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Post by bob on Jul 22, 2009 20:28:06 GMT -5
bump
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Post by Mr. Emoticon Man on Jul 22, 2009 20:53:10 GMT -5
Oops. Completely forgot about this. My bad, bob.
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Post by bob on Jul 22, 2009 21:10:02 GMT -5
Oops. Completely forgot about this. My bad, bob. if you find a way to incorporate Transformers into this I will be extremely impressed
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Post by Mr. Emoticon Man on Jul 22, 2009 21:31:27 GMT -5
Ah, a challenge.
I'll have to give it some thought.
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Post by bob on Jul 22, 2009 21:41:09 GMT -5
I have 3 that could fall into the Transformers catagories
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Post by bob on Jul 23, 2009 14:16:27 GMT -5
bump....
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Post by bob on Jul 24, 2009 17:59:03 GMT -5
deadline for submissions are tonight at midnight central time
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Post by The Raven on Jul 24, 2009 18:58:39 GMT -5
Best instead of favorite? Alright I think I can do this real quick then.
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Post by Mr. Emoticon Man on Jul 24, 2009 18:59:08 GMT -5
Well, I sent mine in. Didn't try to incorporate Transformers into it, though. ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png)
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Post by bob on Jul 24, 2009 19:16:48 GMT -5
Well, I sent mine in. Didn't try to incorporate Transformers into it, though. ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png) the 3 I were thinking of were Dude Love, Cactus Jack, and Mankind since Mick transformed into them ;D
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Post by bob on Jul 25, 2009 9:06:14 GMT -5
Some thoughts on this: I'm a little disappointed 30 wrestlers didn't get votes, but not surprised because this was a little tough and typically when the top 10 wrestlers of all time are discussed the top 5 or so usually the same people just in different spots. 27 different wrestlers were voted for. Stars from the 80s, 90, and today made the list. I find it interesting that not many stars of tomorrow made the list. There are some ties as always. In 27th place there is a sole person. He is a triple crown winner in TNA. With 1 vote.... "The Phernominal" AJ Styles. ![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/A_J_Styles_1.JPG/200px-A_J_Styles_1.JPG) Allen Jones[1] (born June 2, 1978),[1] better known by his ring name A.J. Styles (also written as AJ Styles), is an American professional wrestler currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling[2] (TNA). He and Jeff Jarrett are the only wrestlers to perform on the inaugural NWA-TNA pay-per-view event on June 19, 2002, and still be employed by the company in a wrestling role today. since AJ joined TNA, Styles has been the first TNA X Division Champion while also having the most reigns with six, a five-time World Tag Team Champion (4 NWA and 1 TNA) and a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion. With having won the TNA X Division, NWA World Tag Team, and NWA World Heavyweight Championships, Styles was the first to complete the TNA Triple Crown Championship. Styles would later complete the Triple Crown two more times, making him the only man to complete it three times and for most of TNA's existence the only one to complete it at least once. He also is the only wrestler in TNA history to have completed the Triple Crown more than once. His victory over Booker T for the TNA Legends Championship made him the first, and only, man to have ever won the TNA Grand Slam Championship. Allen Jones attended Anderson College in Anderson, South Carolina on a partial wrestling scholarship after graduating from Johnson High School in Gainesville, Georgia, class of 1996. During his time at college, he participated in the 1998 NAIA National Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada before leaving Anderson College to pursue his professional wrestling career. During the early years of his professional wrestling career, Jones worked an assortment of jobs on the weekends to supplement his income, including delivering water and driving an ambulance.[3] Allen Jones was trained by Rick Michaels (Raymond Rawls) and debuted in 1998.[1] In the Georgia-based National Championship Wrestling promotion he wrestled as Olaf, the Russian Bricklayer, losing to Michael Brooks in his first match.[1] By August 1999, he had won the Television Championship.[1] In December 1999, NCW merged with NWA Georgia to form NWA Wildside, and Jones was renamed A.J. Styles. Styles won his second Television Championship on January 8, 2000, defeating K-Krush (Ron Killings).[1] He lost the title to Eddie Golden on April 1 and regained it for a third time on January 6, 2001, defeating Air Paris (Frank Paris) during his run as a villain in NWA Wildside as a member of attorney Jeff G. Bailey's NWA Elite stable, an alliance of wrestlers. His final reign ended on February 21 when he lost to Robbie Rage in Athens, Georgia. World Championship Wrestling, a global promotion which often recruited talent from NWA Wildside, observed the feud between Styles (renamed Frank the Painter) and Paris, and both men were offered contracts in early-2001. Styles and Paris were placed in a tag team named "Air Raid",[1] and their gimmick required both men to dress in G-suits. Air Raid made appearances on WCW Thunder, and on the March 5, 2001, episode of WCW Monday Nitro they were entered in a tournament for the newly created WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship.[1] They were eliminated from the tournament in the first round by the eventual winners, Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo (Sam Roman).[1] After WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001, Styles was left without a job. He returned to NWA Wildside, where he competed for the Wildside Heavyweight Championship and wrestled several matches for the WWF on WWF Jakked. Styles was offered a developmental deal by the WWF in April 2002. The offered contract was for US$500 per week and required Styles to relocate to Cincinnati, Ohio, where the Heartland Wrestling Association developmental territory was located.[1] He declined to sign because moving would interfere with his wife's college plans.[1][4] Styles toured Australia with the short-lived World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) promotion in April 2002. He made his pay-per-view debut at WWA: The Eruption on April 13 in Melbourne, defeating Nova(Michael Bucci) and Jerry Lynn in the same night to become the WWA International Cruiserweight Champion.[1] He later vacated the title. Following his stint in World Championship Wrestling, Styles returned to Wildside and began pursuing the NWA Georgia Championship, then held by Rick Michaels. He defeated Michaels for the title on December 22, 2001, at Christmas Chaos.[1] While champion, Styles engaged in a rivalry with former manager Jeff G. Bailey's copycat version of Styles, "The Role Model" Jason Cross (William Massengale), who debuted as a total clone of Styles, all the way down to his in-ring attire and finishing move (this angle was later partially reused on a larger scale by Ring of Honor, with Jimmy Rave (James Guffey) acting as Styles's doppelgänger). Styles lost the NWA Wildside Heavyweight Championship to David Young (David Williams) in a 3-Way Dance that also included Rick Michaels on March 23, 2002 at Hardcore Hell. Shortly thereafter, Styles signed a contract with NWA:TNA and only returned to Wildside for sporadic special appearances due to an increase in his higher profile bookings. These special appearances reached an apex at Freedom Fight in July 2002, where Styles was the final man entered into the "Holy Wars" steel cage match for the Wildside Championship. The then-TNA X Division Champion, Styles was pinned by long-time rival "All That" Adam Jacobs. He made several more appearances throughout 2002, defeating Sonny Siaki, Jorge Estrada, and Jacey North in various one on one encounters. In March 2003, Styles defeated former rival Ron Killings at Hardcore Hell. In October 2003, he headlined another Wildside card, facing "The Soul Assassin" Rainman. Styles had been the NWA World Heavyweight Champion at the time of booking, and this was scheduled to be a title match, but Jeff Jarrett defeated Styles for the title just three days prior to the scheduled bout. As a result, Jarrett agreed to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a three way match. Jarrett, however, withdrew from the event at the last minute, leaving Styles and Rainman to fight one another in a non-title match which was won by Rainman following interference from Jeff G. Bailey. Styles defeated David Young at Christmas Chaos in December 2003. On March 26, 2004 at the two-night Hardcore Hell event he defeated his protégé, "Kool" Seth Delay in an impromptu match, then teamed with Gabriel and Altar Boy Luke (Oren Hawxhurst) (with Dusty Rhodes [Virgil Runnels, Jr.] in their corner) to defeat Rainman, Azrael and "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels (Daniel Covell) in a six man tag team main event on the following night. After an absence of almost one year, Styles returned to Wildside on March 25, 2005, losing to Wildside mainstay David Young in a match that received a standing ovation from fans in attendance. After this match, Styles presented an award to Wildside Promoter Bill Behrens, along with David Young and Rick Michaels. This was his final Wildside appearance. Styles debuted in Ring of Honor (ROH) at their third show, A Night of Appreciation, in 2002.[5] He quickly became a main event wrestler, competing against Low Ki (Brandon Silvestry) for ROH Championship at Honor Invades Boston.[5] After failing to win the title, he became the first holder of the "Number One Contender's Trophy", which was viewed as a second title at the time.[5] At the One Year Anniversary Show in February 2003, Styles competed against Low Ki and Paul London in a three-way match, with the winner receiving a shot at the ROH Championship later that night. London won the match but failed to defeat Xavier (John Jirus) for the championship. After the show, Styles and London agreed to form a tag team and compete for the ROH Tag Team Championship. Set to compete for the number one contendership for the titles at the following show, London was unable to attend after having emergency sinus surgery the day before.[citation needed] Instead, Styles competed by himself and defeated The Backseat Boyz (Johnny Kashmere and Trent Acid [Michael Verde]), The S.A.T. (Jose Maximo [Julio Ramirez] and Joel Maximo [Kelvin Ramirez]), and The Carnage Crew (HC Loc [Matt Knowles] and Tony DeVito) to receive a title shot. He chose Amazing Red (Jonathan Figueroa) as his partner, and the two defeated The Prophecy (Christopher Daniels and Xavier) for the championship.[5] When London returned, he was upset when Styles chose to remain a team with Red instead of forming one with him. The two wrestled against each other at Night of the Grudges, with the match ending in a draw.[5] Styles and Red, as the ROH Tag Team Champions, defeated the Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) on three separate occasions. The duo, however, were not as successful against The Prophecy. At Wrath of the Racket, Jim Cornette (James Cornette) made his first appearance in ROH and aligned himself with Christopher Daniels and Dan Maff (Dan Lopez). During intermission, he convinced the two to attack Amazing Red, who was already suffering from a knee injury, while he was signing autographs. With Red unable to compete, Styles chose Maff's former trainer Homicide (Nelson Erazo) as his partner, and the two defeated The Prophecy.[5] Styles then had to vacate the title due to Red being sidelined with a knee injury. After his reign as one half of the ROH Tag Team Champions, Styles took on fellow Georgia wrestler Jimmy Rave as his protégé. While coaching Rave, who was competing in the "Field of Honor" tournament, Styles attempted to become the ROH World Champion. He defeated Bryan Danielson at Main Event Spectacles to become the number one contender for the title. At War of the Wire, Styles challenged Samoa Joe (Joe Seanoa) for the title, but was once again unable to win it.[5] At the Second Anniversary Show, however, he competed in a one night tournament to become the first Pure Wrestling Champion. He defeated his protégé Jimmy Rave in the first round, Matt Stryker (Brian Woermann) in the second, and CM Punk (Phillip Brooks) in the finals to become the first champion.[5] His title reign, however, was short lived. Not long after the Second Anniversary Show, ROH's owner Rob Feinstein was caught by an internet sting trying to solicit sex from a minor,[6] which caused tensions between ROH and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where Styles was under contract. Despite this, Styles returned to ROH at the following show, At Our Best, and defeated CM Punk in a rematch with Ricky Steamboat (Richard Blood) as the guest referee.[5] The match turned out to be Styles final match in ROH for 2004, as TNA withdrew all their contracted wrestlers from ROH.