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87-467: Charles Rudy Ashenoff (born Carlos Santiago Espada Moises ; January 6, 1964), better known by his ring name Konnan , is a Cuban-born American professional wrestling personality, manager, and former professional wrestler . He is signed to Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). In Impact, he was the manager of The Latin American Xchange (LAX) and serves as a member of the creative team. During

174-669: A WWF Superstars dark match. He would defeat Spicolli again one night later at a Wrestling Challenge taping in Reno. Konnan returned again on January 7, 1992, at a WWF Superstars taping in Daytona Beach, FL. wrestling this time as The Latin Fury, he defeated The Heartbreaker. The next day he defeated The Juicer in a dark match at a Wrestling Challenge taping in Fort Myers, Florida. Konnan would wrestle twice more as The Latin Fury,

261-902: A destroyer tender in the Pacific Fleet – the USS Cape Cod (AD-43) . He won the California state (amateur) Middleweight Boxing Championship in 1983. He set a goal to qualify for the Junior Olympics in boxing, but injured his shoulder in training and was deployed to the Middle East subsequent to the U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut on April 18, 1983. His ship was in the Strait of Hormuz when the US Marine barracks (along with

348-675: A luchador to remove their mask to "going to Japan and telling the Japanese they have to eat with a fork instead of chopsticks." Konnan was kicked out of the NWO Wolfpac on January 11, 1999. A week later he would enter the ring using the "Psycho" theme music which would later on becoming Rey Mysterio's theme song after his unmasking and the Filthy Animals theme for a while till it was replaced with "The Reason". Konnan spent several months feuding with Disco Inferno , and then he began

435-480: A wheelchair . In June, Konnan left TNA, as did Ron Killings. Konnan gave several interviews about the drug abuse problem in pro wrestling around that time, most notably to the New York Daily News , which indicated that Konnan believed his "hip degenerated after years of steroid abuse and the physical toll of his sport, and...painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs ruined [his] kidney." He would reiterate

522-478: A career spanning almost three decades, he has wrestled for independent and national promotions in the United States and Mexico, and held fifteen title belts in nine promotions. He was also involved in the creation of Lucha Underground , where he was supposed to serve as a writer and producer, but ended up in an on-camera role as manager to Prince Puma throughout the first season. Outside of wrestling, Konnan

609-465: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked

696-611: A few weeks. His debut was at Starrcade on December 16, 1990. Teaming with his trainer and mentor, Rey Misterio, Konnan entered the Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament held at the event. They defeated Norman Smiley and Chris Adams in the quarter-finals, but lost to eventual winners, the Steiner Brothers ( Rick and Scott ) in the semi-finals. He then won a televised match on WCW Power Hour against Chuck Coates on January 19, 1991. Konnan would not return to

783-565: A legend in lucha libre. The UWA also helped popularize the match format that is now the most common in Mexico, the Best two out of three falls six-man tag team match , or trios match when they put together the rudo (bad guy) trio Los Misioneros de la Muerte ( Negro Navarro , El Signo and El Texano ) and matched them up against trios of popular tecnicos (good guys) and drew so many sell-crowds that other promotions began to heavily promote

870-526: A legitimately torn triceps muscle, damaged when Van Hammer threw Juventud Guerrera at him during a match and Guerrera's elbow connected with Konnan's upper arm as he attempted to catch him. Throughout 2000, the Filthy Animals feuded with other stables, including The Misfits In Action , The Natural Born Thrillers and Team Canada . At WCW's final pay-per-view event, Greed on March 18, 2001, Lance Storm and Mike Awesome (representing Team Canada) defeated Hugh Morrus and Konnan. The assets of WCW were sold to

957-469: A result, he became a face and teamed with Mysterio to fight the nWo. After feuding with nWo member Lex Luger, Konnan and Mysterio, Jr. were defeated by The Outsiders at SuperBrawl IX , with The Outsiders removing Mysterio's mask in the process. Konnan later criticized WCW for not respecting Mexican wrestling culture by writing storylines that saw several Mexican wrestlers unceremoniously unmasked (Juventud Guerrera, Psicosis, and Mysterio). He compared asking

