1.
Randy Orton
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Randal Keith Randy Orton is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand and is the current WWE Champion in his ninth reign. Orton is a professional wrestler, his grandfather Bob Orton, Sr. his father Cowboy Bob Orton. Before being promoted to the main World Wrestling Federation roster, Orton trained in and he was then sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he held the OVW Hardcore Championship twice. Orton became a member of the stable Evolution shortly after his WWE debut and he also acquired the moniker The Legend Killer during a storyline where he began disrespecting and then physically attacking WWE Hall of Famers and wrestling veterans. At age 24, he became the youngest person ever to hold the World Heavyweight Championship, with this win, he departed from Evolution and a feud with his former stablemates began. In 2006, Orton joined forces with Edge in a tag team known as Rated-RKO, together, they held the World Tag Team Championship. After Rated-RKO disbanded in mid-2007, Orton gained two WWE Championship reigns in one night, when at 27 he became the youngest two-time WWE Champion and he formed the group The Legacy with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase in 2008. It disbanded in 2010 and Orton returned to singles competition, from 2013 to 2015, Orton was aligned with The Authority, who named him the face of the WWE. In late 2016 he joined The Wyatt Family, winning the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship with stablemates Bray Wyatt, overall, Orton has won 16 total championships in WWE. Orton was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of Elaine and Bob Orton and he is the grandson of Bob Orton, Sr. and the nephew of wrestler-turned-musician Barry Orton. He has a brother named Nate, who is a stand-up comedian. Orton attended Hazelwood Central High School, where he was an amateur wrestler, after graduating from high school in 1998, Orton enlisted with the United States Marine Corps. At the base, he received a bad conduct discharge in 1999 after going AWOL on two occasions and disobeying an order from a commanding officer. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, he was tried and convicted under a special court-martial, there, he was trained by both the promotion and his father, Bob Orton Jr. He wrestled for the promotion for one month, where he performed with such as Ace Strange. Orton also refereed a few matches with World Organized Wrestling, a promotion where his uncle Barry Orton worked. In 2001, Orton signed a deal with the then World Wrestling Federation and was sent to its territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling in Louisville, Kentucky
2.
ShowStopper (song)
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Showstopper, sometimes stylized as ShowStopper, is a Contemporary Christian song by TobyMac and the second single from his album Tonight. Toby says that the song is about who and when is going to stop the show, the song has already been noticed as a crowd-pleasing hit. The song was first heard on the Winter Wonder Slam Tour 09 as a new song along with Funky Jesus Music, the song was heard second on the NFL Thursday Night Commercial. The song was released to iTunes on January 19,2010. On May 31,2010, Showstopper was announced as the theme song for the WWE Fatal 4-Way Pay-Per View event. The song was promoted for ESPYS Best U. S Male Olympian. A music video was made for this song, toby was never in the video. The video starts out with a girl who appears to be in her teens coming out of an elevator and she then calls two boys on a walkie-talkie. Meanwhile, another boy and two younger boys wearing masks ride their bikes through the streets. At the end of the video, the teams unite, face each other, the song was nominated for a Dove Award for Rock Recorded Song of the Year at the 42nd GMA Dove Awards
3.
TobyMac
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Toby McKeehan, better known by his stage name TobyMac, is a Christian hip hop recording artist, music producer, hip-hop and pop artist, songwriter and author. TobyMac has charted 20 solo singles on Billboards Christian Songs list and he was first known for being a member of the Christian vocal trio DC Talk, staying with them from 1987 until their announced hiatus in 2000. He now has a remix album titled Eyem All Mixed Up. He also has a full-length Christmas album Christmas in Diverse City, TobyMac became only the third Christian artist to have a No.1 debut on Billboard 200 chart with Eye on It. Between DC Talk and his own career, he has sold more than 10 million albums. TobyMac has had six No.1 hit CHR singles including Gone, Made to Love and Lose My Soul. Five singles have gone to No.1 on Billboards Christian Songs chart and his live concert CD+DVD combo album, Alive and Transported, was released in 2008 and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album at the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009. His fifth studio album, Eye on It, was released on August 28,2012, toby formed DC Talk with Michael Tait in 1987, at Liberty University. He and Tait released Christian Rhymes to a Rhythm in 1988, while they recruited classmate, the three set out on tour after they released their first album in 1989, DC Talk. In 1990, they released their first gold album, Nu Thang, after the Nu Thang tour, they recorded their first platinum album, Free at Last. The Free at Last Tour was a success and they were invited to play on The Jay Leno Show and The Arsenio Hall Show, getting mainstream attention. They released their first single for their album, which immediately became a hit single. The album went multi-platinum and the best Christian album in the face of CCM music, Jesus Freak, the album led to the extremely popular Jesus Freak World Tour. They eventually released the tour CD, Welcome to the Freakshow, in 1996, Between You and Me reached No.29 on the Hot 100. The tour ended in success in time for Supernatural, which would be their last album and they then went solo in 2001. The band has not toured together since 2001, the last album with the group was Solo. In 2001, TobyMac released his first solo album titled Momentum, McKeehan composed and recorded the song Extreme Days for the 2001 Truth Builder Productions film Extreme Days, which was featured on the Momentum album. Momentum, debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart in the Nov.24 issue, the song Extreme Days was also used in the movie Hangmans Curse, based on the popular book by Frank Peretti
4.
WWE
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Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American professional wrestling promotion and the sanctioning body for the World Wide Wrestling Federation and later World Wrestling Federation. Founded by Jess McMahon and Toots Mondt in 1953, Capitol Wrestling Corporation is the precursor to todays WWE, run by Jess grandson, Jess McMahon was a successful boxing promoter who began working with Tex Rickard in 1926. With the help of Rickard, he began promoting boxing at the third Madison Square Garden, a few years prior, professional wrestler Toots Mondt had created a new challenge of professional wrestling that he called “Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling”. He convinced wrestler Ed Lewis and his manager Billy Sandow to implement this new solution, after much success, a disagreement over power caused the trio to dissolve and, with it, their promotion. Mondt later formed partnerships with other promoters, including Jack Curley in New York City. Mondt eventually took over the New York wrestling scene, due to the fact Curley was dying, with the aid of several bookers, together, McMahon and Mondt created the Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. which later joined the National Wrestling Alliance in 1953. In November 1954, Jess McMahon died and Ray Fabiani, one of Mondts associates, both men left the company in protest following the incident and formed the WWWF in the process, awarding Rogers the new WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in April of that year. He lost the championship to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17,1963, after gaining a television program deal and turning preliminary wrestler Lou Albano as a manager for Sammartinos heel opponents, the WWWF was doing sell out business by 1970. Mondt left the company in the late 1960s and although the WWWF had withdrawn from the NWA, Vince McMahon, at the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983, the McMahons and WWF employee Jim Barnett all withdrew from the organization. By March 1979, for marketing purposes, the World Wide Wrestling Federation was renamed the World Wrestling Federation and that same year, Vincent J. McMahons son, Vincent K. McMahon, founded Titan Sports, Inc. incorporated on February 21,1980, originally in Massachusetts. In 1982, Titan Sports Inc. acquired Capitols operations, effectively relocating its headquarters to Greenwich, in an attempt to make the WWF the premier wrestling promotion in the world, McMahon began an expansion that fundamentally changed the industry. In the end, the elder McMahon would never live to see his company grow from a promotion to what is now a worldwide organization. He died from cancer at 69 years old on May 24,1984. By 1985, Titan moved to Stamford, Connecticut then establishing a new entity in 1987 in Delaware which later merged with the old company in 1988. Titan later changed its name to World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. before finally becoming World Wrestling Entertainment, list of independent wrestling promotions in the United States
5.
SmackDown (WWE brand)
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WWE SmackDown, also currently referred to as SmackDown Live or simply SmackDown, is a professional wrestling television program that debuted on August 26,1999. The shows name is used to refer to the SmackDown brand, in which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform on that program, currently the other brands are Raw. SmackDown is currently broadcast live on Tuesday nights on the USA Network, debuted in the United States on the UPN television network on April 29,1999, but after the merger of UPN and the WB, SmackDown. Began airing on The CW in September 2006, the show was moved to MyNetworkTV in October 2008, to Syfy on October 1,2010 and to USA Network on January 7,2016. It complements Raw as the second of WWEs two main weekly programs, for international broadcast listings, see below. The show celebrated its 15th anniversary on October 10,2014, the early set included an oval-shaped TitanTron entrance and stage which made it stand out from the Raw set with its rectangular Titantrons. Later productions gained the ability to move the Ovaltron either to the left or to the right of the stage, throughout the shows early existence, The Rock routinely called SmackDown. His show, in reference to the fact that the name was derived from one of his catchphrases, in August 2001, as part of celebrating SmackDown. s second anniversary, the show received a new logo and set. As a result of that incident, a new set debuted the week and it consisted of a fist centered above the entrance. In March 2002, WWE underwent the brand extension, a process in which WWE divided itself into two branches with separate rosters, storylines and authority figures, the two divisions, hosted by and named after Raw and SmackDown. The split resulted from WWE purchasing its two biggest competitors, World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling, and the subsequent doubling of its roster, Michael Cole was joined in commentary by Tazz on April 4,2002 until June 9,2006. Cole and Tazz also appeared as the commentators on February 22,2001 through June 28,2001, wrestlers began to wrestle exclusively for their specific show. At the time, this excluded the WWE Undisputed Championship and Womens Championship, in August 2002, then WWE Undisputed Champion, Brock Lesnar, refused to defend the title on Raw, in effect causing his title to become exclusive to SmackDown. Following this, the Womens Championship soon became a Raw exclusive as well, as a result of the brand extension, an annual draft was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups. SmackDown was the brand for many top WWE stars including Eddie Guerrero, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Big Show. Guerrero would go on to become the WWE Champion as part of the show, thus becoming the feature of SmackDown throughout 2004. The biggest star of the decade, John Cena, started his WWE career on this show. He won his first WWE Championship during his tenure on the brand, on June 6,2005, then WWE Champion John Cena switched brands from SmackDown. to Raw as part of the month-long draft lottery
6.
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
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Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, commonly known as just Nassau Coliseum, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York. It was open from 1972 through 2015 and is undergoing renovation with a completion in 2017. The Coliseum is approximately 19 miles east of New York City on Long Island, opened in 1972, the Coliseum occupies 63 acres of Mitchel Field, site of a former Army and Air Force base. The facility is located in the Town of Hempstead, within the Uniondale 11553 ZIP code. The Coliseum was used for sporting events, concerts, large exhibitions, plans are to have the arena become home to the Long Island Nets of the NBA D-League in the 2017–18 season and for the New York Islanders to return for the 2017-18 season. The Coliseum originally had a capacity of 13,000 to 15,000 depending on the event, before closing for renovations in 2015 the Coliseum seated 16,170 for hockey, up to 18,100 for concerts and 17,686 for boxing. The first event at the Coliseum was a Nets game against the Pittsburgh Condors on February 11,1972, the Nets won two ABA Championships in the Coliseum, with Hall of Famer Julius Erving headlining the team. In 1973–74 the Nets defeated the Utah Stars in 5 games to capture their first title, the Nets then captured the final American Basketball Association Championship in 1976, defeating the Denver Nuggets in 6 games. Following the 1976 season the Nets joined the National Basketball Association as part of the ABA–NBA merger, after their first season in the NBA, the Nets moved to New Jersey. The New Jersey Nets played four seasons at the Rutgers Athletic Center before completion of a new arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex, the Coliseum also hosted the New York Arrows and later the New York Express of the original Major Indoor Soccer League. In NCAA Division I mens college basketball, the Coliseum hosted the ECAC Metro Region Tournament organized by the Eastern College Athletic Conference in 1978,1979,1980, and 1981. It also has hosted first- and second-round games of the NCAA Division I Mens Basketball Tournament in 1982,1994, the New York Sets of the World Team Tennis league played their first match at Nassau Coliseum on May 7,1974, and won the WTT championships in 1976. The team changed its name to the New York Apples for the 1977 season, and began playing at Madison Square Garden and the Felt Forum and repeating as champions. The New York Raiders, intended by the fledgling World Hockey Association to be their franchise, was slated to play in the new Nassau Coliseum in 1972–73. However, Nassau County didnt consider the WHA a professional league, Nassau County retained William Shea to get a National Hockey League team to play in the new building. The NHL responded by awarding a franchise to Long Island —the New York Islanders— which forced the Raiders to play in Madison Square Garden. On October 7,1972, the first Islanders game in Nassau Coliseum was played as the Atlanta Flames visited the Islanders. Flames forward Morris Stefaniw scored the first NHL goal in the building at 6,56 of the first period, while Ed Westfall scored the first goal for the Islanders, as the Flames won the game 3-2
7.
