Misplaced Pages

#212787

69-514: Anthony White (born April 23, 1954) better known by his ring name Tony Atlas is an American bodybuilder, powerlifter , and professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his bodybuilding title, " Mr. USA " (a distinction he earned three times), the nom de guerre the " Black Superman ", as well as an alter ego named Saba Simba . He returned as an on screen manager for WWE , appearing on its now-defunct ECW brand. He re-signed with WWE on

138-581: A cliffhanger and consequently All Star underwent a box office boom as hardcore fans turned up to live shows to see what happened next, and kept coming for several years due to careful use of show-to-show storylines. Headline matches frequently pitted Nagasaki in violent heel vs heel battles against the likes of Rocco, Dave 'Fit' Finlay , Skull Murphy and even Giant Haystacks or at smaller venues teaming with regular partner "Blondie" Bob Barrett to usually defeat blue-eye opposition. All Star's post-television boom wore off after 1993 when Nagasaki retired for

207-518: A school in Birkenhead, originally with Allmark and Dynamite as chief trainers, replaced in 2023 with Joel Redman . Redman also runs an affiliated wrestling school in Salisbury which runs its own trainee shows, both of these operating under the banner "ASW South". Dixon's daughter Laetitia is a popular ring announcer for the promotion and was married to Allmark until January 2022. In July 2022

276-625: A Friday night residency there. All Star re-established old links with promoters in France, Germany, Japan and Calgary. All Star wrestlers were widely used to represent Britain by major American promoters, for example the Team UK in TNA 's 2004 X Cup which featured four All Star Wrestling regulars James Mason, Dean Allmark , Robbie Dynamite and Frankie Sloan. Mason would also guest on WWE Smackdown in 2008, defeating MVP . On April 24, 2010, ASW joined

345-1072: A brief appearance to co-present the Slammy Award for "Trending Superstar of the Year." On April 10, 2012, Atlas made an appearance on SmackDown : Blast from the Past . In 2014, Atlas was a regular cast member on the WWE Network original reality show, Legends' House . ATLAS: Too Much...Too Soon was released in 2010. White was born in Roanoke, Virginia , where he attended Patrick Henry High School . He now lives with his wife Monika in Auburn, Maine . With his ex-wife Joyce, he has one daughter named Nikki. White has been open about what he calls his non-sexual shoe fetish , which involves paying women to step on him. He stated in an interview, "I, Tony 'Mr. USA' Atlas, WWE Hall of Famer, am free to be me. And there

414-465: 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

483-487: A few seconds later a scuffle ensued, followed by two groans, loud enough for the entire locker room to hear. Atlas ran to the shower and saw Brody bent over and holding his stomach (Mantel came after him). Atlas and Mantel then looked up at González and saw him holding the knife. When the paramedics arrived, Atlas carried Brody downstairs to the waiting ambulance, as, due to Brody's enormous stature, paramedics were unable to lift him. González, who always maintained his innocence,

552-530: A legends contract in mid-2012. Atlas started wrestling in 1974 for the National Wrestling Alliance World Wide/Mid Atlantic area. His debut, on July 10, was a tag team match with Bob Bruggers against Art Neilson and The Blue Scorpion. The match finished with Atlas winning the fall for his team with a sleeper hold on The Blue Scorpion. Throughout his career he worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW),

621-603: A match that aired on November 17. Upon his return, Atlas was shunted to the mid card in the WWF and was undefeated against competition that included Mr Fuji , The Spoiler , The Iron Sheik , and Moondog Rex . He scored a win against Bob Orton and a non-title victory over WWF Intercontinental Champion Greg Valentine at the Steel Cage Turmoil round robin tournament in Hartford, CT on November 23, 1984 (a predecessor to

690-689: A one match return on August 28, 1987, when he teamed with The Junkyard Dog to defeat Kamala and Sika at the WWF Paul Boesch Retirement Show. Two months later Tony joined the Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling where he adopted the moniker of "The Black Superman". He made his initial appearance on November 11, 1986, and defeated Tim Brooks in Fort Worth, TX. On December 1, Atlas defeated Crusher Yorkoff to win