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1044-509: A rivalry with Stevie Ray . He and Mysterio formed an alliance with Master P and his No Limit Soldiers and fought with The West Texas Rednecks . After Master P left WCW, Konnan formed a stable known as The Filthy Animals . He and Mysterio, representing the Filthy Animals, defeated Harlem Heat ( Booker T and Stevie Ray) for the WCW World Tag Team Championship on October 18, 1999. They were scheduled to defend

1131-898: A six-man tag team match with the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championships on the line. The championship was held by all three members of the Kru, until January 28, 2004, when they were defeated by Kevin Northcutt and Legend in Nashville. After several abortive attempts to regain the tag title, the Kru began supporting Ron Killings's bid to become NWA World Heavyweight Champion. The Kru later feuded with Jarrett's mercenaries , The Elite Guard ( Chad Collyer , Hotstuff Hernandez , and Onyx ). While with TNA, Konnan also returned to Asistencia Asesoría y Administración, making his first appearance at AAA Sin Limite - Guerra De Titanes 2004 on May 12, 2004. Konnan

1218-479: A six-man, two out of three falls, tag team match as Konnan El Barbaro ("Konnan the Barbarian") with Lizmark and Yoshihiro Asai against As Charro, Indio Yori and Negro Casas on February 3, 1989, for World Wrestling Association. Konnan joined Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre (EMLL) later that year. He used Konnan El Barbaro with EMLL as well. Konnan's first stint with World Championship Wrestling lasted only

1305-687: A two-out-of-three falls match against Cien Caras at EMLL Super Viernes in Mexico City on June 9, 1991. In 1992, Konnan, along with several other EMLL wrestlers, joined Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). Shortening his ring name to simply "Konnan", he feuded with Cien Caras. Back in AAA, following interference from Jake Roberts , Konnan lost a two out of three falls retirement match by count-out to Caras at Triplemanía I on April 30, 1993, in front of 48,000 fans in Mexico City, setting

1392-754: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It

1479-495: A wrestler in Florida. Suddenly, a big roar (laughter) went up from another wrestler, Miguel Lopez, who wrestled as Rey Misterio. Lopez/Misterio explained to Carlos that Roberts was just a nutty fan, always in the front row, but that he did nothing involved with managing or agent-ing or anything else in the business. Still, the wrestlers asked Carlos, want to give it a try? Billed as El Centurión ("The Centurion"), Ashenoff debuted for

1566-502: A year early from Southwest Miami Senior High School , and was arrested and charged as a juvenile with credit card theft and motorcycle theft. Shortly after his 18th birthday, Ashenoff was caught selling drugs and charged as an adult. He was given a choice of going to jail or entering the military . He chose the latter, joining the United States Navy . After basic training, Ashenoff was relocated to San Diego, and assigned to

1653-646: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by

1740-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It

1827-566: Is an occasional rapper . He is best known to United States audiences for his run in World Championship Wrestling as part of the nWo stable and as part of The Filthy Animals . He also formed the 3 Live Kru for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in the early 2000s and later the Latin American Xchange (LAX) stable there. In Mexico, Konnan was the first-ever CMLL World Heavyweight Champion , and

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1914-593: The New Age Outlaws . Konnan and Killings feuded with The Outlaw and "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown , with James's loyalties divided. From March 2005 onwards, Konnan was also feuding with Vampiro and La Parka in AAA. The feud went on intermittently through 2006. Brown and The Outlaw, who had by now renamed himself "Kip James", defeated Konnan and Killings at No Surrender on July 17, 2005, with James declining to help either team. Konnan and Killings became increasingly frustrated, at one point referring to themselves as

2001-756: The United States Heavyweight Championship on January 29, 1996. During his reign, he continued to defend his IWAS and AAA Heavyweight Championships in Mexico (these championships were billed as a "Mexican Heavyweight Title" wherever Konnan wore one or the other to a WCW ring). Konnan successfully defended the United States Heavyweight Championship against One Man Gang at SuperBrawl VI , Eddie Guerrero at Uncensored , Jushin Liger at Slamboree and El Gato at The Great American Bash before losing

