CM Punk

Phil Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on its ECW brand. Before debuting in ECW, he was best known for his work on the independent circuit, especially as a member of the Ring of Honor (RoH) roster where he was a former ROH World Champion, head trainer of the wrestling school and was considered to be one of the three icons of ROH (along with Samoa Joe and Homicide). His professional wrestling gimmick is that of a follower of "straight edge", a culture which he follows in real life and of which he utilizes different aspects depending on his alignment.

Punk's first venture into wrestling was a stint in a backyard wrestling federation called the Lunatic Wrestling Federation with his friends in the mid-late 1990s where he first started using the ring name CM Punk when he was put into a tag team named the Chick Magnets with CM Venom after another performer skipped out on the card. After leaving the federation because unlike his friends Punk genuinely wanted to be a wrestler and saw it as more than simple fun Punk enrolled as a student at the "Steel Domain" wrestling school in Chicago, where he was trained by Ace Steel, Danny Dominion and Kevin Quinn to become a professional wrestler and as part of the training wrestled at St. Paul's Steel Domain Wrestling. It was in the Steel Domain that he met Scott Colton, who soon adopted the stage name Colt Cabana. Punk and Cabana became best friends and spent most of their early career together working in the same independent promotions, as opponents or allies In the independents Punk, along with fellow Steel Domain graduates Colt Cabana, Chuckie Smoothe, Adam Pearce and manager Dave Prazak, formed a stable named the Gold Bond Mafia.

Punk's home promotion for his early career is usually considered to be Independent Wrestling Association: Mid-South (IWA:Mid-South). During Punk's time in IWA:Mid-South he had high profile feuds with Colt Cabana and Chris Hero while also rising to the top of the roster winning the IWA Mid-South Light-Heavyweight Championship twice and the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship on five separate occasions. Notably his feud with Hero included a 55-minute TLC match, a 93-minute two out of three falls match and several 60-minute draws. Punk's matches with Cabana led him to being hired by Ring of Honor promotion. During his time in IWA:Mid-South he would also meet, wrestle against and become a friend of Eddie Guerrero. From February 2003 until May 2004 Punk refused to wrestle for IWA:Mid-South. Punk claims that this was in protest to Ian Rotten's treatment of Chris Hero; however Hero himself has stated he believes there were other reasons and Rotten's treatment of him was just an excuse by Punk to stop working for the company. Eventually Punk returned to IWA:Mid-South and continued to perform as a wrestler and commentator for them until 2005 when he was signed to World Wrestling Entertainment. His last appearance in IWA:Mid-South was on July 2, 2005 in which he competed in a sixty-minute time limit draw against Delirious.

Punk joined Ring of Honor initially as a babyface, but was quickly turned heel in a feud with Raven that featured numerous variants of no disqualification matches. At the same time Punk joined the wrestling promotion NWA:Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he was paired with Julio Dinero as, ironically, members of Raven's TNA stable The Gathering.

Punk started climbing the ranks of ROH with notable achievements including coming second at the Second Anniversary show during the tournament to crown the first ROH Pure Champion, losing to A.J. Styles in the finals, and winning the ROH Tag Team Championship twice with Colt Cabana as the Second City Saints, both times defeating the Briscoe Brothers to win the championship. Circa October 2003 Punk was hired as the first head trainer of the Ring of Honor wrestling school, having previously been a trainer for the Steel Domain and Primetime Wrestling.

Meanwhile in TNA on February 25, 2004 Punk had a physical scuffle with Teddy Hart that was broken up by Sabu outside of a restaurant shortly before a TNA show stemming from an ROH show in which Hart performed three unplanned spots putting several other wrestlers in danger of injury. Punk has since stated that this had no bearing on his TNA career and that instead the reason he stopped appearing on TNA was that TNA officials believed that he and Dinero had not gotten over as heels. Punk had turned on Raven and then formed a tag team managed by their old rival James Mitchell, and so the angle had been put on hold. Punk quit TNA in March 2004 during the Rob Feinstein controversy after having a dispute with the TNA offices over his ability to compete in ROH following a TNA order that their contracted wrestlers were to no longer wrestle in ROH.

