Hardcore Holly, part 5

Bob Holly was drafted back to SmackDown! from ECW on June 17, 2007 as part of the 2007 WWE Supplemental Draft.

Holly returned to the ring on WWE RAW on September 24, 2007, defeating Cody Rhodes( son of Dusty Rhodes), starting a "respect" feud in which Holly constantly defeated Rhodes on the two following episodes of WWE RAW and a Dark match at No Mercy. On the October 22, edition of WWE RAW, Holly turned face saving Cody Rhodes from the post-match assault of Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. On the 29th October episode of WWE RAW, Holly and Rhodes emerged victorious in a tag team match against Benjamin and Haas. They earned a shot at the World Tag Team titles by defeating Paul London and Brian Kendrick and The Highlanders in a WWE.com exclusive match after an Alabama Slam. However, Holly and Rhodes lost their title match against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch at Survivor Series.

On December 10, 2007, on the WWE RAW 15th Anniversary episode, Holly along with Rhodes defeated Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch for the World Tag Team Championship. The following week, Holly and Rhodes retained their titles, in their first title defense, against Cade and Murdoch. They have since successfully defended their World Tag Team Championship titles against Carlito and Santino Marella, and Paul London and Brian Kendrick.

ECW: Peter Senerchia / Tazz / Taz/ Tazmaniac

Peter Senerchia (born October 11, 1967), is an American retired professional wrestler and current color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, (originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz). He is currently under contract to WWE, where he does commentary for the ECW brand.

From his wrestling career he is probably best remembered from his tenure in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where he held the World Heavyweight, Television, and Tag Team championships, as well as created the FTW Championship, (also referred to as the Brooklyn World Championship). His World Wrestling Entertainment career came to an early halt in 2002 when mounting injuries forced him to retire from in-ring action and take up his current position as commentator, first for the SmackDown! brand, then ECW



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James Maritato / Little Guido Maritato / Nunzio

James Maritato (born March 12, 1972) better known by the ring names Little Guido Maritato and Nunzio, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on its ECW brand.

While attending Nanuet Senior High School (located in Rockland County, New York), Maritato competed in football (as part of the school's 1989 team that went undefeated, untied, and unscored upon) and wrestling. He was later trained as a professional by Billy Robinson, debuting in the professional ranks in the early 1990s. Maritato then went to Japan to compete in the shoot style UWF International promotion.

He stayed in UWF until 1995 where he joined Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under the name Damian Stone. He was later given the gimmick of Little Guido and put in the comedy stable the Full Blooded Italians (F.B.I.), alongside J.T. Smith, Tracy Smothers, and Tommy Rich.

During 1999, he became a "serious wrestler", although still accompanied by "Big" Sal E. Graziano. and proclaiming himself to be an F.B.I. member (though only the two of them were left). After his turn he was involved in some intense singles matches until late 2000, when he formed a tag team with Tony Mamaluke. The duo won the ECW Tag Team Championship in August of 2000 and held them until December when they lost them to Danny Doring and Roadkill. They continued to wrestle together until ECW folded in April 2001.

When ECW closed, Maritato wrestled for several independent promotions, mostly in the New York Tri-State area; he often teamed with former partner Tony Mamaluke. They had a notable run in Ring of Honor before Maritato was signed by World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002.

Maritato was introduced on WWE TV as Nunzio, a possible reference to the mob/bodyguard characters Guido and Nunzio in the MythAdventures series of books by Robert Asprin. As the (kayfabe) heel cousin of Jamie Noble, he attacked then babyface Crash Holly after he defeated Noble in a match on the December 12, 2002 edition of SmackDown!. Nunzio began a feud with Crash after this, defeating him on several occasions before going on to face the likes of Tajiri, Shannon Moore, and Chuck Palumbo.

The team and cousin storyline of Nunzio and Noble soon faded. Nunzio reformed the Full Blooded Italians, this time with Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli and Chuck Palumbo, but the team found little success. After WrestleMania XX, Palumbo was drafted to RAW, and the F.B.I. was reduced to a tag team. After Stamboli was released, Nunzio began competing in the cruiserweight division.

In 2005, Maritato returned to his Little Guido persona for one night; he reunited with the original Full Blooded Italians to take on Super Crazy and Tajiri in a Three-Way Dance at the ECW reunion show One Night Stand.