2088-667: The Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) on January 6, 1988. In the early part of his career, he wrestled for many different promotions. After making his debut for UWA, Konnan wrestled for the UWA Heavyweight title against El Canek at UWA 14 on January 29, 1989, and wrestled six- and eight-man tag matches intermittently for the promotion until 1994, with the likes of Dos Caras , Mascara Sagrada, and others. All of his matches for UWA after 1991 were cross-promotions with EMLL and AAA. Konnan wrestled in

2175-875: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Universal Lucha Libre (UWF), and Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (JWP) amongst other promotions. In 1974, Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL, later CMLL) founder and owner Salvador Lutteroth González brought his son into the promotion, grooming him to take over when the aging Lutteroth, Sr. eventually had to retire. This action combined with a very rigid and conservative promotional philosophy led EMLL's promoter in Naucalpan , Mexico State , Francisco Flores , EMLL wrestler and trainer Ray Mendoza and investor Benjamin Mora, Jr. to break away from EMLL to form their own company and challenge EMLL's dominance in Mexico. With

2262-485: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and

2349-461: The trios format as well. Los Misionares de la Muerte were originally workhorse midcarders in the UWA, but their stock rose immediately in a UWA match on November 2, 1980 in a match where the three faced Huracan Ramirez , Black Shadow , and the legendary El Santo . Santo, 63 years old at the time, suffered a legitimate heart attack during the match, which ended in a no contest while he was rushed to

2436-421: The "2Live Kru". The two teams faced one another in a No Surrender rematch on August 14, 2005, at Sacrifice , with James appointed guest referee by Director of Authority Larry Zbyszko, and James reaffirmed his loyalty to the Kru by attacking Kip, enabling Konnan to pin him and win the match. The Kru, apparently undivided, celebrated together following the match. Over the following weeks, Kip James began assisting

2523-737: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and

2610-469: The 3 Live Kru, and on October 23, 2005, at Bound for Glory , he saved Konnan from a beating at the hands of Team Canada. On the November 26 episode of Impact! , B.G. James brought Kip James and the 3 Live Kru to ringside, then asked Killings and Konnan whether James could join the stable. Following a heated argument between the still skeptical Konnan and B.G., both Killings and Konnan gave their assent, and

2697-817: The 3 Live Kru, losing a tag team match against Eddy and Orlando Colon. In March 2008, Konnan sued TNA for racism and discrimination, alleging that while the company said that they would help pay for his hip replacement surgery, they did not. Konnan also claimed that TNA helped pay for Scott Steiner 's operation, but did not pay for Ron Killings 's surgery from around the same time. Ring name Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or

Konnan - Misplaced Pages Continue

2784-495: The 4 Live Kru was born. At Turning Point the 4 Live Kru faced Team Canada in an eight-man tag match. In the course of the match, Konnan attacked both B.G. and Kip James. On the December 31, 2005, episode of Impact! , Konnan told B.G.'s father, Bob Armstrong , that he was a "hothead" and invited Armstrong to accompany him backstage for an apology. Instead of apologizing, Konnan turned heel by leading Armstrong into an ambush at

2871-688: The AAA in Chicago, Illinois . Konnan returned to WCW on a full-time basis on the January 22, 1996, edition of Nitro , where he announced that he would defend his "Mexican Heavyweight Championship" against Psicosis, the following night at Clash of the Champions , where Konnan retained the title. As a WCW employee, he was largely responsible for the hiring of several prominent Mexican wrestlers by WCW, including Rey Mysterio Jr. , Psicosis , Juventud Guerrera and La Parka . Konnan defeated One Man Gang for

2958-573: The April 8, 2006, episode of Impact! , Konnan faced Armstrong in an "Arm Wrestling Challenge"; the contest ended in a no-contest after LAX member Hernandez attacked Armstrong. At Lockdown on April 23, 2006, Konnan was defeated by Armstrong in an arm wrestling contest held within the confines of a steel cage; following the bout, each member of the LAX received ten lashes from the James Gang . May 2006