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Elijah Burke

Elijah Samuel Burke (born January 1, 1978 in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE wrestling on its ECW brand.

Burke is a former officer for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office in Florida who would become an amateur boxer in Jacksonville's Club 5 and Club Plush where he claims to have had a 98-1 win/loss record. According to his WWE.com profile, Burke has a record of 103-1 with 102 knockouts in his amateur career. Both of these records are unsubstantiated. Still, according to WWE's kayfabe, the only loss he sustained was a disqualification, after he knocked his opponent out and refused to back down to his corner.

After signing with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), he was sent to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). There, he won the OVW Heavyweight Title on December 8, 2004. Burke was offered a spot in the Spirit Squad by the WWE Creative Team, but turned it down, forcing him to stay in Ohio Valley Wrestling on a longer stint before moving to Smackdown! with Sylvester Terkay.[citation needed]

After training with OVW, Burke would be brought up to the main roster of SmackDown! on July 28, 2006 working a mixed martial arts cornerman gimmick with the also debuting former MMA fighter Sylvester Terkay. His first WWE match saw him defeating Scott Wright and he would also break Vito's 4 month winning streak while on SmackDown!, albeit with Terkay's assistance.

On November 7, 2006, Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay debuted on the ECW brand by cutting a backstage promo. The following week, Burke replaced Tazz, who had knee surgery, as color commentator alongside play-by-play announcer Joey Styles. Two weeks later, Burke returned to the ring; he and Terkay lost to The Hardys. At the ECW brand's December to Dismember pay-per-view, Burke and Terkay defeated the Full Blooded Italians, a feat which the duo have since repeated. The pair were later dubbed The Knock-Out / Tap-Out Connection, in reference to Burke's amateur boxing career and Terkay's Mixed Martial Arts background.

On January 18, 2007, Terkay was released from WWE. Since then, Burke has wrestled in singles matches, and appeared in a segment where WWE owner Vince McMahon showed disdain for members of the original ECW and called Burke to the ring, naming him "The Future Of ECW". Burke was then attacked by Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, and The Sandman, who would later form the ECW Originals stable. Burke then became the official leader of the "New Breed", a group of new ECW stars including Matt Striker, Marcus Cor Von and Kevin Thorn, who proceeded to feud with the ECW Originals. At WrestleMania 23, The New Breed faced off against The ECW Originals but were ultimately defeated.

After several weeks of trying to recruit fellow roster mate and new ECW superstar CM Punk, Burke and the New Breed were successful on April 10. However, just two weeks later, CM Punk betrayed the New Breed, attacking Burke after a match. The next week, Kevin Thorn quit the New Breed due to lack of interference in his match with CM Punk. The same night, Matt Striker and Marcus Cor Von were defeated by the Major Brothers, a debuting tag team. After being pinned, Burke screamed at Striker creating tension between the two. The New Breed would then feud with the ECW Originals, CM Punk and the Major Brothers at the same time. At Judgement Day, Burke was defeated by CM Punk. Then, at One Night Stand, Burke, Marcus Cor Von and Matt Striker were defeated by Tommy Dreamer, Sandman and CM Punk in a Tables Match. On June 19, 2007, Burke lost to Chris Benoit (which would be Benoit's last match before his death) in a match that would decide who would face either CM Punk or Marcus Cor Von for the vacant ECW World Championship at Vengeance.On June 26, 2007, Burke lost to CM Punk in a best two out of three falls match, which would see the winner becoming the number one contender to Johnny Nitro's ECW Title. On July 10, Burke would rebound with a decisive victory over Balls Mahoney.

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Marty Wright / The Boogeyman, part 2

For the next few weeks The Boogeyman won numerous squash matches. Invariably these matches were short on actual wrestling content, instead focusing on the antics of The Boogeyman. Opponents were generally "flattened" in the ring, left with worms in their mouths and/or spit on their faces. His official pay-per-view debut was at December's Armageddon when he came to the ring to confront Vito and Nunzio who were dressed as Santa Claus and an elf. Though Nunzio was able to escape, Vito ended up with worms shoved into his mouth.