[7] Styles left the company and vacated the Pure Wrestling Championship. In the summer of 2004, Styles' protégé Jimmy Rave was "fired" by Ring of Honor due to not winning any matches. He was brought back to the company by Prince Nana (Prince Bandoh) and became known as "The Crown Jewel of The Embassy". He began to use the Rave Clash (better known as the "Styles Clash") as a finisher, claiming Styles stole it from him. Eventually, Styles had enough and returned to Ring of Honor for one night only, at the Third Anniversary Celebration: Part Two, to wrestle Rave. Styles was unsuccessful in defeating Rave, who won after he sprayed air freshener in Styles’ eyes.[5] Several months later, Styles returned to wrestling for Ring of Honor full time. He made his return at Death Before Dishonor III defeating fellow TNA wrestler Petey Williams (Peter Williams), who was brought in by Prince Nana to face Styles instead of having Jimmy Rave fight him.[5] Styles got a match and a win, against Rave at the following show. Rave, however, after losing, he put a plastic bag over Styles and attempted to suffocate him.[8] During his feud with Jimmy Rave and The Embassy, Styles formed an alliance with Generation Next, who were also feuding with The Embassy due to their former leader Alex Shelley (Patrick Martin) joining them. Styles first defeated Generation Next member Roderick Strong (Chris Lindsey) at Fate of an Angel in mid-July. The following show, Styles faced and lost to Jimmy Rave in a street fight. Following the match, Styles was attacked by The Embassy, with Rave performing the Rave Clash on him. Austin Aries (Dan Solwold) and Roderick Strong attempted to come to his aid, but they were fought off. At Glory by Honor IV, Styles once again faced off against Jimmy Rave, with this match having a special stipulation: the loser could no longer use the Rave/Styles Clash in Ring of Honor. With Mick Foley (Michael Foley, Sr in his corner, Styles hit Rave with the Styles Clash off of the second rope, through a table to win the match.[5] Styles then took a short break from ROH before returning at This Means War in late October. He defeated Generation Next leader Austin Aries, who was attacked by The Embassy following the show. The following show, Aries defeated the former Generation Next leader Alex Shelley. Following the match, he was attacked by The Embassy, until Generation Next member Matt Sydal (Matthew Korklan) came to his aid. Later that night, Styles and Sydal defeated Embassy members Jimmy Rave and Abyss in a tag match. At Vendetta, Styles had his final match against The Embassy when he, along with Austin Aries, Jack Evans (Jack Miller) and Matt Sydal were defeated by Rave, Shelley, Abyss and Prince Nana in an eight-man tag match.[5] Following his feud with The Embassy, Styles set his sights on winning a Ring of Honor title. At A Night of Tribute, Styles faced Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal in a Triple Threat match, with the winner receiving a shot at the ROH World Championship later that night. Daniels won the match, but was unable to defeat Bryan Danielson for the title. On the first show of 2006, Styles wrestled and defeated Matt Sydal. Following the match, the two agreed to form a tag team and challenge for the ROH Tag Team Championship, which were held by Sydal’s Generation Next teammates Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. Before receiving a shot at the tag team title, Styles received a shot at the ROH World Championship when he was handpicked by Danielson. Despite having won both of his previous encounters against Danielson in ROH, Styles was unable to defeat him for the title.[5] At the Fourth Anniversary Show, Styles and Sydal received their shot at the ROH Tag Team Championships, but were unable to defeat the champions.[5] Following the match, Aries and Strong were attacked by the Briscoe Brothers, who had made their return to ROH for the first time since 2004. Styles and Sydal came to their aid and chased away the Briscoes. Styles then appeared less and less in Ring of Honor. After an absence, Styles returned at Death Before Dishonor IV, defeating ROH up-and-comer Davey Richards. Styles returned to Ring of Honor at Time to Man Up, losing to Samoa Joe.[5] In a pre-taped promo, Styles said he would be taking several months off from Ring of Honor following the match. ROH commentators, however, continually referred to the match as his final match and even played a special tribute to him after it.[9] Since then, AJ Styles has not returned to Ring of Honor. In May 2002, Styles was signed to a non-exclusive contract by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and dubbed "The Phenomenal" A.J. Styles (originally coined by NWA Wildside commentator Dan "The Dragon" Wilson). He appeared on the first weekly TNA pay-per-view, teaming with Jerry Lynn and Low-Ki and losing to The Flying Elvises Jorge Estrada, Sonny Siaki and Jimmy Yang [James Yun]).[1] The following week, on June 26, Styles defeated Lynn, Low-Ki and Psicosis in a double elimination match to become the first ever TNA X Division Champion.[1] He won a second title on the third TNA pay-per-view, teaming with Lynn and defeating Lenny Lane (Leonard Carlson) and Bruce (Alan Funk) in the finals of a tournament for the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championship. Styles successfully defended both his titles in the following weeks, but began to bicker with the veteran Lynn during their matches together. On August 14, he and Lynn fought Ron Killings and Jeff Jarrett to a no-contest, and the titles were held-up as a result. The following week, he and Lynn fought one another in a Falls Count Anywhere match (which was won by Lynn), a No Disqualification match (which was won by Styles) and a ten-minute Iron Man match, which ended in a draw after both men scored three pinfalls. Styles lost the title to Low-Ki in a three way dance. On August 28, Low-Ki defended the X Division Championship against Lynn and Styles in a ladder match and lost his title to Lynn. Recruiting Mortimer Plumtree (David Webber) and Sonny Siaki as allies, Styles continued to feud with Lynn in successive weeks. On October 23, he defeated Syxx-Pac (Sean Waltman) for the X Division Championship, thus becoming a two-time champion.[1] He lost the title to Lynn a second time on November 6 and tried unsuccessfully to regain it throughout the remainder of the year.[1] In 2003, Styles began focusing on the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After defeating David Flair on January 15 to become the number one contender, Styles recruited the help of Larry Zbyszko (Lawrence Whistler) and associated himself with Vince Russo's Sports Entertainment Xtreme faction. Styles faced NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett on February 19 but was defeated. In the course of the match, Styles became a fan favorite, attacking S.E.X. as they tried to interfere on his behalf because he did not want to win in that manner. Styles formed a new tag team with D'Lo Brown in April 2003.[1] During their time together, Styles learned the frog splash (Art Barr version) from Brown, and Brown likewise picked up Styles' suicide plancha. The tag team amicably disbanded on May 28 so that both men could pursue the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once again.[1] They fought one another on June 4 in a number one contendership match which was won by Styles, and on June 11, Styles faced Jarrett and Raven (Scott Levy) in a three-way match for the Heavyweight Championship.[1] Styles won the match and the title (becoming the first TNA Triple Crown winner in the process) after Vince Russo entered the ring and struck Jarrett with a guitar, then celebrated with Russo following his victory, thus becoming a villain once again. Throughout July 2003, Styles successfully defended his title in matches against Brown. Throughout the remainder of his reign, he defeated a myriad selection of opponents before losing the title to Jarrett on October 22.[1] Following his loss, Styles reverted to being a fan favorite, while Jarrett became a villain. Despite Jarrett's demand that Styles return to the X Division, Styles continued to pursue the World Heavyweight Championship. On November 12, he teamed with Sting to defeat Jarrett and Lex Luger. Styles faced Jarrett for the Heavyweight Championship on December 3, but lost following interference from Kid Kash (David Cash). Styles feuded with Jeff Jarrett and Abyss (Chris Parks) throughout January, and on February 4, 2004 after Styles demanded a title shot, Jarrett's ally Don Callis forced him to team with Abyss in a match with the NWA World Tag Team Champions, Kevin Northcutt and Legend (Joe Hitchen). Abyss hindered Styles' efforts before abandoning him completely. Styles, however, defeated both of his opponents, thus becoming a two-time NWA World Tag Team Champion with Abyss as his partner.[1] The following week, Styles defeated Abyss in a match for both tag team titles by disqualification after Jarrett interfered. His victory was overturned by Callis, leading to another match the following week which was won by Abyss after Lex Luger interfered, thus granting Abyss control of both titles.[1] Abyss and Styles continued to feud, and on March 17 Abyss defeated Styles to become the number one contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. On April 21, Chris Harris, who was scheduled to face Jarrett in a title match that night, was attacked by Raven. As a result, Vince Russo, by now the TNA Director of Authority, selected Styles to face Jarrett in his place in a steel cage match. When Jarrett tried to hit Styles with his guitar, Russo tried to stop him through the cage, allowing Styles to get up and shatter the guitar mid-swing with a Pelé kick. Styles pinned Jarrett to become a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion.[1] He successfully defended the title in matches with Ron Killings, Raven and Chris Harris, and on May 19 he defended against all three men in a four-way title match. Styles lost his title to Killings after Jarrett interfered in the match, hitting him with a guitar. Styles returned to the X Division shortly thereafter, winning a four-way match to become the number one contender to the X Division Championship on the June 4 episode of TNA Impact!.[1] On June 9, he defeated Frankie Kazarian (Frank Gerdelman) to become a three-time X Division Champion.[1] In the following weeks, Styles feuded with Kid Kash and Dallas (Lance Hoyt),[1] while successfully defending his title in matches with Kazarian and Mr. Águila. An additional match on June 23 with the debuting Jeff Hardy was interrupted by Kash and Dallas.[10] On July 28, he defended the title against Kazarian and Michael Shane (Matt Bentley) in an Ultimate X match.[11] After Kash struck Styles with a crutch, Shane and Kazarian simultaneously retrieved the belt and became co-X Division Champions.[11] After several abortive attempts to regain the title, Styles fought Kash in a number of matches, culminating on September 8 in a tables match which was won by Styles.[12] In October he began feuding with Petey Williams, by now the TNA X Division Champion, and on November 7 at Victory Road, the first monthly pay-per-view held by TNA, Styles challenged Williams for the X Division Championship.[13] During the weeks preceding the match, Styles even went as far as to use Williams' own finisher, the Canadian Destroyer, after Williams himself performed the Styles Clash on others. Williams retained his title with the help of his manager, Scott D'Amore. Later that night, Jeff Jarrett retained the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a ladder match with Jeff Hardy after Scott Hall and Kevin Nash interfered in the match.[13] Following the bout, the trio proclaimed themselves to be the "Kings of Wrestling" and issued an open challenge to the rest of the TNA roster. Several wrestlers charged the ring in response to the challenge, including the 3Live Kru (Ron Killings, Konnan [Charles Ashenoff], and B.G. James [Brian Gerard James]), Randy Savage (Randall Poffo), and Styles.[13] At Final Resolution on January 16, 2005 Styles won the X Division Championship for a fourth time in an Ultimate X match, defeating Chris Sabin (Joshua Harter) and the reigning champion, Petey Williams.[14] On the January 21 edition of Impact!, Christopher Daniels accused Styles of "ducking him" (Styles and Daniels had never fought one another in a singles match in TNA).[15] After Daniels challenged Styles to a match at the next monthly TNA pay-per-view, TNA Director of Authority Dusty Rhodes announced that Styles and Daniels would fight that day, with Daniels receiving a title shot if Styles could not defeat him within ten minutes.[15] Daniels lasted ten minutes and subsequently faced Styles in a thirty-minute iron man match for the X Division Championship at Against All Odds in which ended in a draw with both men having scored a single pinfall.[15][16] Rhodes restarted the match with "sudden death" rules, and Styles defeated Daniels to retain his title.[16] The feud between Styles and Daniels continued, and at Destination X on March 13, Styles lost his title in an Ultimate X Challenge against Daniels, Ron Killings and Elix Skipper.[17] Skipper eliminated Killings and Daniels eliminated Skipper, thus reducing the match to a singles contest.[17] With the referee unconscious, Styles was able to retrieve the belt, but Daniels knocked him out with the Angel's Wings and then embraced the title belt.[17] When the referee recovered shortly thereafter, he saw both men prone—but Daniels with the title belt—and awarded the match and the X Division Championship to Daniels.