3045-708: The French paratrooper barracks) in Beirut were bombed on October 24, 1983. By 1984, the Cape Cod was rotated out of the Persian Gulf. Ashenoff returned to San Diego, and received an honorable discharge. In San Diego, Konnan met John Roberts. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter then details Ashenoff's first foray in to professional wrestling: Carlos traveled to Tijuana on Wednesday, January 6, 1988, (his 24th birthday), where he

3132-1125: The MXPW Heavyweight Title on August 12, 2002. He lost yet another title match upon returning to World Wrestling Council, losing by disqualification to Carly Colón in a match for the Universal Heavyweight title at WWC 29th Aniversario on September 14, 2002. Konnan finally won the title by defeating Colón on November 2, 2002, only to lose the title back to Colón 21 days later. Returning to World Wrestling All-Stars in November and December 2002, Konnan defeated Norman Smiley twice in singles matches on November 28 and 29, 2002, and won in three minutes against Nate Webb on December 6, 2002, at WWA The Retribution in Glasgow. Subsequent to that, Konnan tag-teamed with Smiley against Disco Inferno and Malice for three matches between December 8–13, 2002, and won all three. Konnan made two final appearances for World Wrestling All-Stars in May 2003, before

3219-631: The NWA World Tag Team Championship. Their reign lasted one month, with Team Canada regaining the title on December 5, 2004, at Turning Point with the help of the injured Johnny Devine . Throughout early 2005, the Kru feuded with Michael Shane and Kazarian , Team Canada and The Naturals . Dissension arose after James's former tag team partner from the WWF, Billy Gunn , joined TNA as "The New Age Outlaw" and began trying to convince James to reform their highly successful tag team,

3306-509: The November 30, 1998, episode of Nitro , Konnan defeated Chris Jericho for the World Television Championship . His reign lasted until December 28, 1998, when he lost to nWo Hollywood member Scott Steiner on Nitro following interference from Buff Bagwell . When the two halves of the nWo reunited in January 1999, Konnan was thrown out of the nWo for standing up for Rey Mysterio, Jr and was attacked by Lex Luger . As

3393-598: The South Bay, there has never been lucha libre for la raza. Finally they will be able to see the lucha libre that they watch on television live here a few minutes from their home." Despite having left TNA in June 2007, Konnan did not wrestle for AAA until October, and only wrestled in four matches during the remainder of the year, due to his aforementioned surgeries. Konnan returned to World Wrestling Council at WWC Euphoria Tour 2008 on January 6, 2008, with Ron Killings of

3480-416: The UWA had 18 years earlier, and formed a new company called Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) further affecting the UWA's finances. As the peso devaluated sharply in the mid-1990s, the UWA was forced to close its doors in 1995. The UWA is remembered as the place where a lot of the main event wrestlers of the 1980s and 1990s for both CMLL and AAA got their starts, including El Canek, now considered

3567-518: The Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), the name of its fictional governing body which was adopted from the short-lived American-based UWA promotion ran by Lou Thesz , and held their first show on January 29, 1975, creating the first true rival for EMLL in decades. To some the promotion was known as "Lucha Libre from El Toreo de Naucalpan" (simply "El Toreo"), after the promotion's home base, El Toreo de Naucalpan, which

Konnan - Misplaced Pages Continue

3654-498: The WWF following a disagreement with WWF owner Vince McMahon in 1992. Konnan was not showing up for WWF events due to his rising fame in Mexico, and his supposed "bad attitude" and heat from fellow WWF workers leading to a very strained relationship with McMahon, who had invested heavily in the Max Moon character, both financially and creatively, up until that point. Konnan was still working in Mexico while under contract to WWF, and

3741-483: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) five days later, on March 23. Following the sale of WCW, Konnan returned to wrestling for multiple independent promotions. He first went to Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW), where he took part in a tournament for the then-vacant XPW Television title on August 25, 2001. He defeated Johnny Webb and Vic Grimes in the first and second rounds, respectively, and then lost

3828-556: The all-time attendance record for a Mexican wrestling event. Konnan did not comply with the stipulations of the match and returned to defeat Roberts in a hair versus hair match at Triplemanía II on May 27, 1994, in Tijuana. Later in 1994, Konnan began a storyline where he betrayed his tag team partner, Perro Aguayo, and formed a heel alliance known as Los Gringos Locos with Eddie Guerrero , Art Barr and Madonna's Boyfriend . Aguayo gained his revenge on Konnan by defeating him in