Uniondale, New York
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Uniondale is a hamlet and census-designated place, as well as a suburb of New York City in Nassau County, New York, United States, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead. The population was 24,759 at the 2010 United States Census, Uniondale is home to Hofstra Universitys north campus. Uniondale is located at 40°42′11″N 73°35′28″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.7 square miles, all land. It is a hamlet and neighbors the diverse towns of Hempstead, Roosevelt, East Meadow. As of the census of 2000, there were 23,011 people,6,026 households, the population density was 8,676.5 per square mile. There were 6,201 housing units at a density of 2,338. 1/sq mi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 26. 97% White,55. 53% Black,0. 35% Native American,2. 10% Asian,0. 08% Pacific Islander,9. 95% from other races, and 5. 01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22. 86% of the population,16. 0% of all households were made up of individuals and 8. 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.66 and the family size was 3.95. In the CDP the population was out with 26. 5% under the age of 18,9. 7% from 18 to 24,29. 3% from 25 to 44,21. 9% from 45 to 64. The median age was 35 years, for every 100 females there were 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.5 males, the median income for a household in the CDP was $61,410, and the median income for a family was $67,264. Males had an income of $32,417 versus $31,169 for females. The per capita income was $19,069, about 6. 0% of families and 8. 8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9. 0% of those under age 18 and 12. 9% of those age 65 or over. Uniondale was the home of the NHLs New York Islanders, who played at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum from 1972 until 2015. The 2014–15 NHL season was their year at the Coliseum before the team moved to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It is also home to the Mitchel Athletic Complex, which hosts the Long Island Rough Riders, a soccer team. Uniondale was also home to one-third of WWFs WrestleMania 2 and it also hosted WWE SummerSlam 2002, WWE Great American Bash 2008 and WWE Fatal 4-Way 2010
8.
Over the Limit (2010)
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It was the first event promoted under the Over the Limit name. Nine matches took place at the event, eight of which were broadcast live on pay-per-view. In the main event from the Raw brand, John Cena faced Batista for the WWE Championship, matches on the undercard included Randy Orton against Edge, CM Punk facing Rey Mysterio, and Drew McIntyre defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston. Other championships defended at the event were the WWE Divas Championship, the event drew 197,000 pay-per-view buys, and was attended live by 11,000 people. Reviews for the event were generally negative, with reviewers criticizing the endings of the matches, stoppages for blood, five wrestlers sustained legitimate injuries during the course of the show. Over the Limit involved different wrestlers from scripted feuds, plots, wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches. John Cena retained the WWE Championship against Batista at Extreme Rules in a Last Man Standing match, the next night on Raw, Batista defeated Randy Orton and Sheamus to face Cena for the title. On the May 3 episode of Raw, they competed in a Beat the Clock challenge to determine the stipulation for their match. Batista defeated Daniel Bryan in 5,06, but Cena defeated Wade Barrett in 4,32 to win the challenge, the next week, Cena announced the match as an I Quit match. As part of the 2010 WWE Draft, The Big Show was drafted to SmackDown, over the next many weeks, Big Show chokeslammed Swagger through an announce table, and interrupted a promo on the May 14 episode of SmackDown, where Swagger boasted about his accomplishments. As part of the segment, Big Show destroyed Swaggers trophies, the next week, Big Show mocked Swagger in promos throughout the show and distracted Swagger during his match with Kofi Kingston, giving Kingston the win. As part of the 2010 WWE Draft on April 26, Edge was drafted to Raw, later that night, Edge interfered in a match to determine the number one contender to the WWE Championship, spearing Randy Orton and preventing Orton from receiving a WWE Championship match. The following week, Edge hosted an edition of his show, The Cutting Edge. During the show, Edge justified his actions by saying he was trying to make an impact, Edge faced The Undertaker, and lost intentionally by countout, while Orton faced Jack Swagger, and lost by disqualification when Edge interfered. The rivalry between Rey Mysterio and CM Punk was continued from several previous pay-per-views, after months of feuding, Mysterio challenged Punk to a Straight Edge Society Pledge vs. Hair match at Over the Limit. Had Punk won, Mysterio would have joined the Straight Edge Society, had Mysterio won however, Punk agreed to have his head shaved. On May 14, Mysterio and Punk faced each other in a singles match, later that night, Mysterio teamed with Montel Vontavious Porter to defeat Punk and Gallows in a tag team match. Another feud was over the WWE Intercontinental Championship between the defending champion Drew McIntyre and Kofi Kingston, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long stripped McIntyre of the championship and fired him for repeatedly attacking Matt Hardy
9.
Money in the Bank (2010)
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Money in the Bank was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment and presented by A&Es Criss Angel Mindfreak. It took place on July 18,2010, at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, the first annual Money in the Bank show, it featured the Money in the Bank ladder match, with a match held for both the Raw and SmackDown brands. This event received 169,000 pay-per-view buys, at Fatal 4-Way, it was announced that the Money in the Bank event would feature the Money in the Bank ladder match. Three days later, all eight superstars for Raws match were announced by Raw guest host Rob Zombie, the eight men would be Randy Orton, The Miz, R-Truth, Chris Jericho, Evan Bourne, Ted DiBiase, John Morrison, and Edge. On June 30, WWE announced six of the competitors for SmackDowns match, Matt Hardy, Kane, Cody Rhodes, Christian, Kofi Kingston, and Big Show. On the July 5 episode of Raw, The Miz attacked and injured R-Truth, taking him out of the Money in the Bank match, Mark Henry was announced as R-Truths replacement the next week. On the July 9 episode of SmackDown, Dolph Ziggler defeated Montel Vontavious Porter, on the same night, Drew McIntyre earned the final spot by pinning Kofi Kingston. Before Fatal 4-Way, Mysterio picked up a victory over Jack Swagger. At the event, Mysterio once again pinned Swagger in SmackDowns fatal four-way match which also involved CM Punk, on the June 25 episode of SmackDown, Swagger announced his rematch at Money in the Bank. Sheamus won the WWE Championship at Fatal 4-Way after The Nexus interfered, the next night on Raw, John Cena invoked his rematch clause, but The Nexus interrupted the match. The commentators were Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Matt Striker, midway through the match, Kingston performed a Boom Drop off a ladder on McIntyre through an announce table. Big Show climbed a ladder he had set up but Kane pushed the ladder and Christian. In the end, McIntyre attempted to retrieve the briefcase but Kane performed a Chokeslam off the ladder on McIntyre, next, Alicia Fox defended the WWE Divas Championship against Eve Torres. In the end, Fox performed a Scissors Kick on Eve to retain the title, after that, The Hart Dynasty defended the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship against The Usos. Smith forced Jimmy to submit to the Sharpshooter to retain the title, in the fourth match, Rey Mysterio faced Jack Swagger for the World Heavyweight Championship. In the end, Swagger applied an Ankle Lock on Mysterio but Mysterio removed his boot, performed a Hurricanrana on Swagger, after the match, Swagger attacked Mysterio but Kane entered the ring and chased off Swagger. Kane then Chokeslammed an injured Mysterio before a Tombstone Piledriver to win the World Heavyweight Title in 54 seconds, next, Layla defended the WWE Womens Championship against Kelly Kelly. In the end, Kelly attempted a Sunset Flip on Layla but Layla countered the attempt into a roll-up to retain the title
10.
Professional wrestling
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Professional wrestling is a dramatized athletic performance that portrays a combat sport. Various forms of weaponry are sometimes used, the content – including match outcomes – is scripted and choreographed, and the combative actions and reactions are performed to appear violent without injuring the wrestlers. Before the 1980s, these facts were considered trade secrets, in the mid-90s, the presentation of scripted events as legitimate is known as kayfabe. Although the combative content is staged and communicated between the wrestlers, there are physical hazards involved - including permanent injury and death. While it has declined in Europe, in North America it has experienced several different periods of prominent cultural popularity during its century. The advent of television gave professional wrestling a new outlet, unlike in Europe, show wrestling has become especially prominent in Japan and in North America. In Brazil, there was a popular wrestling television program from the 1960s to the early 1980s called Telecatch. High-profile figures in the sport have become celebrities or cultural icons in their native or adopted home countries, although professional wrestling started out as petty acts in sideshows, traveling circuses and carnivals, today it is a billion-dollar industry. Revenue is drawn from live event ticket sales, network television broadcasts, pay-per-view broadcasts, personal appearances by performers, branded merchandise, pro wrestling was also instrumental in making pay-per-view a viable method of content delivery. Annual shows such as WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, and formerly Bash at the Beach, Halloween Havoc, home video sales dominate the Billboard charts Recreational Sports DVD sales, with wrestling holding anywhere from 3 to 9 of the top 10 spots every week. Due to its persistent cultural presence and to its novelty within the performing arts, there have also been many fictional depictions of wrestling, the 2008 film The Wrestler received several Oscar nominations and began a career revival for star Mickey Rourke. Because actual events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines for the performers, special care must be taken when talking about people who perform under their own name. The actions of the character should be considered fictional events, wholly separate from the life of the performer and this is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers will incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and those who participated felt that it was necessary that spectators should be kept in a constant and complete illusion of a real competition to keep audience interest. For decades, up until the mid-1980s, wrestlers lived their lives as though they were their characters. Wrestlers, bookers and promoters all rigorously enforced the illusion and very few were allowed into the society of professional wrestling to maintain suspension of disbelief. The practice of keeping the illusion, and the methods used to do so, came to be known as kayfabe within wrestling circles. An entire lexicon of slang jargon and euphemism developed to allow performers to communicate without outsiders knowledge of what was being said, occasionally a performer will deviate from the intended sequence of events
11.
Professional wrestling match types
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Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called concept or gimmick matches in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some of them occur relatively frequently, while others are developed so as to advance an angle, because of professional wrestlings long history over decades, many things have been recycled. These match types can be organized into several loose groups, the singles match is the most basic of all professional wrestling matches, which involves only two competitors competing for one fall. Victory is obtained by pinfall, submission, knockout, countout or disqualification, commentators and bookers generally explain it as saying the challenger must beat the champion. Playing into this, some storylines have heel champions protect their titles by losing in such ways. Time Limit matches were invented during the days of professional wrestling as a way to stop matches that went on for too long. A Battle of Respect is often held in tribute to another wrestler, on most occasions, one member of the team competes in the ring with one or more of his/her teammate standing behind the ropes. Wrestlers switch positions by tagging one another, usually similar to a five and, as a result. This can create tension during the match as a wrestler in the middle of the ring attempts to reach his/her teammate. In typical tag team matches, standard wrestling rules apply with an ending by pinfall, submission, countout. Promotions usually have established tag teams that most often compete in team matches rather than singles matches, though teams will often break up to pursue a singles career, teams often consist of real-life friends or relatives. On other occasions, teams are booked together by promoters based on their face or heel alignment in order to increase the amount of wrestlers on the card or to advance multiple storylines at once. Though common in Mexican lucha libre, at one point, World Championship Wrestling had a championship for teams of three, matches in which the entire team competes at once is often referred to as a tornado tag match, specifically in WWE. Matches can be held under standard rules or as a specialty match, such as a cage match or a ladder match. One famous example of this match is the Survivor Series match held in WWE at their annual Survivor Series pay-per-view, teams of four or five, though on some occasions as many as seven, compete under elimination rules. All other standard rules apply, and team members may tag in, while some teams are already established stables, others may need to recruit members for their team. In lucha libre promotions, a torneo cibernetico is a type of match between teams of up to eight wrestlers who enter in a predetermined order. A Winner Takes All match is a match where both wrestlers are champions going into the match, and the winner receives the championship of the loser and this is not the same as a championship unification match
12.
