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107-657: For many years, SCW was the home promotion of Pittsburgh "legends" such as Lord Zoltan and T. Rantula as well as many prominent indy stars in the region including Cueball Carmichael , Dennis Gregory, Lou Marconi , Jimmy Cicero , Frank Stalletto , Tom Brandi , Mike Quackenbush , Reckless Youth , and The Bad Street Boys ( Joey Matthews and Christian York ). The promotion also regularly featured talent from Extreme Championship Wrestling . Future ECW stars Julio Dinero , Stevie Richards , and The Blue Meanie all started their careers in SCW. Unlike its Philadelphia counterpart, however,

214-408: A PTA meeting when the then newly appointed school superintendent was looking for new fundraising ideas. The event was performed specifically for a hearing-impaired audience with sign language being used to communicate promos and other information. Deaf Wrestlefest became an annual event for Steel City Wrestling, attracting a number of high-profile stars, until its close five years later. Jugan

321-675: A figure-four leglock on the January 28th edition of WWF All Star Wrestling . On February 4, Jugan teamed with Eddie Gilbert and Frankie Williams in a 6-man tag team match against The Wild Samoans with Captain Lou Albano; Jugan's team lost when Afa pinned Williams after a Samoan drop . On February 11, Jugan and Bill Dixon wrestled Eddie Gilbert and B. Brian Blair in Allentown, Pennsylvania . He lost to The Iron Sheik in Allentown

428-622: A "heel" stable called The Dope Show with Shirley Doe and Big Neal the Real Deal. He and Shirley Doe began teaming regularly during this period. On July 9, they wrestled The Bushwhackers in Cambridge, Ohio . The following night in Irwin, The Dope Show defeated Don Montoya and Jimmy Cicero ; Jugan would defeat Montoya in a singles match at the end of the month. On August 28, Jugan and Rage faced High Society ( Cueball Carmichael and Jimmy Cicero) at

535-465: A "heel" stable, with Shirley Doe and Big Neal the Real Deal. He also had a long-running feud with Dominic DeNucci , Doink the Clown , and T.C. Reynolds on the independent circuit . Jugan dedicated much of his later wrestling career to helping raise money for cancer research, civic organizations, and other charitable causes though independent wrestling shows. On March 20, 2012, Jugan was recognized by

642-559: A "set fee" for the costs setting up the show, such as purchasing insurance for the venture and turning over 5% to the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission, while the charity would collect proceeds from the ticket sales. One of these benefit shows, "Brawl at Sullivan Hall" in Mount Washington , became one of the promotion's annual supercards. On February 8, 1998, Cactus Jack and The Blue Meanie captured

749-600: A 2-day SCW event in Pittsburgh. Raven had the idea that the unusual-looking wrestler would be perfect as a "lackey" of Stevie Richards, who was his own comic sidekick in ECW, and brought him to Philadelphia as a member of Raven's Nest . The Blue Meanie and Richards continued appearing in SCW and regained the SCW Tag Team Championship at Deaf Wrestlefest 1996 . They held the belts for nearly two years before

856-728: A 4-man tournament final. Lord Zoltan also beat Scott McKeever for the SCW Light Heavyweight Championship . Two weeks earlier, at an ACW show in Munhall , Lou Marconi and Dereck Stone had won the SCW Tag Team Championship after defeating Beauty & The Beast ( Frank Stalletto and Futureshock). That same year, SCW co-hosted the first of Lord Zoltan's Deaf Wrestlefest shows for the Western Pennsylvania School for

963-715: A Far North Wrestling show in Johnstown, Pennsylvania . At the end of year, Jugan began wrestling semi-regularly for the Championship Wrestling Federation. On December 13, 2003, Jugan defeated Powerhouse Hughes at "CWF Rampage" in Monessen, Pennsylvania . On January 10, 2004, Jugan and Devin Devine defeated Dennis Gregory and Powerhouse Hughes at "CWF Motown Showdown '04" in Monessen. He beat Doink

1070-644: A National Wrestling Superstars event in Manville, New Jersey. On April 12, he and JD Love defeated Zaquary Springate III and Isys Ephex in a surprise appearance at 2CW's Living on the Edge. On August 8, 2010, Heffron was slated to appear at the TNA PPV Hardcore Justice ; however, he could not attend the event and was replaced by a fake Blue Meanie named The Blue Tilly . On September 4, 2015, Da Blue Guy, Big Stevie Cool and Hollywood Nova reunited as

1177-482: A SCW show in Cambridge, Ohio , Mankind was the special referee in a wild brawl between T. Rantula and Lou Marconi. He and Notorious Norm got into an altercation near the end of the match which saw the WWF superstar attack Connors (and subsequently Marconi) with Mr. Socko allowing T. Rantula to win the bout. In his role as SCW President, Notorious Norm was often challenged by various heel factions attempting to "take over"

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1284-561: A Three Way Dance for the main event. Lazarchik planned another similar show in Irwin on December 13, 2000. In the spring of 2001, Norm Connors resumed promoting wrestling events. He partnered with B94 morning radio host Bubba The Bulldog to form the International Wrestling Cartel in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania . The promotion used many former Steel City Wrestling stars, as well as younger indy wrestlers, and

1391-726: A USWL show in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania . On July 8, The Dope Show beat The Intimidators in a rematch at the Agricultural Fair in Derry, Pennsylvania . On July 30, Jugan appeared at " Curtis Comes Home " in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, a tribute show to raise money for referee Mark Curtis , where he wrestled Dominic DeNucci in a Legends match. Jugan was pinned by DeNucci following a surprise appearance from Mick Foley . On November 21, 1999, Jugan and Shirley Doe captured

1498-583: A child after attending a live event at the McKeesport Palisades. Jugan later became a regular studio audience member on the famed Saturday night television program Studio Wrestling . Although the show was restricted to people over 18, Jugan was often sneaked in through the back door of the WIIC-TV studio by Bruno Sammartino 's manager and sat in the back row of the bleachers. Jugan studied photography in schoole and began taking pictures at