3915-448: The character on the first episode of Monday Night Raw on January 11, 1993. After a brief run, the character was abandoned. After meeting Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) booker Paul Heyman while on a wrestling tour of Singapore , Konnan joined ECW in 1995 and feuded with The Sandman . He appeared at ECW November to Remember on November 18, 1995, squashing Jason Knight . He also wrestled at an event co-promoted by ECW and

4002-451: The early 1980s, even if the promotion does not acknowledge this lineage in their official title history today. The UWA even began working with EMLL in the 1980s, co-promoting shows and allowing EMLL to book UWA wrestlers on their shows. By the early 1990s UWA began to struggle financially as several of their top wrestlers left the company to work for EMLL who could offer them more money. In 1992 Antonio Peña broke away from EMLL, much like

4089-491: The family relocated to Carol City in South Florida. When Richard formally adopted Carlos, he listed Carlos's legal name as Charles Ashenoff. By 1976, under the influence of older friends and neighbors, Ashenoff had gotten into stealing cars. He learned how to drive at 12, learned to box, and was an "avid weightlifter". Ashenoff was expelled from several schools before landing at Miami Southwest High. In 1982, he graduated

4176-546: The final time at a house show in Hyannis, Massachusetts on July 19, 1992, when he defeated Pete Doherty. The next day, when he appeared at a WWF Superstars taping in Worcester, Massachusetts against The Mercenary, he was renamed El Relámpago. He wrestled again as El Relámpago the following night against Luis Mendieta. A little over a month later he received the gimmick that he would become known for, Max Moon (although he

4263-564: The final to Kaos. He then wrestled a match with Damian Steele on October 13, 2001. He wrestled Steele again on November 24, 2001, in a "Loser Leaves XPW" match at XPW Revolution at Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California . Konnan won the match. Konnan wrestled in Australia, the UK, and Germany for World Wrestling All-Stars from October to December 2001. His first match with

4350-531: The first lucha libre event in San Diego. He stated that "Unfortunately there has never been lucha libre in the South Bay, there has never been lucha libre for la raza. Finally they will be able to see the lucha libre that they watch on television live here a few minutes from their home." In early 2007, Konnan underwent hip replacement surgery, and his appearances in TNA from then on saw him frequently using

4437-450: The friendship of Konnan. Throughout May and June 2003, Konnan began teaming with B.G. James and Ron Killings , and in July 2003 the trio formed a stable known as the 3 Live Kru . The Kru first wrestled as a unit on August 13, 2003, defeating The New Church ( Sinn , Vampire Warrior and Tempest ). On November 26, the Kru defeated Simon Diamond , Johnny Swinger and Glenn Gilberti in

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4524-595: The globe and forged working relationships with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the United States and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling in Japan. This working relationship resulted in a larger influx of foreign wrestlers than EMLL was ever able to produce and also led to the UWA actually gaining exclusive rights to promote a WWF branded championship, the WWF World Light Heavyweight Championship in

4611-490: The hands of Apolo and the debuting Homicide . The trio, later identified as The Latin American Xchange (LAX), then instructed an unconscious Armstrong to tell B.G. and Kip to "take care of their own business". At Final Resolution on January 15, 2006, Konnan and Homicide defeated The Naturals . After Apolo was released by TNA, he was replaced by Machete , who was in turn evicted from LAX by Konnan and Homicide. In subsequent weeks, Konnan began feuding with Bob Armstrong. On

4698-542: The hospital. The three were then re-cast as fallen angels sent to Earth to take out Santo, and were programmed against trios of other tecnicos. The Universal Wrestling Association promoted a large number of wrestling championships, spread out over several weight classes like in professional boxing and even co-promoted championships with the WWF in the United States and with the UWF and JWP in Japan. Some UWA titles are still being used today, some in Japanese promotions who bought