Boogeyman's first major feud occurred with JBL and his "fixer" Jillian Hall, beginning with his stalking the duo throughout a number of shows. During an episode of SmackDown! he caught a fleeing Hall and shoved worms down the back of her skirt. In another, during a Piper's Pit segment, he not only sniffed the "growth" on Jillian's face, but licked it and bit it off.

Layfield and The Boogeyman eventually met in a one on one contest at the 2006 Royal Rumble, with Boogeyman picking up the win in under two minutes.

A subsequent feud with Booker T, which saw him again stalking a wrestler and his female companion (this time Booker's wife Sharmell) culminated at WrestleMania 22, when Boogeyman pinned Booker T after kissing Sharmell while holding a mouthful of worms. The match was exceptionally short because shortly before WrestleMania Boogeyman tore his left biceps at a house show. To explain his absence to rehab his injury, Booker T and Sharmell obtained a restraining order against the Boogeyman, who actually had surgery on April 4, to repair his biceps tear.

As SummerSlam approached, The Boogeyman began appearing in TV spots to promote the event. Vignettes also began airing advertising his return to SmackDown!, however, on September 20 WWE.com reported that Wright had been released from the company. It was later reported that he had been doing "the bare minimum" in regards to getting back into shape and had missed several required doctor checkups. Although management warned him about this, he failed to change his behavior and they let him go. Less than a month later, on October 6, WWE.com announced that Wright had been re-hired and would be sent to be trained at Booker T and Stevie Ray's wrestling school in Houston, Texas.

Booker T was reportedly very impressed with Marty's renewed dedication and enthusiasm at his Wrestling Academy, and according to the Wrestling Observer, Wright was rehired mainly due to Booker's insistence. Wright returned on the October 27, 2006 SmackDown!, starting a feud with Mike "The Miz" Mizanin and Kristal Marshall. During the feud he again terrorized and stalked his opponents, spitting worms at them and scaring them at every opportunity, and eventually ended The Miz's undefeated streak at the Armageddon pay-per-view.

The Boogeyman then feuded with Finlay, who ended The Boogeyman's undefeated streak when Hornswoggle interfered. On the February 2 edition of SmackDown! during a title match against Chris Benoit for the U.S. Title, Boogeyman abducted Hornswoggle, distracting Finlay and giving Benoit a chance to win the match with a roll-up.

On the February 16 edition of SmackDown! the Boogeyman presented a little person of his own, Little Boogeyman. His purpose was to counteract Hornswoggle, who was proving a problem in one-on-one matches with Finlay. The Boogeyman and the Little Boogeyman lost to Finlay and Hornswoggle in a mixed tag team match at No Way Out 2007. The team lost a rematch the following week on SmackDown!, after Boogeyman was pinned by Hornswoggle

The Boogeyman appeared in a promo backstage at WrestleMania 23. He was in a room with Donald Trump and tried to scare him but failed, getting commanded by Trump to get him a sandwich. He did, however, terrify former Miss USA, Tara Conner who, upon seeing the Boogeyman, ran off looking terrified and disgusted.

On OVW's 400th anniversary show, the Boogeyman made an appearance, losing to Ryan Wilson in a table match.

The Boogeyman returned to in ring action when he joined a feud between Kane, William Regal and Dave Taylor, teaming up with Kane. This also marked the return of Little Boogeyman. The feud would be short lived as Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman would then start another feud with Finlay and Hornswoggle. Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman were defeated in mixed tag match by Finlay and Hornswoggle at Saturday Night's Main Event 2007.

On the June 11 edition of RAW, Boogeyman was drafted from SmackDown! to ECW as part of the WWE Draft. He won his ECW debut match against Matt Striker on June 12, 2007 with a Boogeybomb.