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John Hennigan, John Morrison, Johnny Nitro, part 1

John Randall Hennigan (born October 3, 1979) better known by his ring name John Morrison, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to the WWE, performing on their ECW brand. He is also currently co-holder of the Smackdown! brand's WWE Tag Team Championship with The Miz. He came to WWE in 2002 after co-winning their reality television program Tough Enough, and has since held championships in the company on seven occasions; having held the Tag Team Championship four times, Intercontinental Championship two times, and the ECW Championship once.

Before getting into professional wrestling, Hennigan attended University of California at Davis studying both film and to become a geologist. Deciding that wasn't right for him, he began his professional wrestling career training at the Supreme Pro Wrestling professional wrestling school. In 2002, he was accepted as a cast member for the third season of the WWE/MTV reality show WWE Tough Enough, eventually becoming co-winner with Matt Cappotelli. For winning he was awarded a WWE developmental contract and assigned to WWE's "farm territory" Ohio Valley Wrestling to continue his training. The duo made their first appearance on WWE television on an episode of Heat in January 2004, losing to Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak in a tag team match.

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wrestling

Balls Mahoney

Jonathan Rechner (born April 11, 1972) better known by his ring name Balls Mahoney, is an American professional wrestler. Mahoney is perhaps best known for his appearances with ECW in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He is currently signed to the WWE wrestling on its ECW brand.

In 2005, Mahoney made a non-wrestling appearance at the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promoted ECW One Night Stand reunion show, taking part -- alongside Axl Rotten -- in a brawl with Kid Kash, Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman, the Dudley Boyz, and the Blue World Order before the main event. After the main event, Mahoney and Rotten returned to the ring to brawl with the "invading" Raw and SmackDown! wrestlers.

In 2006, when WWE relaunched ECW as their own brand, one of the first announcements was the signing of Balls Mahoney. His signing was announced with that of Axl Rotten, but when Rotten missed some WWE dates and was released, Balls was left to start a singles career.

During the "cross promotion" hype Balls appeared on the June 5, episode of RAW with other ECW wrestlers who proceeded to attack WWE Champion John Cena. He appeared again as a part of the ECW team in the "WWE vs. ECW team battle royal" at the WWE vs. ECW Head to Head event on June 7. The next night a match between Balls Mahoney and Masato Tanaka was officially added to the 2006 One Night Stand pay-per-view, which Balls won following a chair shot (denting the chair) to Tanaka's head.

When ECW on Sci Fi debuted, Balls started off with a small role in the company, having sporadic matches and little else. However, once the show got going he started to appear in vignettes talking about how tough he is, elevating his role on the show. On the September 12 episode of ECW on Sci Fi Mahoney entered a feud with Kevin Thorn after Thorn and his valet Ariel cost him a match against René Duprée. The following week, he brought Francine to ringside with him, marking her first televised appearance at the revived ECW ring, where she proceeded to get into a catfight with Ariel. That pairing, however, was short lived as Francine was released shortly after. On the January 2, 2007 edition of ECW on Sci Fi, Mahoney had one of his front teeth (legitimately) knocked out during a match with Kevin Thorn.

Shortly after, Balls began a short feud with Snitsky. On the June 4 edition of ECW, Balls, Tommy Dreamer, and Sandman faced Bobby Lashley in a 3 on 1 Hardcore Handicap Match for the ECW Championship, in which they were defeated. On the August 7, 2007 episode of ECW, Balls went against The Miz in a losing effort. During and after the match, it appeared that Kelly Kelly was concerned about him. Over the weeks that followed, he attempted to ask her out to dinner and flirted with her backstage, but was interrupted by The Miz, Brooke, and Layla before Kelly could get a word in. Regardless, Kelly still showed interest in him each week, wishing him good luck before his match, winking at him, and cheering him on during his match. On the September 18, 2007 edition of ECW, after defeating Mike Knox in a match, he asked Kelly Kelly if she would go out with him to which she couldn't respond due to The Miz taking her backstage. However, weeks later, Kelly Kelly asked him if he would go out with her, in which he agreed.


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Tommy Dreamer

Thomas Laughlin (born February 14, 1971), is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Tommy Dreamer. He is currently under contract to World Wrestling Entertainment and wrestling on the ECW brand.