4785-492: The impending change of management in EMLL many wrestlers who had previously been loyal to Lutteroth decided to leave with Flores, Mendoza and Mora including Mendoza's close friends Rene Guajardo and Karloff Lagarde and a number of young wrestles, frustrated with the lack of opportunities in EMLL. They formed the company Promociones Mora y Asociados (later Lucha Libre Internacional (LLI)), which would later become widely known as

4872-661: The inaugural Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) pay-per-view on June 19, 2002, in the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama . He entered the Gauntlet for the Gold match for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship , but he was chokeslammed and subsequently eliminated by Malice . He then went to Maximum Xtreme Pro Wrestling, where he lost another heavyweight title match; this time against Simon Diamond for

4959-482: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which

5046-427: The issue on his podcast some years later He successfully underwent kidney transplant surgery on July 23, 2007. While with TNA, Konnan also returned to AAA (Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración de Espectáculos), making his first appearance at AAA Sin Limite - Guerra De Titanes 2004 on May 12, 2004. Konnan was teamed with Rikishi and lost to Cibernetico and La Parka by disqualification. From March 2005 onwards, Konnan

5133-585: The leader of the Foreign Legion in AAA when they were the top stable. Konnan was born Carlos Santiago Espada Moises in Santiago , Cuba, of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. In 1966, he and his mother arrived in Boston. Soon after landing in Boston, she met a young half-Jewish, half-Puerto Rican private investigator from New York named Richard Ashenoff. They soon married, and raised Carlos together. By 1967,

5220-514: The only AAA pay-per-view , " When Worlds Collide ", in a steel cage match . He eventually became the AAA booker . Konnan defeated Killer on February 2, 1996, in Querétaro to become the first ever AAA Heavyweight Champion. He vacated the title after leaving AAA in October 1996 to form his own promotion, Promo Azteca , and the title remained inactive until 2004. Konnan's Mexican wrestling career

5307-610: The prefix "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Numerous boxers have used ring names or nicknames as their mode of identification during their professional boxing careers, particularly during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The ring name "Kid" was particularly popular, indicating the boxer's comparative youth. Since the mid 20th century, ring names for boxers have typically been less common, although nicknames have become more popular in recent years. Famous examples of boxers who used ring names include: Universal Wrestling Association The Universal Wrestling Association ( UWA )

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5394-559: The promotion a quick success as they drew repeated sell-out crowds at El Toreo de Naucalpan. The promotion was the first to elevate wrestlers such as El Canek , Dos Caras , Fishman , Villano III to main event status. El Canek became the "face of the UWA", holding the UWA World Heavyweight Championship no less than 13 times during the promotion's life span, drawing full houses when he "defended Mexico's honor" against foreign wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan , Tatsumi Fujinami and Big Van Vader . The UWA also reached out to promotions around

5481-602: The promotion folded. He also wrestled a tag match teamed with Norman Smiley for MXPW in September 2003. These would be his last extended stints in the independent circuit for nearly a decade. Konnan returned to TNA on February 12, 2003, and formed a short-lived villainous alliance, the Authentic Luchadores, with fellow Hispanic wrestlers Juventud Guerrera, Super Crazy and The S.A.T. (Spanish Announce Team). The stable feuded with Jerry Lynn until April 2, 2003, when Lynn claimed that he had been heavily influenced by lucha libre and that he respected his Mexican opponents, thus earning

5568-425: The promotion until 1996. While still part of WCW, Konnan was contacted by talent scout Pat Patterson on New Year's Eve 1990, which led to a meeting with Vince McMahon, where the initial idea for what became Max Moon was discussed. According to Konnan, "When I was wrestling in Japan, I saw this Japanese anime cartoon robot on TV that shot confetti and fire. [Vince] asked if I knew anybody that could design it." Konnan

5655-430: The promotion was October 19, 2001, where he defeated Gangrel . He would win two further matches against Gangrel during his time at the promotion, but his singles record was generally poor: he lost in the first round of the WWA Heavyweight Championship title in a dog collar match against Road Dogg on October 26, 2001, and lost three tables matches against Norman Smiley on December 8, 9 and 11, 2001. Konnan's tag-team record