[17] Having lost the X Division Championship, Styles began feuding with Abyss. At Lockdown, he defeated Abyss in a steel cage match to become the number one contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.[18] Styles went on to defeat the defending champion, Jeff Jarrett, at Hard Justice on May 15.[19] After Jarrett pushed the special guest referee, cage fighter, Tito Ortiz, Ortiz knocked him down with a punch, enabling Styles to hit his Spiral Tap maneuver and pin Jarrett for his third NWA World Heavyweight Championship.[19][20] Styles lost the title at Slammiversary to Raven in a King of the Mountain match.[21] Styles then returned to his perennial pursuit of the X Division Championship, entering the TNA 2005 Super X Cup Tournament, which granted the winner a shot at the X Division Championship. Styles defeated Matt Bentley in the quarter-finals and Petey Williams in the semi-finals, but lost to Samoa Joe at Sacrifice.[22] As Christopher Daniels (the reigning X Division champion) had interfered in the match, TNA Director of Authority Larry Zbyszko added Styles to the resultant title bout. On September 11 at Unbreakable, Styles defeated Samoa Joe and Daniels in a three-way match to become the TNA X Division Champion for a fifth time.[23] In addition to being rated a 5 Star Match by Dave Meltzer, this match also finished as the first runner up for Pro Wrestling Illustrated Match of the Year honors. ![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/AJ_Styles_in_London_Sep_2008.jpg/175px-AJ_Styles_in_London_Sep_2008.jpg) At Against All Odds, Styles and Daniels challenged Samoa Joe for the X Division Championship in a rematch of Unbreakable. Styles lost the bout when he was given a Muscle Buster by Joe, who then pinned him to retain.[24] Samoa Joe defended the X Division Championship against Styles and Daniels in an Ultimate X match at Destination X and lost the belt to Daniels.[25] After Daniels lost the belt back to Samoa Joe, Styles went on to join forces with Daniels and challenge America's Most Wanted for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. After losing to America's Most Wanted in title matches on two occasions, Styles and Daniels won the NWA World Tag Team Championship at Slammiversary.[26] On an episode of Impact!, Styles and Daniels introduced contracts for all tag teams on the TNA roster, which sparked a rivalry with The Latin American X-Change (Homicide and Hernandez [Shawn Hernandez]) (LAX), who signed the contracts for a match at Hard Justice which Styles and Daniels won.[27] On the August 24 episode of Impact!, Homicide and Hernandez defeated Styles and Daniels in a Border Brawl to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship.[28] At No Surrender Styles and Daniels defeated LAX in a Tag-Team Ultimate X match to regain the titles after Styles hit a Styles Clash on Homicide through a table allowing his tag partner Christopher Daniels to capture the hanging belts.[29] They lost the titles back to LAX at Bound for Glory in a Six Sides of Steel match after Homicide hit the Gringo Killer on Styles as Daniels was tied up to the cage by Konnan with a coat hanger.[30] On the November 2 edition of Impact!, he pinned Chris Sabin to begin his sixth reign as the new X Division Champion.[31] The match was also the quarter-finals of the Fight For The Right tournament for number one contendership to Sting's NWA World Heavyweight Championship. On the November 9 Impact!, Styles won the semi-final match but was pinned in the finals by Abyss after interference by Christian Cage (William Reso) and Sabin.[32] On the November 16 edition of Impact!, the show's debut in primetime, Styles lost the TNA X Division Championship to Daniels in a 3-way match when Daniels scored the rollup pinfall on Sabin while Styles was outside of the ring dealing with Cage.[33] At Genesis, Styles lost to Cage.[34] During the match, Daniels attempted to stop Cage from using a steel chair in the match, which led to Styles rolling up Cage, which Cage reversed for a rollup of his own and the 3 count.[34] After the match, Styles and Daniels shared harsh words, which led to Rhino coming to the ring to settle things.[34] Styles refused to shake Daniels' hand and walked away.[34] Styles and Daniels teamed up for the last time on the Thanksgiving Day edition of Impact!, defeating The Naturals.[35] After the match, Rhino came out to the ring to raise both of their hands. Styles pulled his arm away, and left the ring, saying that he was tired of Rhino getting into his business.[35] He yelled at Rhino again during an interview on Impact! to once again become a heel. At Turning Point Styles beat Rhino after faking a knee injury and rolling him up for the pin.[36] On the December 22 episode of Impact!, Styles teamed up with Samoa Joe for the first time to go against Rhino and Kurt Angle.[37] Styles and Joe won after a roll up pin on Rhino by Styles, but Kurt Angle and Rhino continued to beat down Styles and Joe.[37] At Final Resolution, Styles faced Rhino in a Last Man Standing match.[38] After a Gore by Rhino, Styles decided to let Rhino win the match despite the fact that he was almost to his feet at one point.[38] This was due to the fact that Styles saw that Rhino was setting up a table to use on him and did not want to continue.[38] At Destination X, Styles participated in the first ever Elevation X match against Rhino.[39] The match consisted of a 20 foot tall steel structure of an X that they used to fight each other. Styles took the fall off the Elevation X structure. On the following episode of Impact!, he tried to assault Rhino, but was unsuccessful. It was later revealed that he was the first member of Christian Cage's team at Lockdown.[40] At Lockdown, Team Cage was unsuccessful against Team Angle.[41] On the May 31 edition of Impact! he defeated Tomko (Travis Tomko) in a King of the Mountain qualifying match.[42] Styles teamed up with Tomko to face Sting (Steve Borden) and Abyss at Victory Road but were defeated.[43] At No Surrender, Styles and Tomko won a 10-tag team gauntlet match to earn a tag team title match at Bound for Glory 2007 against Team Pacman (Ron Killings and Pacman Jones [Adam Jones]).[44] At Bound for Glory, Styles and Tomko defeated Team Pacman for the TNA World Tag Team Championship.[45] Styles and Tomko defeated LAX on the November 1 edition of Impact! to retain the TNA Tag Team titles.[46] Then Styles challenged Scott Steiner (Scott Rechsteiner) to a takedown challenge, which he lost by disqualification. At Genesis, they retained against the Steiner Brothers (Scott and Rick [Robert Rechsteiner] Steiner) after hitting Rick with a low blow and then a chair shot.[47] Later that night, Styles and Tomko cost Christian his number one contender's shot by arguing and distracting him, and they helped Kurt Angle retain his championship.[47] After Christian Cage accepted Angle's invitation to the Angle Alliance on the circumstance that Cage be the leader, Angle and the rest of the alliance attacked Cage, with the exception of Styles (who made an attempt to save Cage) and Tomko (who walked away up the ramp). On December 28, Styles and Tomko lost to the Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) in a tag team match due to Eric Young's (Jeremy Fritz) attempt to help Styles.[48] Later on the show, Styles came down to the ring to watch Booker T (Robert Huffman) and Christian Cage take on Kurt Angle and Robert Roode; he was pressured to choose between Christian's or Angle's team, but could not decide before the show went off the air.[48] At Final Resolution, he turned on Christian Cage by siding with Angle.[49] The next week on Impact!, Styles was crowned the "Prince of Phenomenal" by Angle, which has since been incorporated into his ring introductions. On the February 14 episode of Impact! Styles, in storyline, was married to Karen Angle.[50] The next several weeks showed videos of Karen Angle and Styles on their honeymoon, talking, getting close, and acting like a married couple. The following week, Styles came to Karen's rescue when she hit her head (she was pushed by Kurt when she came out to check on him).[51] Karen later revealed that she wanted a separation from Kurt. Meanwhile, Styles and Tomko lost the TNA World tag Team titles to Kaz (Frankie Kazarian) and Super Eric (Eric Young).[52] With Kurt constantly accusing Styles and Karen of seeing each despite both vehemently denying anything beyond friendship, Styles snapped and quit the Alliance. In retaliation, Tomko (after Styles teamed with Super Eric while he was out in Japan) cost Styles his King of the Mountain qualifying match against Booker T.[53] Styles became a face again on the May 29 edition of Impact! after being assaulted backstage before his entrance.[54] He then ran to the ring several minutes later to help Karen, only to be beat down by Team 3D (Brother Ray [Mark LoMonaco] and Brother Devon [Devon Hughes]) and Kurt for the second week in a row.[54] At Slammiversary, Styles defeated Kurt but was beat-down by Kurt and his former tag team partner Tomko after the match.[55] The feud continued through Hard Justice, with Styles and Angle trading wins. The episode after Hard Justice, he defeated Angle for his Olympic gold medal.[56] Styles also won the rematch ladder match the following week, thus ending the feud. Later he was asked to give Kurt back his gold medal by Jeff Jarrett, in an effort to try to mend things with Kurt.[57] ![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/AJ_Styles_at_TNA_show.jpg/180px-AJ_Styles_at_TNA_show.jpg) At Bound for Glory IV, Styles faced Christian Cage and Booker T in a 3-way dance in which Booker T won after performing the axe kick from the middle rope on Cage.[58] Shortly after that, Booker T, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash and Sting (who had turned heel) formed the team now known as The Main Event Mafia. On the October 23 episode of Impact! Styles teamed up with Samoa Joe against Sting and Nash but came up short after Nash hit Joe with Sting's TNA World Heavyweight Championship belt.[59] Following this, Styles and Joe were both attacked by the Main Event Mafia.[59] On the October 30 episode of Impact!, Styles and Joe formed a faction of younger wrestlers also featuring Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, Petey Williams, Eric Young, ODB and The Motor City Machineguns, which later would be collectively known as TNA Frontline.[60] Later that night they were once again assaulted by the Main Event Mafia when Scott Steiner returned and joined them.[60] He challenged Sting at Turning Point for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but lost thanks to a distraction from Kurt Angle and Booker T.[61] At the Final Resolution PPV, Styles was once again unsuccessful in capturing the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, losing in an eight-man tag team match to the Main Event Mafia Since then, The TNA Frontline has recruited Rhino and Team 3-D into their ranks. The Frontline has also had to deal with problems with The Motor City Machineguns, who have shown little respect to the other members, and gang style attacks on members, such as Petey Williams, Brother Ray, and Samoa Joe, from the Mafia. On the January 22, 2009 episode of Impact! Kurt Angle vowed to end Styles' career that. Angle beat AJ in a tables match where Styles was (kayfabe) injured. [62] At Against All Odds, Styles returned attacked Booker T after his defense of the TNA Legends Championship. After doing so, he stole Booker T's Legends belt, then went on a rampage of weekly consecutive backstage sneak attacks on Booker T, which ended once Booker (with Scott Steiner) goaded him into trying the same in the ring in order to get him (kayfabe) arrested. At Destination X 2009, Styles defeated Booker T to become the new TNA Legends Champion and becoming the first TNA Grand Slam Champion as said by Mike Tenay. Styles defeated Booker T in an "I Quit" match for the TNA Legends Championship at Sacrifice when Jenna Morasca threw in the towel on Booker's behalf. At Slammiversary, Styles competed in the King of the Mountain match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship but was unsuccessful after Samoa Joe turned his back on Styles, helping Kurt Angle win and in the process, Joe turned heel. At the Victory Road pay-per-view, Styles lost the Legends Championship to Nash via pinfall. Styles helped develop the first TNA wrestling video game known as TNA Impact! and was helping develop Pro Wrestling X with Wrestling Gamers United.[63] In 2004, TNA released Phenomenal: The Best of AJ Styles, a DVD covering Styles' best matches. In 2007, TNA released a follow-up DVD, Phenomenal: The Best of AJ Styles Volume 2. In addition, Ring of Honor has released two DVDs covering his early career with the company. Evolution of a Phenom: The Best of AJ Styles covers from his debut to mid-2003. The Phenomenon Continues: The Best of AJ Styles Vol. 2 picks up where the last one left off, covering from mid-2003 to his match with CM Punk at the ROH Second Anniversary Show in 2004 (his second to last match before leaving ROH in 2004). He also sat down for a shoot interview alongside Christopher Daniels for ROH's "Straight Shootin’" series.
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Post by Mr. Emoticon Man on Jul 25, 2009 11:05:39 GMT -5
AJ Styles is probably my favorite of the TNA Originals, but he has a long way to go before he bumps off anyone on my top ten list.
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Post by The Raven on Jul 25, 2009 11:28:38 GMT -5
I still kinda remember when AJ was in WCW.