In addition to his current role, Dreamer is — arguably — best known for the time he spent in the Philadelphia based Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion, of which he has been called the "heart and soul". Though he only held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once in his time with the company—for a grand total of about 30 minutes — he was regularly embroiled in the company's most visible angles on screen and involved in the booking, some of the business decisions, and, like a number of other ECW wrestlers, was part of the day to day operations of the company off screen.


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CM Punk, part 5

On the April 10 edition of ECW on Sci-Fi, Punk officially joined the New Breed stable,after several weeks in which both the New Breed and the ECW Originals had attempted to recruit him. However two weeks later Punk betrayed the New Breed during a four on four elimination match between the New Breed and ECW Originals by kicking New Breed leader Elijah Burke in the back of the head costing them the match. After the match Punk proceeded to deliver his finisher, the Go To Sleep, on Burke before leaving the ring alone. WWE.com later confirmed that Punk was no longer a member of the New Breed. At Judgment Day 2007, Punk wrestled and defeated Elijah Burke in his first singles match on a pay-per-view. Punk would then go on to One Night Stand 2007 and team up with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman in a Tables match to defeat the New Breed.

Due to the drafting of ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley to RAW the ECW World Championship was declared vacant and a mini-tournament was announced to declare a new champion between Punk, Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von and the recently drafted Chris Benoit. Punk defeated Marcus Cor Von on the June 19 edition of ECW on Sci-Fi. By doing so CM Punk was meant to face Chris Benoit at Vengeance 2007 for the vacant ECW World Championship, however Benoit was hastily replaced by Johnny Nitro when Benoit no-showed the event due to what was described on-air as "personal reasons". Nitro subsequently defeated Punk at Vengeance for the vacant championship. Punk won another shot at the title at The Great American Bash against Johnny Nitro, who had changed his moniker to John Morrison at this point, however Punk was defeated again by Morrison. Punk the next week would challenge Elijah Burke and Tommy Dreamer in a triple threat match to determine the next competitor in John Morrison's 15 Minutes of Fame Challenge, in which Punk came out victorious. A week later Punk would defeat Morrison with the G.T.S. to earn an ECW Championship title match at SummerSlam. At Saturday Night's Main Event CM Punk would team up with Boogeyman to take on and defeat Morrison and Big Daddy V. CM Punk lost to Morrison for the ECW Championship when Morrison used the ropes for leverage at SummerSlam.

At the September 1, 2007 ECW taping in Cincinnati, Ohio, in a "last chance" title match, Punk defeated John Morrison for the ECW Championship. The match aired on the Sci-Fi Network on September 4.

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Benoit's Brain Showed Severe Damage From Multiple Concussions

Benoit's Brain Showed Severe Damage From Multiple Concussions, Doctor and Dad Say

The family of Chris Benoit has been searching for answers since late June, when the professional wrestler killed his wife, 7-year-old son and then himself.

At the crime scene, police found anabolic steroids prompting many to suspect that "roid rage" had accounted for Benoit's behavior, which his family found out of character for the 40-year-old.

His family now believes that new test results on Benoit's brain explain his vicious actions.

The tests, conducted by Julian Bailes of the Sports Legacy Institute, show that Benoit's brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient.

Bailes and his research team say that this damage was the result of a lifetime of chronic concussions and head trauma suffered while Benoit was in the wrestling ring.

Benoit's father, Michael Benoit, is speaking out in order to warn other athletes, both professional and student.

Full story:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3560015&page=1


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Is there anyone left in the WWE?

NEWS FLASH!
John Cena faces himself at Unforgiven!

Well it seems to be headed that way at least.

John Morrison, Chavo Guerrero, Mr. Kennedy, Umaga and Charlie Haas appear to be the wrestlers most likely to be suspended over violations of the WWE " Wellness Policy".

Six more wrestlers including Randy Orton, King Booker, William Regal, Santino Marella, Chris Masters and Funaki fates remain unclear.

( I'm willing to go double or nothing that " Bulletproof" Orton gets off scott free again)

Two more wrestlers Adam "Edge" Copeland and Gregory Helms are possible, but they are on the injured list.

Batista appears to have been cleared by everyone except the media.
( And he's pissed!)

Add to this Sylvain Grenier's release from WWE after what was apparently a backstage argument with a road agent, Eugene being fired for a third strike on the Wellness Policy, Cryme Tyme being released, Simon Dean.....