1605-534: A draw in the first match then lost to Spike Huber later on that night. During the next two months, Jugan also had matches against Bobby Bold Eagle , Steve Cooper, Greg Lake, Max Blue, and Jose Elizia. On May 7, Jugan and Black Saint lost to El Bracero and J.R. Hogg in Madison, Indiana . He and The Black Cat also lost to El Bracero and Bobby Bold Eagle in Seymour, Indiana , a week later. Jugan began wrestling for

1712-593: A losing effort against Samula and The Wild Samoans ( Afa and Sika ). He also continued wrestling in Michigan and Ohio under his Zoltan in-ring persona so fans would not recognize him on WWF television. On January 1, 1984, Jugan wrestled "Dr. D" David Schultz for a WWF TV taping at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis ; their bout was later aired during the short-lived revival of Wrestling at

1819-487: A mainstay in the Greater Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania and its surrounding states of Ohio and West Virginia , holding several junior heavyweight championships in the region since his debut in 1975. Jugan was one of the first wrestlers to start wearing facepaint in the late-1970s and, according to Pro Wrestling Illustrated , has one of the most unusual " gimmicks " in professional wrestling. He

1926-432: A match between Tom Brandi and Corporal Punishment . The promotion also began airing a weekly Friday night television show, Steel City Wrestling TV , on WNPA . On October 18, 1998, Don Montoya was crowned the first SCW Television Champion following his victory over Joey Matthews in the finals of a one-night 8-man championship tournament. At the end of the year, The Bad Street Boys (Joey Matthews and Christian York) captured

2033-688: A notoriously stiff chair shot to JBL's head, and World Heavyweight Champion Batista . Stevie Richards has gone on to say that he "still feels bad about it". [1] The Mexicools later defeated Meanie, Richards, and Nova in a six-man tag match at The Great American Bash . In 2005, Heffron wrestled at Hardcore Homecoming against Tracy Smothers in what commentator Joey Styles called a "comedy match", and also appeared with Raven during Raven's match against Sandman . In April 2006, Heffron announced on his blog that he had been diagnosed with empyema , and had undergone emergency surgery to have part of his lung removed. On June 3, 2007, he defeated Smothers to become

2140-594: A prominent wrestler in Greater Pittsburgh and surrounding states during the late-1970s and early 1980s. Pro Wrestling Illustrated described Zoltan's in-ring persona as "one of wrestling's crazier characters", alternating between "ominous"-looking facepaint and a wrestling mask , who had "perfected the art of distracting referees while he uses foreign objects and illegal tactics against his opponents". Jugan started his own "outlaw" promotion, Three Rivers Wrestling Association (TRWA), in 1977. The promotion

2247-574: A revival of a 1996 mockery of the Goldust gimmick he used in ECW, this time paired with Goldust himself. Bluedust and Goldust were pitted against one another at the WWF's St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House pay-per-view, a match Goldust eventually won. Heffron would later be pulled under Goldust's "spell", calling him "mommy" and serving as a manager , all the while bickering with Goldust's other manager, Ryan Shamrock . After Goldust dumped both Meanie and Shamrock, Heffron made little headway in

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2354-715: A six-man tag team match. Jugan also made appearances for Cleveland Wrestling Alliance and the United States Wrestling League during the summer. In the fall of 1996, Jugan made a brief appearance in Pro Wrestling eXpress . On September 6, 1996, Jugan defeated Dennis Gregory for the PWX North American Heavyweight Championship in North Versailles, Pennsylvania . He re-lost the title to Gregory

2461-629: A six-month period. In early-2003, Jugan feuded with The Dream Team (Dean Jablonski, Joey Bravo, and Rowdy Ron) in the Ohio-based World Wide Wrestling promotion. He lost to Joey Bravo at Tori's Station in Fairfield, Ohio , on January 31, 2003. Jugan also faced Dean Jablonski at the first annual "Rumble in the Rocks", a supercard co-hosted by the Championship Wrestling Federation and Pittsburgh Professional Wrestling, and at

2568-572: A special weekend show for the 2007 PWHoF induction ceremony , hosted by Northeast Championship Wrestling, at Wilbur Lynch Middle School in Amsterdam, New York . On June 1 at "CWF Rhythm House Rumble", The French Ticklers lost to Thunder In Paradise (Brett Paradise and Thunder) in a non-title match. The team also lost to J-Ru and Powerhouse Hughes via countout at "CWF Breakdown" a week later. The Blue Meanie Brian Heffron (born May 18, 1973), better known by his ring name The Blue Meanie ,

2675-587: A tag team match to Virgil and Bill Mickey, a local firefighter , at Connellsville High School . On November 11, Jugan lost to Mikey Whipwreck via disqualification at St. Mary's High School; Whipwreck had defeated Pablo Marquez earlier in the night to earn a SCW title shot at Jugan. Though successful in keeping his SCW title earlier that year, Jugan lost the USWL Intercontinental Championship to T.C. Reynolds at Butler Senior High School on December 18, 1995. That spring, Jugan

2782-651: A tag team street fight match in Parkersburg, West Virginia . At the end of the year, Jugan was ranked #458 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated 's annual PWI 500 . That same year, Jugan promoted Deaf Wrestlefest , a fundraiser for the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Edgewood, Pennsylvania. His two sons, both hearing-impaired, were students the school. He and his wife were approached at

2889-703: A time-limit draw at a Pro Championship Wrestling show in Warren, Ohio . On August 22, Jugan wrestled J.T. Lightning at a United States Wrestling League show. On December 13, 1997, Jugan pinned Matthew Starr at an Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling show in Buckhannon, West Virginia . Jugan successfully defended the junior heavyweight title against Christian York at the SCW Arena in Irwin, Pennsylvania , on January 18, 1998. A match between York and Reckless Youth