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Post by bob on Jul 25, 2009 12:38:21 GMT -5
4 way tie at 23. One is the poster boy for the current WWE Kidditude era we are in. One is in the WWE Hall of Fame. One is busy making films these days. The fourth man is a 4-time World heavyweight champion. One post per wrestler since their bios are HUGE "Rowdy" Roddy Piper ![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Roddy_Piper.jpg) Roderick George Toombs (born April 17, 1954)[2] better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler and film actor currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment. Despite having no actual connection to Scotland, he was billed as coming from Glasgow, Scotland and was known for his signature kilt and bagpipe entrance music. He earned the nickname "Rowdy" by displaying his trademark "Scottish" rage, spontaneity and quick wit, he was also nicknamed "Hot Rod". Toombs was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He attended Windsor Park Collegiate. His father worked for CN Rail while they lived in The Pas, Manitoba. After being expelled from junior high and having a falling out with his father, Piper hit the road and stayed in youth hostels wherever he could find them. By the age of 16, he was the youngest wrestler in the history of professional wrestling and he made his pro debut in Winnipeg, against Larry Hennig. Piper lost the match in ten seconds. He was a boxer and an amateur wrestler before he started to become a pro wrestler. He won the Golden Gloves boxing championship. He was awarded a Black Belt in Judo from American Judo champion, instructor, stuntman, and professional wrestler, Gene LeBell. From 1973 to 1975, Piper was a jobber in the AWA, Kansas City, the Maritimes, and Texas working for Paul Boesch's NWA Houston Wrestling promotion and in Dallas working for Fritz Von Erich's Big Time Rasslin. What was supposed to be a brief run in California, however, turned out to be a long term stint as booker Leo Garibaldi and publicist Jeff Walton were impressed with Piper and saw the money making possibilities he had as a villain. By late 1975 and early 1976, Piper was a top villain for Mike and Gene LeBell's NWA Hollywood Wrestling. In 1977–78, he also started to work for Roy Shire's NWA San Francisco Wrestling in addition to remaining with the L.A. office. Los Angeles was where Piper developed his Rowdy Character and became one of the most hated villains in Los Angeles since the days of Classy Freddy Blassie. During this time, he made continuous insults directed at the area's Mexican community; he later promised to amend by playing the Mexican national anthem on his bagpipes only to anger the fans further by playing "La Cucaracha" instead.[4] Piper also served as manager for several villains in Los Angeles and worked as a referee from time to time. Piper feuded with all the fan favorites in the area and had a long feud with Chavo Guerrero. As part of the L.A. storyline, Roddy Piper feuded with Chavo and the whole Guerrero family for about three years in the L.A. territory. The feud started during a TV bout in early 1976 where Chavo was defending the Jules Strongbow Memorial Scientific Trophy against Piper. Late in this match, Gory Guerrero (who had been in Chavo's corner giving him advice throughout the match) was slapped by Piper. Chavo "lost his cool" and starting punching Piper, getting DQ'ed and losing the Scientific Trophy for "breaking the rules". A short time later, Piper then defeated Chavo for the Americas Heavyweight Title and these two competed in the top feud in Los Angeles for the better part of three years. They main evented against each other often during this era (1976 through 1978). The hair match gimmick was one of the top stipulations between these two, resulting in Piper getting his head shaved. Another top stipulation was when Chavo beat Piper in a loser leave town match and Piper immediately reappeared as The Masked Canadian. In his first televised match as The Masked Canadian, Piper actually teamed with Chavo to battle the Americas Tag Team Champions (Gordman and Goliath) and Piper turned on Chavo late in the match, causing Chavo to get pinned. Piper wrestled as The Masked Canadian for several months until he was unmasked by Hector Guerrero. By late 78 early 79, Buddy Rose talked Piper into leaving the California promotions for even more fame in Don Owen’s Pacific Northwest Territory where he teamed with Killer Tim Brooks, Rick Martel, and Mike Popovich to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship. Piper also won the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship with victories over both Lord Jonathan Boyd and "Playboy" Buddy Rose. In late 1980, Piper ventured to the Mid-Atlantic territory. He beat Jack Brisco for the Mid-Atlantic title and Ric Flair for the US belt which turned into a huge feud. In 1981, Piper started with the Georgia territory as an antagonistic villainous commentator. In 1982, due to showing up late for a match, he was fired and reportedly blackballed. Piper maintains this in his book, but others dispute this.[citation needed] He did receive an offer from Gary Hart to go to World Class Championship Wrestling but the money was not good enough. Instead, he went to Puerto Rico for a month or so and was able to get booked by Jim Barnett shortly thereafter. It was in Barnett's promotion Georgia Championship Wrestling that Piper became a fan favorite to save broadcast partner Gordon Solie from an attack. In Wrestling to Rasslin', Gerald W. Morton and George M. O'Brien described the transformation: "the drama finally played itself out on television when one of his [Piper's] hired assassins, Don Muraco, suddenly attacked the commentator Gordon Solie. Seeing Solie hurt, Piper unleashed his Scottish fury on Muraco. In the week that followed, like Achilles avenging Patroklas, he slaughtered villain after villain.... In the arenas fans chanted his name throughout his matches."[5] Eventually, Piper moved back to Jim Crockett's promotion Jim Crockett Promotions. As a fan favorite, Piper feuded with Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair, and Greg Valentine. Piper's feud with Valentine culminated in a dog collar match at the first Starrcade. Valentine damaged the eardrum in Piper's left ear with the collar's chain leaving Piper with permanent hearing loss Around this time World Wrestling Federation (WWF) owner Vince McMahon contacted Piper, who insisted on serving out his contract with Jim Crockett. Piper started in the WWF in late 1983 and at the same time fulfilled dates with Crockett. On his way out of Crockett's promotion he became a heel, which set the stage for his WWF run in 1984. He started as a manager at first, due to the injuries he sustained during his dog collar match with Greg Valentine, but soon started wrestling full-time. Piper came in as the manager for "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, and soon began to wrestle with Orndorff as well. Later that year, he was given his own interview segment called Piper's Pit, in which he talked to other superstars and frequently ended in a fight between Piper and his guest. The Piper's Pit segments helped create the feuds Piper had with other wrestlers. According to Piper's autobiography, Piper's Pit was completely unscripted and was in fact so popular that it was taken on the road. In addition to pleasing many of his fans who wanted to see the Pit in person, it accomplished other things: it gave Piper the opportunity to heal some nagging injuries while still retaining his heat with the fans. An early guest on Piper's Pit was his Mid-Atlantic nemesis Valentine, who also arrived to the WWF. In a rare occurrence for WWF programming at the time, the two made reference to their history in the rival organization and hinted at rekindling it, but as the two were now top villains, they both agreed that they had mutual respect for each other, and it was left at that. In one Piper's Pit, Piper had an interview with Jimmy Snuka. Piper started insulting Snuka's Polynesian heritage by bringing out pineapples, bananas, and dropping coconuts onto the table; this was to make Snuka "feel at home" in an act of "remorse" after Snuka was not given much time to speak the previous times he was on Piper's Pit. Snuka took offense to this and Piper then attacked Snuka by smashing him over the head with a coconut and shoving a banana in his face. He followed this up by whipping Snuka with his belt. Snuka was legitimately knocked woozy allowing Piper to leave before Snuka, now seriously enraged, could fight back. This incident led to a long feud between the two. Piper also insulted Bruno Sammartino during a Piper's Pit which led to a feud between the two, ending in a steel cage match which Piper lost. Another feud, this time between Piper and Hulk Hogan erupted soon after and became what was at the time the highest-profile feud in wrestling history, thanks to the involvement of pop singer Cyndi Lauper, where Piper kicked Lauper in the head—and even attacked Captain Lou Albano—with Hogan seeking revenge as a result. In 1985, MTV broadcast The War to Settle the Score, featuring a main-event matchup between Piper and Hogan, who was accompanied to the ring by Albano, Lauper, and Mr. T. This event set up the very first WrestleMania, which pitted Piper and Paul Orndorff against Hogan and Mr. T. Orndorff was pinned by Hogan when Piper's bodyguard "Cowboy" Bob Orton interfered and mistakenly struck Orndorff instead of Hogan with his trademark "injured" arm covered in a plaster cast. In Born to Controversy, Piper recalled how he had to keep Mr. T busy with tie-ups and other shoot wrestling moves to keep Mr. T's lack of wrestling ability from being seen by the fans, thus ruining the match. From this situation, Piper and Mr. T's real-life relationship became hostile, leading to the inevitable conclusion that they be put into a feud with one another. Piper once again faced Mr. T, this time alone, in a boxing match at WrestleMania 2 in 1986. Piper lost the match by disqualification after bodyslamming Mr. T. Following a leave of absence from the WWF, Piper returned during a TV taping on WWF Superstars in 1986 against jobber A.J. Petruzzi and seemed to be a fan favorite. After being slapped in the face by Bertuzzi twice, Piper placed one hand behind his back and beat his opponent to a pulp. In another Piper's Pit, which happened not long before WrestleMania III, when Jesse Ventura dared Piper to have André the Giant and Hulk Hogan interview each other, which they did. Andre, who was accompanied by Bobby Heenan, his manager at the time, challenged Hogan to a championship match at WrestleMania. Hogan, trying to avoid actual physical contact, tried to calm Andre down, but Heenan ordered him to push Hogan to the ground, which he did, before leaving. The segment ended when Piper asked if Hogan still wanted to challenge Andre at WrestleMania, and Hogan replied yes. Piper was distressed to find his Piper's Pit segment replaced by The Flower Shop, a segment hosted by the then effeminate wrestler Adrian Adonis. Piper spent weeks crashing Adonis' show and trading insults, leading to a "showdown" between the two segments that ended with Piper being assaulted and humiliated by Adonis, Piper's former bodyguard Orton (now in Adonis' employ), and Don Muraco. The trio left Piper with his face covered in red lipstick lying in the middle of the remnants of the Piper's Pit set which had been destroyed. In response, Piper stormed the set of Adonis' show and destroyed it with a baseball bat. This led to their Hair vs Hair match at WrestleMania III, which was billed as Piper's retirement match from wrestling before becoming an actor full-time. Piper won the match with the assistance of Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, who had been sheared by Adonis shortly before the match Piper returned from a hiatus with a live Piper's Pit at WrestleMania V, where he hosed down a smoking Morton Downey, Jr. with a fire extinguisher. He also wrestled part-time, while serving as an on-air host and commentator, at that time feuding with "Ravishing" Rick Rude after playing a part in Rude losing his Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam in August 1989. Piper also wrestled Bad News Brown at WrestleMania VI in 1990. The match ended with both men being counted out of the ring, but the real highlight of the match was Piper's choice of ring attire. In true 'Rowdy' fashion, Piper cut a promo and came to the ring with half his body painted black in a strange attempt to play head games with Bad News. In 1991, he supported Virgil in his feud against Ted DiBiase and was present at their matches at WrestleMania VII and SummerSlam. He also renewed his feud with Ric Flair and at the 1992 Royal Rumble defeated The Mountie for his first, and only, Intercontinental Championship. He lost it soon after to Bret Hart at WrestleMania VIII. After playing the bagpipes at SummerSlam, he disappeared from the WWF. He reemerged in 1994 at WrestleMania X as guest referee for the WWF Championship match between Bret Hart and Yokozuna. During the match, commentator Jerry Lawler remarked that he hated Piper and continued to taunt Piper on his King's Court segment on Monday Night Raw, eventually culminating with Lawler bringing out a skinny teenager in a Piper T-shirt and kilt and forcing him to kiss his feet. Enraged, Piper agreed to wrestle Lawler at the King of the Ring, where Piper emerged victorious. Piper wrestled as a fan favorite, saying he had "made a mess of most of his career as a heel", and adding to the face attitude by donating part of his purse from the fight with Lawler to a children's hospital in Ontario. Leaving the WWF again, he soon returned in 1995 at WrestleMania XI, once again in a referee capacity, for the submission-only match between Hart and Bob Backlund. In 1996, Piper was named as interim WWF President, following Vader's malicious assault on Gorilla Monsoon, following the Royal Rumble. As president, Piper had become the object of affection for Goldust. Enraged, Piper claimed he would "make a man" out of Goldust at WrestleMania XII, in a "Hollywood Backlot Brawl." While the contest began in an alleyway behind the Arrowhead Pond, Goldust jumped into his gold Cadillac and ran Piper over, ultimately escaping (allegedly) onto the highways of Anaheim. Piper pursued in his white Ford Bronco, which when viewed from aerial footage looked similar to the O. J. Simpson "slow-speed" chase from two years prior (the WWF had attempted to be humorous and recycle the footage with Vince McMahon quipping on commentary, "This footage looks awfully familiar"). The two eventually returned to the arena, where Piper disrobed Goldust in the ring, effectively