WWE The Bash
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This was the sixth show in WWEs production lineage for The Great American Bash event and the only one to be referred to as The Bash. It featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands, there were eight matches on for the events card. The card for the event was a due to it having three main attraction bouts. The event had 178,000 buys, down on The Great American Bash 2008 figure of 196,000 buys, wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers were from WWEs Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands—a storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to a program of the same name. Three weeks ago at Extreme Rules, CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank Contract and they had tense confrontations in the coming weeks, leading to Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long making a championship match between the two for the Bash on the June 15 episode of Raw. The next week on Raw, a Fatal 4-Way match was held to determine the new champion, which featured Orton, Triple H, John Cena, and The Big Show. The match ended in a draw when neither man was able to answer the referees ten-count, in the wake of their conflict, Finlay inserted himself into the rivalry on the June 16 episode of ECW on Sci Fi by attacking all three men. It was announced following the program that the four wrestlers, along with Mark Henry and this led to another match between the two at Extreme Rules, in which Jericho won the title after removing Mysterios mask. On the June 19 episode of SmackDown, it was announced that the Intercontinental title would be defended at The Bash in a match where if Mysterio were to lose, since being drafted to Raw in April, The Miz had been making challenges to John Cena. These were generally made after Cena either had been injured or was already in a match and this would continue until The Miz accumulated a record of 7–0. Prior to the show airing live on pay per view, the crowd in attendance was shown a match pitting R-Truth against Shelton Benjamin. The show started with the ECW Championship Scramble match, whoever was the interim champion as the time limit expired would be named the official champion. The first two competitors were Christian and Jack Swagger before the entrance of Finlay, Swagger became the first interim champion by pinning Finlay with a roll-up, Finlay retaliated with a Celtic Cross to Swagger. As the time limit was set to expire, Dreamer executed a DDT on Christian to remain champion, as the final minute of the match progressed, Dreamer spent the time preventing the four other men from scoring a decision to win the match and retain the title. The match continued with both men countering each others signature maneuvers in attempts to score a pin, third on the card was the No Disqualification match between Dolph Ziggler and The Great Khali. The match quickly went to the floor with both men trying to gain control of a steel chair to use as a weapon. Kane made his return in this match by assaulting Khali with the chair before Ziggler made a pin to win the match, the next match was between The Colóns and The Legacy for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship
13.
Screenplay
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A screenplay or script is a written work by screenwriters for a film, video game, or television program. These screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing, in them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated. A screenplay written for television is also known as a teleplay, the format is structured in a way that one page usually equates to one minute of screen time. In a shooting script, each scene is numbered, and technical direction may be given, in a spec or a draft in various stages of development, the scenes are not numbered, and technical direction is at a minimum. The standard font for a screenplay is 12 point,10 pitch Courier Typeface, the major components are action and dialogue. The action is written in the present tense, the dialogue are the lines the characters speak. Unique to the screenplay is the use of slug lines, a slug line, also called a master scene heading, occurs at the start of every scene, and is usually made up of three parts. Part one states whether the scene is set inside outside, or both, Part two states location of the scene. Part three, separated from Part two by a hyphen, refers to the time of the scene, each slug line begins a new scene. In a shooting script, the lines are numbered consecutively. These scene numbers serve as mile-post markers in a script and this allows any part of the script to be referred to by scene number. In the United States letter size paper and Courier 12 point are mandatory, the tab settings of the scene elements, which constitute the screenplays layout. The dialogue must be centered and the names must be capitalized, a script usually begins with FADE IN, followed by the first scene description. It might get more specific, e. g. FADE IN ON AN ECU of Ricky as he explains the divorce to Bob, a script will usually end with FADE TO BLACK, though there are variables, like CUT TO BLACK for abrupt endings. The style consists of a grammar that is specific to screenplays and this grammar also consists of two aspects, A prose that is manifestation-oriented, i. e. focuses largely on what is audible and what is visible on screen. This prose may only supply interpretations and explanation if clarity would otherwise be adversely affected, American screenplays are printed single-sided on three-hole-punched paper using the standard American letter size. They are then together with two brass brads in the top and bottom hole. The middle hole is left empty as it would make it harder to quickly read the script
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Plot (narrative)
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Plot refers to the sequence of events inside a story which affect other events through the principle of cause and effect. The causal events of a plot can be thought of as a series of sentences linked by, Plots can vary from simple structures such as in a traditional ballad to complex interwoven structures sometimes referred to as an imbroglio. The term plot can serve as a verb and refer to a planning future actions in the story. In the narrative sense, the highlights the important points which have important consequences within the story. The term is similar in meaning to the term storyline, english novelist E. M. Forster described plot as the cause-and-effect relationship between events in a story. According to Forster, The king died, and then the queen died, is a story, while The king died, as a result, according to Dibell, the plot can be described numerically as 1→3 while the story can be described as 1→2→3. A story orders events from beginning to end in a time sequence, teri Shaffer Yamada agrees that a plot does not include memorable scenes within a story which do not relate directly to other events but only major events that move the action in a narrative. Another example of a scene which is not part of the plot occurs in the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back. A fabula is the events in the world, whereas a syuzhet is a perspective of those events. Formalist followers eventually translated the fabula/syuzhet to the concept of story/plot and this definition is usually used in narratology, in parallel with Forsters definition. The fabula is what happened in chronological order, in contrast, the syuzhet means a unique sequence of discourse that was sorted out by the author. That is, the syuzhet can consist of picking up the events in non-chronological order, for example, fabula is <a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, …, an>, syuzhet is <a5, a1. He also believed that the events of the plot must causally relate to one another as being necessary or probable. Of the utmost importance is the ability to arouse emotion in the psyche of the audience. Acts are connected by two points or turning points, with the first turning point connecting Act I to Act II. The conception of the structure has been attributed to American screenwriter Syd Field who described plot structure in this tripartite way for film analysis. In his Poetics, Aristotle considered plot the most important element of drama—more important than character, for example. A plot must have, Aristotle says, a beginning, a middle, and an end, of the utmost importance to Aristotle is the plots ability to arouse emotion in the psyche of the audience
15.
Face (professional wrestling)
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In professional wrestling, a face is a heroic or a good guy wrestler, booked by the promotion with the aim of being cheered by fans. Faces, traditionally, wrestle within the rules and avoid cheating while behaving positively towards the referee, such characters are also referred to as blue-eyes in British wrestling, and técnicos in lucha libre. The face character is portrayed as a relative to the heel wrestlers. Not everything a face wrestler does must be heroic, faces need only to be cheered by the audience to be effective characters, the vast majority of wrestling storylines involving faces place a face against a heel, although more elaborate set-ups often happen as well. While many modern faces still fit this model, other versions of the character are now also common. A good example would be Stone Cold Steve Austin who despite playing an early on in his career would start to be seen more of an anti-hero because of his popularity with the fans. While clearly not championing rule following, nor submission to authority, during this time, wrestlers like Stone Cold Steve Austin and Sting used tactics traditionally associated with heels, but remained popular with the fans. Conversely, Kurt Angle was introduced to the then-WWF with an American hero gimmick based on his medal win at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He presented himself as a model, and stressed the need to work hard to realize ones dreams. Angles character served as a meta-reference to how wrestling had changed, unusually, Angle did not use any of these heroic mannerisms when playing a face character, instead acting as somewhat of an antihero with a few elements of the lovable loser character archetype. Fans sometimes dislike face wrestlers, despite the way they are promoted, some reasons for this include repetitive in-ring antics, a limited moveset, a lengthy title reign, lack of selling his or her opponents moves, or an uninteresting character. This often results in wrestlers who are supposed to be cheered receiving a negative or no reaction from the fans. Some face wrestlers would often give high fives or give out merchandise to fans entering the ring before their match, such as T-shirts, sunglasses, hats. Bret Hart was one of the first superstars to make this popular, rey Mysterio, who has been a face in WWE since his debut, would go to any fan wearing a replica of his mask, and touch their head with his head for good luck before wrestling. Alberto Del Rio, after turning face, would give his scarf to a fan before entering the ring. Big Show would give his hat to a fan when he was a face, the majority of the time, faces who are low-carders, or lesser known, are used as jobbers. These wrestlers usually lose matches against established wrestlers, some faces, such as Ricky Steamboat and Hulk Hogan, promoted an image as a family man and supported their persona by appearing with their family members before and after matches. These actions often relate to wrestlers promoting charity work or other actions outside of the ring, blurring the lines between scripted wrestling and their personal lives, glossary of professional wrestling terms Heel Foley, Mick
16.
WWE Championship
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The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand. It is one of two titles in the WWE, alongside the WWE Universal Championship that was created for the Raw brand as a result of the 2016 WWE draft. The title is held by Randy Orton, who is in his ninth reign. The inaugural champion was Buddy Rogers, since its inception, the title has undergone many name changes due to company name changes and title unifications. From its inception until 2001, it was promoted as WWEs sole primary championship, an additional world title, the WCW Championship, was added after the then-World Wrestling Federations purchase of World Championship Wrestling in early 2001. The titles were unified as the Undisputed Championship. After the first brand extension in 2002 and the promotion becoming the WWE, the championship exclusive to SmackDown. ECW became a brand in 2006, adding the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Over the course of the first brand extension, the WWE Championship switched between brands, usually as a result of the annual draft, the ECW Championship was deactivated in 2010, and the World Heavyweight Championship was unified with the WWE Championship in 2013. The championship was again the world title of WWE until the reintroduction of the brand extension in 2016. The title was introduced in 1963 with Buddy Rogers becoming the first champion, however, its origin is attributed to events that began in the National Wrestling Alliance, which had various territorial member promotions. In the 1950s, Capitol Wrestling Corporation was a member of the NWA and by 1963, during this time, Buddy Rogers held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship until January 24, when Lou Thesz defeated Rogers for the championship in a one fall match. After several years, the WWWF became affiliated with the NWA once again, although the full name appeared on the championship belts until 1998, the name was often abbreviated to WWF Championship, which became its official name in 1998. In 1991, World Championship Wrestling, a member of the NWA, in 1993, WCW seceded from the NWA and grew to become a rival promotion to the WWF. Both organizations grew into prominence and were eventually involved in a television ratings war. Near the end of the war, WCW began a financial decline. As a result of the purchase, the WWF acquired, among other assets, thus, there were two world titles in the WWF, the original WWF Championship and the WCW Championship, which was eventually renamed to the World Championship. In December 2001, the two championships were unified at Vengeance, at the event, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Kurt Angle to retain the WWF Championship, while Chris Jericho defeated The Rock for the World Championship
17.
John Cena
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John Felix Anthony Cena Jr. is an American professional wrestler, rapper, actor, and reality television show host. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand, Cena started his professional wrestling career in 1999 with Ultimate Pro Wrestling and won the UPW Heavyweight Championship the following year. Cena signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation in 2001. From a generic character in 2002, Cena morphed into a rapper for the period of 2002–2004. Cena later transitioned to his current character, which he describes as a goody-two shoes Superman, in 2012, IGN described Cena as WWEs franchise player since 2005 and WWE credited Cena as being the face of WWE in 2015 since 2004. Industry veterans John Layfield, Paul Heyman and Kurt Angle have called Cena the greatest WWE star of all time. Throughout his WWE career, Cena has won 25 championships, with 16 reigns as a world champion and he is also a five-time United States Champion, and four-time world tag team champion. Furthermore, he is a Money in the Bank ladder match winner, a two-time Royal Rumble winner, Cena has the fourth-highest number of combined days as WWE Champion, behind Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, and Hulk Hogan. He has also headlined WWEs flagship event, WrestleMania, on five different occasions over the course of his career, as of 2016, John Cena is WWEs highest-paid wrestler. Cena has also made appearances on shows including Manhunt, Deal or No Deal, MADtv, Saturday Night Live, Punkd, Psych. He was also a contestant on Fast Cars and Superstars, The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, Cena is also the host of American Grit on Fox. Cena is involved in philanthropic causes, most notably with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He has granted the most wishes in Make-A-Wish history, Cena was born on April 23,1977 in West Newbury, Massachusetts, to Carol and John Cena, Sr. He is the second oldest of five brothers, Dan, Matt, Steve and his maternal grandfather was baseball player Tony Lupien. His father is of Italian descent, while his mother has English, Cena originally attended Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts, before transferring to Cushing Academy, a private prep boarding school. After graduating from Cushing Academy, Cena attended Springfield College in Springfield, in college, Cena was a NCAA Division III All-American center on the college football team, wearing the number 54, which is still used on some of his WWE merchandise. He graduated from Springfield in 1998 with a degree in physiology, after which he pursued a career in bodybuilding. Cena started training to become a wrestler in 1999 at Ultimate Pro Wrestlings California-based Ultimate University operated by Rick Bassman
18.