759-1090: A return to Puerto Rico's WWC defeating Dutch Mantel on July 16, 2000, at WWC 27th anniversary event. On November 19, 2005, Atlas defeated Tracy Smothers at CCW A Tribute to Starrcade in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Since 2006 he has made occasional appearances for Big Time Wrestling and Top Rope Promotions both in New England. He teamed with Bushwhacker Luke to defeat Eric Johnson and Thad Hairy Howett at UCW in Kentville, Nova Scotia, on April 28, 2018. On May 25, 2018, he defeated Nathan Banner by disqualification in Pembroke, Ontario, for Great North Wrestling. On May 17, 2019, he teamed with Frankie Flow to defeat Gene Snitsky and Salvatore Sincere Managed by Lance Profit at East Coast Pro wrestling in Manville, New Jersey. On March 25, 2023, Atlas and Bob Orton Jr. won

SECTION 10

#1732798521213

828-510: A second time. However, the promotion kept afloat on live shows at certain established venues and particularly on the holiday camp circuit. Since the mid-1990s, the promotion has mainly been focussed on family entertainment. After the demise of Joint/RWS, All Star's chief rival on the live circuit was Scott Conway's TWA (The Wrestling Alliance) promotion, founded as the Southeastern Wrestling Alliance in 1989. By

897-501: A set of rules and championships for the British professional wrestling scene . Four of the six current titles listed above were set up by the committee. All Star Wrestling hosted many other such championships in the past, some of which have since been moved to or revived by other promotions. These championships were established at later dates (but prior to the 1990s) for fields of competition (tag teams, women's wrestling) not envisaged by

966-703: A shot at the titles and won by disqualification. Ten days later he teamed with Jim Brunzell for another shot at the Road Warriors, but this time was defeated. His final match with the promotion was a victory against Tom Scott on October 28, after which he returned to the World Wrestling Federation. One day after departing the AWA, Atlas returned to the WWF at a TV taping for All Star Wrestling in Hamilton, Ontario, and pinned Rene Goulet in

1035-547: A tournament to crown a new United States Heavyweight Champion following the vacating of the title by an injured Rick Rude . Atlas pinned Van Hammer in the quarterfinals. In the semi-finals he fell to Dustin Rhodes. Atlas also became part of a storyline where a bounty had been placed on rookie Erik Watts head; Atlas entered a house show series in January 1993 with the young Watts but was winless. He made an appearance on Clash of

1104-754: 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

1173-548: Is a British professional wrestling promotion founded by Brian Dixon in 1970 and based in Birkenhead , England. Founded as Wrestling Enterprises of Birkenhead in October 1970, it has also been known over the years as All Star Promotions and Big Time Wrestling . ASW tours theatres, leisure centres, town halls, holiday camps , and similar venues, many of which are the same locations that were used for televised wrestling in

1242-646: 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

1311-448: 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

1380-775: Is not to be confused with the NWA Tri–State promotion founded by Leroy McGuirk in the 1950s. This promotion would eventually be taken over by Bill Watts in 1979 and renamed Mid-South Wrestling Association . The promotion would eventually be renamed Universal Wrestling Federation . 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

1449-436: Is nothing greater on this Planet Earth than to get kicked and punched in the face by a big-footed girl." White was once a frequent co-host of the popular YouTube wrestling interview channel Boston Wrestling MWF. However, following his co-host bringing up the controversial wrestler New Jack , White responded negatively and later left the show. The next episodes were co-hosted by New Jack, who criticized White. This promotion

SECTION 20

#1732798521213

1518-548: The 1991 Royal Rumble , where he was eliminated by Rick Martel . After the Royal Rumble, he was taken off TV and was inactive with the company. His last match was on September 13, 1991, at a house show in Allentown, Pennsylvania, filling in for Jim Neidhart , losing to Irwin R. Schyster as Saba Simba. After he left the WWF he returned to IWCCW shortly thereafter facing Tito Santana and Vic Steamboat . He would regain

1587-497: The British Mid-Heavyweight Championship which the promotion revived in 2002, 21 years after the death of previous champion Mike Marino . As the 2000s wore on, All Star reached new heights of activity not seen since the post-television boom of the early 1990s, reactivating many more old TV venues, and in the summer 2008 season revived the old tradition of wrestling shows at Blackpool Tower, with