The list seems to be growing and growing.

Last one out turn off the lights......

CM Punk, part 4

On June 24, 2006 Punk made his ECW debut during a house show at the former ECW Arena, defeating Stevie Richards. He made his TV debut on the July 4 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, cutting a brief pre-taped face promo about his straight edge lifestyle emphasizing the disciplinary aspects of being drug and alcohol free. Although he had retained the straight edge gimmick, he now had a Muay Thai training background. Punk made his TV wrestling debut on August 1, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, defeating Justin Credible. CM Punk established himself in ECW by going undefeated, defeating opponents such as Christopher W. Anderson, Stevie Richards, and Shannon Moore.

Soon after, Punk began feuding with Mike Knox after Knox's girlfriend, Kelly Kelly, was seen to have feelings for Punk. Punk defeated Mike Knox in their first singles match (qualifying for the Extreme Elimination Chamber at December to Dismember in the process) as well as the rematch, after which Kelly Kelly celebrated CM Punk's victory over her boyfriend. Punk then went on to team with D-Generation X and The Hardy Boyz in their Survivor Series match against Rated-RKO, Knox, Johnny Nitro and Gregory Helms, a match where all the participants on DX's side survived elimination. At ECW December to Dismember, Punk participated in the Extreme Elimination Chamber for the ECW World Championship, however was the first person eliminated.

Following this, Punk entered into a feud with Hardcore Holly, who ended Punk's six month unbeaten streak in singles competition on January 9, 2007. Punk went on to feud with Matt Striker, who gave him his second singles loss since being in ECW on January 30. Following this Punk qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23 by defeating Johnny Nitro, being the only member of the ECW roster to qualify. In the final week leading up to WrestleMania 23 Punk made appearances on both RAW and WWE Friday Night SmackDown! defeating Kenny Dykstra and former World Heavyweight Champion King Booker[39] respectively. At WrestleMania 23 Punk competed in, but did not win, the Money in the Bank ladder match being knocked off the ladder just seconds before the winner, Mr. Kennedy, claimed the briefcase

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Brian " Crush" Adams, Dead at age 43

Brian Adams (April 14, 1964 - August 13, 2007) was an actor and professional wrestler. Adams gained fame in the 1990s while performing for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the name Crush and for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his given name.

Trained in Japan by Antonio Inoki, Adams was a two time WCW World Tag Team Champion as well as a one time holder of both the WWF World Tag Team Championship and the All Japan Pro Wrestling World Tag Team Championship among other titles and accomplishments.

In 2002, Adams briefly tried a career in boxing until he was forced to retire due to a back and shoulder injury.

His death was reported by WWE on 13 August 2007.

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CM Punk, part 3

Punk was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, a WWE developmental territory. On September 26, 2005 in his OVW television debut, Punk suffered a ruptured eardrum and broken nose at the hands of Danny Inferno, after he was hit by an overly stiff right hand. Despite the injury, Punk finished the match and quickly recovered.

On November 9, 2005, Punk became the OVW Television Champion after defeating Ken Doane. This led immediately to a feud between Punk and Brent Albright, who had previously been feuding with Doane for the television championship and had lost his chance to wrestle Doane after Punk had hit him with a chair so he himself could wrestle Doane. This led to a series of matches, including one which ended in overtime with Albright having Punk submit to Albright's finisher, the Crowbar, however Punk was able to keep the championship as he had not agreed to the extra time. On January 4, 2006, Punk lost the OVW Television Championship during a three way dance between himself, Albright and Doane. Doane was injured halfway through the match and could not continue and was replaced by Aaron "The Idol" Stevens. Punk submitted to Albright's Crowbar and was eliminated but after interference by Punk, Stevens was able to get the pin on Albright to become the new OVW Television Champion. The feud continued after a short period in which Albright and Punk were a tag team, but they became opponents again after Albright wanted the respect of Punk who would never give it to him and instead proceeded to "punk out" (get the better of) Albright repeatedly. This continued for weeks with Punk always getting the better of Albright until a double turn occurred on February 1, 2006 when Albright turned heel during a tag match allowing The Spirit Squad to beat Punk and, in doing so, turning Punk face.

During this time CM Punk had a minor appearance at WrestleMania 22 on April 2, 2006 as one of the gangsters who rode a 1930s era car to the ring before John Cena's entrance.