On ECW tuesday July 12th, 2007 Matt Striker got his revenge on The Boogeyman by inviting him to be educated on worms. After The Boogeyman began to become violent and aggressive during the lesson Matt Striker introduced Big Daddy V. When The Boogeyman grabbed Matt Striker and attempted to attack him, Big Daddy V stopped the attack on Matt Striker by beating down The Boogeyman with a punch and a Standing Samoan drop through a desk. Big Daddy V then threw The Boogeyman through Matt Striker's chalkboard, breaking the board as The Boogeyman fell out of the ring.

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Marty Wright / The Boogeyman, part 1

Martin (Marty) Wright (born October 31, 1964 in Phoenix, Arizona) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name The Boogeyman. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on its ECW brand.

Wright began his career originally intending to be a professional bodybuilder. He won some competitions, but the only recorded such victory noted online is the 2002 National Physique Committee Southern States Contest from August 2-3, 2002 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the men's over 35 years, super heavyweight division.

Wright applied to take part in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Tough Enough IV and on October 15, 2004, attended a fifty man, two day event in Venice Beach, California, where eight finalists were chosen. Wright survived the first day of eliminations, but on the second day he admitted that he was 40 years old (5 years past the contest's cutoff of 35) and not 30 as he had claimed. As a result he was cut from the Tough Enough prospectives.

Though he'd been cut from Tough Enough, WWE officials invited him to come to their developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for possible training. He trained between January and June of 2005, making his OVW debut on June 25, 2005.

During a dark match pitting the team of Seth Skyfire and Robert Fury against Robbie Dawber and his partner, Wright entered the ring and squashed all three men, no-selling the offense of Skyfire in the process. He then announced that he was The Boogeyman before leaving the building.

The Boogeyman gimmick further evolved into a "monster" face who would appear when another wrestler said his name and attack him, while not selling any offense he received.

On the July 11, 2005 episode of WWE Raw, horror movie style vignettes began airing to promote the debut of Wright in his "Boogeyman" persona. After a few weeks The Boogeyman the vignettes were moved from RAW to SmackDown!, but his planned debut was delayed when he hyperextended both knees and needed time to recover.

The Boogeyman made his first appearance on the October 13, 2005 SmackDown!. He was brought in by UPN Network Executive Palmer Cannon, who claimed he was going to be a part of another (unspecified) UPN show that never came to be due to an on-set "accident" involving The Boogeyman (it was implied he'd "done something" to another member of the cast, but never elaborated on). Cannon said he brought him to the SmackDown! brand as part of a "new talent initiative." The Boogeyman then proceeded to recite a version of the nursery rhyme Buckle My Shoe before smashing an oversize alarm clock on his own head. Boogeyman continued to "terrorize" other Superstars for the next couple of months.

For the next few weeks The Boogeyman (who was unknown to be a face or heel) appeared in unexpected places backstage (closets, vans, et cetera), reciting different nursery rhymes and holding up clocks before screaming his catchphrase "I'm The Boogeyman and I'm comin' to get cha!" and laughing maniacally. This would leave the performer(s) that had discovered him both confused and creeped out, usually ending with them backing out of the room slowly while the commentators remarked on how strange the whole situation was.

At the 2005 Survivor Series, The Boogeyman turned out to be a face as he helped SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long defeat his RAW counterpart, Eric Bischoff, with a Pumphandle slam. He made his official in-ring SmackDown! debut on the December 2, defeating Simon Dean in a squash that saw him repeatedly scream, "I'm the Boogeyman!" at a confused and terrified Dean. It was during this match that another regular part of his persona came to light when he took a handful of live worms from his pocket and stuffed them into his mouth as commentators Michael Cole and Tazz screamed in disgust.



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Nelson Frazier, Jr. / Big Daddy V / King Mabel / Mabel / Nelson Knight / Viscera, part 2

On July 6, 1998 Mabel made a one time, surprise return to the World Wrestling Federation to challenge, and lose to, the new King of the Ring: Ken Shamrock.