Edge (wrestler)
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Adam Joseph Copeland is a Canadian actor and retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Edge, currently signed to WWE. He is known for his tenure in the professional wrestling promotion WWE. Copeland was trained by professional wrestlers Sweet Daddy Siki and Ron Hutchison, throughout the 1990s, he wrestled in various U. S. independent promotions. During his time in these promotions, he competed in singles and tag team competition, in 1997, Copeland signed a developmental deal with the WWF and began competing for the company later that year, he made his televised debut the following June under the ring name Edge. In July 1999, he won the WWF Intercontinental Championship at a show in Toronto. He and Christian, billed as brothers and later childhood friends in WWF/WWE storylines, during this time, they gained notoriety in the tag team division, partly due to their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. He is WWEs 14th Triple Crown Champion and 3rd Grand Slam Champion and he headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE, including WrestleMania XXIV, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Christian in 2012. His wife Beth Phoenix joined the Hall of Fame in 2017, aside from professional wrestling, Copeland appeared in the fantasy film Highlander, Endgame and WWE Studios Bending the Rules. He has made guest appearances on shows such as Weakest Link, Mind of Mencia, Deal or No Deal, MADtv. He appeared on the SyFy series Haven as recurring character Dwight Hendrickson, Copeland was born in Orangeville, Ontario, the son of Judy Copeland, a single parent who worked two jobs to support her son. To this day, he has never met his father or seen a picture of him and he became interested in professional wrestling at a young age, his favorite wrestlers included Mr. Perfect, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Ricky Steamboat, Shawn Michaels, and Bret Hart. A notable photo exists of Copeland attending Wrestlemania VI wearing a Hulk Rules T-shirt, when he was 17, he won an essay contest with his local gym, and his prize was free wrestling training with Sweet Daddy Siki and Ron Hutchison in Toronto. He put his wrestling aspirations aside to pay the bills. He held numerous jobs and then attended Humber College, where he graduated with a degree in radio broadcasting, during Copelands training, he trained one weekday and all weekend. The schools practice ring was a 12-by-14-foot boxing ring with a harder mat than that of a wrestling ring. The ceiling above it was low, with exposed pipes, preventing top-rope moves from being performed, Copeland later credited this environment with forcing him to drill and improve his technical mat-based wrestling. His classmates included Johnny Swinger, Joe E. Legend, throughout the 1990s, Copeland wrestled on the independent circuit in Ontario and the Great Lakes region of the United States under the ring name Sexton Hardcastle. He became a part of the tag team Sex and Violence with Joe E. Legend, in the mid-1990s, he wrestled as Adam Impact for Tony Condellos Winnipeg promotion
19.
Sheamus
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Stephen Farrelly is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, where he performs under the ring name Sheamus shortened from his previous ring name Sheamus OShaunessy and he currently appears on the Raw brand. Prior to joining WWE, Farrelly wrestled on the European circuit and was a two-time International Heavyweight Champion during his tenure in Irish Whip Wrestling. After becoming part of the WWE main roster in 2009, he would go on to be a world champion. He is also a two-time United States Champion, Farrelly was born in Cabra, Dublin, Ireland and was raised in the city. He speaks fluent Irish, having attended Scoil Caoimhin Primary and Coláiste Mhuire Secondary School, during his school years, he sang in the Palestrina Choir until the age of 13, during this time, he appeared on the Late Late Show and Live at Three. He played Gaelic football for the Erins Isle team where once he was proclaimed sports star of the month and he also played rugby for the National College of Ireland, where he gained a National Diploma. He has been a fan of Premier League football club Liverpool F. C. since childhood and also supports both rugby union clubs London Irish and Leinster and rugby league club the New Zealand Warriors. He is a former IT technician, and also worked as security for a nightclub, farrellys inspiration into a professional wrestling career came from watching both British wrestling from ITVs World of Sport and American wrestling from the World Wrestling Federation on Sky One. On the advice of Bret Hart, Farrelly began training in Larry Sharpes Monster Factory wrestling school in April 2002, alongside Tank Toland, Cliff Compton, six weeks later he officially debuted as a fan favorite under the name Sheamus OShaunessy against Robert Pigeon. It was during this time that he developed the nickname the Irish Curse after low-blowing an opponent and he soon suffered a serious neck injury after botching a hip toss which sidetracked his career for two years. Farrelly soon developed his character by drawing on Celtic mythology. Wanting to move away from limiting Irish stereotypes of lucky charms, leprechauns, going to a Gaelscoil, Farelly grew up aware of the four cycles of Irish mythology and, inspired by the artwork of Jim Fitzpatrick, incorporated the sword and axe-wielding imagery into his gimmick. In May 2004, still using the ring name Sheamus OShaunessy and he then made his debut match for the promotion at their Mount Temple show on 9 July against Mark Burns, where he picked out an easy win. He went on to win a battle royal the following month, OShaunessy spent the rest of the year engaged in a rivalry with Vid Vain after losing to his tag team partner Joey Cabray the same night he won the battle royal. On 22 and 23 October they traded wins, leading to OShaunessy recruiting help from CJ Summers to help defeat the tag team on 24 October, OShaunessy was still unsuccessful to defeat Vain in singles action the following day. Despite these losses, his impressive showings earned him a place against Alex Shane in a guest match for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance British Heavyweight Championship. Although he put on a proficient exhibit and came close to win, his friend Red Vinny interfered in the match, in March 2005, he avenged this loss by teaming with Raven to defeat Shane and Vinny
20.
Dave Bautista
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David Michael Dave Bautista Jr. is an American actor and former professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and bodybuilder. He holds the record for the longest reign as World Heavyweight Champion at 282 days and he was the winner of the 2005 Royal Rumble match and went on to headline WrestleMania 21, one of the top five highest-grossing pay-per-view events in professional wrestling history. When Bautista returned to WWE in 2014, he won the 2014 Royal Rumble match, in August 2012, Bautista signed a contract with Classic Entertainment & Sports to fight in mixed martial arts. He won his MMA debut on October 6,2012, defeating Vince Lucero via TKO in the first round and he was representing the Philippines during the fight. Bautista first entered the world of acting in 2006, Bautista is set to reprise his role as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 and Avengers, Infinity War. He has also appeared in several films since 2009. Bautista was born in Washington, D. C and his mother, Donna Raye, has Greek ancestry, and his father, David Michael Bautista, is the son of Filipino immigrants. His parents separated and eventually divorced and his paternal grandfather served in the Philippines military, worked as a taxicab driver, barber, and held other jobs to feed the family. Bautista has said that he is not ashamed to admit he lived in poverty and he has admitted to having a hard life, before he had reached the age of nine, three murders had occurred on his front lawn. As young as age 13, he was stealing automobiles, by age 17, Bautista was considered estranged from his parents and lived on his own. He later admitted, I am proud of my parents and they are good, honest, hard-working folks. They taught me the values of working hard and he became a regular bouncer for clubs until he was arrested after a fight that left two patrons injured, one of whom was rendered unconscious. After a trial, he was sentenced to one year of probation and he also worked as a lifeguard before pursuing a career in bodybuilding. He credits bodybuilding with potentially saving his life, Bautista tried out at the World Championship Wrestling Power Plant, but was told he would never make it in the wrestling business by Sgt. Bautista also trained with Marrese Crump in Muay Thai and Eskrima, most recently, he trained at Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu under Cesar Gracie and has become a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He made his Ohio Valley Wrestling debut in 2000 under the ring name Leviathan, as a member of the Disciples of Synn stable, he went undefeated until being beaten at Christmas Chaos by Kane with help from Stone Cold Steve Austin. He later won the OVW Heavyweight Championship from The Machine Doug Basham before losing the belt to The Prototype, a few months later, Bautista left OVW after he was promoted WWEs main roster. While still in OVW, Bautista began appearing on non-televised WWE events and he began his televised WWE career on May 9,2002 on an episode of SmackDown. as Deacon Batista, a villainous enforcer for Reverend DVon
21.
Bret Hart
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Bret Sergeant Hart, better known by the ring name Bret The Hitman Hart, is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, retired amateur wrestler, writer and actor. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling background, wrestling at Ernest Manning High School. Hart is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Sky Sports noted that his legacy is that of one of, if not the greatest, Hart joined his father Stu Harts promotion Stampede Wrestling in 1976, and made his in-ring debut in 1978. He gained championship success throughout the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation and he left for World Championship Wrestling following the controversial Montreal Screwjob in November 1997, where he remained until October 2000. Having been inactive from in-ring competition since January 2000, owing to a December 1999 concussion, he retired in October 2000. He returned to sporadic in-ring competition from 2010–2011 with WWE, where he won his championship, headlined the 2010 SummerSlam event. Throughout his career, Hart headlined WrestleManias IX, X, and XII, Hart has held championships in five decades from the 1970s to the 2010s, with a total of 32 held throughout his career, and 17 held between the WWF/WWE and WCW. He is a world champion, having held the WWF World Heavyweight Championship five times. Hart is also the 1994 Royal Rumble match winner, and the only two-time King of the Ring, winning the 1991 tournament and the first King of the Ring pay-per-view in 1993. Stone Cold Steve Austin, with whom Hart headlined multiple pay-per-view events as part of a rivalry from 1996 to 1997. The eighth child of wrestling patriarch Stu Hart, Bret Hart was born in Calgary and he is of Greek descent through his maternal grandmother and Irish through his maternal grandfather. His father was mainly of Scots-Irish descent but also had Scottish and English ancestry, Hart is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States since his mother Helen was born in New York. Hart has stated that he himself to be North American. Hart spent the vast majority of his childhood in the Hart family mansion which was owned by his father. Hart grew up in a household with eleven siblings and he was close with his older brother Dean who was the nearest to him in age of all his older brothers, being three years his senior. Together they would fight with Brets two older sisters Ellie, who was two years older, and Georgia, who was one year older. His introduction to professional wrestling came at an early age, as a child, he witnessed his father training future wrestlers like Billy Graham in the Dungeon, his household basement which served as a training room. Before school, Harts father, also a promoter, had him hand out fliers to local wrestling shows
22.
World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
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The World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by WWE. The World Heavyweight Championship was retired at the WWE pay-per-view, TLC, Tables, Ladders & Chairs, the unified championship became the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, retaining the lineage of the WWE Championship. Triple H was the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion, with Randy Orton being the last, the title was one of six to be represented by the historic Big Gold Belt, first introduced in 1986. Its heritage can be traced back to the first world championship, thereby giving the belt a legacy over 100 years old. WWE introduced its World Heavyweight Championship in 2002 by Eric Bischoff with Triple H becoming the champion on September 2. During this time, WCW used the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as its world title, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was soon established when the recognition was awarded to then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair in 1991. In 1993, WCW seceded from the NWA and grew to become a rival promotion to the World Wrestling Federation, both organizations grew into mainstream prominence and were eventually involved in a television ratings war dubbed the Monday Night Wars. Near the end of the war, WCW began a financial decline which culminated in March 2001 with the WWFs purchase of selected assets of WCW. As a result of the purchase, the WWF acquired the library of WCW, select talent contracts. The slew of former WCW talent joining the WWF roster began The Invasion which effectively phased out the WCW name, following this, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was unified with the WWF Championship, the WWFs world title, at Vengeance in December. By 2002, the WWE roster had doubled in size due to the overabundance of contracted workers, as a result of the increase, the WWE divided the roster through its two main television programs, Raw and SmackDown, assigning championships and appointing figureheads to each brand. This expansion became known as the Brand Extension, in May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment. Following these changes, the Undisputed WWE Championship remained unaffiliated with either brand as competitors from both brands could challenge the Undisputed Champion, on September 2, after disputing the brand designation of the Undisputed title, Eric Bischoff announced the creation of the World Heavyweight Championship. Bischoff awarded the title to Triple H due to previously being Lesnars scheduled opponent, immediately afterwards, the Undisputed Championship returned to being the WWE Championship. The World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Championship switched brands a number of times before the first brand split ended in 2011, due to its relation to both titles, its lineage is connected with the earliest recognized world heavyweight championship. In 2009, WWE released a DVD set called History of the World Heavyweight Championship that definitively linked the title to the WCW, following the end of the first brand extension in 2011, both the World Heavyweight Champion and WWE Champion could appear on both Raw and SmackDown. In 2013, the night after Survivor Series, then-World Heavyweight Champion John Cena made a challenge to then-WWE Champion Randy Orton to determine an undisputed WWE world champion. Randy Orton defeated John Cena in a TLC match at the TLC, Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 15,2013, subsequently, the WWE Championship was renamed WWE World Heavyweight Championship
23.