ending the confrontation. With Gorilla Monsoon back in control of the WWF by the end of the night, Piper once again left the Federation. Later in 1996, Piper joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He appeared at Halloween Havoc to "break Hogan's monotony." In his first appearance, Piper asked Hogan, "Do you think [the fans] would've loved you so much, if they hadn't hated me?" Piper and Hogan wrestled in a non-title match in the main event of Starrcade, WCW's biggest pay-per-view event of the year. Piper defeated Hogan with a sleeper hold. Piper faced Hogan in a title match at SuperBrawl VII. This time, Hogan beat Piper when Randy Savage interfered and joined the New World Order (nWo). Promos showed Piper locking himself in the Alcatraz prison and vigorously exercising in order to prepare for the highly anticipated match. During the spring of 1997, Piper joined forces with Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen in their battle with the nWo. Shortly thereafter, Piper and Flair feuded before Piper disappeared from the scene. Piper briefly returned in October 1997 to face Hogan once again in a steel cage match. In early 1998, Piper once again returned to feud with Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Bret Hart. In early 1999, Piper had a short run as United States Champion, became WCW Commissioner, and resumed his feud with Flair over control of WCW. Piper also had a short feud with Buff Bagwell in the summer of 1999, where he was defeated by Bagwell, whose mother got involved. In late 1999, Piper was featured on WCW Television, in an angle with Vince Russo, who was now portraying himself as the "Powers That Be" (an unseen power that was controlling WCW). At Starrcade, Piper was the special referee in the WCW title match featuring Goldberg and Bret Hart. Forced by Russo, Piper called for the bell when Hart locked in the Sharpshooter on Goldberg, when it was apparent that Goldberg had not submitted. Piper apologized for this incident the next night on Nitro and attempted to make the save for Goldberg when Bret Hart and the nWo beat him down, but the nWo also attacked Piper. Piper last appearance was at SuperBrawl in 2000 where he was a surprise referee in the title match between Sid Eudy and Jeff Jarrett. The feud between Piper and the Powers That Be ended shortly after and Piper disappeared, never to be seen on WCW TV again. In the fall of 2000, WCW terminated Piper's contract, and the organization ceased to exist after being sold to WWF several months later. In November 2002, Piper's autobiography, In the Pit with Piper: Roddy Gets Rowdy, was released. At WrestleMania XIX in Seattle, Washington, Piper ran in during the Hulk Hogan-Vince McMahon match and made his second WWE run as a villain by attacking Hogan with a steel pipe. He brought back Piper's Pit on the April 10 edition of SmackDown!, and after aligning with Sean O'Haire, Piper smashed a coconut over the head of Rikishi, a relative of Snuka. At Backlash that month, Rikishi returned the favor to Piper. Piper was then put in a program against "Mr. America". The storyline was Hulk Hogan had been bought off WWE television forever by McMahon. Hulk Hogan returned "incognito" although the joke was that everybody knew who he really was, which infuriated McMahon. At this point, Piper and O'Haire were portrayed as McMahon's lackeys attempting to unmask Mr. America. Despite Piper being a heel he still got cheered due to being a legend. Around the same time on Raw, Chris Jericho started The Highlight Reel—a show similar to Piper's Pit. The two even verbally sparred on TV, with Jericho calling Piper fat and telling him to call him "when he lost some weight"; Piper's retorted, "I have seen Chris Jericho wrestle. I have heard Chris Jericho talk. I have even heard Chris Jericho sing. So I'll make you a deal: I promise you that when I lose some weight, I'll call you. And when you get some talent, you call me." At Judgment Day, the two met again, with Jericho telling Piper he made a wrong turn and missed the senior's home and alluding to the incident where Piper ripped off a fan's (later revealed to be Zach Gowen) leg and used it as a weapon, mentioning there were some midgets and lepers he could thrash, and while patting Piper's stomach, asked if he ate the leg. Piper responded by blasting him for ripping off the Piper's Pit idea and drilling it into the ground and called Jericho's birth an "accident". In June 2003, WWE decided to stop using Piper (who was working without a contract at the time) after a controversial interview with HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel in which Piper discussed the darker side of the wrestling business. On his 2006 DVD, Piper claimed that HBO took parts of his interviews out of context to make wrestling look worse. In 2004, Piper appeared for the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion, hosting several In the Pit with Piper interview segments. He interviewed former rival Jimmy Snuka at the company's first three-hour pay-per-view, Victory Road, where he dared Snuka to get revenge by hitting him with a coconut. Instead, TNA wrestler Kid Kash eventually used the coconut on Sonjay Dutt. Piper also served as one of their National Wrestling Alliance Championship Committee members, culminating in refereeing a match at Final Resolution. On February 21, 2005, it was announced that Piper was to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Piper held an edition of Piper's Pit at WrestleMania 21 where he interviewed Stone Cold Steve Austin. The interview was interrupted by Carlito, who was promptly beaten up by both Piper and Austin. In February 2005 at an event called WrestleReunion, Piper teamed with Jimmy Valiant and Snuka against Colonel DeBeers, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, and "Playboy" Buddy Rose. On the July 11, 2005 episode of Raw, Piper returned as a face to host Piper's Pit with guest Shawn Michaels, who superkicked Piper at the end of the show. This was during the time when Michaels was in a feud with Hulk Hogan. Piper once again appeared on Raw on October 3, 2005 for Raw Homecoming. He hosted Piper's Pit with guest Mick Foley; later in the segment, Randy Orton and "Cowboy" Bob Orton appeared and attacked both Foley and Piper. This event sparked a mini-feud between Piper and The Ortons. On the next SmackDown! after Homecoming, Piper took on the Ortons in a handicap match. Piper won with a roll-up on Bob Orton after a distraction by The Undertaker. On October 28, Piper teamed with Batista and Eddie Guerrero to take on Randy Orton, Bob Orton, and Mr. Kennedy. Piper won after applying the sleeper hold to Bob Orton. Piper's feud with The Ortons came to an end on the November 4, 2005 episode of SmackDown! with a DQ victory over Bob Orton. Piper returned to Raw on September 11, 2006 for a six-man tag team match win with The Highlanders against the Spirit Squad. He also appeared on the Raw Family Reunion, along with Money Inc. and Arn Anderson to accompany Ric Flair ringside for a match against Mitch of the Spirit Squad. On November 5, 2006, Piper won the World Tag Team Championship with Ric Flair from The Spirit Squad at Cyber Sunday, after being chosen to be Flair's partner by voters at WWE.com over Sgt. Slaughter and Dusty Rhodes. On the November 13, 2006 edition of Raw, Piper and Flair lost the title to Rated-RKO. Piper never made it to the ring, as he was attacked by Edge with a con-chair-to before the match. On November 17, 2006, WWE announced on their website that Piper was flown from the UK to his home state of Oregon and had surgery for what was originally believed to be kidney stones, but was speculated to be a disc problem in his back. It was later determined to be cancer. As a result of the procedure, it was announced that he was withdrawing from the Survivor Series match which would have pitted himself (as a co-captain), along with Flair, Anderson, Sgt. Slaughter, and Dusty Rhodes against the Spirit Squad. He was replaced with Ron Simmons. He made a return to Raw on an episode taped February 12, 2007, during which he announced that his friend Dusty Rhodes was to be the first person inducted into the 2007 class of the WWE Hall of Fame. During his appearance Umaga, with manager Armando Alejandro Estrada, entered the ring and laid out both men. He then returned on the June 11, 2007 edition of Raw as part of "Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night", where he introduced a video of some of McMahon's most embarrassing moments. In 2008, after finishing his therapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma, he made a brief appearance in the Royal Rumble, primarily focusing on "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. Both men were eliminated by Kane shortly after they entered the ring. Piper returned to Raw on April 28, 2008. He was a backstage visitor, and was confronted by Santino Marella. Marella poked fun at Piper's weight, which resulted in Santino getting slapped by Piper. The next week, Piper was a guest on Carlito's Cabana and Carlito and Santino were about to double team Piper when they were chased off by Cody Rhodes and Cryme Tyme. On May 12, Piper's interference stopped Santino and Carlito from beating Rhodes and Hardcore Holly for the World Tag Team Championship. Santino then threatened Piper with retaliation, culminating in a confrontation with Piper during the May 16 edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He wrestled his presumed last match on April 18, 2008 one
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Post by bob on Jul 25, 2009 12:43:14 GMT -5
Mick Foley ![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Mick-foley-at-signing.jpg/200px-Mick-foley-at-signing.jpg) Foley formally trained at Dominic DeNucci's wrestling school in Freedom, Pennsylvania, driving several hours weekly from his college campus in Cortland, New York, and debuted in 1983.[3][9] In addition to appearing on DeNucci's cards, Foley and several other students also took part in some squash matches for WWF TV tapings, wrestling under the name "Jack Foley," including a match where Foley and Les Thornton faced the British Bulldogs, during which The Dynamite Kid clotheslined Foley with such force that he was unable to eat solid food for several weeks.[10] After several years of wrestling in the independent circuit, Foley began receiving offers from various regional promotions, including the UWF.[11] He joined Memphis-based CWA as Cactus Jack, where he teamed with Gary Young as part of the Stud Stable.[12] Cactus and Young briefly held the CWA tag titles in late 1988.[13] On November 20, Foley left CWA for Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling. In World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), Cactus Jack, billed as Cactus Jack Manson, was a major part of Skandor Akbar's stable.[14] Foley also won several titles, including the company's light heavyweight and tag team titles before leaving the company, losing his last match to Eric Embry in nine seconds. He then briefly competed in Alabama's Continental Wrestling Federation before completing a brief stint with World Championship Wrestling, including a match against Mil Máscaras at Clash of the Champions X: Texas Shootout.[15] It was during this period that Foley was involved in a car accident that resulted in the loss of his two front teeth, adding to the distinctive look for which he is famous.[16] Following the short stint with WCW, Foley then signed with Herb Abrams's Universal Wrestling Federation.[13][17] In UWF, Foley teamed with Bob Orton to feud with Don Muraco, Sunny Beach, and Brian Blair. He soon left UWF for Tri-State Wrestling (a forerunner to Extreme Championship Wrestling),[18] whose style of high impact and violent wrestling style fit Foley well. On one night, known as Tri-State's Summer Sizzler 1991, Cactus Jack and Eddie Gilbert had three matches in one night: Cactus won a Falls Count Anywhere match, lost a Stretcher match, and then fought to a double disqualification in a Steel Cage match.[19] These matches caught the attention of World Championship Wrestling promoters, and after a brief stint working in the Global Wrestling Federation, he joined WCW. He soon left UWF for Tri-State Wrestling (a forerunner to Extreme Championship Wrestling),[18] whose style of high impact and violent wrestling style fit Foley well. On one night, known as Tri-State's Summer Sizzler 1991, Cactus Jack and Eddie Gilbert had three matches in one night: Cactus won a Falls Count Anywhere match, lost a Stretcher match, and then fought to a double disqualification in a Steel Cage match.[19] These matches caught the attention of World Championship Wrestling promoters, and after a brief stint working in the Global Wrestling Federation, he joined WCW.[13][19] On September 5, 1991, Cactus Jack debuted as a heel and attacked Sting.[20] 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 in 1992, which Sting won.[21] For a long time, Foley considered this the best match he ever worked.[21] Cactus Jack first wrestled Vader on April 6, 1993. Foley tried to repair a knee injury with "do it yourself" surgery and failed, leaving him unable to walk for eight months. 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 powerbombed Cactus onto the exposed concrete floor, causing a legitimate concussion and causing Foley to temporarily lose sensation in his left foot and hand.[22] 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.[23] 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.[23] Foley returned in the fall of 1993 to save Davey Boy Smith 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.[24] 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 (though more dangerous in WCW since the ring ropes were not ropes but steel cables in rubber casing).[25] 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.[25] 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.[26] Later that year, Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan were scheduled to win the tag team titles at Slamboree in 1994.[27] 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. Later on, Foley was frustrated by WCW's reluctance to work a storyline around losing his ear. WCW also shared a brief co-promotion with ECW during this time in which Foley represented WCW on ECW television as the WCW Tag Team champion. During a promo, Foley spat on his Tag Team title belt and threw it to the ground to appeal to the hardcore fans who frowned upon the mainstream promotions. Although Foley meant no disrespect to the title, Ric Flair and WCW execs were not pleased with this display and Foley was reprimanded After leaving WCW, Foley went to the newly formed Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and began a feud with Sabu. Jack then began working the ECW tag team division on teams with Terry Funk, Mikey Whipwreck, and Kevin Sullivan. He had two ECW World Tag Team Championship reigns with Whipwreck while in ECW.