He made an official return in 1999, first appearing at the pre-show for the Royal Rumble, before appearing on the show itself, on which he was "kidnapped" by The Undertaker, his Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq) and Mideon. The next night he was re-christened Viscera and began acting as the Ministry of Darkness' enforcer, adopting a more gothic look in the process; including white out contact lenses, a white mohawk, and a black bodysuit.

After the July 1999 break up of the Ministry, the Viscera character floated around the mid-card, frequently teaming with fellow former Ministry member Mideon, and becoming part of the burgeoning hardcore division -- winning the Hardcore Championship once before he parted ways with the company again in 2000.

In March 2003, Frazier, using his Nelson Knight name, made a surprise appearance at a weekly NWA: Total Nonstop Action pay-per-view at the side of Ron Killings. He appeared again the next week, but didn't stay with the company beyond that.

He made a number of other independent appearances, including returning to the Memphis area and winning the Memphis Championship Wrestling Southern Heavyweight Championship.

Frazier, returning to the Viscera name, returned to the World Wrestling Federation — now renamed World Wrestling Entertainment — in September 2004. His first appearance had him and fellow former Ministry of Darkness member Gangrel surprise and attack the one-time stable leader, The Undertaker, on behalf of John "Bradshaw" Layfield. After just two weeks on SmackDown!, however, he was moved to the RAW brand.

In his first three months on the RAW brand, Viscera mainly wrestled on RAW's sister show HEAT, only making sporadic appearances on the actual RAW show. He had his first major angle on the brand in April 2005 when he was aligned with Trish Stratus to take part in a feud against Lita and her (kayfabe) husband Kane. While they were working together, Viscera and Stratus were featured in a segment during which he attempted to "seduce" her, only to be rebuffed until he "took care of" Kane. That segment began a gimmick change for Viscera, who transformed in to "The World's Largest Love Machine"; he started wrestling his matches wearing pajamas and making overtly sexual gestures in the ring. He was also put into an angle where he was smitten with RAW ring announcer Lilian Garcia, and tried different tactics to seduce her every week. At the June Vengeance pay-per-view Garcia reciprocated, proposing to him in the center of the ring, only to get turned down and left in the ring crying when The Godfather arrived with a number of his "hos" to show Viscera what he would "be leaving behind" if he got married.

After the Lilian Garcia storyline ended, Viscera was paired with the like minded "ladies man" Val Venis to form the tag team V-Squared. They teamed together for nearly nine months, mainly on HEAT, and though their record could be considered respectable — they even challenged for the Tag Team Title on a few occasions — they never held the title. When Venis was put out of action with a (legitimate) injury in April 2006, Viscera went back to singles wrestling. His first storyline back on his own was an attempt to reconcile with Lilian Garcia, only to be interrupted and attacked by Umaga during his proposal. Two weeks later, when Garcia was (legitimately - accidentally) knocked from the ring apron by Charlie Haas, spraining her wrist the incident was worked into a storyline. Haas and Viscera began fighting over Garcia — after Haas apologized — and then both men turned on her and formed a tag team when she declared she only wanted to be friends. The team was split when Haas was put back together with Shelton Benjamin to reform The World's Greatest Tag Team.

On June 17, 2007, Frazier was sent from the RAW brand to ECW in the supplemental section of WWE's draft. Three weeks later he debuted on ECW's weekly television program completely repackaged as Big Daddy V, a powerhouse "hired gun" character in the employ of Matt Striker.

Update:
August 9th, 2008: Big Daddy V has been released from the WWE.

Nelson Frazier, Jr. / Big Daddy V / King Mabel / Mabel / Nelson Knight / Viscera

Nelson Frazier, Jr. (born February 14, 1972) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names Mabel and Viscera. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on its ECW brand under the ring name Big Daddy V.

Throughout his career he has held championships in a number of promotions, including the top titles of the United States Wrestling Association off-shoots Memphis Wrestling and Memphis Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Council promotion of Puerto Rico. He's also held the Hardcore and World Tag Team titles of World Wrestling Entertainment, the company where he's spent the bulk of his career.

