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66-605: The company had two championships, the AWF Heavyweight Championship, and the AWF Tag Team Championship. The last AWF Heavyweight Champion, Tito Santana , actually defended the championship after the AWF closed in 1996. The company closed for financial reasons, producing a syndicated show but failing to gain a following. Paul Alperstein, a promoter from Chicago , founded the AWF in 1994 and was on-air president of

132-655: A Boston crab . Strike Force held them for five months before losing to Demolition at Wrestlemania IV . Due to a neck injury inflicted on Martel ( kayfabe ) shortly after the loss, the team was inactive for several months (in reality, Martel was granted leave to tend to his wife who was seriously ill). Immediately after the injury, Santana introduced a new tag team to the WWF, The Powers of Pain ( The Barbarian and The Warlord ), two big, muscled up power wrestlers whom he briefly managed. The Powers were introduced as mercenaries to help Martel and Santana gain revenge on Demolition for both

198-467: A brutal steel cage match in Baltimore on July 6, 1985. After the match, Valentine, incensed over losing the belt, destroyed it by repeatedly bashing it against the steel cage, forcing the WWF to get a new Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship belt. In reality however, the WWF had made a new Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship belt to go along with the new image they were trying to promote and smashing

264-697: A feud with Tony Atlas . On an IWCCW card in Brooklyn, New York , Atlas defeated Dusty Wolfe . After the bout, he openly challenged any of his fellow wrestlers to try to beat him. Santana immediately responded, charging out and dropkicking Atlas out of the ring. Following the event, Santana and Atlas scheduled a match for June 15 in Nassau in The Bahamas for the IWCCW title, where Santana sought to avenge his former tag team partner "Polish Power" Ivan Putski , whom Atlas had hung over

330-462: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked

396-659: A hair salon in Succasunna-Kenvil, New Jersey until January 2022. When not competing in a wrestling match, Solis works as a trainer at the New Jersey–based promotion Independent Wrestling Federation (IWF). He used to be a physical education teacher at Smalley Elementary School in Bound Brook, New Jersey , and taught Spanish at Eisenhower Middle School in Roxbury, New Jersey . His autobiography, Tito Santana's Tales From

462-769: A lengthy feud with WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight champion , the Magnificent Muraco . Santana finally won the title on February 11, 1984, becoming the first Mexican-American wrestler to win the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. After successfully defending the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship against Muraco, Santana was targeted by Greg "the Hammer" Valentine , and in September 1984 in London, Ontario , Canada, Valentine defeated Santana to win

528-533: A little over a minute after being hit in the stomach by The Mountie's electrified cattle prod . Later in 1991, Santana adopted a Spanish bullfighter gimmick and the nickname "El Matador" after he returned to the WWF. His first WrestleMania match under this gimmick is when he faced and lost to Shawn Michaels in the opening bout of WrestleMania VIII at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis . Santana wrestled under

594-456: A match in Yardville, New Jersey . Santana also feuded with Manny Fernandez , as Fernandez had attacked Santana after Santana had defeated L.A. Gore. After Valentine had defeated Santana for the title, Santana also then had later agreed to an interfederation title vs title match with Valentine as Santana had won the AWF championship while he was still competing in IWCCW. Santana played a role in

660-587: A match with "The German Menace" Kraig Stagg on ECPW's iPPV "Super Showcase Saturday". On November 25, 2022, Santana competed in his first match in eight years, where he defeated This Guy (Johnny Della Rocka) for BCW 49 in East Burwood, Victoria, Australia. While attending West Texas A&M University , Solis was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife Leah. They have three sons: Matthew, Michael and Mark. Leah operated

726-658: A televised match at a WrestleMania event. Santana continued to wrestle through the first half of 1993 following WrestleMania IX , facing Razor Ramon , Adam Bomb , and Papa Shango. His final match was on August 13, 1993, in Wildwood, New Jersey , when he defeated Damien Demento . While taking a short hiatus from the World Wrestling Federation, he wrestled in International World Class Championship Wrestling (IWCCW) briefly where he held