2996-569: A week later. Their WWF Championship Wrestling match was used to set up The Iron Sheik's feud with Sgt. Slaughter. On February 18, Jugan was pinned by Paul Orndorff (with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper ) on WWF Championship Wrestling . On February 24, Jugan wrestled Samula at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena . On March 3, 1984, in one of his last WWF appearances, Jugan teamed with Steve Lombardi to wrestle Mr. Fuji and Tiger Chung Lee in Allentown. Jugan began refereeing matches in

3103-598: Is a trainer at Monster Factory . The Blue Meanie made a cameo appearance with AEW on October 11, 2021, on an episode of Dark: Elevation in Philadelphia, coming out to support Crowbar in a losing effort to Joey Janela . Heffron has appeared in the WB sitcom Nikki , the documentary film Beyond the Mat , the film Communication Breakdown , and the cult horror film Swamp Zombies (with Dan Severn ). He also starred in

3210-854: Is an American professional wrestler . He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation between 1995 and 2005. His ring name is a reference to the Blue Meanies , the antagonists from the 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine . Heffron graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1993. Heffron started wrestling in the Midwest out of Al Snow 's Bodyslammers Pro Wrestling Gym in Lima, Ohio in March 1994. He continued to wrestle in various independent wrestling promotions throughout

3317-659: The Full Blooded Italians . At November to Remember in November 1998, they defeated Danny Doring and Roadkill . The Blue Meanie wrestled his final match for ECW on November 21, 1998, leaving to join the World Wrestling Federation later that month. Heffron made his World Wrestling Federation debut on the November 29, 1998, episode of Sunday Night Heat , interfering in a match between Duane Gill and Christian. He then spent some time as part of Al Snow 's J.O.B. Squad . He rose to short prominence as "Bluedust",

Steel City Wrestling - Misplaced Pages Continue

3424-557: The Greater Pittsburgh -area for the WWF during the mid-1980s. The decision would soon threaten his wrestling career as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission would not allow Jugan to hold a "duel license". Jugan opted to continue refereeing for the WWF was effectively "banned" from competition in Pennsylvania for several years. Outside of his home state, however, Jugan continued wrestling in

3531-765: The Knoxville, Tennessee -based All-Star Wrestling in September 1979 shortly after its split from Southeastern Championship Wrestling earlier that year. Jugan was one of several West Virginia promoters who began working with Dick the Bruiser 's World Wrestling Association in Indianapolis, Indiana , during the early-1980s. Jugan soon began wrestling for the WWA as "Zoltan the Great" in mid-1982. One of his first matches in

3638-569: The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -based Pro Pain Pro Wrestling . The Blue Meanie appeared at WWE's ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view on June 12, 2005. He made headlines at the event for being bloodied and deliberately (and legitimately ) injured by WWE wrestler John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL). A few weeks after the incident, during which time Heffron indicated on his website that he was considering pursuing legal action against JBL, it

3745-516: The SCW Tag Team Championship from Dennis Gregory and Lou Marconi in White Oak, Pennsylvania. They held the belts for nearly six months before their defeat by High Society (Cueball Carmichael and Jimmy Cicero) in McKeesport, Pennsylvania , on May 10, 2000. Doe later credited Jugan as one of his mentors while a tag team. Prior to Steel City Wrestling's close that year, Jugan held what would be

3852-466: The World Wrestling Federation as a preliminary wrestler mostly appearing for WWF house shows in Allentown and Hamburg, Pennsylvania . One of his first appearances was on the May 14 edition of WWF Championship Wrestling to wrestle Tito Santana . Over the next few weeks, Jugan faced Salvatore Bellomo and Tony Garea . He also teamed with Bill Dixon to wrestle The Invaders ( Invader #1 and #2) during

3959-404: The internet wrestling community and assisted wrestling historians. Jugan was one of the sources used by Count Grog in his KayfabeMemories.com article chronicling the history of Studio Wrestling and the Pittsburgh tri-state wrestling territory as well as helping Greg Oliver in his 2007 book "The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels". After a near seven-month championship reign, Jugan lost

4066-921: The various territories of the National Wrestling Alliance , as well as outlaw promotions, throughout the country. On January 17, 1985, Jugan wrestled "Dirty" Dick Slater during a Pittsburgh TV taping of Championship Wrestling from Georgia . Jugan became semi-active during this period and, after being engaged to his future wife, began working as an administrative assistant for the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. On November 16, 1986, Jugan and Bobby Duncum, Sr. lost to Kurt Kaugman and Troy Orndorff in Clarksburg, West Virginia , via count out. He returned to Clarksburg on February 13, 1987, where he and Umana Zanuk defeated Crusher Klebanski and Tony Nardo. Jugan also held

4173-594: The 165 lbs. Jugan unexpectedly wrestled his first match in November 1975 when a wrestler failed to appear for an event he was covering in Clarksburg, West Virginia . Jugan decided to continue wrestling after being laid off from his regular job at Union Railroad in Duquesne . His first match as Lord Zoltan was at Ponderosa Park in Salem, Ohio . B In 1976, he was wrestling as "Zoltan the Great" in Ohio and West Virginia, and

4280-427: The 1990s. He founded Deaf Wrestlefest , a long-running benefit show for the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf , which ran from 1994 to 2002, and again from 2009 to 2012, and raised over $ 100,000. In Pittsburgh's Steel City Wrestling , he held the promotion's junior heavyweight championship for over three years before his defeat by Reckless Youth in 1998. While in SCW, Jugan was the leader of The Dope Show,

4387-789: The ACW Light Heavyweight Championship against Preston Steele in Cleveland ; he was awarded the bout via referee decision when Steele could no longer compete due to an ankle injury. Jugan went on to win an 18-man battle royal at the end of the night. He lost to Battman via disqualification in Cleveland on March 22 but retained the title. On May 24, Jugan and T. Tantula attended an Extreme Championship Wrestling show in Rostraver, Pennsylvania , though they did not compete. Shortly after his title loss, Jugan formed