Frazier began his professional wrestling career under the ring name Nelson Knight, comprising the team The Harlem Knights with his partner and kayfabe brother Bobby. The team wrestled in the United States Wrestling Association and the Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF), winning the PWF Tag Team Championship on two occasions, before being signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in July of 1993.

Upon coming to the WWF the Harlem Knights went through a gimmick change. Nelson (Frazier) became Mabel, while his "brother" became Mo, and they were given a rapping manager named Oscar. Together the new team, dubbed Men on a Mission, was introduced to the WWF audience through vignettes, which was fairly standard practice at the time, that attempted to get the team across as three African American men trying to make a positive change in inner city neighborhoods — hence the team name. The group, constantly clad in purple, debuted as solid faces, in the tag team division, and held the Tag Team Championship once, but only for two days.

In 1995 Mabel and Mo turned on and attacked Oscar, becoming heels. As a heel, Mabel began wrestling more as a singles wrestler and was pushed to a win of the King of the Ring tournament in May, with Mo acting as a manager.

Now King of the Ring, Mabel was addressed as King Mabel, with Mo similarly having his name changed to Sir Mo for his full time role as manager. Distinctly enough, during his tenure as King of the Ring, Mabel had a championship belt designed and created by belt creator Reggie Parks proclaiming the wearer to be "King of the Ring". As the World Wrestling Federation has never created a belt for the King of the Ring winner, Mabel's belt is one of a kind. For becoming "King", Mabel received the (then-) traditional WWF Championship match at August's SummerSlam, but did not get the title. Following that loss, he became involved in the Yokozuna versus the Undertaker feud, taking turns dropping legs across the Undertaker's face with Yokozuna until they (kayfabe) fractured his orbital bone following a match. Two months later, the Undertaker defeated King Mabel in a Casket match at the December 1995 In Your House: Season's Beatings pay-per-view in what turned out to be the last major event appearance for Mabel (and Mo) in the World Wrestling Federation for two years.

For December of 1995 and the first part of January 1996, Mabel took dual bookings with the World Wrestling Federation and the Puerto Rico based World Wrestling Council. In WWC, he engaged in a feud with Carly Colon, during which the Universal Heavyweight Championship was "held up" following a match between the two of them before Mabel won the championship and held it for a month.

He was released from the WWF in early 1996 and spent much the next two years in Tennessee wrestling for the United States Wrestling Association, which went through a number of changes during his stay to become Memphis Championship Wrestling and Memphis Wrestling. While there, he captured the top title twice.



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Jimmy Wang Yang

James Eas Yun (born May 13, 1981) is a Korean-American professional wrestler. Yun is best known for his work in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as one-third of the Jung Dragons, Yang, and the independent circuit as Jimmy Yang. After a brief stint as Akio, a henchman for Tajiri in late 2003-early 2004, he returned to the WWE in 2006 on the SmackDown! brand as Jimmy Wang Yang.

In June 1999, Yun signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), making his WCW television debut in January 2000. He was originally a part of the Jung Dragons stable along with Jamie-San and Kaz Hayashi. In late 2000, when Jamie-San unmasked and left the group, forming a tag team with former 3 Count member Evan Karagias, the team of Hayashi and Yang feuded with Karagias and Jamie until the WWF purchased WCW.

In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) acquired Yun's contract and assigned him to the company's Heartland Wrestling Association developmental territory. With no plans to call him to the main roster, the WWF eventually released Yun.[citation needed]

After his brief stint as a WWF developmental talent, Yun agreed to join All Japan Pro Wrestling where he wrestled as both a part of its tag team division and its singles junior heavyweight division.

In September 2003, following a stellar match with Tommy Dreamer on Sunday Night Heat, Yun was signed to a three year developmental deal with the renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He, along with the Japanese-American Ryan Sakoda, made their WWE debuts on October 19, 2003 at WWE No Mercy. Yun was renamed Akio (a reference to legendary Japanese wrestler Mr. Saito) and aligned himself with Sakoda, forming the heel tag team Kyo Dai (Japanese for "brothers"), the henchmen of the actual Japanese wrestler Tajiri.