When Matt Cappotelli vacated the OVW Heavyweight Championship due to a brain tumor, a tournament was held to crown a new champion. The finals were Brent Albright vs CM Punk with Albright defeating Punk to become the new champion. Punk and Albright continued their feud with Albright becoming more and more unstable and paranoid about maintaining his championship after several close call matches against Punk, resulting in acts such as threatening Maria. On May 3, 2006, Punk finally defeated Brent Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. As champion, Punk retained the title in matches against opponents such as Shad Gaspard, Ken Kennedy, Johnny Jeter, and Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.

On July 28, 2006 Punk and Seth Skyfire defeated Shad Gaspard and the Neighborhoodie to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship at a house show. With the victory Punk became the second OVW wrestler to have held each of the promotion's three championships, following Brent Albright, and along with Skyfire the first to hold two championships simultaneously. They would lose the Tag Team Championship on August 2, 2006 to Deuce Shade and "Domino" Cliff Compton after an injured Skyfire tagged in an already injured Punk.

This lead to a feud between Punk and Skyfire after a rematch for the Tag Team Championship on August 7, 2006 in which a healthy Punk purposefully tagged in an injured Skyfire to be beaten by Shade and Compton. On August 30, 2006 a match was scheduled to take place between Punk and Skyfire for the OVW Heavyweight Championship however prior to the match Skyfire was attacked by Charles "The Hammer" Evans, who Skyfire had also been feuding with, and was replaced in the match by Chet Jablonski (Chet the Jet) who pinned Punk to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. As he no longer possessed the championship OVW no longer required him so he was removed from the roster and brought up to the WWE roster full time. He continues to make sporadic appearances for the company such as at the 400th episode of OVW on television.

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CM Punk, part 2

In ROH Punk faced off against ROH World Champion Samoa Joe for the championship in a famous three match series. The first match, on June 12, 2004 at World Title Classic in Dayton, Ohio, resulted in a 60 minute time-limit draw when neither Punk nor Joe could pin or cause the other to submit in the sixty minutes. The second match between Samoa Joe and CM Punk was planned to have occurred on December 4, 2004 but because Steve Corino was pulled from a match with Samoa Joe by Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE the second match was hastily rescheduled on October 11, 2004 for October 16 in Punk's hometown of Chicago, Illinois. At Joe vs. Punk II on October 16 they wrestled to a second 60 minute draw. In addition to becoming Ring of Honor's best selling DVD at that point, the match received the first 5-star rating by Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter for a match in North America since 1997. Joe ended the series by defeating Punk in the third and final match on December 4, 2004 at All-Star Extravaganza 2 in which there was a no time limit stipulation.

In June 2005, Punk accepted a deal with the WWE, after a try-out match against Val Venis on its Sunday Night HEAT show. Even though he had accepted the deal, Punk went on to defeat Austin Aries to win the ROH World Championship on June 18, 2005 at Death Before Dishonor III with the Pepsi Plunge.

Immediately after the match Punk proceeded to turn heel and started an angle where he threatened to bring the ROH World Championship to WWE with him. For weeks, Punk teased the ROH locker room and the ROH fans as well as mocking the championship he possessed, going so far as to sign his WWE contract on it. A notable part of this angle was Mick Foley making several ROH appearances, attempting to convince Punk to do the right thing and defend the title on his way out.

On August 12, 2005 in Dayton, Ohio Punk lost the ROH World Championship to James Gibson in a four corner elimination match consisting of himself, Gibson, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels, who re-debuted after a year and half long absence following the Rob Feinstein controversy a few minutes after Punk turned heel, when Gibson countered the Pepsi Plunge with a Super Tiger Bomb. His final scheduled match in Ring of Honor took place at Punk: The Final Chapter on August 13, 2005 against long-time friend Colt Cabana in a 2 out of 3 falls match, which he lost. In his last match, he was visibly crying, and was showered with streamers when he posed in the middle of the ring.

Punk made a special appearance at the ROH show Unscripted II on February 11, 2006, when the original card had to be scrapped due to Low Ki leaving ROH the week prior and most of the roster contracted to TNA being pulled from the show due to a snowstorm that TNA officials thought might prevent performers from reaching a pay per view they were running the next day. In the main event, Punk teamed with Bryan Danielson to wrestle and ultimately defeat Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce in a tag team match.

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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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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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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


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

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