Steel City Wrestling - Misplaced Pages Continue

4494-710: The Allied Powers Wrestling Federation's "Return To Glory" show at Kay Arena in Indiana, Pennsylvania . On July 29, Jugan and The Mauler defeated The Gambino Brothers (Marshall and Mickey Gambino) at another Far North Wrestling show in Butler, Pennsylvania; Dominic DeNucci was the special guest referee . He returned to FNW later that year to face The Gambino Brothers in a rematch, this time with partner Kris Krude, but lost this second encounter. On November 20, 2005, Jugan wrestled Tito Santana at

4601-820: The Big Butler Fair in Prospect, Pennsylvania . On October 9, Jugan lost to Doink the Clown at a Far North Wrestling event in Morgantown, West Virginia . That same month, Jugan was one of several wrestling legends to participate in a fundraising event for the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame at Toronto 's Fairfield Inn & Suites . On November 13, Jugan won the CWF Heavyweight Championship from Dennis Gregory at "CWF Monessen Mayhem". He successfully defended

4708-403: The Blue World Order for Chikara 's 2015 King of Trios tournament. They were eliminated from the tournament in their first round match by the Devastation Corporation (Blaster McMassive, Flex Rumblecrunch and Max Smashmaster). On March 20, 2022, The Blue Meanie joined Aron Stevens to take on the Dirt Sexy Boys in the NWA Crockett Cup. Heffron, under his Blue Meanie name, currently wrestles and

4815-511: The CWF title to Dr. Feelgood at "CWF Continuation" on June 11. Held during the weekend Mon Valley Summer Festival in Monessen, Jugan and The Russian Nightmare lost to Dr. Feelgood and Brian O in a Best Two Out of Three Falls match the second night at "CWF Climax". Two weeks later, Jugan and Doink the Clown fought to a double-disqualification at a Far North Wrestling show in Kittanning, Pennsylvania . On July 15, Jugan and Doink joined forces as The Dope Show against Bubba Brewer and Nikolai Volkoff at

4922-426: The CWF, The French Ticklers continued their winning streak by defeating The Masked Duo (The Masked Assassin and The Masked Express) at "CWF March Madness 2007" on March 23. One night later, Jugan managed for Larry Zbyszko in his match against Bruno Sammartino (with Domenic DeNucci) at the International Wrestling Cartel's "Night of Legends 3". Zbyszko was pinned by his opponent when Jugan accidentally hit Zbyszko during

5029-471: The CWF. On September 2, the team defeated The New Breed (New Breed 1 and New Breed 2) at "CWF Fall From Grace" in Monessen. Jugan also feuded with Doink the Clown for several weeks losing to him at "CWF No Escape" in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania , via disqualification, and "CWF Believe The Hype" in Charleroi, Pennsylvania . The French Ticklers, however, had better luck in the CWF's tag team division. The team defeated Manifest Destiny (Eric Xtasy and Justin Idol) at

5136-436: The Chase . On the January 7 edition of WWF All Star Wrestling , Jugan lost to Sgt. Slaughter after submitting to the Cobra Clutch submission hold. The following week, Jugan wrestled then WWF World Heavyweight Champion The Iron Sheik (with "Classy" Freddie Blassie ) and lost after submitting to his Camel Clutch finisher. Jugan was similarly defeated by Greg "The Hammer" Valentine , with Captain Lou Albano ) using

5243-424: The Clown a month later at "CWF Unfinished Business IV". On March 13, Jugan challenged Dennis Gregory for the CWF Heavyweight Championship at "CWF March Madness 2004" in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania , however, the match ended in a double-countout. On March 26, Jugan lost to Joe Integra at a Far North Wrestling show in Latrobe, Pennsylvania . The following night at "Rumble in the Rox 2", Jugan faced to Larry Zbyszko in

5350-493: The Clown at an Outlaw Championship Wrestling show in New Castle, Pennsylvania . On December 28, 2002, Jugan made a guest appearance for the International Wrestling Cartel defeating Jake Garrett at Hindman Hall in Butler, Pennsylvania . Ohio independent wrestlers J.T. Hogg, Scott Prodigy, and Sherman Tank have all credited Jugan for mentoring them during their early careers. Hogg, a kayfabe relative of one-time WWA rival J.R. Hogg, claimed that he wrestled Jugan at least 20 times in

5457-399: The Deaf in Edgewood, Pennsylvania . The event would become an annual supercard for the promotion, attracting many former National Wrestling Alliance and World Wrestling Federation alumni, as well as top indy stars, and became the school's most important fundraiser during its original 6-year run. Connors, who had performed as "heel" manager Notorious Norm on the local independent circuit,

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5564-428: The Great Lakes Wrestling Association Junior Heavyweight Championship but lost the belt to Sam Houston on November 17, 1989, at the Front Row Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio. Jugan continued wrestling following the breakup of the NWA territory system in the early-1990s. In January 1992, Jugan beat Michael Quinn in Cincinnati, Ohio , for the American States Wrestling Alliance's Ohio Junior Heavyweight Championship. He lost

5671-441: The IWC's "Newville Knockout" show in Newville, Pennsylvania . Starting in February 2006, Jugan had a 5-month run in Far North Wrestling appearing in matches against Sheriff Steele, JT Hogg, and Dennis Gregory. On May 12, Jugan wrestled Dominic DeNucci in Cranberry, Pennsylvania. Later that week, Jugan attended the 2006 Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame weekend . Jugan began teaming with Nasty Nick Crane as The French Ticklers in

5778-417: The Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions until 1996. Heffron was noticed by Raven and Stevie Richards at a Steel City Wrestling show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , and was asked by Raven to become Richards' sidekick in ECW . He went on to become "The Blue Meanie", taking his name and persona from the villains of the 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine , in 1995 in ECW at the November To Remember event. He