1656-666: The World Wrestling Federation on October 23, 1979, defeating Johnny Rodz at a Championship Wrestling taping. One of his first feuds was with Jesse "The Body" Ventura , over who had the better physique. In 1983, he teamed with Rocky Johnson as The Soul Patrol to defeat The Wild Samoans for the WWF World Tag Team Championship , becoming the company's first black champions. After losing the title to Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch and missing shows due to drug addiction, Atlas' final match

1725-485: 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

1794-737: 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

1863-822: The "Thai Wrestling Alliance"). During this period, All Star's touring schedule generally consisted of monthly residencies at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon , the Victoria Hall in Hanley and the Colston Hall in Bristol as well as one or two tour stops each year in various town centre venues and a summer season at various Butlins resorts. A major storyline during these years was a long running feud between former tag partners Allmark and Dynamite, mostly over

1932-526: The 2010s, ASW would continue to bring in younger talent from popular UK promotions ( Insane Championship Wrestling , PROGRESS Wrestling , Revolution Pro Wrestling ) as well as veterans and international talent, such as Zack Sabre Jr. , Fit Finlay Junior , Dave Mastiff , Jack Gallagher , Noam Dar , Andy Wild, Kris Travis , Marty Scurll , Sweet Saraya , El Ligero , BT Gunn , Shinya Ishikawa , Harlem Bravado , Mark Haskins , Xia Brookside , Kay Lee Ray , Gangrel and Jay White . The promotion runs

2001-631: The All Star banner. At the end of 1988, Greg Dyke cancelled wrestling on ITV after 33 years. Whereas Joint dwindled downwards as a touring vehicle for Big Daddy (and later Davey Boy Smith ) before finally folding in 1995, All Star had played its cards well with regard to its two years of TV exposure, using the time in particular to build up the returning Nagasaki as its lead heel and establishing such storylines as his tag team-cum-feud with Rollerball Rocco and his " hypnotism " of Robbie Brookside . The end of TV coverage left many of these storylines at

2070-563: The August 19, 2008, episode of ECW against Hardy. At Unforgiven , Henry lost the title to Hardy. On the December 9 edition of ECW , Atlas wrestled in a WWE ring for the first time in 17 years (along with Mark Henry) in a tag team match, where they defeated Finlay and Hornswoggle . He also wrestled Evan Bourne on the June 9, 2009, episode of ECW in a losing effort. Henry was then traded to

2139-474: The Battle Royal at Wrestlemania 2 being eliminated by William Perry . He was also used as a jobber to the stars, putting over newly arriving talent like King Kong Bundy and Harley Race , as well as a series of matches with other muscle bound strongmen such as Hercules and "The Worlds Strongest Man" Ted Arcidi , the latter of which in an infamous match at Boston Garden where both men were booed by

Tony Atlas - Misplaced Pages Continue

2208-573: The Champions XXII in Milwaukee, WI on January 13, 1993, and lost an arm wrestling contest to Vinnie Vegas . Following a match with Steve Regal on February 5, Atlas left the promotion. Atlas returned to IWCCW in the fall of 1993 and faced Tommy Dreamer , Johnny Gunn , Tito Santana, and Primo Carnera III . He also wrestled for the CWA ( Century Wrestling Alliance ) in 1994, and in 1995 joined

2277-575: The IWCCW title. He defeated Jimmy Snuka on an independent show on June 28, 1992, in Wallingford, CT. He later left IWCCW which left the IWCCW title vacant. Teaming with The Barbarian , Atlas made his debut as a heel for WCW on the October 10, 1992, with a victory over Jeff Daniels and TA McCoy. They were immediately programmed by WCW Vice President Bill Watts into a feud with Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes . He suffered his first pinfall when he

2346-784: The King of the Ring tournaments that were held later in the decade as annual house show events), but suffered his first defeat on his comeback when he lost to David Schultz . This would be his only loss for several months, as he would not be pinned again until losing to Paul Orndorff on Prime Time Wrestling on March 19, 1985. At this point Atlas began to transition to a mid-card performer and would lose several matches, including bouts with Bret Hart , Greg Valentine, Don Muraco , and Roddy Piper . The company also programmed him into several short-lived tag-teams with Ivan Putski, Lanny Poffo and George Wells. Atlas made his PPV debut in 1986 when he appeared in