Jack Swagger
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Donald Jacob Jake Hager Jr. is an American professional wrestler, and former amateur wrestler best known for his time with WWE where he performed under the ring name Jack Swagger. Hager attended the University of Oklahoma as an athlete, participating in both football and wrestling. He switched to wrestling full-time in his year, and in 2006. Following a try-out, Hager signed a WWE contract in mid 2006, during his time with WWE he became a two-time world champion, holding WWEs World Heavyweight Championship and the ECW Championship once each, and a one-time WWE United States Champion. Hager started wrestling at the age of five and he wrestled in high school with Danny Hodges grandson and remains good friends with Hodge as he grew up living two blocks away from him in Perry, Oklahoma. Hager was an athlete in high school, competing in wrestling. He was also class president as a sophomore and junior, 5-ranked 215-pounder by Wrestling USA in 1999. He won the 215-pound division of the state wrestling championship as a junior after being a runner-up as a sophomore, Hager then joined the Junior National USA wrestling team as a heavyweight during the summer of 2000. His junior year, while playing football, he recorded 45 tackles and 6 sacks in 3 games in before breaking his ankle and he recorded 75 tackles and 3 fumble recoveries as a senior, helping Perry post a 10–3 mark. The University of Oklahoma recruited Hager as an athlete in football. He was the defensive tackle behind eventual National Football League players Tommie Harris. He stopped playing football and concentrated fully on wrestling his sophomore year, Ross encouraged Hager to contact him after graduating to see about a career in professional wrestling. At the 2005 NCAA Division I championships, he lost to University of Pennsylvanias Matt Feast in the second round, as a senior in 2006, Hager had a seventh-place finish in the NCAA championships and also defeated the future national champion, Dustin Fox from Northwestern University. Hager was named an All-American at seasons end while setting the Oklahoma record for most pins in a season with 30. In 2006, Hager graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelors degree in finance, following his graduation, he was going to work with a firm in Dallas, Texas, but signed with WWE after they offered a contract the day he was scheduled to start. In 2006, Hager had a WWE tryout in Deep South Wrestling and he competed mainly in dark matches before being moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling in January 2007. He debuted for the promotion by defeating Atlas DaBone, and in the following months began a feud with K. C. James, Hager began teaming with a multitude of opponents to feud with James and his tag team partner Cassidy James. During his time in the territories he appeared as a security guard during a brawl between John Cena and Umaga on Raw
24.
Big Show
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Paul Donald Wight II is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Big Show. He is signed to WWE, where he has performed since 1999 and he currently wrestles on the Raw brand. He began his career in World Championship Wrestling, where he was known by the ring name The Giant, having also been Intercontinental, United States and Hardcore Champion, Big Show is the 24th Triple Crown and 12th Grand Slam winner in WWE history. Between WWE and WCW, Wight has held 23 total championships and he has also won WCWs 1996 World War 3 60-man battle royal and the 30-man André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31. Wight has headlined many shows for WCW and the WWF/E since 1995, including the 2000 edition of WWEs premier annual event. In 2010, he had his first lead role in the comedy film Knucklehead, Wight was born in Aiken, South Carolina. After school, Wight worked various jobs including bouncing, bounty hunting, through doing the latter for a karaoke company, he met Danny Bonaduce in a live microphone amateur contest on his morning radio show. Bonaduce introduced Wight to his friend Hulk Hogan and they had an informal basketball game, as part of a World Championship Wrestling promotion for an upcoming show at the Rosemont Horizon. Hogan liked how Wight worked the crowd, and recommended him to World Championship Wrestling Vice President Eric Bischoff, Wight went to the Horizon show, and was invited into the locker room, where he met Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and Paul Orndorff. He later met Bischoff there and came to a deal, Wight had earlier attempted to inquire about joining the WWF, also at the Horizon, during an autograph session. Promoter and scout Bob Collins turned him away after he admitted he had no experience and he paid Larry Sharpes Monster Factory $5000, but due to Sharpes gout at the time, he was only very minimally trained. While there, he made a tape and gave it to Mike Chioda. Chioda forwarded it to Pat Patterson, who did not bother watching it because he assumed Wight was another wrestler, only when he saw The Giant debut in WCW did Patterson realize his mistake, to Vince McMahons displeasure. Wight made his debut at Halloween Havoc, defeating Hulk Hogan via disqualification. A week later, however, The Giant was stripped of the due to the controversial finish of the match. The Giants attempt at reclaiming the vacant title failed at World War 3 when he and Hogan eliminated each other, allowing Randy Savage to become champion. The Giant teamed with Ric Flair to defeat Hogan and Savage at Clash of the Champions XXXII, after a short feud with Loch Ness, The Giant regained the World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Flair. After Hogan formed the New World Order, he defeated The Giant for the title at Hog Wild following interference from Scott Hall, the Giant joined the nWo 23 days later, citing Ted DiBiases money as his primary motivation, feuding with Lex Luger and the Four Horsemen
25.
CM Punk
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Punk began his professional wrestling career on the American independent circuit, primarily with Ring of Honor until 2005, when he signed with World Wrestling Entertainment. Throughout his career, he won championships, including the WWE Championship twice. In WWE, Punk was also a one-time World Tag Team Champion, throughout his career, Punk consistently portrayed the character of an outspoken, sharp-tongued, anti-establishment, straight edge iconoclast. Most of the straight edge principles he portrayed, such as not drinking alcohol or not taking drugs, are his real life views. Depending on his alignment as a hero or villain, he emphasized different aspects of the straight edge culture to garner the desired audience reaction. After retiring from wrestling in 2014, Punk pursued a career in mixed martial arts and was signed by the UFC in December of that year. His first professional fight took place on September 10,2016, at UFC203 against Mickey Gall, Brooks was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in nearby Lockport, Illinois. He is one of five children, his father was an engineer, Brooks father struggled with alcoholism which inspired him to become straight edge from an early age. He attended Lockport Township High School, Brooks first venture into wrestling was a stint in a backyard wrestling federation called the Lunatic Wrestling Federation with his friends and brother Mike Brooks in the mid-late 1990s. He first started using the ring name CM Punk when he was put into a tag team named The Chick Magnets with CM Venom after another performer skipped out on the card. Unlike his friends, Punk genuinely wanted to be a wrestler, as part of the training, he wrestled at Steel Domain Wrestling in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was in the Steel Domain that he met Scott Colton, Punk and Cabana became best friends and spent most of their early career together working in the same independent promotions, as both opponents and tag team partners. In the independents, along with fellow Steel Domain graduates Colt Cabana, Chucke E. Smooth, Adam Pearce, Punks home promotion for his early career was considered to be the Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South. J. Styles, Cabana and even Eddie Guerrero in matches for the heavyweight championship, Punks feud with Hero included a 55-minute TLC match, a 93-minute two out of three falls match, and several 60-minute time limit draws. Punks matches with Cabana led him to being hired by the Ring of Honor promotion, from February 2003 until May 2004, Punk refused to wrestle for IWA Mid-South, explaining this as a protest to Ian Rottens mistreatment of Chris Hero in the company. Hero, however, has stated he believes there were other reasons, eventually Punk returned to IWA Mid-South and continued to perform as a wrestler and commentator for them until 2005 when he was signed to World Wrestling Entertainment. His last appearance in IWA Mid-South was on July 2,2005 in which he competed in a 60-minute time limit draw against Delirious. Initially, Punk joined Ring of Honor as a face, and their rivalry was rooted in Punks straight-edge lifestyle, with him likening Raven to his alcoholic father, it lasted most of 2003 and was considered one of ROHs top feuds of the year
26.
Rey Mysterio
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Óscar Gutiérrez, better known by his ring names Rey Mysterio Jr, or simply Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE from July 2002 to February 2015. He is also known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling, Asistencia Asesoría y Administración, Gutierrez was trained by his uncle Rey Misterio, Sr. learning the high flying Lucha Libre style that has been his trademark. Rey Misterio is Spanish for King Mystery, but subsequently dropped the Junior from his name when he began working for WWE in July 2002 until February 2015. In WCW, he won the WCW World Tag Team Championship three times, and the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship once with Billy Kidman as part of The Filthy Animals. In WWE, Mysterio is a world champion, having held WWEs World Heavyweight Championship twice. He has also held the WWE Tag Team Championship a record-tying four times, all totaled, Mysterio has won 21 titles between WWE and WCW, including a record eight Cruiserweight Championships. He was the 21st person to complete the WWE Triple Crown, Gutierrez made his debut in Mexico on April 30,1989 when he was 14 years old. He was trained by his uncle Rey Misterio, Sr. and he had ring names such as La Lagartija Verde and Colibrí before his uncle gave him the name of Rey Misterio, Jr. In 1991, Mysterio was awarded Most Improved Wrestler in Mexico while wrestling as Colibrí, in Asistencia Asesoría y Administración, Mysterio feuded with Juventud Guerrera. Mysterios uncle Misterio, Sr. also took on Guerrera in a tag match, Misterio, Sr. and Mysterio, Jr. facing Guerrera, Mysterio signed with Paul E. Dangerouslys Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1995. He debuted in September at Gangstas Paradise, defeating Psicosis, who was making his ECW debut. A feud between the two began, which included a two out of three falls match and a Mexican Death match, Mysterio also had a series of matches with ECW-newcomer Juventud Guerrera during the first half of 1996. Mysterio made his World Championship Wrestling debut on June 16,1996, at The Great American Bash, challenging Dean Malenko for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, which Malenko retained by winning. In July at Bash at the Beach, he defeated longtime rival Psicosis in a number one contenders match to another opportunity at the Cruiserweight title. The next night, on the July 8 episode of WCW Monday Nitro and he reigned as champion for three months, which included title defenses against the likes of Ultimate Dragon, Malenko, and Super Caló before he lost the title to Malenko at Halloween Havoc. Following his Cruiserweight Championship reign, Mysterio challenged Ultimate Dragon for the J-Crown Championship, in early 1997, he feuded with Prince Iaukea over the WCW World Television Championship. Mysterio was defeated in his match against Iaukea at SuperBrawl VII after Lord Steven Regal attacked him
27.
The Undertaker
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Mark William Calaway, better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is a retired American professional wrestler, who is signed to WWE. Calaway began his career with World Class Championship Wrestling in 1984. Calaway is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestler of all time, as The Undertaker, Calaways gimmick was a horror-themed, macabre entity who employed scare tactics and held links to the supernatural. The character was reinvented as a biker during a period in the early 2000s before returning to his previous gimmick in 2004, the Undertaker was the storyline of older half-brother of fellow WWE wrestler Kane, with whom he has alternately feuded and teamed with as The Brothers of Destruction. The Undertaker has been involved in various storylines and matches within WWE history. The Undertaker was known for The Streak, a run of 21 straight victories at WWEs leading pay-per-view, WrestleMania. He also won the 2007 Royal Rumble, Calaway was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Frank Compton Calaway and Betty Catherine Truby. He has four brothers, David, Michael, Paul. Calaway attended Waltrip High School, where he was a member of the football and basketball teams and he graduated in 1983 and began studying at Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas on a basketball scholarship. In 1985, he enrolled in Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1986, Calaway dropped out of university to focus on a career in sports, and he briefly considered playing professional basketball in Europe before deciding to focus on professional wrestling. Calaway made his debut in 1984 for World Class Championship Wrestling under the ring name Texas Red and his first match was a loss against Bruiser Brody. In 1988, after four years in the promotion, he left and joined the Continental Wrestling Association, after his second match the next week, he stayed in the ring by challenging USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler to an impromptu match. The Master of Pain easily dominated Lawler until Mantel entered the ring, Lawler agreed to a title match, and on April 1, The Master of Pain won his first professional wrestling championship. He held it for just over three weeks before Lawler became the first man to pin him, winning it back, while performing as The Punisher, Calaway won the WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship on October 5,1989, when Eric Embry forfeited the title. In 1989, Calaway joined World Championship Wrestling as a villain and adopted the ring name Mean Mark Callous, a name devised for him by Terry Funk. He was portrayed as a character, he wore predominantly black ring attire and was described by announcer Jim Ross as having a fondness for pet snakes. The new team gained notoriety at Clash of the Champions X when they beat down The Road Warriors after their match. However, Callous partner Dan Spivey left WCW days before their Chicago Street Fight against The Road Warriors at WrestleWar, Callous and a replacement masked Skyscraper were defeated in the street fight, and the team broke up soon afterwards
28.