5885-442: The October 28 "CWF Halloween Horror 2" show and CWF Tag Team Champions The West Coast Hustlas (Benny Benz and DC Bentley) at the November 25 "CWF Upside Down" show. Jugan and Crane would hold the tag titles for a then record 75 weeks. The French Ticklers would successfully defend their titles in a rematch against The West Coast Hustlas at "CWF Holiday Wishes II" on December 16, 2006. On January 27, 2007, at "CWF Collision Course 2007",

5992-422: The Ohio independent circuit. The team faced The Bushwhackers ( Bushwacker Luke and Bushwacker Butch ) at IWA's "Rumble in Trumbull '95" as well as The American Patriots (Preston Steele and T.C. Reynolds) at Deaf Wrestlefest 1995 . Psycho Mike later counted Jugan among his top five favorite tag team partners of his career. Jugan's feud with Reynolds also spread to other promotions. On April 21, Jugan captured

6099-400: The Rox 3" in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania , a week later. On May 7, Jugan took part in a 12-man battle royal held at the Mark Curtis Memorial Reunion show in Johnson City, Tennessee . He was also invited to the 2006 Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame ceremony in Amsterdam, New York . Jugan would continue to be involved with the museum for several years. In the mid-2000s, he also active in

6206-629: The SCW Arena. On January 16, 1999, Jugan wrestled Julio Sanchez in Burnside, Pennsylvania . The following night, The Dope Show defeated The Intimidators (Mark Mest and Vladimir Vampyre) in Weirton, West Virginia. On April 17, Jugan returned to Weirton where he wrestled Robert Gibson at SCW's King of West Virginia Tournament. On June 19, Jugan won a singles match against Sheriff Steele via disqualification in White Oak, Pennsylvania . On May 15, Jugan and T. Rantula wrestled The Thrillbillies in Ashtabula, Ohio . On June 5, Jugan and Shirley Doe wrestled The American Jiggalos (Preston Steele and TC Renyolds) at

6313-510: The SCW Arena. He also wrestled Carmichael in single matches during the next two months. On October 18, Jugan and Shirley Doe beat The Heartthrobs (Blade and Logan) at the SCW Arena. On November 13, Jugan wrestled Doink the Clown in a 30-minute match at Allied Powers Wrestling Federation's "Friday The 13th" supercard at Brockway High School . Jugan defeated Doink the following night at APWF's "Hell's Bells" in Big Run, Pennsylvania. On November 22, 1998, The Dope Show beat Flexx Wheeler and Nick Burke at

6420-499: The SCW Heavyweight Championship. In one of his first matches after undergoing neck surgery, Richards defeated Frank Stalletto at an SCW show later that month. On May 23, SCW co-hosted an interpromotional show with MAPW in Medina, Ohio . The following night, SCW held a show at Ainsworth Field in Erie, Pennsylvania , featuring The Pitbulls ( Pittbull #1 and Pitbull #2 ) and The Bushwhackers ( Bushwhacker Butch and Bushwhacker Luke ). Stevie Richards served as special guest referee in

6527-438: The SCW Tag Team Championship from Blue Meanie and Super Nova in Irwin, Pennsylvania. On February 21, 1999, Cody Michaels won the SCW Heavyweight Championship from Dennis Gregory at the SCW Arena with the help of longtime friend Shane Douglas. On May 15, 1999, SCW was one of twelve independent promotions from across the country to participate in the Break the Barrier supercard at Philadelphia's Viking Hall . The promotion

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6634-563: The United States Wrestling League Intercontinental Championship from Reynolds in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania . Four months later, the two met during a one-night tournament in New Castle, Pennsylvania , for the SCW Pennsylvania State Junior Heavyweight Championship. They were both eliminated from the tournament when their match ended in a double-disqualification. On October 14, Jugan lost the ACW light heavyweight title to Johnny Graham at "Fall Wrestlefest '95" in Lewistown, Pennsylvania . A week later in SCW, Jugan and his manager Notorious Norm lost

6741-476: The WWA, they were able to start broadcasting televised matches on cable channels 24 and 27 in the Cleveland area. The promotion held its first event, a three-day November supercard, where it crowned Bobo Brazil as its first champion. On the second night in Maple Heights, Ohio , Jugan won a battle royal to earn a title shot against Brazil on the third show in Parma . Jugan was part of a heel stable managed by Beefy LaPorque that included Ed Bonzo and J.W. Hawk until

6848-430: The WWF. He challenged Jeff Jarrett for the WWF Intercontinental Championship on the July 17, 1999, episode of Shotgun Saturday Night , but lost. Throughout the remainder of 1999, the Blue Meanie wrestled primarily on house shows and on episodes of Shotgun Saturday Night , Sunday Night Heat , and Jakked . His last WWF match was on Sunday Night Heat on October 26, 1999 when he lost to Godfather . Afterwards, he

6955-426: The World Champion again, but lost it at the next event on August 5, to Jason Bane in a Street Fight. On September 8, he defeated Troy Justice to become APWF Heavyweight Champion. On December 28, he was managed by Tammy Lynn Sytch and teamed with The Patriot to defeat The Sychadellic Sissies ( Ace Darling and Nicky Oceans) at National Wrestling Superstars Holiday Tour. On January 18, 2008, he defeated Danny Demanto at

7062-479: The beginning of a four-year partnership between the two men. Lazarchik joined Connors in PWX as a color commentator on its late-night television show. On September 21, 1997, an interpromotional PWX-SCW show was held at Pittsburgh's Sullivan Hall. At the end of that year, Connors and Lazarchik left the company due to creative differences with PWX management. They decided to run SCW full-time and began promoting shows in January 1998. Connors, still retaining ownership of

7169-462: The belt to Kid Collins in Mansfield, Ohio , three months later. Jugan also worked for Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling during this period. On May 7, Jugan wrestled T.C. Reynolds at a CAPW show. The next night, Jugan and Jesse Sellica wrestled The Bushwhackers . He also feuded with Dusty Wolfe while in ASWA. Jugan spent much of 1994 feuding with Johnny Graham on the independent circuit. Their bout at "Sauconfest '94" in Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania ,