Sakoda was eventually released from WWE, Tajiri was traded to RAW and Yun was left on his own to become a lower card wrestler and Velocity mainstay, competing primarily in the cruiserweight division until he was released on July 5, 2005.

After being released from WWE Yun wrestled in Ring of Honor (ROH), debuting on October 1, 2005, at the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan, losing to James Gibson. He lost once again the following night to Christopher Daniels and again two weeks later to Roderick Strong, causing him to (kayfabe) take some time away from the company.

He returned to ROH in January 2006 where he recorded his first win in ROH, teaming with Matt Sydal and Jack Evans in the Trios Tournament, although the team were ultimately defeated by The Embassy. Yun stayed with the company for several months, wrestling as Jimmy Yang and using the same martial arts based persona he adopted in WCW. His entrance music was the theme from the spoof martial arts film The Last Dragon, and he even brought in the film's star Taimak (referred to in his appearances as 'Bruce Leroy', the name of his character) to help him in a feud with Embassy member Jimmy Rave.

In May 2006, Yun made a return to WWE, as Akio, on an edition of HEAT, working as a jobber in a try-out match with Charlie Haas. This match impressed the WWE and they would re-sign him once more.

Beginning with the August 25, 2006 edition of SmackDown! vignettes began airing featuring Yun dressed as a babyface cowboy and calling himself Jimmy Wang Yang. In the vignettes, Yang questioned why people would assume stereotypical Asian things about him while proclaiming that he was much more of a redneck, and that was something he was proud of. The vignettes played for several weeks with Yang focusing more on his redneck leanings, until the September 29 SmackDown! when he made his in-ring debut in a loss to Sylvan, who illegally used the ropes for leverage to get a pin and had a feud with Sylvan. Weeks later, on November 3, Yang debuted his valet, Amy Zidian, though she was released from WWE just a month later.

In December 2006, Yang feuded with Gregory Helms over the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Yang challenged Helms for the Cruiserweight title and lost to him on Armageddon. Later, he participated in a Cruiserweight open at No Way Out for the Cruiserweight title. In early 2007, Wang Yang would begin a feud with Chavo. On June 15 edition of Smackdown, Wang Yang finally became the number 1 contender for the Cruiserweight Championship, after feuding with Cruiserweight Champion Chavo Guerrero for almost two months. He later teamed up with Shannon Moore to Defeat Daivari and Jamie Noble in a Tag Team Match. At Vengeance, Yang lost to Chavo after a Frog Splash. On the July 6th edition of SmackDown, Yang faced off in a match against Chris Masters which he eventually lost. After the match, The Great Khali came and attacked Yang. On July 13, Yang was defeated by Finlay and attacked by Hornswoggle post-match.

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Chris Benoit family's 'drug cocktail'

Chris Benoit family's 'drug cocktail'

Wrestler Chris Benoit had a cocktail of drugs in his body when he murdered his wife and son, and even his seven-year-old son tested positive for anti-anxiety pills.

Benoit killed his wife and son, placed Bibles next to their bodies and then hanged himself on the cable of a weight machine in the family home.

According to Associated Press (AP), investigators have confirmed Benoit's body contained elevated levels of testosterone, as well as the anti-anxiety drug Xanax and the painkiller hydrocodone. However, he tested negative for alcohol.

Benoit's seven-year-old son Daniel was found to have Xanax in his system when he died, AP reported, and the wrestler's wife, Nancy, also tested positive for prescription drugs.

She had Xanax, hydrocodone and the painkiller hydromorphone in her body, according to AP.

full story here:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22093823-2,00.html


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Spinning the Chris Benoit Tragedy to Protect the WWE & Vince McMahon?