5742-442: The sympathetic crowd. In 1991, EMLL changed its name officially to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Konnan then became the first-ever CMLL World Heavyweight Champion later that year by winning a tournament consisting of four matches at four events: an eight-man elimination match for the first round on May 24, 1991; a four-man battle royal quarterfinal on May 31; a two-out-of-three falls semifinal match on June 7; and finally,

5829-406: The title the next night on Nitro , but lost to Harris Brothers (Ron and Don Harris) on November 22, 1999. Konnan was inactive throughout early 2000, as he was suspended for three months by Bill Busch after requesting his release from WCW, unhappy with the way he was being used. Shortly after returning from suspension and reforming the Filthy Animals, Konnan was sidelined once again, this time with

5916-461: The title to Ric Flair on July 7 at Bash at the Beach following interference from Flair's valets Miss Elizabeth and Woman . Several months after losing the United States Championship, Konnan became a villain and joined The Dungeon of Doom . However, the gimmick was already on its way out. According to Kevin Sullivan (the originator of the stable), speaking in a retrospective interview in July 2016, Konnan "didn't fit in The Dungeon of Doom. He

6003-480: The titles against Harlem Heat in the MGM Grand Garden Arena on October 24, 1999, at Halloween Havoc , but on the night of the event Mysterio was announced as being injured. The title was then contested in a three-way tag match pitting Konnan and Billy Kidman, representing the Filthy Animals, against Harlem Heat and the First Family ( Hugh Morrus and Brian Knobs ). Harlem Heat regained the title after Stevie Ray pinned Morrus. Konnan and Kidman defeated Harlem Heat for

6090-409: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude

6177-490: Was a Mexican Lucha Libre or professional wrestling promotion based in Naucalpan , Mexico State that operated from 1975 until 1995. The name of the actual promotion was Promociones Mora y Asociados and later Lucha Libre Internacional ( LLI ) ("International wrestling") but outside of Mexico it is generally referred to as the UWA as it was the name of the fictional international sanctioning body that in storyline terms oversaw all championships promoted by LLI. The company

6264-467: Was a building Flores had promoted wrestling in for years before the split. El Toreo de Naucalpan (a former bullring turned into an arena in 1968, now demolished and formerly located near Metro Cuatro Caminos station) became UWA's main venue, used for major title matches, their anniversary shows and significant Lucha de Apuesta (bet matches) events. UWA's more relaxed approach to wrestling, combined with their willingness to promote younger wrestlers made

6351-504: Was also feuding with Vampiro and La Parka in AAA. The feud went on intermittently through 2006. On May 1, 2006, he made his first appearance with La Legión Extranjera (with Chessman and Ron Killings), losing to El Zorro, Octagon and Vampiro Canadiense at AAA Sin Limite . He soon became the leader of the stable, which was active through 2009. On June 24, 2006, Konnan participated in the first lucha libre event in San Diego. He stated that "Unfortunately there has never been lucha libre in

6438-506: Was also simultaneously appearing in a Mexican telenovela aimed at children called El abuelo y yo . As he was becoming more popular in Mexico, he was not as focused on making it in America. Konnan recollected, "Wrestling was so hot in Mexico, because they had lifted this 30-year ban on wrestling on TV in Mexico City. I was able to capitalize on that wrestling boom. I was wrestling three times in one day on many weekends. The amount of work

6525-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as

6612-555: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with

6699-496: Was forced into it." Sullivan also praised Konnan highly: [He's] a fabulous performer and has a great mind for the wrestling business. He should have been on his own. Putting him with us, he just lost all the steam he had. He brought the luchadors into WCW, so he had a real effect on professional wrestling." Konnan joined the New World Order (nWo) on July 14, 1997. Konnan developed an increasingly hip-hop based gimmick and

6786-415: Was founded by wrestler and trainer Ray Mendoza , promoter Francisco Flores and investor Benjamín Mora, Jr. as when they broke away from Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre to form their own promotion. The company had working agreements with wrestling promotions both in the United States and Japan as they worked with Lou Thesz 's American-based Universal Wrestling Association, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW),