2415-667: The NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions , the World Wrestling Council (WWC), World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Among his regular partners were Tommy Rich (as "TNT"), Dick Murdoch , and Rocky Johnson . He was also the first man to press slam and pin Hulk Hogan though Hogan's foot was on the rope and

2484-610: The Raw brand on June 29, quietly ending their alliance. Atlas would continue to appear on ECW during The Abraham Washington Show as Abraham Washington 's sidekick, until ECW went off air in February 2010. Atlas was released from his WWE contract on April 30, 2010. However he still made sporadic appearances with the company; he made a brief appearance on the Old School Raw episode on November 15, 2010. On December 12, 2011, he made

2553-792: The SICW Tag Team titles defeating the LA Hustlers - Bradley Driggs and Lamonte Potts in St. Louis, Missouri. As of 2024, at age 70 Atlas still wrestlers 50 years later. Atlas made a surprise return to the WWF on the March 10, 1997, edition of Monday Night RAW . Following a victory by Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia over Tony Roy, Atlas came out of the crowd to congratulate the son of his former tag-team partner Rocky Johnson . One week later he appeared on RAW again, this time holding Maivia back from attacking The Sultan . At Wrestlemania 13 he

2622-528: The Saba Simba character with saving his life as he was homeless and living on a park bench before getting a phone call from McMahon. He played a warrior of a Ugandan tribe and was intended to feud with Akeem , but the feud never took place after Akeem departed from the promotion. Atlas was kept at midcard status, losing to Dino Bravo & The Barbarian. The gimmick has been described by one writer as "unpopular at best, and racist at worst." He participated at

2691-566: The UK from the 1950s to the 1980s. ASW is the oldest active wrestling promotion in the UK and the longest-running British promotion in history, a record it has held since September 2013 when it eclipsed the 42 years and 11 months tenure of Joint Promotions (1952–1995). It is also the fourth oldest professional wrestling promotion still in existence in the world, after the Mexican promotion CMLL (founded 1933), WWE (founded 1963) and longtime US independent ECWA (founded 1967). ASW contributed to

2760-595: The Union of European Wrestling Alliances and recognised the European Heavyweight Championship . They hosted two title changes with Mikey Whiplash defeating Rampage Brown and James Mason defeating Whiplash. ASW hosted several of Mason's title defences before leaving the UEWA on 30 November 2013. In April 2014, ASW established a relationship with Japanese promotion Wrestle-1 . Throughout

2829-619: The WWF where he wrestled as "Saba Simba" for the remainder of 1990 and into January 1991. He made his first appearance in his comeback on August 4, 1990, when he pinned Haku at a house show in Augusta, GA. On August 28 he participated in a taping for WWF Superstars and Prime Time Wrestling. In his first televised appearance as Simba, Atlas's history in the company was quickly acknowledged, but Vince McMahon claimed Atlas had "rediscovered his roots by legally changing his name". On December 13, 2010, Tony appeared on Right After Wrestling and credited

Tony Atlas - Misplaced Pages Continue

2898-704: The World Class World Television Championship. In January 1987, Atlas competed in a tournament to crown the Texas Heavyweight Champion, beating Tim Brooks in the opening round but falling to Matt Borne in the quarter-finals. In the summer of 1987 he had almost instant success when he teamed with Skip Young to win the World Class Texas Tag Team Title. Following a match that went to a time limit draw against Al Perez , Atlas left

2967-437: The company announced that their elder son, referee Joseph Allmark, would be taking over day-to-day operations on the road, while the elder Dixon moved to a back seat role from the company's Birkenhead office until his death in 2023, at which point Joseph Allmark took over full control of the company. Since 2024 he has been known as Joseph Dixon. The Mountevans committee was an independent committee which met in 1947 to establish

3036-515: The company in 1988. On July 16, 1988, Atlas was appearing at a WWC event in Bayamón (a city near San Juan), Puerto Rico, where he was one of the 2 witnesses, the other being Dutch Mantel to the fatal assault on wrestler Bruiser Brody . José Huertas González a.k.a. the Invader, a fellow wrestler and booker, asked Brody to go into the shower to discuss business. Brody entered the shower stall and