7276-399: The belt to Michaels four months earlier. In the main event, WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Gillberg defeated Rich Myers. High Society would temporarily win control of SCW when Carmichael defeated Notorious Norm in a singles match on September 19, 1999. Little Jeannie also defeated Lexi Fife during the show to become the first SCW Women's Champion; she had defeated manager Drew Lazario in

7383-506: The bout. On April 13 at "CWF Friday The 13th", The French Ticklers and Apollyon were defeated by Low Rider and The Factory (Dee Drake and The Beast) in a six-man tag team match. The following night at "CWF Return To The 'Roi" they defeated Bobby White, Jr. and Doink the Clown at Charleroi High School. On May 5, Jugan and Crane lost to The Factory at "CWF mass inSINity" but kept the tag team belts via disqualification. Jugan, accompanied by manager Count Grog , also wrestled The Missing Link at

7490-478: The card involved a mix of SCW alumni as well as top indy stars from throughout the country. Both Kurt Angle and Bruno Sammartino were also scheduled to appear at the show, with Angle to meet local radio host Bubba the Bulldog in a wrestling match. Lord Zoltan Ken Jugan (born October 16, 1957), better known by the ring name Lord Zoltan , is a semi-retired American professional wrestler , manager , promoter , referee , and trainer. Jugan has been

7597-503: The city of Pittsburgh , which declared it "Ken Jugan Day". A year later, Jugan received the Jason Sanderson Humanitarian Award from the Cauliflower Alley Club for both Deaf Wrestlefest and other charity work. Described as "local legend" by Pittsburgh Magazine in 2013, Jugan is considered one of the most important independent wrestlers to come out of Western Pennsylvania . Jugan was born in Glassport, Pennsylvania , on October 16, 1957. He became interested in professional wrestling as

7704-530: The company. The most serious "threat" to the promotion was High Society (Tom Brandi, Cueball Carmichael, and Jimmy Cicero ) who managed to gain control of 40% of SCW by the summer of 1999. On June 5, SCW made its debut in Jeannette, Pennsylvania , where Cody Michaels lost the SCW Heavyweight title to Cueball Carmichael. Carmichael won the bout due to outside interference from Dennis Gregory who had lost

7811-494: The end of the promotion's run in the spring of 1983. Jugan and Hawk were also managed by Greg "Punk Rock" Mason for a time. Jugan would later form a tag team with LaPorque, wrestling as The Incredible Bulk, called The Funkadelix. Jugan returned to the WWA after the close of Ohio Championship Wrestling. On March 12, 1983, Jugan wrestled two matches in one night at Tyndall Armory in Indianapolis. He and El Bracero fought to

7918-703: The last of the original Deaf Wrestlefest shows. Held on April 12, Deaf Wrestlefest Y2K's main event featured King Kong Bundy and Preston Steele. The school's decision to end the event was due to the increasing popularity of adult-oriented content and violence in mainstream pro wrestling largely promoted during World Wrestling Entertainment 's " Attitude Era ". Although the Deaf Wrestlefest shows had always been " family friendly ", Jugan speculated that parents and school officials wanted to avoid bad publicity. Jugan two more shows independently before ending Deaf Wrestlefest. On September 13, 2001, Jugan lost to Doink

8025-524: The main event. Jugan lost the bout when Zbyszko pinned him with a school boy rollup after an attempt by his manager, Mayor Mystery, to interfere in the match backfired. Jugan and Mayor Mystery's Parts Unknown Posse had attacked Dean Jablonski earlier that night before they were run off by Zbyszko. On April 3, Jugan defeated Kim Chee in front of 1,250 fans at IWC's "Night of Legends 1" in Franklin, Pennsylvania . On July 2, he wrestled The Honky Tonk Man at

8132-422: The matches, eventually becoming an official ringside photographer during the final years of Studio Wrestling , during which he was a photographer and writer for various wrestling magazines and newsletters . He was also president of a fanclub for Luis Martinez. As a ringside photographer, Jugan became acquainted with a number of promoters and wrestlers in Greater Pittsburgh , including Newt Tattrie. At age 18,

8239-760: The next night in West Newton . On September 21, 1996, Jugan (with Notorious Norm) defeated Virgil via countout at the Tuscarawas County Fair in Dover, Ohio . A rematch held the following night at Pittsburgh's Sullivan Hall resulted in a double-countout. Jugan occasionally appeared in televised matches for United States Championship Wrestling throughout 1997. On April 12, 1997, Jugan and T. Rantula wrestled Ron Cumberledge and Preston Steele in Barberton, Ohio . On April 25, he wrestled T.C. Reynolds to

8346-560: The previous summer. The promotion's final show was held that summer. Connors addressed the crowd at the conclusion of the show to thank the fans, wrestlers, and Lazarchik. SCW was regarded by many in the industry as one of the top promotions on the East Coast at the time of its close. On October 25, 2000, Lazarchik booked an "unofficial" reunion show in T. Rantula's Far North Wrestling. It was held at Blazer's Family Fun Center in Irwin with Don Montoya, Mike Quackenbush, and Reckless Youth in

8453-508: The promotion had a much more " family friendly " atmosphere. In addition, SCW co-hosted the original Deaf Wrestlefest benefit shows with Lord Zoltan for the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf from 1994 to 2000. Steel City Wrestling was started by Norm Connors in the fall of 1994. On October 8, 1994, the promotion crowned its first heavyweight champion in Connellsville, Pennsylvania , when T. Rantula defeated Shane Douglas in

8560-522: The promotion was against Mike Dupree at the Market Square Arena on July 5, which he won. Jugan made several more appearances at the venue wrestling El Bracero, Rufus R. Jones , and J.R. Hogg during the next several weeks. In the fall of 1982, Jugan began working for Traitor Tim Hampton's Ohio Championship Wrestling in Cleveland . He was a founding member of the "outlaw promotion" along with Ed Bonzo and J.W. Hawk. With their connections to