6873-613: Was given an outfit (purchased by the WWF at the cost of $ 15,000) bedecked with circuitry and a pyrotechnic gun that shot sparkles into the crowd. Konnan recollected later that the costs associated with the costume led to problems between himself and the promotion right from the start. Days later he received a tryout on January 7, 1991, at a WWF Superstars taping in Amarillo, Texas defeating Ultraman. He returned again on March 26 in Las Vegas, Nevada, defeating Louie Spicolli in

6960-521: Was hampered in the late-1990s by his American wrestling commitments, and Promo Azteca closed in 1998. He made a return to the Mexican wrestling circuit in the 2000s after a six-year absence, selling out arenas in Mexico City and Guadalajara . Konnan made his WWF debut on September 1, 1992, in Hershey, Pennsylvania , during a Superstars taping under the name The Comet Kid when he pinned Barry Horowitz . After three televised matches, Konnan abruptly left

7047-404: Was incredible. It was like when Raw and Nitro were going head-to-head and there was work for everybody." There was also some locker room tension over the costs associated with the costume, Konnan's perceived attitude, and Konnan also was missing tapings because he was more successful in Mexico and was not focusing on WWF. In the end, the Max Moon character was given to Paul Diamond, who appeared as

7134-487: Was led to the dressing area and introduced to Manuel de los Santos, the promoter of the show, and who also wrestled in the main event as "Kiss". De los Santos took one look at the 215-pound bodybuilder and did the classic double-take—what the hell is this guy doing here, and, how quickly can I get this guy in the ring. Konnan introduced himself and explained how he was brought here by his manager/agent, John Roberts. Roberts had already bragged to de los Santos that Carlos had been

7221-690: Was much better: Konnan went 6–0 teamed with Nathan Jones (exclusively against the team of Lenny Lane and Lodi , better-known formerly as The West Hollywood Blondes in WCW) between November 27 – December 11, 2001. After a no-contest match against Sandman on January 12, 2002, at XPW New Year's Revolution 2 , Konnan then went to World Wrestling Council , where he won the World Wrestling Council World Tag Team Championship with Carly Colón , defeating Thunder and Lightning on May 26, 2002. Konnan appeared on

7308-633: Was nicknamed "K-Dogg." During his first stint in the nWo, Konnan feuded with the Luchadores whom he had brought to WCW. During this storyline, he wrestled in a Mexican Death match at Road Wild against Rey Mysterio, Jr. and a match against Juventud Guerrera at Uncensored in March 1998. When the nWo divided into two rival factions on the May 4, 1998, episode of Nitro , Konnan sided with the nWo Wolfpac, led by Kevin Nash . The Wolfpac feuded with nWo Hollywood, led by Hollywood Hogan and became tweeners . On

7395-483: Was originally called The Comet Kid for a handful of appearances). The Moon character , created by Konnan, was that of a cyborg from "The Future" or "Outer Space". Back in EMLL, Konnan lost his mask to Perro Aguayo in a Lucha de Apuesta mask versus hair match . on June 9, 1991, by disqualification. After the match, a young boy—introduced as Konnan's brother—entered the ring crying and handed Konnan his mask back, generating considerable bonhomie towards Konnan from

7482-584: Was teamed with Rikishi and lost to Cibernetico and La Parka by disqualification. On July 14, 2004, the 3 Live Kru, Dusty Rhodes and Larry Zbyszko defeated Jarrett, Ken Shamrock and the Elite Guard in a ten-man tag team match. The Kru began feuding with Team Canada in August 2004, and at the inaugural three-hour TNA pay-per-view, Victory Road on November 7, 2004, Konnan and James defeated Team Canada members Bobby Roode and "Showtime" Eric Young for

7569-666: Was very busy for Konnan. In AAA, he made his first appearance with La Legión Extranjera (with Chessman and Ron Killings) on May 1, 2006, losing to El Zorro, Octagon and Vampiro Canadiense at AAA Sin Limite . He soon became the leader of the stable, which was active through 2009. That same month, Konnan became the TNA Impact! Spanish color commentator . Additionally, he and the LAX began a storyline that saw them refuse to wrestle (as well as himself and Moody Jack refuse to commentate), claiming that Latinos were discriminated against within TNA. On June 24, 2006, Konnan participated in

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