Spinning the Chris Benoit Tragedy to Protect the WWE & Vince McMahon?
By Jack Kramer
Jul 15, 2007

A toxicology report on Chris Benoit still has not been released. The spin however continues its daily onslaught. As the debate rages many are saying that former wrestlers friendly to the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) are spinning to protect the organization and its leader Vince McMahon. I'm not certain that is a fair assessment.

full story at:
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272614739.shtml


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Chris Benoit Conspiracy Theories Frustrate Investigators

Chris Benoit Conspiracy Theories Frustrate Investigators
By Josh Hart
Jul 8, 2007

Did Chris Benoit really do what police have said? There are still some that believe that the very popular wrestler may have been the ultimate victim and that someone else ended the lives of Nancy, Daniel and Chris. Police say that he is the one and that he did it over a three day period. Others wonder when World Wresting Entertainment (WWE) found out about the tragedy and why if they knew, they continued with a three hour tribute about the man Vince McMahon would later call a monster.

full story at:
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272614596.shtml


see also:
http://conspiracycom.blogspot.com/2007/07/chris-benoit-conspiracy.html


technorati tags: raw, wrestling, smackdown, pro wrestling, pro wrestling blog, ecw, wwe divas, tna, pro-wrestling, news

Chris Benoit: Investigators Reconstruct the Last Hours Inside the Home

Chris Benoit: Investigators Reconstruct the Last Hours Inside the Home
By Jim Roberts
Jul 7, 2007

An investigative team has claimed to uncover the real story of what happened during the last hours inside the home on the tragic weekend that superstar wrestler Chris Benoit of the WWE allegedly killed his wife and child. Investigators have told American magazine The National Enquirer that they have reconstructed in detail how they believe the horror unfolded in the Benoit's once-peaceful dream house-resulting in the death of Chris’ wife Nancy, 43, and son Daniel, 7.

full story here:
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272614579.shtml


technorati tags: chris benoit, raw, wrestling, smackdown, pro wrestling, pro wrestling blog, ecw, tna, pro-wrestling, news

Chris Benoit's Family Secrets In "People" Magazine

Chris Benoit's Family Secrets In "People" Magazine
Last Update: Jul 6, 2007 3:43 PM
Posted By: Travis Bard

This week, "People" takes a look at the life of wrestler Chris Benoit and reports new details on his suicide and double murder that claimed the lives of his wife Nancy and son Daniel.
Fayette County investigators released new details of the crime scene to "People" on July 2: Daniel, with what were described as old needle marks on his arm, was found in his bed in his pajamas with his stomach down and head turned to the side; he suffered internal damage to the throat but no sign of trauma around his neck.

full story at:
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=9703b59a-1699-46ea-9f01-09a34f7cadbc


technorati tags: raw, wrestling, smackdown, pro wrestling, pro wrestling blog, ecw, wwe divas, tna, pro-wrestling, news Chris Benoit,Daniel Benoit,Nancy Benoit

Chris Benoit Case Messier, Steroid Cover Up Question for Vince McMahon

Chris Benoit Case Messier, Steroid Cover Up Question for Vince McMahon
By Josh Hart
Jul 5, 2007

The case of a wrestler that killed his family seemingly gets messier by the day. World Wrestling Entertainment performer Chris Benoit killed his wife and son and now the fallout continues with charges of a cover up. Poor Vince McMahon, the fingers are all pointing at him and the WWE. Is that really fair?

full story here:
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272614540.shtml


technorati tags: chris benoit, vince mcmahon, wwe, sports, smackdown, raw, pro-wrestling, tna, ecw,raw, wrestling, pro wrestling, pro wrestling blog, wwe divas, pro-wrestling, news

Experts downplay ‘roid rage’ factor in Benoit murder-suicide

Experts downplay ‘roid rage’ factor in Benoit murder-suicide

Even though his personal doctor prescribed massive amounts of anabolic steroids to wrestler Chris Benoit, domestic violence experts are downplaying the possible role of steroids in his murder-suicide death.

Steroid usage has been linked to angry outbursts called “roid rage” and depression when usage stops. But in the case of Benoit, who killed his wife and 7-year-old son over a two-day period during the weekend of June 24 before committing suicide on a third day, they see a pattern of premeditation.

technorati tags: raw, wrestling, smackdown, pro wrestling, pro wrestling blog, ecw, wwe divas, tna, pro-wrestling, news