Kane (wrestler)
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Glenn Thomas Jacobs, better known by the ring name Kane, is a Spanish-born American professional wrestler, Insurer and actor. He is signed on the WWE, where he is working on the SmackDown brand. Jacobs began his wrestling career on the independent circuit in 1992. He wrestled in promotions such as Smoky Mountain Wrestling and the United States Wrestling Association before joining the World Wrestling Federation in 1995 and he has continued to compete in world championship PPV matches through the mid 2010s. He is also a two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion and a 2010 Money in the Bank winner, Kane is the third man to win the WWE Grand Slam. Kane also holds the record of eliminations at Royal Rumble with 44 eliminations. Jacobs was born in the Spanish town of Torrejón de Ardoz and he grew up near St. Louis, Missouri. Jacobs earned a degree in English literature at Northeast Missouri State University, in the ring, Jacobs was first known as Angus King when he debuted in the St. Louis, Missouri area with the CSWA which was owned and run by Jacobss childhood friend Mark Morton. During his time in the United States Wrestling Association, Jacobs held the USWA Heavyweight Championship, Jacobs also worked for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi under his real name. In 1993, he lost his match for World Championship Wrestling to Sting. Jacobs competed in his first World Wrestling Federation bout as Mike Unabomb at the February 20,1995 Raw taping, defeating Reno Riggins in a dark match and he wrestled intermittently as Unabomb through August. Jacobs made his first television appearance with the company as Isaac Yankem, DDS, Jerry Lawlers private dentist, in a vignette on the June 26,1995, episode of Raw. Placing emphasis on Jacobss imposing height and weight, Yankem was portrayed as a figure whom Lawler had hired for the purpose of ridding the WWF of his longtime nemesis. The characters in-ring debut occurred at a Superstars taping on August 15, at that months SummerSlam event, Yankem was disqualified when he hung Hart by twisting him in the top and middle ropes by his neck. After his initial run with Hart, Jacobss push dwindled and he was part of an unsuccessful team in an elimination match at Novembers Survivor Series. Jacobs was used on a series of events in Kuwait in May, as well as a September tour of South Africa. The pair lost a WWF Tag Team Championship match to titleholders Owen Hart and The British Bulldog at Decembers In Your House 12, Diesel and Razor last appeared on television at the 1997 Royal Rumble, where Jacobs was the third-to-last participant. He continued to work live events as Diesel until April
29.
Kayfabe
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Kayfabe has also evolved to become a code word of sorts for maintaining this reality within the direct or indirect presence of the general public. In relative terms, a wrestler breaking kayfabe during a show would be likened to breaking character by an actor on-camera, in 1989, World Wrestling Federation owner Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey state senate that wrestling was staged. The characters assumed by wrestlers can be distinguished into two alignments, faces and heels, faces usually win their matches on the basis of their technical skills and are sometimes portrayed as underdogs to enhance the story. Heels are villainous or antagonistic characters, whose personalities are crafted to elicit a response from the audience. They often embrace traditionally negative traits such as narcissism, egomania, unprompted rage, sadism, a wrestler may change from face to heel in an event known as a turn, or gradually transition from one to the other over the course of a long storyline. Matches are usually organized between a heel and a face, but the distinction between the two types may be blurred as a characters storyline reaches a peak or becomes more complicated. Indeed, in recent years, several wrestlers became characters that were neither faces nor heels, many storylines make use of kayfabe romantic relationships between two performers. Very often, both participants have other real-life relationships, and the relationship between the two is simply a storyline. However, more than once, kayfabe romantic relationships have resulted either from a real-life relationship, tag teams of wrestlers, who may or may not look alike, are often presented as relatives, though they are not actually related. Examples include The Brothers of Destruction, The Holly Cousins and The Dudley Brothers, brother tag teams were commonly utilized in years past as a means to develop young talent, by pairing them with a veteran wrestler and giving the younger wrestler a rub by virtue of the association. Sometimes wrestlers will sell a kayfabe injury by not appearing at the following show, other times, a real injury is sometimes used later on as a storyline. One way is for the injured to come back and blame someone else for injuring them, even when the feud was not initially planned out at all, to give a sort of closure to the injury time out. These returns are often given a date in order to increase viewership and ticket sales. Occasionally, though, a return will not even be advertised. Through kayfabe, wrestlers often quit, get fired, or lose challenges with their job at stake only to return at a future time. These types of matches are used when a wrestlers contract is up or to give them some time off to recover from a legitimate injury. There have been examples of breaking kayfabe throughout wrestling history. It is rare for kayfabe to be dispensed with totally and the events acknowledged as scripted, often the break may be implied or through an allusion and standards tend to vary as to what is a break
30.
Battle royal (professional wrestling)
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In professional wrestling, a battle royal is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared winner. Typical battle royals begin with a number of participants in the ring, created by World Championship Wrestling in 1995, the World War 3 battle royal involved a three-ring setup and 60 competitors. 20 wrestlers started in each of the 3 rings in which they would wrestle under regular battle royal rules, once there were only 30 competitors left, all competitors would enter the central and continue in that ring under regular rules until 1 man was left standing. In 1988 the NWA named a pay-per-view after the Bunkhouse Stampede, gauntlet for the Gold is a variation on the battle royal used by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. In this version two wrestlers begin in the ring, with wrestlers entering on a set time period. Wrestlers are eliminated by being thrown over the top rope and to the floor until two wrestlers are left, at point a standard singles match begins. A Last Blood battle royal is essentially a multi-competitor First Blood match, the winner is the last wrestler in the match not bleeding. Generally used in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, a battle royal begins with wrestlers surrounding the ring instead of inside it. At the start of the match they battle for half of them to get into the ring, a diva battle royal is one which features female competitors. However, in this variant divas can be thrown through or under the ropes as well as over the top rope, a WWE diva battle royal with the addition of fetish outfits, such as french maid, nurse, schoolgirl, etc. Often the type of outfit is chosen by an audience poll, match will begin as the multi-women over-the-top elimination battle royal. They are eliminated from the match if they being thrown over the top ropes, the final two competitors will face each other in a ladder match, where the winner will receive a TNA Knockout Championship match, while the runner-up will have her head and hair shaved. WWEs Royal Rumble is a battle royal begins with two wrestlers in the ring, with the remaining participants introduced one by one at a set time period. Elimination occurs in the way with the last person standing as the winner, after all participants have entered the ring. As a result, the winner qualifies for a World Championship shot at Wrestlemania. A two-ring variation on a royal, the wrestlers start in one ring and try to throw wrestlers into the second ring. This was held by World Championship Wrestling at the 1991 Starrcade event, a variation of Battlebowl involves 100 wrestlers splits into 50 in two rings. The only way to be eliminated is to be thrown over the ropes, no matter how and where you hit, whether its apron, floor or barricade you are also eliminated
31.
WWE Raw
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WWE Raw, also known as Monday Night Raw or simply Raw, is a professional wrestling television program that currently airs live on Monday evenings at 8 pm EST on the USA Network in the United States. The shows name is used to refer to the Raw brand, in which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform on that program. The show debuted on January 11,1993 and has since been considered as the program of WWE. Raw moved from the USA Network to TNN in September 2000, on October 3,2005, Raw returned to the USA Network, where it remains today. As of December 9,2016, all episodes of the show are now available on demand on the WWE Network, since its first episode, Raw has broadcast live from 208 different arenas in 171 cities and towns in eleven different nations. Following the 1000th episode on July 23,2012, Raw became a three-hour broadcast from two hours, a format that had previously reserved for special episodes. Beginning as WWFs Monday Night Raw, the program first aired on January 11,1993 on the USA Network as a replacement for Prime Time Wrestling, the original Raw was sixty minutes in length and broke new ground in televised professional wrestling. Traditionally, wrestling shows were taped on sound stages with small audiences or at large arena shows, the Raw formula was considerably different from the taped weekend shows that aired at the time such as Superstars and Wrestling Challenge. Instead of matches taped weeks in advance with studio voice overs and taped discussion, Raw was a shot and aired to a live audience. Raw originated from the Grand Ballroom at Manhattan Center Studios, a small New York City theater, the combination of an intimate venue and live action proved to be a successful improvement. However, the live schedule proved to be a financial drain on the WWF. From Spring 1993 up until Spring 1997, Raw would tape several weeks worth of episodes after an episode had aired. The WWF taped several weeks worth of Raw from the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York in April 1993, up until that point, unless it was part of an ongoing feud or a title match, most matches on nationally televised WWF programs were primarily squash matches. Only Saturday Nights Main Event and The Main Event generally featured the type of matches Raw had, though unlike Raw, huge storyline-developing matches were regularly featured, such as Ric Flair vs. Mr. Perfect in January 1993, this would be Flairs last appearance in the company for almost 9 years, also, The 1–2–3 Kids upset victory over Razor Ramon in May 1993 would result in The Kid becoming an upper roster mainstay for years to come. Vince McMahon, Randy Savage and Rob Bartlett were the hosts of the show. Bartlett, a comedian who previously had nothing to do with the wrestling industry, Lawler has since been named as a permanent co-host for SmackDown and later pre-shows. Corey Graves would later replace JBL, on September 4,1995, the WWFs chief competitor World Championship Wrestling began airing its new wrestling show, Monday Nitro, live each week on TNT
32.
Eve Torres
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Eve Torres Gracie is an American actress, Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner instructor, event manager, former professional wrestler, dancer and model. She is best known for her time in WWE under the ring name Eve Torres, Torres began her career as a model and dancer. She danced for The Southern California Summer Pro League and went on to become a member of the National Basketball Associations Los Angeles Clippers Spirit Dance Team for the 2006–2007 season. She has also appeared on television shows, including Show Me The Money, Sunset Tan. In 2007, she entered the 2007 Diva Search and won, Torres first appeared on WWE programming as a backstage interviewer in 2008, and also appeared in non-wrestling contests such as bikini contests and dance competitions. She later became a wrestler in 2009, and was involved in feuds with Michelle McCool, Layla. She also managed the tag team of Cryme Tyme, after being traded to the Raw brand in late 2009, she managed Chris Masters before winning the WWE Divas Championship in April 2010. She held the championship for 69 days, before losing it in June, after acting as the valet for R-Truth in late 2010, Torres won the Divas Championship for the second time at the 2011 Royal Rumble in January. Her second reign lasted until April 2011, the following year, she was given the fictional role of Executive Administrator of Raw and WWE SmackDown, and later the Assistant General Manager of SmackDown. At Night of Champions, Torres won the Divas Championship, becoming the first person to win it on three occasions, and held the title until January 2013. Following her Divas Championship loss, she retired from WWE to focus on her role as an instructor for the Gracie Women Empowered self-defense program, in 2014, she appeared on the television series Matador in a recurring guest role. In 2016, she appeared on the CBS program Supergirl, Torres was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but grew up in Denver, Colorado, and has a Latina background. She has one brother, Phillip, who appeared on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. in October 2008 and won $100,000. Torres attended the University of Southern California on a tuition scholarship. During college, she was one of the members of the Omega Phi Beta sorority chapter on her campus. While in Omega Phi Beta, Torres was awarded for Academic Excellence at the Order of Omega Greek Awards and she graduated with honors and a Grade Point Average above 3.5 in May 2006, with a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering. While attending the USC, Torres appeared in commercials and music videos, Torres was the co-captain of the USC Fly Girls dance squad and created much of their choreography. She also danced for The Southern California Summer Pro League, the summer league for National Basketball Association players, in Long Beach
33.
Maryse Ouellet
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She spent time in Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling, WWEs developmental territories, before being assigned to the SmackDown brand in 2008. In December 2008, Maryse won her first WWE Divas Championship and held it for seven months, in 2011, she became the co-host of NXT and the manager of Ted DiBiase, prior to her release from the company in October 2011. In April 2016, she returned to the company, and became the manager of her husband The Miz, in late 2011, she announced plans for a clothing and jewelry line called House of Maryse, and later began working as a realtor. Ouellet was born in Montreal, Quebec, but grew up in Edmundston, in high school, Ouellet was the only girl in her class, and ran the schools fashion show. She also began developing a range of makeup products, Ouellet began her modelling career as a beauty pageant contestant, winning Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada 2003 and finishing second at the International Finals of Miss Hawaiian Tropic 2004. She was also on the cover of Playboys 2007 Girls of Canada calendar, in mid-2006, Ouellet tried out for World Wrestling Entertainment s Diva Search. She made the cut and was one of the top eight contestants. Despite her elimination, she was invited to observe workouts and the facility at WWEs developmental territory. Ouellet later said that she was very, very excited, as it was her dream to become a WWE Diva, Ouellet was officially signed to a WWE developmental contract on August 24,2006 and was assigned to OVW for training. She made her debut at an OVW live event in December 2006. In March 2007, she began wrestling in matches prior to the OVW television tapings. In mid-2007, Ouellet began managing Sylvain Grenier, Ouellet then started competing in singles and tag team competition, before managing Ted DiBiase, Jr. in December 2007, and was at ringside when he captured the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship. She continued making appearances in FCW until January 2008. On the September 22,2006 episode of SmackDown, Ouellet, known as simply Maryse, was shown on the TitanTron welcoming the Montreal viewers in French to the season premiere of SmackDown. Maryse made her first official televised appearance on the May 21,2007 episode of Raw to present American rapper Timbalands new music video for the single Throw It on Me, in which she had appeared. By the time she began appearing regularly on SmackDown at the beginning of 2008, she had adopted a snobby attitude and become a villainous character. On the March 7,2008 episode of SmackDown, Maryse competed in a swimsuit contest against Victoria, Michelle McCool, Cherry, and Eve Torres, the following week, she was the first eliminated from another swimsuit competition. On March 28, Maryse competed in a Wet and Wild match, teaming with Victoria against Cherry, on a SmackDown after the bell video on WWEs website, the tag team Deuce n Domino dumped Cherry, who had been their manager, and replaced her with Maryse
34.