[28] At the tail end of 1994, Foley joined Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) as Cactus Jack, causing Boo Bradley to lose the TV Title. He often teamed with Brian Lee to feud with Bradley and Chris Candido. Cactus Jack then began a crusade to rid Bradley of his valet Tammy Lynn Sytch. He ignited a feud between Candido and Bradley when he accused Candido of having sexual relations with Sytch. Cactus Jack left SMW before the feud was resolved. In 1995, Foley went to Japan and wrestled in IWA, where he engaged in feuds with Terry Funk and Shoji Nakamaki. Foley, however, soon returned to ECW to feud with The Sandman. Funk returned to team up with Sandman, and during a particularly violent spot, the pair hit Cactus with a Singapore cane forty-six times. Cactus Jack then defeated Funk at Hostile City Showdown 1995. Later, he fought Sandman for the ECW championship. During the match, Cactus Jack knocked Sandman unconscious and was declared the winner. Referee Bill Alfonso, however, reversed his decision on the grounds that the title cannot change hands by knockout. Returning to the IWA, Cactus Jack began a feud with Leatherface, whom he had betrayed during a tag team match. Foley also continued to wrestle in independent circuits, winning championships on the Ozark Mountain and Steel City circuits. On August 20, 1995, IWA organized a "King of the Death Match" tournament. Each level of the tournament featured a new and deadly gimmick: Cactus Jack's first round was a barbed-wire baseball bat, thumbtack death match, in which he defeated Terry Gordy; the second round was a barbed-wire board, bed of nails match where Cactus Jack defeated Shoji Nakamaki. The final, against Terry Funk, was a barbed-wire rope, barbed-wire and C4 board, time-bomb death match, which Cactus Jack won with help from Tiger Jeet Singh. After the match, both men were ravaged by the wire, and burned by the C4 explosions. Foley later said that he only received $300 for the entire night.[29] After the tournament, he teamed with Tracy Smothers for a quick run with the IWA tag team titles. Foley then returned to ECW to team with Tommy Dreamer. Cactus began a gimmick where he criticized hardcore wrestling and sought to renounce his status as a hardcore wrestling icon. He said that he was on a mission to save his partner from making the mistake of trying to please bloodthirsty fans. The mismatched partnership lasted until August 5, 1995, when Cactus turned on Dreamer when they were teaming against The Pitbulls. Cactus Jack DDT'ed his partner and joined Raven's Nest, as he wished to serve Raven's "higher purpose." He remained one of Raven's top henchmen for the remainder of his time in ECW. On August 28, Cactus beat the previously undefeated 911. As part of Foley's heel gimmick, he began praising WWF and WCW on ECW television. At first, ECW fans did not really boo Cactus' "anti-hardcore" heel character, but once they learned that he was leaving the organization for the WWF, they began hating him passionately.[citation needed] They did not even react positively when, as his departure grew nearer, Foley attempted to shift away from his character and give sincere good-bye interviews. Cactus was booked to face WWF hater Shane Douglas, who won when he put Jack into a figure four leglock that allowed Mikey Whipwreck to hit him repeatedly with a steel chair. Foley's last ECW match was against Whipwreck in April 1996. The ECW fans, who knew that this was Foley's last match, finally returned his affection. They cheered him throughout the match and chanted, "Please don't go!" After the match, Foley told the audience that their reaction made everything worthwhile and made his exit by dancing with Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie. Foley has said that this exit was his favorite moment in wrestling. Foley arrived in the WWF in 1996 with a new gimmick: Mankind, a tortured soul who constantly squealed (even throughout his matches), shrieked "Mommy!", spoke to a rat, enjoyed pain, physically abused himself (such as by pulling out his hair), wore a Hannibal Lecter-inspired mask, and lived in boiler rooms; hence, his specialty match, the Boiler Room brawl. [3] Mankind debuted the day after WrestleMania XII, quickly moving into a feud with The Undertaker. This feud continued through King of the Ring, Mankind's WWF pay-per-view debut. During the match, Undertaker's manager, Paul Bearer, "accidentally" struck him with the urn, allowing Mankind to apply the mandible claw for the win. The two then began interfering in each other's matches until they were booked in the first ever Boiler Room brawl, in which the goal was to escape the arena's boiler room and reach the ring to take the urn from Paul Bearer. The Undertaker appeared to have won, but Paul Bearer refused to hand him the urn, allowing Mankind to win, thus (for the time being) ending the relationship between Paul and the Undertaker. While Mankind was managed by Paul Bearer, he referred to him as "Uncle Paul." Mankind then earned the number one contendership to face the then WWF Champion Shawn Michaels at In Your House: Mind Games. Michaels won by disqualification via interference by Vader and The Undertaker. For several years, Foley considered this match his best ever, saying "Sure, at 280 pounds I still looked like hell, but after a brutal cardiovascular training regimen, I was able to go full-tilt for twenty-seven minutes with a smaller, quicker, better athlete than me."[31] The Mankind-Undertaker feud continued with the first ever Buried Alive match at In Your House: Buried Alive. Undertaker won the match, but Paul Bearer, Terry Gordy (as the Executioner), Mankind and other heels attacked 'Taker and buried him alive. Afterward, he challenged Mankind to a match at Survivor Series, which he won. The feud ended after one more match at In Your House: Revenge of the Taker for the WWF Championship, which Undertaker had won at WrestleMania 13. Undertaker won the match and Bearer took a leave of absence, ending the feud. Jim Ross then began conducting a series of interviews with Mankind. During the interviews, Ross brought up the topic of Foley's home videos and the character he played in them, Dude Love. Around this time, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels won the WWF Tag Team Championships from Owen Hart and The British Bulldog, but Michaels was injured and could no longer compete. Mankind tried to replace him, but Austin said he wanted "nothing to do with a freak" and resigned himself to facing Hart and the Bulldog alone the next week. Halfway into the match, however, Foley debuted a new persona known as Dude Love who suddenly appeared and helped Austin take the victory, becoming the new Tag Team Champions.[32] Austin and Dude vacated their tag team titles when Austin suffered a serious neck injury at the hands of Owen Hart at SummerSlam. Dude Love feuded with Hunter Hearst Helmsley, as the two competed in a Falls Count Anywhere match. One of Foley's most memorable vignettes aired before the match began, in which Dude Love and Mankind discussed who should wrestle the upcoming match. Eventually, "they" decided that it should be Cactus Jack, and Foley's old character made his WWF debut. Jack won the match with a Piledriver through a table. Shortly thereafter, Extreme Championship Wrestling's Terry Funk joined the WWF as "Chainsaw Charlie," and he and Jack defeated the New Age Outlaws at WrestleMania XIV in a Dumpster match to win the tag team titles. The next night, however, Vince McMahon stripped them of the belts and scheduled a rematch in a steel cage, which the Outlaws won with help from their new allies, D-Generation X. On April 6, 1998, Foley turned heel when Cactus Jack explained the fans would not see him anymore because they did not appreciate him and only cared about Stone Cold Steve Austin. Vince McMahon explained to Austin the next week that he would face a "mystery" opponent at Unforgiven. That opponent turned out to be Dude Love, who won the match by disqualification, meaning that Austin retained the title. McMahon, displeased with the outcome, required Foley to prove he deserved another shot at Austin's title with a number one contendership match against his former partner, Terry Funk. The match was both the WWF's first ever "Hardcore match" and the first time that Foley wrestled under his own name. Foley won, and after the match, a proud McMahon came out to Dude Love's music and presented Foley with the Dude Love costume. At Over the Edge, Dude Love took on Austin for the title. McMahon designated his subordinates Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson as the timekeeper and ring announcer, and made himself the special referee. The Undertaker, however, came to ringside to ensure McMahon called the match fairly, and with his presence, Dude Love lost the match and was "fired" by McMahon the next night Foley then reverted to his Mankind character, who began wearing an untucked shirt with a loose necktie and feuding with The Undertaker. At King of the Ring, the two competed in the third Hell in a Cell match. In one of the most famous matches in professional wrestling history, Foley received numerous injuries and took two dangerous and highly influential bumps. The first one came as both wrestlers were brawling on top of the cell, and Undertaker threw Mankind from a height of sixteen feet and sent him crashing through the Spanish announcers' table. This event also triggered Jim Ross famously shouting "Good God almighty! Good God almighty! That killed him! As God as my witness, he is broken in half!" This fall was planned. According to Foley in Mick Foley's Greatest Hits and Misses, the second was accidental. With both men back on the top of the cell, Undertaker chokeslammed Mankind, and a section of the cage gave way. Foley fell through and hit the ring hard. A chair that had been atop the cage also slammed Foley's head and knocked out a tooth as he hit the canvas. He was also knocked unconscious for a few moments from the impact, but he finished the match after waking up. Although Mankind lost, both wrestlers received a standing ovation for the match, and the event is often said to have jump-started Foley's main event career. Many future matches attempted to replicate some of the spots from this match. In his autobiography Have a Nice Day! A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks, Foley wrote that he couldn't remember much of what happened, and he had to watch a tape of the match to write about it. The match was voted Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Match of the Year for 1998. Although many fans regard the match as a classic, it has generated controversy as well. Critics charge that the falls in the match were so extreme and they set the bar for further bumps so high that the inevitable attempts to equal or surpass them would be unsafe for the wrestlers involved. Additionally, in his autobiography, Terry Funk wrote that both falls, including the second one through the cage, were planned. Some sources, including Power Slam magazine and Pro Wrestling Torch, reported that Foley denied planning this bump to placate his wife, who was furious with him after the match. Foley said in his first book that his wife cried during a post match phone conversation between the two, and this made Foley strongly consider retiring from wrestling.[33] He also said that after the match, Vince McMahon thanked him for all he had done for the company, but made Foley promise to "never do anything like that again."[33] He also made mention in the book of a rather humorous exchange he and Undertaker had backstage while being checked out by Dr. Pettit, the company's resident doctor. Foley, still somewhat dazed from the concussion he sustained, turned to the Undertaker and asked "Did I use the thumbtacks?", a staple of some of Foley's early matches. The Undertaker looked at him and rather sternly replied "Look at your arm, Mick!", at which point Foley discovered a significant number of thumbtacks still lodged in his arm. Although conventional wisdom holds that the Hell in a Cell match was responsible for Foley's rise to main event status, live television crowds did not initially get behind Mankind because of the match. Foley decided that crowds might respond better if Mankind were more of a comedy character, and so he became less of a tortured soul and more of a goofy, broken down oaf. While Vince McMahon was in a hospital nursing wounds suffered at the hands of The Undertaker and Kane, Mankind arrived to cheer him up. Having succeeded only in irritating McMahon, Mankind unveiled a sock puppet named Mr. Socko. Intended to be a one-time joke, Socko became an overnight sensation. Mankind began putting the sock on his hand before applying his finisher, the mandible claw, stuffing a smelly sock in the mouths of opposing wrestlers. McMahon manipulated Mankind, who saw the WWF owner as a father figure, into doing his bidding. McMahon created the Hardcore Championship and awarded it to Mankind, making him the first-ever champion of the hardcore division. Mankind was then pushed as the favorite to win the WWF Championship at Survivor Series, as McMahon appeared to be manipulating the tournament so that Mankind would win. He and The Rock both reached the finals, where McMahon turned on Mankind. As The Rock placed Mankind in the Sharpshooter, McMahon ordered the timekeeper to ring the bell even though Mankind did not submit, a reference to the Montreal Screwjob from the year before. After weeks of trying to get his hands on McMahon's new faction, the Corporation, Mankind received a title shot with The Rock at In Your House. Mankind knocked The Rock out by shoving a dirty sweatsock in the Rock's mouth, but McMahon ruled that the title would not change hands because The Rock never gave up. After several weeks of going after the Corporation, Mankind had his big night on December 29, where Mankind defeated The Rock and won his first WWF championship. The taped show was broadcast on January 4, 1999, so that is the date WWE recognizes as beginning the title run. Having title changes on broadcast television rather than pay-per-view was uncommon in professional wrestling, but because of the Monday Night Wars, TV ratings became more important. The rival WCW, attempting to take advantage of the fact that their show Monday Nitro aired live while Mankind's title victory was taped the week before, had announcer Tony Schiavone reveal the ending of the Mankind-Rock match before it aired. He then added sarcastically, "That'll put a lot of butts in the seats." The move backfired for WCW, as Nielsen Ratings showed that Raw won the ratings battle that night, despite the Hogan vs. Nash main event which led to the reformation of the New World Order. Foley said that the ratings indicate that large numbers of viewers switched from Nitro to Raw to see him win the title and took great personal pride from this, and "Mick Foley put my ass in this seat" signs began showing up at WWF events. Mankind first lost the WWF title to The Rock in a "I Quit" match at Royal Rumble. During the match, Foley took several bumps, including eleven unprotected chairshots. This match is featured on Barry Blaustein's documentary Beyond the Mat, which shows the impact the match had on Foley and his family at ringside. The match ended after Mankind lost consciousness and The Rock's allies played a recording of Mankind saying "I Quit" from an earlier interview. The match led to some legitimate tension between Foley and The Rock for a time, because in the planning for the match, far fewer chairshots were to have been used.