3105-575: The company in a purely office based capacity. The elder Dixon died 27 May 2023, leaving his grandson as sole proprietor. Brian Dixon, a referee and former head of the Jim Breaks Fan Club, established Wrestling Enterprises in Birkenhead during October 1970 initially as a vehicle for his girlfriend (and later wife) Mitzi Mueller, who was the British Ladies' Champion but had difficulty getting bookings from Joint Promotions. One of

3174-486: The company's earliest claims to fame was rebranding the wrestler Martin Ruane, formerly known as Luke McMasters, as new character Giant Haystacks . Originally called "Haystacks Calhoun", he was patterned after the similar American wrestler of the same name , about whom Dixon had read in imported American wrestling magazines. Haystacks would go on to achieve household fame in the UK after he moved to Joint Promotions in 1975 as

3243-480: The crowd and mocked by commentators Gorilla Monsoon & Lord Alfred Hayes for their poor performances. Atlas began to be shunted further down the card, losing to Big John Studd , Iron Sheik, Dory Funk Jr. , and Harley Race . His final match was a loss to Adrian Adonis in a bout that took place in Madison Square Garden and which aired on September 8, 1986, on Prime Time Wrestling. Tony made

3312-574: The final two years of ITV 's regular televised wrestling programme in the UK in (1987 and 1988) and some ASW matches were included on VHS and DVD compilations and repeated as part of the World of Sport programming on The Fight Network until it stopped transmission in 2008. They were then repeated on the now defunct Men & Movies channel. In July 2022, Dixon bequeathed all road management duties to his grandson Joseph Dixon (aka Joseph Allmark,the son of wrestler Dean Allmark ), while continuing to lead

3381-457: The inclusion of former WWF World Champion Yokozuna on advertising posters over a year after he had died, the continued advertising of Davey Boy Smith months after his planned tour fell through and the use of a photo of the original WWF Kane to depict the tribute performer "Big Red Machine"), Conway cut his links with All Star and declared a promotional war. He began to promote his TWA as an alternative, featuring more serious wrestling (in much

3450-482: 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

3519-484: The late 1990s, many smaller British promoters were increasingly abandoning their British identity in favour of "WWF Tribute" shows, with British performers crudely imitating World Wrestling Federation stars. Although All Star never descended into a full-fledged 'tribute show', by the turn of the millennium, many of these tribute acts such as the "UK Undertaker" and "Big Red Machine" were nonetheless headlining All Star shows. Disaffected with this and other matters (such as

SECTION 50

#1732798521213

3588-554: The management of The Duke (not Pete Doherty) won the ICW Heavyweight title from Joe Savoldi . Atlas lost the belt to Vic Steamboat in Middletown, NY. But after a few months, he regained the belt from Steamboat. That match became infamous because of the number of times it was shown on the IWCCW syndicated show. Afterwards he was inactive from wrestling due to being homeless for a year and a half. In 1990 Atlas returned to

3657-475: The mid-1980s All Star was running shows head-to-head with Joint Promotions and had its own TV show on satellite channel Screensport . When Joint's five-year extension on its monopoly of ITV wrestling expired at the end of 1986, All Star, along with the WWF, was also given a share of the televised wrestling shows for the two years 1987–88. The beginning of this period coincided with the return to full-time action for legendary masked wrestler Kendo Nagasaki under

3726-627: 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: All Star Wrestling All Star Wrestling ( ASW ), also known as Super Slam Wrestling ( SSW ),

3795-524: The promotion. He was undefeated against "Mr Electricity" Steve Regal , Larry Zbyszko , and Jake Milliman in July before finally being defeated by King Kong Bundy on August 11 in Indianapolis, IN. This and a disqualification loss to Nick Bockwinkel were Atlas' only defeats in singles competition. On October 10, 1984, he teamed with The Crusher and faced AWA Tag-Team Champions The Road Warriors for

3864-592: The referee did not see it. During his time with the NWA, Atlas captured the NWA Georgia Tag Team Title with Tommy Rich. He later teamed with Mr. Wrestling II , Thunderbolt Patterson , Kevin Sullivan , and Rocky Johnson. In 1982, he wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling . From 1982 to 1983 he wrestled for Bill Watts 's Universal Wrestling Federation . Then from 1983 to 1984 he returned to Georgia and wrestled in St. Louis. Atlas debuted in