Gail Kim
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Gail Kim-Irvine is a Canadian professional wrestler, professional wrestling valet, model and actress of Korean descent. Kim began her career wrestling on the Canadian independent circuit, before joining WWE in 2002 and she became the first WWE Diva in history to win a championship in her debut match. After being released by WWE in 2004, Kim joined TNA in September 2005, there, she joined the tag team Americas Most Wanted as their valet. After the dissolution of the group, Kim performed as a singles wrestler and she later left TNA in August 2008, to return to WWE three months later, where she remained until 2011. The following October she returned to TNA, in 2012, Pro Wrestling Illustrated named Kim the number one female wrestler in the world and in 2016 she was announced as the first female inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame. She is regarded by fans and fellow wrestlers as one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time. Kim was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on February 20,1977, Kim attended York Memorial Collegiate Institute and majored in kinesiology at the University of Toronto before transferring to Ryerson University and changing her major to nutrition. After obtaining her degree from Ryerson University, Kim decided to become a professional wrestler and she received supplementary training from Rob Etchevarria at the Squared Circle Pro Wrestling Gym. She debuted in December 2000, wearing a mask and wrestling as The Queen of the Cats La Felina in the Southern Ontario-based Apocalypse Wrestling Federation and she, however, was eventually unmasked by Tracy Brooks in a Mask versus Hair match. Kim worked on the Canadian independent circuit for two years, wrestling for promotions such as Border City Wrestling, Kim was introduced to World Wrestling Federation employee Nora Greenwald by Jason Sensation in 2001, Greenwald encouraged Kim to send her videos and tapes to WWF officials. In October 2002, she was hired by the WWF, now renamed World Wrestling Entertainment and she spent eight months training in their then-developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling and wrestled house shows and dark matches before being called up to their main roster. After several weeks of vignettes showcasing Matrix-like effects aired on Raw, Kim debuted on June 30 as a fan favorite, with a Matrix-inspired outfit. Her first televised WWE match was a battle royal on the June 30,2003 episode of Raw with the WWE Womens Championship, then held by an injured Jazz. Kim won the match by lastly eliminating Victoria, Kim held the title for four weeks, successfully defending it once against Molly Holly, before losing it to Holly on the July 28 episode of Raw. At WWEs Unforgiven pay-per-view event on September 21, Stratus and Lita defeated Kim, the four women continued to feud until November, when Kim was sidelined with a broken right collarbone. Kim returned to Raw in April 2004 and immediately reforged her alliance with Holly, in May 2004, Kim submitted then-Womens Champion Victoria twice, in singles match and a six-woman tag match, earning herself a title shot at Bad Blood. However, Lita pinned Kim on the June 7 episode of Raw, at Bad Blood on June 13, she faced Lita, Stratus, and Victoria in a Fatal Four-Way match for the WWE Womens Championship, which was won by Stratus. Kim participated in a battle royal on October 19 at Taboo Tuesday, Kim, however, was released by WWE on November 3,2004 as a result of cost cutting
35.
Matt Sydal
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Matthew Joseph Matt Korklan, also known by the ring name Matt Sydal, is an American professional wrestler, perhaps best known for his time in WWE under the ring name Evan Bourne. Between 2000 and 2007, Korklan wrestled on the independent circuit, for promotions including NWA Midwest, IWA-Mid South and he also wrestled for the short-lived Wrestling Society X and was featured on Total Nonstop Action Wrestlings early pay-per-view events. Beginning in 2005, he wrestled for Dragon Gate in Japan, Korklan signed with WWE in 2007, and made his main roster debut as Evan Bourne on ECW the following year. In 2011, he formed an alliance with Kofi Kingston, known as Air Boom, in 2012, Korklan was suspended for violating WWEs wellness policy, and then suffered foot injuries in a motorcycle accident, forcing him out of action. Without reappearing on television, he was released from WWE in 2014 and he has also wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and a one-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion. He is known for his flying, lucha libre-inspired style of wrestling. Korklan was on his high school wrestling team, while a senior in high school, Korklan began training with the St. Louis, Missouri-based Gateway Championship Wrestling promotion. After three months of training, Korklan began wrestling for GCW on October 20,2000, becoming the first person under the age of 18 to receive a license in Missouri. Prior to this, Korklan had briefly wrestled as Lance Sydal in the wrestling promotion. In 2003, Korklan formed a stable in GCW, known as Operation, in addition, Korklan and fellow stable member Billy McNeil formed a tag team. Operation, Shamrock maintained a feud with the villainous Ministry of Hate faction, Korklan debuted in Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South in November 2003, combining two of his old ring names into a new one, Matt Sydal. He won his first championship, the IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship, on January 17,2004, Sydal lost the title to Delirious on June 26,2004. Sydal joined NWA Midwest that same year, on July 30, he defeated Justin Kage for the NWA Midwest X Division Championship, which he lost to Delirious after holding it for nearly a year. Sydal teamed with Daizee Haze in an tag team match against Delirious and MsChif. Haze pinned MsChif to win the title for Sydal, Sydal lost the title to Jaysin Strife roughly four months later before leaving the promotion. Sydal wrestled several top independent stars during his time as a regular in IWA and he lost three matches to A. J. He also faced CM Punk, Chris Sabin and Nate Webb, on September 24,2005, Sydal won the fifth Ted Petty Invitational tournament, defeating El Generico, Tyler Black, and Sabin to reach the final match, where he defeated Kevin Steen and Arik Cannon. Afterwards, Sydal appeared infrequently in IWA, lastly in August 2007, Sydal wrestled on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling s first monthly pay-per-view event, Victory Road
36.
Alicia Fox
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Victoria Elizabeth Crawford is an American model, actress, and professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under the ring name Alicia Fox, performing on the Raw brand. Crawford debuted on SmackDown in June 2008, using the Alicia Fox name, in November, she moved to the ECW brand, where she managed DJ Gabriel. In October 2014, she began starring in the reality television series Total Divas on E. as part of the main cast, Crawford made her professional wrestling debut for the WWE developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling on July 1,2006. She won the OVW Womens Championship that same year, Crawford was later assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling after WWE terminated its working relationship with OVW. She wrestled in FCW until her move to SmackDown in 2008, during their wedding reception the following month, Triple H revealed Edge kissing Fox the day before the wedding on camera. Fox involved herself in the WWE Championship match at The Great American Bash when she attempted to help Edge, the confusion surrounding her interference caused Edge to accidentally spear Guerrero. After a three-month hiatus from television, Fox resurfaced on the November 18 episode of ECW, managing English wrestler DJ Gabriel, in a fan favorite role. Their on-screen association was explained by WWE claiming that Fox had moved her wedding planning business to England during her hiatus from WWE television, Gabriel and Fox began feuding with the Burchill siblings in late December 2008. Fox made her ECW in-ring debut on January 6,2009, the following week, Gabriel and Fox defeated the Burchill siblings in a mixed tag team match, giving Fox her first win as part of the brand. In March, Fox and Gabriel feuded with Tyson Kidd and Natalya, Fox competed in the 25 Diva battle royal at WrestleMania XXV, which was ultimately won by Santina Marella. Fox was drafted to the SmackDown brand as a part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft on April 15 and she made her in-ring debut as a villainous SmackDown Diva on the April 30 episode of WWE Superstars, teaming with Michelle McCool to defeat Maria and Gail Kim. After winning her match, Fox aligned herself with Michelle McCool. Fox was in the corner of McCool when McCool won the WWE Womens Championship at The Bash, Alicia Fox then went on to have a several week feud with SmackDown Diva Maria Kanellis. However, the rivalry wasnt aired due to time difficulties and it was mostly Fox who won most the matches proving to be the best out of the two Divas. The rivalry came to an end after a No. 1# Contendors match won by Alicia Fox, the main reason the rivalry didnt continue was because Michelle McCool was the champion at the time and Alicia Fox was in an alliance with her. On June 29 it was announced that Fox had been traded to the Raw brand, the following week, she made her Raw debut in a tag team match, teaming with Maryse against Gail Kim and Mickie James in a losing effort. She gained her first victory on Raw on July 13, when Fox, Maryse, Fox picked up her first pinfall victory by defeating Kelly Kelly during a tag team match on the July 20 episode of Raw. On the August 10 episode of Raw, Fox was involved in a fatal four-way match to determine the number one contender for the WWE Divas Championship, the following month, on September 14, she defeated Gail Kim to become the number one contender to the Divas Championship
37.
Zack Ryder
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Matthew Brett Matt Cardona is an American professional wrestler who is currently signed to WWE under the ring name Zack Ryder. He performs on the SmackDown brand but is currently on hiatus due to injury, after joining WWE in 2007, he has since become a one-time Intercontinental Champion, a one-time United States Champion, and a one-time Tag Team Champion. After the team split in 2009, Cardona made appearances on ECW, after ECW ended in 2010, he was featured sparingly on WWE television. In 2011, he started publishing a YouTube web series called Z, true Long Island Story where he proclaimed himself WWEs Internet Champion, though this championship was not sanctioned by WWE. This, and his use of social networking websites, helped him in establishing a fan following, Cardona debuted with New York Wrestling Connection in 2004, using the name Brett Matthews. On the next event on June 4, they won a rematch decisively to become the NYWC Tag Team Champions, later that month they were attacked by The Dead Presidents to set up a feud where they eventually lost their titles against them on August 27. On September 23, they were entered into a match with then champions. After continuing to win matches, they re-earned a match against Team Tremendous and they held the championship until they faced the B. S. Xpress, who defeated them for the titles on March 26. Cardonas first WWE appearance was on April 21,2005 on SmackDown, where he, performing as a jobber, took on Matt Morgan. On February 24,2006, Matthew Cardona signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. In Deep South Wrestling in Georgia, he was renamed Brett Majors while Myers was renamed Bryan Majors, by October they won the DSW Tag Team Championship from The Untouchables and held them until the end of November, losing them to Urban Assault. After the titles were vacated in the year, they became two-time champions defeating the new team of Siaki and Afa Jr. Later in 2007 they moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling and won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, in March 2015, Devon Nicholson described an incident from 2006 that Bill DeMott was involved with while he was head trainer for the WWEs DSW developmental territory. The wrestlers agreed to do this to get out of training for that day. DeMott refuted the notion that it was his idea, stating that the other came up with because they wanted to skip the session. The team was moved from the league to the main roster in May 2007. They worked on WWEs ECW brand, winning only their first match until they were drafted to SmackDown. in June, on November 9 they won a battle royal to receive a WWE Tag Team Championship match, but didnt win. On December 21, the Major Brothers were revealed as an acquaintance to Edge and his lover, the Major Brothers were repackaged and renamed, with Cardona being renamed Zack Ryder
38.