[citation needed] The match was also voted 1999's Match of the Year by the readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Mankind won the title back at a rematch on Halftime Heat, which aired during halftime at Super Bowl XXXIII, in the WWF's first ever Empty Arena match. The two then competed in a Last Man Standing match at St. Valentines Day Massacre, which ended without a winner, meaning that Mankind retained the title. The next night, Mr. McMahon booked a ladder match for the championship, which The Rock won with help from The Big Show. Later in the year, Foley and The Rock patched up their friendship and teamed up to form a comedy team called the Rock 'n' Sock Connection, becoming one of the most popular teams during that time. The pair won the tag team titles on three occasions. Foley helped WWF Raw achieve its highest ratings ever with a segment featuring himself (as Mankind) and The Rock. The "This is Your Life" segment aired on September 27, 1999 and received an 8.4 rating.[34] Foley returned from knee surgery as Mankind to win the WWF Championship for the third time at SummerSlam in a triple threat match against Steve Austin and Triple H. It is believed that Mankind was booked to win the championship that night because Austin refused to lose it to Triple H.[35] Triple H defeated Mankind and won the title the next night on Raw. A major feud developed between Mankind and the McMahon-Helmsley regime, led by Triple H, which led to Mankind's reverting to his Cactus Jack persona and facing Triple H for the WWF Championship at Royal Rumble in a Street Fight. Cactus used barbed wire and thumbtacks, trademark weapons from his pre-WWF days, but Triple H won the match after delivering two pedigrees, the second onto a pile of tacks. This feud culminated with a rematch at No Way Out in a Hell in a Cell match, where stipulations held that if Cactus Jack did not win the title, Foley would retire from wrestling. Triple H won, ostensibly ending Foley's career. Foley left for a few weeks but returned at the request of Linda McMahon to wrestle for the title at WrestleMania 2000 against Triple H, The Rock, and The Big Show.[36] Triple H won, and Foley did not wrestle again for four years. ![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Mick_Foley_and_Socko.jpg/200px-Mick_Foley_and_Socko.jpg) After retiring from active competition, Foley served as storyline WWF Commissioner under his real name rather than one of his personas. Foley has said that he intended for his Commissioner Foley character to be a "role model for nerds," cracking lame jokes and making no attempt to appear tough or scary. Foley turned getting cheap pops into something of a catchphrase, as he shamelessly declared at each WWF show that he was thrilled to be "right here in (whatever city he was performing in)!" punctuated with an intentionally cheesy thumbs-up gesture. During this time, Commissioner Foley engaged in rivalries with Kurt Angle, Edge and Christian, and Vince McMahon without actually wrestling them. He left the position in December 2000 after being "fired" on screen by McMahon. Foley made a surprise return on the Monday Night Raw just prior to WrestleMania X-Seven and announced that he would be the special guest referee in the match between Mr. McMahon and his son Shane at WrestleMania. After WrestleMania, Foley made sporadic WWF TV appearances throughout the spring and summer, at one point introducing Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura during a taping of Raw in the state as a foil to Mr. McMahon, as well as serving as the guest referee for the Earl Hebner versus Nick Patrick Referee match at the WWF Invasion pay-per-view. Foley returned as commissioner in October 2001, near the end of The Invasion angle. During this brief tenure, Foley had the opportunity to shoot on the WWF's direction and how dissatisfied he was with it. Saying that there were far too many championships in the company, he booked unification matches prior to the final pay-per-view of the storyline, Survivor Series. After Survivor Series, he ended his commissionership at Vince McMahon's request and left the company. Foley and McMahon had a real-life falling out with each other at the time, and Foley was absent from WWE for almost two years Foley returned in June 2003 to referee the Hell in a Cell match between Triple H and Kevin Nash at Bad Blood. On June 23, during a Raw broadcast in Madison Square Garden, he was honored for his achievements in the ring and presented with the retired WWE Hardcore Championship belt. The evening ended with Foley taking a beating and kicked down stairs by Randy Orton and Ric Flair. In December 2003, Foley returned to replace Steve Austin as co-general manager of Raw. He soon grew tired of the day-to-day travel and left his full-time duties to write and spend time with his family. In the storyline, Foley was afraid to wrestle a match with Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton and walked out of the arena rather than face him. In 2004, Foley returned briefly to wrestling, competing in the Royal Rumble and eliminating both Orton and himself with his trademark Cactus Jack clothesline. He and The Rock reunited as the Rock 'n' Sock Connection and lost a handicap match to Evolution at WrestleMania XX when Orton pinned Foley with an RKO as Foley pulled out Mr. Socko, this match turned out to be The Rock's final match in the WWE. The two continued to feud, culminating in a hardcore match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Backlash, where Orton defeated Foley as his Cactus Jack persona to retain the title with a botched RKO onto a barbed wire wrapped baseball bat, which Foley now regards as possibly the best match of his career.[37] Later in the year, he would make a one-time appearance at Japanese promotion HUSTLE, challenging for the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against then champion, Toshiaki Kawada, albeit in a losing effort.[38] Foley appeared as a color commentator at WWE's ECW One Night Stand, which aired on June 12, 2005, and subsequently renewed his contract with WWE. Foley returned in 2005 in a match where fans were able to vote on which persona he would appear as—Mankind, Dude Love, or Cactus Jack—against Carlito at Taboo Tuesday. Foley cut promos for each character and an online vote was held. The fans voted for Mankind, who went on to win the match. On the February 16, 2006 Raw, Foley returned to referee the WWE Championship match between Edge and John Cena. After Cena won, Edge attacked Foley, and the following week, Edge challenged Foley to a match at WrestleMania 22. Edge defeated Foley after Spearing him through a flaming table. In the weeks after the match, Foley turned heel and allied himself with Edge against the newly rejuvenated ECW. This would be the first WWE heel turn of Foley since his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin as Dude Love in 1998. At ECW One Night Stand, Foley, Edge and Lita defeated Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer and Beulah McGillicutty. Foley then engaged in a storyline rivalry with Ric Flair, inspired by real-life animosity between the two. In Have a Nice Day!, Foley wrote that Flair was "every bit as bad on the booking side of things as he was great on the wrestling side of it." In response, Flair wrote in his autobiography that Foley was "a glorified stuntman" and that he was able to climb the ladder in the WWF only because he was friends with the bookers. The two had a backstage confrontation at a Raw event in 2003, but Foley has said that they have largely reconciled.[39] To spark the feud, Flair again called Foley a "glorified stuntman" and Foley called Flair a "washed up piece of crap" and challenged him to a match. The result was a Two out of Three Falls match at Vengeance, where Flair beat Foley in two straight falls; with a rollup counter to the figure four in the first and by disqualification in the second after a trashcan shot. After the match, Flair was split wide open by Foley with a barbed wire bat. The two then wrestled an "I Quit" match at SummerSlam, which Flair won when he forced Foley to quit by threatening Melina with a barbed wire bat.[40] On the August 21 edition of Raw, Foley literally kissed Vince McMahon's buttocks as part of McMahon's "Kiss My Ass Club" gimmick after he threatened to fire Melina. Shortly thereafter, she betrayed Foley and announced that he was fired. Seven months later, Foley made his return to Raw on March 5, 2007 as a face again and tricked McMahon into giving him his job back. On April 9, Foley contributed to the Make-a-Wish Foundation and helped a young child named Michael Peña to become an honorary General Manager of the night.[41] Foley appeared again on June 11 for Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night insulting McMahon. Foley also announced his place as a number one contender for the WWE Championship. During the Raw broadcast before Vengeance, Foley was scheduled to make his official in-ring return in a match against Umaga but he attacked Umaga before the match, and the match was never started. At Vengeance, Foley wrestled in a WWE Championship Challenge match involving WWE Champion John Cena, Randy Orton, King Booker, and Bobby Lashley. Cena retained by pinning Foley. A month later, Foley made an appearance on Raw as the special guest referee for a match between Jonathan Coachman and Mr. McMahon's storyline illegitimate son Hornswoggle. Hornswoggle won the match, after Foley handed him a miniature Mr. Socko. Foley then made an appearance on SmackDown the same week, where he defeated Coachman with Hornswoggle as the special guest referee. On the January 7, 2008 episode of Raw, Foley and his tag team partner Hornswoggle qualified for the Royal Rumble by defeating The Highlanders, but Foley was eliminated by Triple H during the Rumble. Foley debuted as a color commentator for SmackDown alongside Michael Cole at Backlash in 2008, replacing Jonathan Coachman.[42] On the August 1 edition of SmackDown, Foley was kayfabe attacked by Edge during Edge's promo for his SummerSlam match against The Undertaker. Foley sat out the August 8 SmackDown to sell his recovery from the injuries. Tazz filled in for Foley as a color commentator on SmackDown, while Raw wrestler Matt Striker filled in for Tazz on ECW. Foley told the Long Island Press in August 2008 that "creatively, the announcing job wasn't working out too well". Foley allowed his contract with WWE to expire on September 1, 2008 On September 3, 2008, Foley's agency, Gillespie Talent, issued a press release that stated Foley had signed a short-term deal with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Foley claimed in the statement to be "very excited about the specifics of this agreement and the potential it holds".[43] Foley made his TNA debut on September 5, at a TNA house show giving a short speech about how he loved the product, in which he also belittled WWE.[44] The official TNA Wrestling website featured an image of a smiley face with a variation of Foley's catch phrase, "Have a nice day!" (and, before No Surrender, "Have a nice Sunday!"). On the September 18, 2008 edition of Impact!, Foley made his first televised appearance for TNA, where Jeff Jarrett introduced him to the audience on the arena's video wall. Two weeks later, Foley made his full television debut in a promo making comments about the WWE roster, Vince McMahon and Kurt Angle. At Bound for Glory IV, he was the special guest enforcer for Jarrett and Angle's match. Later, on Impact!, Foley said goodbye, but was then approached by Jeff Jarrett with a new offer; he later indicated that they had come to terms on a new contract and would make a major announcement the next week. On the October 23 episode of Impact!, Foley announced that he was now co-owner of TNA along with Jarrett, just after Kurt Angle headbutted him. On November 27, Thanksgiving day, TNA presented the Turkey Bowl. Alex Shelley ended up being pinned by Rhino, and Foley handed Rhino the check. Afterwards, the defeated Shelley had to put on a Turkey Suit in compliance with the match rules, albeit with much refusal. However, Shelley "flipped off" Foley and proceeded to beat him up. In the aftermath, Mick mentioned that Shelley is lucky he still has his job. The Main Event Mafia's Kevin Nash, Booker T, and Scott Steiner were going to take on Brother Devon, A.J. Styles, and Mick Foley in his debut matchup at Genesis. Nash, however, suffered a legitimate staph infection and missed Genesis. He was replaced by Cute Kip. Foley got the pin when he hit Scott Steiner with a Double Arm DDT onto a chair. On April 19, 2009 at Lockdown, he defeated Sting to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for his first ever championship in TNA, and his fourth World title overall. Mick did not lose the championship, but Sting became the new leader of the Main Event Mafia by pinning Kurt Angle at Sacrifice. Foley had also stated on iMPACT tapings that if he retained the TNA World Heavyweight Title at The King Of The Mountain match at Slammiversary, he would only put the title up in a match once a year. However, he lost the title to Kurt Angle in the King of The Mountain match at Slammiversary. He then lost a one-on-one rematch at Victory Road.
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Post by Mr. Emoticon Man on Jul 25, 2009 12:48:53 GMT -5
Are the bios really necessary?
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Post by Shovelman on Jul 25, 2009 12:56:42 GMT -5
Are the bios really necessary? Nope, none of the wikis bob has posted has ever been necessary but he does them. And we let him cause he's got Amy Jo Johnson in his sig.