8667-436: The promotion, was the head booker and wrote the majority of the storylines. As vice president, Lazarchik handled the promotional side of the company by overseeing advertising and designing promotional material. Both men were also active SCW performers. Connors, continuing his "gimmick" as manager Notorious Norm, had an on-air role as SCW President while Lazarchik became "heel" manager "Hot Shot" Drew Lazario. Their "home arena"

8774-583: The region during this period to the World Wrestling Federation 's sold-out shows at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena that year. During a time when the WWF's " Attitude Era " influenced the 1990s wrestling boom , the promoters prided themselves on being a " family friendly " company boasting that "some of our biggest fans are senior citizens and little kids". Younger wrestling fans especially had the opportunity to interact with wrestlers during SCW shows. SCW also held wrestling shows to raise money for local schools and fire departments. Charitable organizations would pay them

8881-576: The semi-finals earlier that night. SCW was profiled by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that same month. In the spring of 2000, Connors decided to close SCW. Although the promotion was still highly popular, Connors chose to focus on his regular career as a funeral director. He had been able to promote wrestling events on the weekend while at mortuary school, however, he felt his work schedule significantly limited his time to book shows. Connors had been struggling with both since his graduation

8988-531: The summer. On July 9, Jugan and Angelo Gomez unsuccessfully challenged Andre the Giant in a handicap match . The two men lost the match when Jugan was thrown out of the ring and his partner pinned by Andre. Due to the circumstances of the match, Jugan has often claimed he is "undefeated" against the legendary wrestler. He is one of the few currently active wrestlers to have faced Andre the Giant. On September 6, 1983, Jugan teamed with Tony Garea and Swede Hansen in

9095-594: The team once again retainted the titles against Eric Xtasy and The ShareCropper. On February 10, Jugan defended the tag team titles with "Amir Al Jahari" (in reality his tag team partner Nick Crane) against The Steel City Saints (Bobby Shields and Chris LeRusso) at "CWF Unfinished Business VII". In March, Jugan wrestled matches against The Honky Tonk Man in Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling and Brodie Lee in Far North Wrestling. Meanwhile, in

9202-560: The title against Gregory at "CWF Holiday Havoc III" on November 27, winning via disqualification, and Powerhouse Hughes at "CWF Upside Down" on December 11, 2004. On January 28, 2005, Jugan wrestled Doink the Clown in Butler, Pennsylvania , for Far North Wrestling. He returned to Butler several weeks later to defeat Battman. On April 9, Jugan defeated Kim Chee in a Legends Lumberjack match at IWC's "Night of Legends 2". He also beat Rockin' Rebel , then making his PGH Pro debut, at "Rumble in

9309-512: The title to Graham two weeks later. In late-1994, Jugan joined Norm Connors' Steel City Wrestling based in Pittsburgh . On October 8, 1994, Jugan entered a one-night tournament in Connellsville, Pennsylvania , to crown the inaugural SCW Junior Heavyweight Champion . He defeated Chris Hamrick in the semi-finals and Scotty McKeaver in the finals to win the title. On December 17, 1994, Jugan and Boo Boo Henderson beat Buddah and T. Rantula in

9416-443: The title was vacated due to an injury suffered by Richards. These early SCW shows ran sporadically due to Connors activity as a wrestling manager on the independent circuit and, specifically, his commitments to the National Wrestling Alliance -affiliated Pro Wrestling eXpress . In April 1996, Connors met Andrew Lazarchik, then a student at LaRoche College , at a wrestling show Carlynton High School . This chance meeting would be

9523-412: The titles from Stevie Richards and Brian Rollins in St. Mary's, Pennsylvania , a month later. They would go on to become one of SCW's most successful tag teams. Mikey Whipwreck and Pablo Marquez also battled each other during the show to earn a title shot at light heavyweight champion Lord Zoltan. That same year, The Blue Meanie attracted the attention of Raven and Stevie Richards while working at

9630-426: The vacant tag team titles from Lou Marconi and Frank Stalletto in Irwin, Pennsylvania. That same show also saw Reckless Youth end the three-year reign of Lord Zoltan as SCW Junior Heavyweight Champion. SCW was among the battlegrounds during Reckless Youth's feuds with Christian York and Mike Quackenbush . On May 1, 1998, Stevie Richards returned to SCW after a six-month absence to help Lou Marconi beat Tom Brandi for

9737-451: Was a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match between Justin Idol and CJ Sensation, which Idol won. Two featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard, including a "Best of Pittsburgh" Three Way Dance involving Dennis Gregory, Bad Boy BA, and Jimmy Vegas, with Dominic DeNucci as special guest referee , and a first-ever singles match between Sterling James Keenan and Chris Masters . The rest of

9844-637: Was able to use his connections to bring in legendary WWF wrestlers such as King Kong Bundy , Koko B. Ware , Virgil , and "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka and pitted them against local stars. Bundy, and future WWE Superstar Mick Foley in particular, would agree to wrestle on SCW shows at a reduced cost due to their personal friendship with Connors. This was critical to SCW's early success as "big name" wrestlers could often bring in thousands of dollars for an independent show. SCW often cooperated with Extreme Championship Wrestling , another local up-and-coming promotion out of Philadelphia, and regularly featured ECW talent. SCW

9951-610: Was among the early independent promotions Cactus Jack wrestled for, in between ECW and Japan, and ended T. Rantula's first title reign in New Castle on March 19, 1995. A number of ECW wrestlers were directly involved in SCW storylines. On October 21, 1995, Stevie Richards turned on Frank Stalletto, attacking him with Raven , immediately after winning the SCW tag team titles from Black & Blue (Black Cat and Lou Marconi) in Connellsville. SCW mainstays Marconi and Stalletto won

