Lawler. During one infamous match between the two Slazinger was set on fire in a pre-planned stunt. Despite being briefly engulfed in flames after a fireball by Jerry Lawler (and gasoline being squirted on Slazinger’s apron) he walked away without a scratch because of his thick clothing. After dropping the Leatherface gimmick Tex teamed up with Mark Canterbury who wrestled as the masked “Master Blaster”.

Slazenger was later hired by WCW alongside the Master Blaster who was renamed “Shanghai Pierce” The team was dubbed "The Texicans" by color commentator Jesse Ventura. They remained with the promotion until 1994 without achieving much success.

When both men left WCW, Canterbury would sign with the WWF, and renamed "Henry Godwinn" while Slazinger returned to the USWA. In the USWA Slazinger captured the USWA Southern Title on two occasions, defeating Brian Christopher both times.

In 1996, Knight was reunited with Canterbury, and then renamed Phineas I. Godwinn when he signed with the WWF. The duo were portrayed as being cousins and were collectively known as The Godwinns. Over the following two years, The Godwinns held the WWF World Tag Team Championship on two occasions and were managed by Cletus Godwinn, Hillbilly Jim and Sunny.

In 1997, in a match between The Godwinns and the Legion of Doom, Canterbury suffered a cracked C7 vertebra when the Legion of Doom botched a Doomsday Device. He was advised by doctors to rest for 15 weeks, but returned to the ring in less than eight weeks. Later that year, the Godwinns dropped their pig farmer gimmicks and became "Southern Justice", the bodyguards of Tennessee Lee. Six months later, Canterbury herniated his C7 vertebra and pinched a spinal nerve, necessitating spinal fusion surgery. This came as a result of him returning to the ring too early after his neck injury. He evenutally left the WWF and retired, due to the neck injury suffered in 1997 leaving Knight without a partner.

In early 1999 Knight returned to the WWF as Mideon, a deranged soothsayer. He was kidnapped by the Acolytes and brainwashed into joining The Ministry of Darkness, a heel stable led by The Undertaker. Throughout 1999, The Ministry would feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, with Knight often teaming up with Viscera. Knight "won" the European Championship in this time when he found it in Shane McMahon's bag. When The Undertaker was injured in late 1999, the Ministry disbanded, and Knight was once again removed from television, reappearing briefly as a Mankind imitator.

Knight returned in a limited capacity in 2000 as Naked Mideon, a comedy character who would run around arenas wearing only a thong. At No Mercy 2000 he tried to reclaim the European Championship from William Regal, but was defeated. Knight then wrestled in a few dark matches under his previous moniker Tex Slazenger, but was eventually released on good terms.

Knight appeared at the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling event TNA Destination X 2005 on March 13, 2005 during the scheduled match between Monty Brown and Trytan. In the course of the match, the lights went off and Trytan vanished from the ring. When the lights came on, a masked Knight was in his place, and was quickly pinned by Brown. In March 2006, Knight wrestled several dark matches for World Wrestling Entertainment under his own name.

He has been an influence to the talent at FSPW, one of the leading independent wrestling federations in Florida.

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