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Post by bob on Jul 25, 2009 13:13:47 GMT -5
John Cena ![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/John_Cena_134616.jpg/200px-John_Cena_134616.jpg) John Felix Anthony Cena[6] (born April 23, 1977)[4] is an American actor, hip hop musician, and professional wrestler currently employed by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on its Raw brand. In professional wrestling, Cena is a five time world champion having won the WWE Championship one time while on SmackDown and two times while on Raw and won the World Heavyweight Championship while on Raw. In addition to these championships, Cena has also won the WWE United States Championship three times[7] and the World Tag Team Championship two times (once with Shawn Michaels and once with Batista).[8] Cena has also won the 2008 Royal Rumble match.[9] Cena started his professional wrestling career in 2000, wrestling for Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW), where he held the UPW Heavyweight Championship. In 2001, Cena signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) where he held the OVW Heavyweight Championship and the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (with Rico Constantino). Outside of wrestling, Cena has released the rap album You Can't See Me, which debuted at #15 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and starred in the feature films The Marine (2006) and 12 Rounds (2009).[10] Cena has also made appearances on television shows including Manhunt, Deal or No Deal, MADtv, Saturday Night Live, and Punk'd. Cena was also a contestant on Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, where he made it to the final round before being eliminated, placing third in the overall competition. ![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/CenaF-U.jpg/190px-CenaF-U.jpg) Cena made his television debut answering an open challenge by Kurt Angle on June 27, 2002.[27] Inspired by a speech given by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to the rising stars of the company, exhorting them to show "ruthless aggression" to earn a place among the legends, Cena took advantage of the opportunity and almost beat Angle kicking out of his finishing move, the Angle Slam and enduring the ankle lock submission hold.[28] Cena ultimately lost to a hard amateur wrestling-style pin.[28] Following the near-win, Cena became a fan favorite and started feuding with Chris Jericho.[27] In October, Cena and Billy Kidman took part in a tag team tournament to crown the first WWE Tag Team Champions of the SmackDown brand, losing in the first round.[29] The next week, Cena turned on and attacked Kidman, blaming him for their loss, becoming a heel.[27] Shortly after the Kidman attack, on a Halloween themed episode of SmackDown, Cena dressed as Vanilla Ice performing a freestyle rap.[27] The next week, Cena received a new gimmick: a rapper who cut promos while rhyming.[27] As the gimmick grew, Cena began adopting a variant of the 1980s WWF logo — dropping the "F" — as his "signature symbol", along with the slogan "Word Life".[30] Moreover, he was joined by an enforcer, Bull Buchanan, who was rechristened B-2 (also written B² and pronounced "B-Squared").[27] Buchanan was later replaced by Red Dogg,[27] until he was sent to the Raw brand in February. For the first half of 2003, Cena sought the WWE Championship and chased the reigning champion, Brock Lesnar, performing weekly "freestyles" challenging him to matches.[31][32][33] During the feud, Cena unveiled a new finishing maneuver: the FU, a Fireman's carry powerslam, named to mock Lesnar's F-5.[34] Cena won a number one contenders tournament against Lesnar at Backlash. However, Cena was defeated by Lesnar.[27][35] At the end of the year, Cena became a fan favorite again when he joined Kurt Angle as a member of his team at Survivor Series.[36][37] In early 2004, Cena participated in the Royal Rumble match at the 2004 Royal Rumble,[38] making it to the final six before being eliminated by Big Show.[39] The Royal Rumble elimination led to a feud with Big Show,[40][41] which Cena won the United States Championship from Big Show at WrestleMania XX.[42] During his reign, Cena came into contention with SmackDown General Manager Kurt Angle over issues arising with René Duprée and Torrie Wilson.[43] The reign ended almost four months later, when he was stripped of the belt on July 8 by Angle after he (kayfabe, accidentally) knocked him over, thus attacking an official.[44] Cena won the championship back defeating Booker T in a best of five series that culminated at No Mercy,[45] only to lose it to the debuting Carlito Caribbean Cool the next week.[46] After the loss to Carlito, the duo began a feud, which Cena was kayfabe stabbed in the kidney while at a Boston-area nightclub by Carlito's bodyguard, Jesús.[47][48] This worked injury was used to keep Cena out of action for a month, while Cena was filming The Marine.[25] Immediately on his return in November, Cena won the United States Championship back from Carlito debuting a "custom made" spinner-style championship belt.[49][50] Cena took part in the 2005 Royal Rumble match, making it to the final two. Cena and Raw brand wrestler Batista went over the top rope at the same time, ostensibly ending the match. Vince McMahon, however, appeared on stage and re-started the match in sudden death rules, with Batista eventually eliminating Cena.[51] The next month, Cena defeated Kurt Angle to earn a spot in the SmackDown brand's WrestleMania 21 main event match,[52] beginning a feud with WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and his Cabinet in the process. In the early stages of the feud, Cena lost his US belt to Cabinet member Orlando Jordan,[53] who proceeded to "blow up" the spinner championship with JBL and returning a more traditional style belt.[54] Cena defeated JBL at WrestleMania winning the WWE Championship, giving Cena his first world championship.[55] Cena then had a spinner WWE Championship belt made,[56] while JBL took the original belt and claimed to still be WWE Champion,[56] until Cena reclaimed the original belt in an "I Quit" match at Judgment Day.[57] Cena was drafted to the Raw brand on the June 6, 2005, becoming the first wrestler selected by General Manager Eric Bischoff in the annual draft lottery.[58] Cena immediately entered a feud with Bischoff, after refusing to participate in the "war" against the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) roster at One Night Stand.[59] With Bischoff vowing to make Cena's stint on Raw difficult, he hand picked Jericho to take Cena's championship from him.[60] During their feud, even though Cena was portrayed as the fan favorite and Jericho as the villain, a vocal section of live crowds, nonetheless, were booing Cena during their matches.[61] More crowds followed suit during Cena's next feud with Kurt Angle,[62] who took over as Bischoff's hand=picked number-one contender after Cena defeated Jericho in a You're Fired match on the August 22 Raw.[63] As the feud continued and the dissenters grew more vocal, sometimes seeming to outnumber fans by wide margins,[64] the announce team was forced to acknowledge the booing on television and began calling Cena a "controversial champion", claiming some people disliking him on account of his "in-ring style" and his chosen fashion.[65] Despite the mixed and negative reactions, Cena held on to his championship through his feud with Angle, losing to him by disqualification[66] — which titles do not change hands in WWE — at Unforgiven and pinning him at Survivor Series.[67] The feud with Angle also saw Cena add a secondary, submission based, finishing maneuver – the STFU (a Stepover Toehold Sleeper, though named for a Stepover Toehold Facelock) – when he was put into a Triple Threat Submissions Only match on the November 28 Raw.[68] Cena lost the WWE Championship at New Year's Revolution, but not in the Elimination Chamber match that he had been advertised to participate in beforehand. Instead, immediately after winning the Elimination Chamber, he was forced into a match against Edge, who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract — a "guaranteed title match at the WWE Champion of the owners choosing". After two quick spears pinned Cena, winning the championship.[69] Three weeks later, Cena won the championship back at the Royal Rumble.[69] After winning the championship, Cena began feuding with Triple H, which the crowd began booing Cena and cheering the intended Triple H.[70][71] The negative reaction intensified when facing Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand. Taking place in front of a crowd of mostly "old school" ECW fans at the Hammerstein Ballroom, Cena was met with raucous jeering and chants of "f*** you, Cena", "You can't wrestle", and "Same old s***". When he began performing different moves into the match, the fans began chanting "You still suck". Cena lost the WWE Championship at One Night Stand, with Van Dam pinning Cena after interference from Edge.[72] In July, after Edge won the championship from Van Dam in a Triple Threat match that also involved Cena,[73] re-ignited the feud between him and Cena from earlier in the year. After Edge went about retaining the title by dubious means — getting himself disqualified[74] (for which Championships do not change hands) and using brass knuckles[72] — he introduced his own version of Cena's "custom" belt, this one with his logo placed on the spinner.[75] Cena eventually won the championship back in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at Unforgiven. The match had an added stipulation that had Cena lost he would leave the Raw brand and go to SmackDown.[76][77] Cena returned his version of the spinner belt on the next night's Raw.[78] On the heels of his feud with Edge, Cena was placed in an inter-brand angle to determine the "Champion of Champions" — or which was the most dominant champion in WWE's three brands. Cena, the World Heavyweight Champion King Booker, and the ECW World Champion The Big Show engaged in a mini-feud leading to a Triple Threat match at Cyber Sunday, with the viewers voting on which of the three championships would be placed on the line.[79] At the same time, Cena became involved in a storyline with non-wrestler Kevin Federline, when he began appearing on Raw with Johnny Nitro and Melina. After getting into a worked physical altercation with Federline on Raw,[79] Federline appeared at Cyber Sunday to hit Cena with the World Heavyweight Chamionship during the match, helping King Booker retain his championship.[72] 2006 ended with Cena beginning a feud with the undefeated Umaga over the WWE Championship,[80] while 2007 began with the end of his storyline with Kevin Federline. On the first Raw of the new year, Cena was pinned by Federline with an assist from Umaga, although later in the night he was able to get his hands on Federline performing an FU on him.[81] During their feud, Cena ended Umaga's "undefeated" streak at New Year's Revolution[82] before Umaga caused a worked injury to Cena's spleen,[83] putting a scheduled Last Man Standing rematch at the Royal Rumble in kayfabe jeopardy. The match did, however, take place with Cena retaining his title.[84] Cena made an unannounced return as the final participant of the Royal Rumble match, winning the match, and the traditional WrestleMania title shot, by last eliminating Triple H.[9] Instead of waiting until WrestleMania, the title shot was cashed in against WWE Champion Randy Orton at February's No Way Out pay-per-view[104] in a match where Cena won by disqualification, resulting in him not getting the championship.[105] The night after No Way Out, Cena was placed back in to WrestleMania XXIV's WWE Championship match, making it a Triple Threat match also involving Triple H,[106] during which he was pinned by Orton.[107] At Backlash, Cena failed to regain the title in a Fatal Four-Way elimination match, in which he was pinned by Orton.[108] Triple H won the title during that match. During the match, Cena eliminated John "Bradshaw" Layfied (JBL),[108] renewing their feud from 2005. Cena defeated JBL at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match.[109][110] JBL, however, defeated him in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash in July.[111] On the August 4 edition of Raw, Cena became a World Tag Team Champion for a second time, teaming with Batista to defeat Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase,[112] but failed to retain the titles the following week against the former champions.[113] Batista defeated Cena at SummerSlam;[114] shortly after, he was named one of four contenders for CM Punk's World Heavyweight Championship in the Championship scramble match at Unforgiven. He was replaced by Rey Mysterio, however, after announcing Cena had suffered a herniated disk in his neck which would require surgery.[115] Cena underwent successful surgery to repair the injury.[116][117] Cena made his in-ring return at the November pay-per-view event, Survivor Series, defeating Chris Jericho to win his first World Heavyweight Championship.[118] The two continued their rivalry up to Armageddon, where Cena retained his championship.[119] Cena lost the championship at No Way Out in February, to Edge after Kofi Kingston was attacked by Edge, who took his place in the Elimination Chamber match.[120] Cena was given an opportunity to regain the title at WrestleMania XXV in a Triple Threat match also involving Big Show, which Cena won.[121] Cena lost the championship back to Edge in a Last Man Standing match at Backlash after interference from Big Show, who chokeslammed Cena through a big spotlight.[122] This angle resulted in Cena beginning a feud with Big Show. Cena defeated Big Show at Judgment Day[123] and at Extreme Rules in a Submission match by applying the STF.[124]
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Post by bob on Jul 25, 2009 13:18:22 GMT -5
The Final man at number 23...... The Rock and it just occured to me since this forum is comprased of mainly wrestling fans no detailed bios for this week ![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Dwayne_Johnson_at_the_2009_Tribeca_Film_Festival.jpg/220px-Dwayne_Johnson_at_the_2009_Tribeca_Film_Festival.jpg) Dwayne Johnson[1] (born May 2, 1972)[2] also known by his former ring name The Rock, and occasionally credited as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, is a Canadian-American actor and former professional wrestler.[3] Johnson was a collegiate football player, and in 1991, he was part of the University of Miami's national championship team. He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, but was cut two months into the season.[4] This led to his decision to become a professional wrestler, like his grandfather, Peter Maivia and his father Rocky Johnson. He gained mainstream fame as a wrestler in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), originally known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1996 to 2004, and was the first third-generation superstar in wrestling history. Johnson was quickly given a push in WWE, first as "Rocky Maivia", and then as "The Rock", a member of the Nation of Domination. Two years after he joined the WWE, Johnson won the WWF Championship, and became one of the most popular wrestlers within the company for his engaging interviews and promos. Since 2001, he has focused on an acting career, though he still makes occasional WWE appearances. In professional wrestling, Johnson was a nine time world champion, having won the WWF/E Championship seven times (with his last reign being the WWE Undisputed Champion) and the WCW Championship two times. In addition to these championships, Johnson has also won the WWF Intercontinental Championship two times and the WWF Tag Team Championship five times. He is also the sixth #WWF/E Triple Crown and was the winner of the 2000 Royal Rumble. Johnson is also an actor, with his first leading role in 2001, in The Scorpion King. For this film, he received the highest salary for an actor in his first starring role, earning $5.5 million. He has since appeared in movies such as The Rundown, Be Cool, Walking Tall, Gridiron Gang, The Game Plan, Get Smart, and Race to Witch Mountain. ![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Rock_greeting.jpg/180px-Rock_greeting.jpg) ![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Rockwrestling.jpg/200px-Rockwrestling.jpg)
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Post by bob on Jul 25, 2009 13:19:30 GMT -5
One final note on John Cena....
he was super nice when I got his autograph and really seems like a nice guy and he has a very firm hand shake
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