10058-733: Was among the first wrestlers to start wearing facepaint in the late-1970s. The "Zoltan" ringname was an homage to Pittsburgh promoter Zoltan "Ace" Freeman and the other half inspired by Alexander the Great . He also made two appearances as "King Kabooki" for The Original Sheik in Detroit . Jugan started refereeing matches as well. Jugan won one of his first championship titles, the NACW Junior Heavyweight Championship, in West Virginia's North American Championship Wrestling. Jugan eventually emerged as

10165-587: Was among the top ten contenders in American Commonwealth Wrestling for the promotion's heavyweight title, then held by T. Rantula, but did not win the belt. On April 20, 1996, Jugan lost to Koko B. Ware in a non-title bout at the Upshur County Armory in Buckhannon, West Virginia . The next night at Deaf Wrestlefest 1996 , The Master Blasterz and T. Rantula defeated Cody Michaels , Dynamite Dan, and Preston Steele in

10272-585: Was an active participant in the first few events but gradually ceased wrestling to concentrate exclusively on promoting the event. Local Pennsylvania promoters allowed him to borrow their permits so that Jugan would be allowed to run the shows. Jugan spent the first half of 1995 feuding with T.C. Reynolds over his newly won title. He also wrestled Cactus Jack in a non-title match, which Jugan lost, in Weirton, West Virginia , on April 7. That spring, Jugan also began teaming with Psycho Mike as The Master Blasterz on

10379-514: Was announced that he had signed a short-term deal with WWE and reformed the bWo with Stevie Richards and Simon Dean (formerly Nova). On the July 7 episode of SmackDown! , the bWo drove to ringside in JBL's limousine, then proceeded to spraypaint "bWo" on the hood . This led to a No Disqualification match between JBL and Meanie later that evening, which Meanie won after interference from Richards, who hit

10486-700: Was considered the successor of SCW. Connors ran the IWC for eight years before selling the promotion to Chuck Roberts and retiring once again. On May 24, 2008, the International Wrestling Cartel and Pro Wrestling eXpress hosted an interpromotional supercard entitled "Steel City Wrestlefest" at the Rostraver Ice Garden in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania . It was held as a charity event for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation . The main event

10593-537: Was covered in a number of wrestling publications, such as The Ring's Wrestling , The Wrestling News , and Wrestling Monthly , and many of its stars regularly performed as preliminary wrestlers for the World Wide Wrestling Federation . Bobby Fulton spent much of his early career in the TRWA where he trained with Jugan, Fred and Bull Curry , and Charlie Fulton. The promotion merged with

10700-522: Was officially represented by Mike Quackenbush, Lou Marconi, and Don Montoya who wrestled in a Three Way Dance for the SCW "Lord of the Dance" Championship. Jay Kirell of CagesideSeats.com called their bout "by far the match of the night" and is credited for greatly enhancing the early career of Quackenbush. The title was created specifically to be defended in Three Way Dance matches. A week later at

10807-565: Was praised by The Morning Call , which reported that Jugan "was so hyped he needed an attending physician to hypnotize him into behaving". On September 24 in Munhall, Pennsylvania , he lost to "Beef Stew" Lou Marconi in a match to crown the inaugural ACW Mid-America Heavyweight Champion. Jugan defeated Graham in an "Eye of the Hurricane" match for the ACW Light Heavyweight Championship in Lewistown, Pennsylvania on October 1, but dropped

10914-535: Was scheduled to take place the following month, on February 8, to decide who would be Jugan's next opponent. Prior to the bout, York claimed to have suffered a severe knee injury and forfeited the match. York confronted Reckless Youth in the ring following this announcement and challenged his rival to face Jugan for the belt that night. This set up an impromptu title match between Jugan and Youth. Jugan ended up losing to Reckless Youth in this bout ending his three-year title reign. On February 15, Jugan successfully defended

11021-666: Was sent down to developmental territories and independent circuit. In March 2000, he was assigned to Memphis Championship Wrestling for seasoning; while there, he teamed with Jim Neidhart as the New Foundation . Meanie lost to K-Krush in a Loser Leaves Town match on April 29. He was released by the WWF in June 2000. Under the name "Blue Boy", Heffron returned to Extreme Championship Wrestling in August 2000. During this period, Heffron had lost over 100 pounds of weight. His gimmick

11128-469: Was that of an arrogant stud who would insult the looks and weight of fans and other wrestlers, in an ironic twist. He wrestled for ECW until December 2000, with his final match being a bout against Chilly Willy at Holiday Hell 2000 . After leaving ECW once more before the company was bought by the WWF, the Blue Meanie returned to the independent circuit. In February 2002, he opened his own promotion,

11235-500: Was the SCW Arena in Irwin, Pennsylvania . SCW held shows throughout the Pittsburgh metropolitan area , especially the Mon Valley , before branching out to Ohio and West Virginia . In 1998 alone, with its weekly shows drew over 300 wrestling fans, SCW held 25 shows of which 21 made a profit and 4 broke even. Additionally, the company's mailing list increased from 100 to 600. Lazarchik partially attributed wrestling's popularity in

11342-487: Was the flunky for Richards, who was himself the flunky for Raven. Heffron, Richards, and Super Nova performed several skits but their most famous was the bWo , a parody of WCW 's top heel group, the nWo . Meanie played the role of "Da Blue Guy" in the bWo, lampooning nWo member Scott Hall 's nickname "The Bad Guy". After Richards left ECW in May 1997, the Blue Meanie continued to team with Super Nova throughout 1997 and 1998. At Wrestlepalooza in May 1998, they defeated

11449-466: Was the owner of Three Rivers Wrestling from 1977 to 1979, co-owner of Ohio Championship Wrestling from 1982 to 1983, and competed in Dick the Bruiser 's World Wrestling Association . Jugan also worked for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation as a preliminary wrestler and referee during the early-to-mid 1980s. Jugan was one of the biggest "indy" stars in Pennsylvania during

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