Kofi Kingston
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Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah is a Ghanaian-American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE on the Raw brand under the ring name Kofi Kingston, in which he is a member of The New Day along with teammates Big E, since debuting in WWE, Kingston has won 12 championships. He is a four-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, a three-time WWE United States Champion, a record tying four-time WWE Tag Team Championship and he is also known for his innovative ways of suspending his elimination from battle royal and Royal Rumble matches. Sarkodie-Mensah made his wrestling debut in 2006, when he faced Tony Omega at Chaotic Wrestling on February 24. He faced Evan Siks on June 4 for the PWF Mayhem Heavyweight Championship, in September 2006, he signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and was assigned to Deep South Wrestling, a Georgia-based developmental federation. He debuted in the new company, as Kofi Nahaje Kingston, when he returned to the developmental federations, he shortened his original ring name to Kofi Kingston and continued to alternate between both ring names throughout his duration there. He also worked live events, defeating Shelton Benjamin on May 5, Kingston worked there for most of the remainder of the year. He debuted on the January 22,2008 ECW as a face with a win over local wrestler David Owen in Charlottesville, Kingston remained undefeated in singles competition in ECW for months and was placed into a feud with Shelton Benjamin at the end of April 2008. After two straight losses, Benjamin got a win over Kingston on the May 20 ECW, ending his undefeated streak, on the June 24 ECW, Kingston defeated Benjamin in an Extreme Rules match to end their feud. As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft, Kingston was drafted to the Raw brand, in his first match as a member of Raw roster, he defeated Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship at Night of Champions. The win made him the first Ghanaian wrestler to hold a championship in World Wrestling Entertainment, soon after coming to his rescue, Punk and Kingston were paired together more often, and on the October 27 Raw, the duo won the World Tag Team Championship. He was also involved at Survivor Series in the traditional elimination tag team match on the side of Team Batista. Kingston and Punk lost the World Tag Team Championship to John Morrison, Kingston defeated Chris Jericho, after interference from Ric Flair, to earn a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXV, but the match was won by CM Punk. After winning a Triple Threat #1 Contenders match the week before, on the October 12 Raw, Kingston defeated Evan Bourne to qualify for Team Raw at WWE Bragging Rights. Team Raw lost the match, however, when the Big Show betrayed them by chokeslamming Kingston, during WWE Bragging Rights, Kingston and Raw teammate Cody Rhodes argued about Kingston losing their match. So, when Rhodes and Ted DiBiase interfered on Randy Ortons behalf during his WWE Championship match, Kingston ran out with a chair, on the October 26 Raw, Kingston began a feud with Orton, who believed Kingston cost him the WWE Championship. After Kingston defeated Chris Jericho, Orton attacked him from behind, Kingston went on to lead his Survivor Series team to victory against Ortons team, where he was the sole survivor, last eliminating Orton. On the November 30 Raw, Kingston was scheduled to face Orton in a one on one match, only to be assaulted from behind by Cody Rhodes, despite the assault, Kingston still wished to continue, and was quickly defeated by Orton
39.
WWE Intercontinental Championship
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The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand. Along with the United States Championship on the Raw brand, it is one of the two titles of the promotion. The current champion is Dean Ambrose, who is in his second reign and it is the third oldest championship currently active in WWE, behind the WWE Championship and United States Championship. It has been called a stone to the WWE Championship. In November 2001, the then-WCW United States Championship was unified into the Intercontinental Championship, in 2002 after the first brand extension, it became exclusive to Raw and the WWF was renamed to WWE. Later that year, the European and Hardcore championships were unified into the Intercontinental Championship, the following year, however, it was reactivated for Raw, followed by the United States Championships reactivation as a counterpart title on SmackDown. As a result of the 2016 draft, the Intercontinental Championship became exclusive to the SmackDown brand, the term intercontinental in the title originally referred to North and South America. In 1985, the belt design changed, the centerplate now centered on the Atlantic Ocean, in a map including western Africa. On April 10,1989, the championship was first defended outside of North America, by Rick Rude against The Ultimate Warrior in Milan, Italy. On March 30,1991, Mr. Perfect made the first Asian defense against The Texas Tornado at a WWF co-promotion with Super World of Sports in Tokyo, Japan. It first came to Africa on April 6,1997, when champion Rocky Maivia pinned Savio Vega in Durban, shelton Benjamin made the first Australian defense on April 7,2006, pinning Gene Snitsky in Brisbane. WWF North American Heavyweight Champion Pat Patterson became the champion on September 1,1979. Mr. Perfect would then go on to win a tournament to crown a new Intercontinental Champion, on October 17,1999, Chyna became the only woman to hold the Intercontinental Championship by defeating Jeff Jarrett at No Mercy. Then-United States Champion Edge defeated then-Intercontinental Champion Test, in 2002, after the first brand extension had begun and the WWF was renamed to WWE, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff began unifyng his brands singles championships. On August 19,2002, Bischoff made a six-minute gauntlet match for the Hardcore Championship, tommy Dreamer successfully retained his title in that match, but lost to Van Dam in a hardcore match the next week. On September 30,2002, Bischoff scheduled another unification match, the match took place at No Mercy the following month and saw then-World Heavyweight Champion Triple H defeat then-Intercontinental Champion Kane, making him the Raw brands sole male singles champion. Christian won the royal to win the championship and restore a secondary singles title for Raw wrestlers to compete for. The first brand extension would end on August 29,2011, on May 31,2015, the championship was contested for in an Elimination Chamber match for the first time
40.
Drew McIntyre
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Andrew McLean Drew Galloway IV is a Scottish professional wrestler signed to WWE, where he performs in their developmental territory NXT under the ring name Drew McIntyre. Outside of WWE, he has numerous other titles on both the independent and international circuits. He is a world champion, having held the TNA World Heavyweight Championship once. Galloway also held the Evolve Championship, the Open the Freedom Gate Championship, under Galloway, both the ICW and Evolve Championships were deemed world championships due to his numerous international defenses as champion. Galloway began training for wrestling at the age of 15 at the Frontier Wrestling Alliances Academy when his family moved to the south of England to Portsmouth. In 2003, Galloway made his debut for the show of British Championship Wrestling, operating in the Greater Glasgow area. While there he honed his wrestling skill further, training under Colin McKay and later Spinner McKenzie and developing the character of Thee Drew Galloway and his first match, which took place at Februarys No Blood, No Sympathy, Night 1, saw him lose against Stu Natt. He picked up his first win on the night in a tag team match alongside Wolfgang, defeating Blade. By December, Galloway was managed by Charles Boddington, who aided him in his first significant success, on 5 December, Boddington announced that BCW Heavyweight Champion Spinner McKenzie had been fired and would be stripped of the title, Boddington then instantly gave the belt to Galloway. Stevie Knight took exception to this and challenged him to a match that night at Bad Tidings, Night 1. Galloway earned a win over Knight the following February in 2004, at Night of The Fan. Later that year, Galloway had a series of matches against American veterans, in June, he was defeated by The Honky Tonk Man and later that month lost in a tag team match to Marty Jannetty and Highlander, with Sabotage on his side. In November at the aptly titled Lo Down, Galloway main evented in a double countout match against DLo Brown. He then had a series of feuds, as in March 2005 he defeated Jay Phoenix but their rematch in November, officiated by Mick Foley. In May 2006 after their feud in Irish Whip Wrestling. In November 2006, in the event of Live in East Kilbride, Galloway teamed with Lionheart. This put him in contention for the title at Decembers No Blood, the match was booked as an I Quit match with Conscience as the special guest referee with Galloway gaining his second BCW Heavyweight Championship. He held the title through most of 2007, with successful defenses over Martin Stone, Allan Grogan and Lionheart, after gaining momentum in Scotland, Galloway began wrestling dates across the Republic of Ireland with Irish Whip Wrestling continuing to use Thee Drew Galloway as his gimmick
41.
Theodore Long
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Long began his career in the National Wrestling Alliance where he became a manager. In 1998, he debuted in the WWE as a referee and he later served as General Manager of SmackDown for two tenures lasting a combined six years as well as one reign as ECW General Manager. He was inducted into the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame by Ron Simmons, Long started out as an errand boy for wrestlers Tommy Rich and Abdullah the Butcher. He eventually became a member of the ringcrew and was promoted to referee in the NWAs Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985 as Teddy Long, in 1989, at the Chi-Town Rumble event, Long was the replacement referee when Ricky Steamboat won the NWA World Championship. Shortly thereafter, Long began to turn into a character when he started to bend the rules for heel wrestlers. After this match, the National Wrestling Alliance relieved Long of his refereeing duties and this was actually a story lifted from Championship Wrestling from Florida, where Long had been a referee and did several heel-decisions in the ring, including one for Ron Simmons over Skip Young. While riding with Kevin Sullivan and Eddie Gilbert, Long would DJ for them, after hearing Long talk, the two convinced Jim Ross to give Long a managerial role, managing Norman the Lunatic. Long became the manager of Doom and led them to the World Tag Team Titles, Long debuted in the WWF as a referee on the December 21,1998 episode of Raw is War and stayed with that role until September 2002, when he was taken off the road. Like his previous referee stints, Long went by the shortened Teddy Long name during this period and he was a referee at the Over The Edge 1999 PPV, during the match after Owen Harts tragic death, a mixed tag match between Jeff Jarrett/Debra and Val Venis/Nicole Bass. Long was the referee when Darren Drozdov ended up paralyzed and can be seen in WWEs Dont Try This At Home warning looking at the paramedics lift Droz up on a stretcher, when he was drafted to SmackDown, he managed Mark Jindrak. On the January 5,2004 edition of Raw, he was filling in as the guest General Manager for Eric Bischoff, during a match between Mark Henry and Rob Van Dam, announcer Lilian Garcia had announced that Van Dam had won by DQ in a No Disqualification Match. But, Long grabbed the microphone and ordered to restart the match, just then, Stone Cold Steve Austin, as the Sheriff came out with an ATV and chased him around the ring and the arena. After Van Dam won the match, Austin continued to chase Long until he was cornered by him and Van Dam, in which they pushed Long back into the ring. As he begged Austin not to him, Long offered him a handshake. He accepted it, only to give Long a stunner in the process for restarting the match, after Kurt Angle was fired from the General Manager position in July 2004, Long became the new and first African-American general manager of SmackDown. Long immediately turned face on his first night as GM when he fined Angle $1,000 for not having his wrestling gear with him, McMahon, who would blatantly favor heels. At first, he continued to use the Hate-orade catch phrase he started using as a bad guy, but less aggressively, one example was when he stripped Booker T of the US Championship for drinkin Hate-orade. Long would also introduce the New Talent Initiative during this time, as part of the SmackDown vs
42.
Matt Hardy
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Matt, along with his real-life brother Jeff, gained notoriety in WWEs tag team division due to their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. Aside from his success as a tag team wrestler, Hardy is a world heavyweight champion, having held the TNA World Heavyweight Championship twice. He has also won the WWE United States Championship, the WWE European Championship, the WWE Hardcore Championship, altogether, Hardy has won 18 championships between WWE, ROH, and TNA, as well as 44 championships in his overall career. Hardy was born in Cameron, North Carolina, the son of Gilbert and he is the older brother of Jeff Hardy. Their mother died of cancer in 1986. Hardy played baseball as a child and throughout high school, but had stopped by his senior year and he also played football, either as a linebacker or a defensive end. Hardy was a student at Union Pines High School in North Carolina, and was a nominee for the Morehead Award. Hardy attended University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he majored in engineering, after a year, however and he then attended Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst to gain his associate degree. Hardy, along with his brother Jeff and friends, started their own federation, the Trampoline Wrestling Federation and mimicked the moves they saw on television. A few years later, it was revealed to him by Chris Kanyon that the tape had been kept in the WCW Power Plant, watched multiple times, beginning in 1994, The Hardys wrestled for several North Carolina-based independent circuit promotions and adapted a number of alter-egos. As The Wolverine, Hardy captured the New England Wrestling Alliance Championship in May 1994, as High Voltage, he teamed with Venom to claim the New Frontier Wrestling Association Tag Team Championship in March 1995. A month later, High Voltage defeated the Willow for the NFWA Championship, Matt would continue to wrestle in various independent promotions until 2001. In 1997, Matt and Jeff created their own wrestling promotion, The Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts, the Hardys launched the promotion because, at the time, there werent many places to wrestle, nor did they know anyone who could help. Both Matt and Jeff would take apart the ring and put it together at every event they had. The promotion would fold in October 1999, after both Matt and Jeff signed with the World Wrestling Federation, Hardy worked as a jobber for the World Wrestling Federation from 1994 up until he signed a full-time contract. His first WWF match was against Nikolai Volkoff on May 23,1994 and he wrestled sporadically throughout 1994 in the WWF, losing matches against Crush, Razor Ramon, Hakushi, Owen Hart and the imposter Undertaker. Hardy continued wrestling with the WWF sporadically, including matches against Hunter Hearst Helmsley and it was not until 1998, however, that the Hardy brothers were given full-time WWF contracts, and sent to train with former wrestler Dory Funk, Jr. The Hardy Boyz used a cruiserweight, fast-paced high flying style in their matches, although Jeff was better known for his extreme moves, Hardy was a prodigious high-flier himself
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