3933-504: The same way as All Star had previously targeted Joint fans disaffected with Big Daddy). All Star duly adapted to meet the challenge, recruiting a new generation of wrestlers such as Dean Allmark and Robbie Dynamite and signing up such stars as "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson . The promotional war came to an abrupt end in 2003 when Conway relocated to Thailand , closing down the TWA (which he briefly tried to transplant to his new country as

4002-747: The tag team partner - and later the archenemy - of Big Daddy . During the late 1970s, Wrestling Enterprises held regular major shows at the Liverpool Stadium and organised a version of the World Middleweight Title after the previous version became extinct with the collapse of the Spanish wrestling scene c. 1975. This title continued until champion Adrian Street emigrated to America in 1981. Wrestling Enterprises also collaborated heavily with another independent promoter, former middleweight star Jackie Pallo . Neither promoter

4071-406: The upstart American Wrestling Federation (AWF). He teamed with Koko B Ware to face Greg Valentine and Tommy Rich for the vacant AWF Tag-Team Championship. Apart from his AWF appearances Atlas wrestled primarily with the CWA in 1995 through 1997. On July 11, 1999, he teamed with Tito Santana to defeat Salvatore Bellomo and Jay Love at WXW Sportsfest 1999 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He made

4140-455: The victory. Atlas then announced Henry the winner of the bout, although the official result was a double countout. This is also the first time since his brief stint in WCW in 1992 that Atlas has worked as a heel , as he would then become Henry's manager. Atlas helped Mark Henry retain his title at SummerSlam by disqualification, attacking Matt Hardy once a win by Hardy appeared to be imminent. Atlas also helped Henry retain his championship on

4209-409: 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

SECTION 60

#1732798521213

4278-440: Was able to gain a slice of ITV coverage however, as the 1981 contract renewal negotiations resulted in a five-year extension on Joint Promotions' exclusive monopoly of ITV wrestling. By the early 1980s there was increasing dissatisfaction among both fans and wrestlers with the direction of Joint Promotions (which was increasingly centred on Big Daddy ), which resulted in a steady flow of top UK talent into All Star Wrestling (as it

4347-443: Was by then renamed) and away from Joint and the TV spotlight. Title-holders such as World Heavyweight Champion Mighty John Quinn, rival claimant Wayne Bridges, British Heavyweight Champion Tony St Clair, World Heavy-Middleweight Champion Mark Rocco , British Heavy-Middleweight Champion Frank 'Chic' Cullen and World Lightweight Champion Johnny Saint all defected to All Star taking their titles with them, as did many non-titleholders. By

4416-417: Was defeated by Tom Zenk in Chicago, IL on October 31, 1992. Atlas entered the King of Cable tournament but was defeated by Big Van Vader in the quarterfinals. On the house show circuit he continued his partnership with the Barbarian and received title matches against Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas , but were unsuccessful in obtaining the NWA/WCW Tag-Team Championship. On January 2, 1993, Atlas entered

4485-596: 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

4554-496: 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

4623-523: Was initially charged with first-degree murder but was later reduced and tried for involuntary homicide. Both Atlas and Mantel appeared in 2019's Dark Side of the Ring episode on Bruiser Brody and explained what actually happened. Atlas said that he was asked to be in the trial but never got a call back because the case was already finalized. Atlas then moved on to Southern Ontario area in late 1988. He joined International Championship Wrestling (owned and operated by Mario Savoldi) where he turned heel and under

4692-401: Was on May 16, 1984, in Lacey Township, New Jersey. Two months after departing the World Wrestling Federation, Atlas resurfaced in Verne Gagne 's AWA . He made his debut on July 13 at a house show in Denver, Colorado, and defeated Chris Markoff . At the time the AWA was being raided for talent by the WWF; this represented a swing in the opposite direction and Atlas received a push upon joining

4761-593: Was spotted in the crowd and cheering for Maivia. Atlas was shown on RAW once more, again cheering for Maivia on the March 31 edition when Maivia wrestled Bret Hart . Atlas was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 by S. D. Jones . Atlas appeared on the July 8, 2008, airing of ECW where Theodore Long appointed him the special guest ring announcer for the main event featuring Tommy Dreamer with then-babyface, Colin Delaney in his corner against then-heel, ECW Champion Mark Henry . Atlas attacked Delaney, which in turn distracted Dreamer, allowing Henry to gain

#212787