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792-511: A title vs. hair match. Santana cut Rogers's hair at RCW's Megabrawl 6 event. On January 10, 2000, Santana made a one-time appearance in WCW. He defeated Jeff Jarrett in a Dungeon match on Nitro . Since 1996, Santana continues to make appearances on the independent circuit . On December 7, 1996, he defeated former WWF rival Bob Orton Jr. to win the USA Pro Heavyweight title. He would hold

858-571: A tournament final for the inaugural belt in November 1994, and losing and regaining the title from Orton on the same night in October 1996. Santana was slightly considered the top babyface of the company, and its major champion along with Orton (who was the top heel ) Santana returned to the WWF as a commentator in the Spanish Broadcast table, He called on Monday Night Raw , as well as PPV events, he

924-751: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It

990-637: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by

1056-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It

1122-578: The 2012 King of Trios tournament , teaming with Mihara and The Mysterious and Handsome Stranger , with the three losing to the Spectral Envoy ( Frightmare , Hallowicked and UltraMantis Black ) in their first round match. On December 4, 2012, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum announced Santana would be inducted into their Modern Category. The PWHF Induction took place on May 18, 2013. On April 19, 2014, Santana competed in

1188-543: The WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI and vacated the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, Santana took part in an eight-man tournament to name a new Intercontinental Champion. Santana made it to the finals, where he lost to Mr. Perfect . Following that loss, Santana occasionally teamed with Koko B. Ware. At the 1990 Survivor Series , he teamed with Nikolai Volkoff and The Bushwhackers ( Luke and Butch ). He

1254-1069: The WWF World Tag Team Championships at Madison Square Garden in October 1979. The duo held the titles for close to six months before losing to the Wild Samoans in April 1980. Santana left the WWF soon after, joining New Japan Pro-Wrestling for a two-month tour. Santana wrestled in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) from 1980 to 1982. Matches he had in the AWA include two matches he had against Nick Bockwinkel in St Paul, Minnesota , on March 1, 1981, and in Winnipeg, Manitoba , on May 13, 1982 (Bockwinkel won both matches by cheating). Santana teamed with future tag team partner Rick Martel against

1320-572: The independent circuit while working as a school teacher until June 2023, when he retired from teaching. Solis attended West Texas State University , where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Solis played tight end for the West Texas State Buffaloes . The team was quarterbacked by future professional wrestler Tully Blanchard , who would introduce Solis to the world of professional wrestling. After graduating, Solis

1386-482: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and

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1452-728: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and

1518-476: The "El Matador" gimmick through 1993, mostly wrestling jobbers , while losing most matches to higher talent. This included a dark match loss to Papa Shango at SummerSlam which was held at the Wembley Stadium in London , England . Santana defeated friend and frequent tag team partner Virgil on a 1993 episode of Wrestling Challenge . As a sign of mutual respect between the two, both men embraced after

1584-746: The High Flyers on August 29, 1982, in St Paul Minnesota. Santana and Martel lost the match. Santana returned to GCW in July 1982. He teamed with Terry Gordy to unsuccessfully challenge The Samoans ( Afa and Sika ) for the NWA National Tag Team Championship on two occasions. On April 2, 1983, Santana also fought Larry Zbyszko for the NWA National Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort. Santana returned to

1650-779: The Intercontinental title before the WWF's storyline that Davis was a corrupt official who clearly favored the heels, the WWF used Santana losing the belt because of Davis' bias to include him in a six-man tag team match at WrestleMania III on March 29, 1987, where he teamed with the British Bulldogs ( Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith ) against the WWF tag team champions the Hart Foundation ( Bret "Hitman" Hart and Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart ) and their new partner, former referee "Dangerous" Danny Davis (who had previously wrestled for

1716-571: The Ring , was released in 2008. His independently released biography, Don't Call Me Chico , was released in 2019. Solis announced his retirement from teaching in June 2023, with his last day on June 15 that year. Ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler , mixed martial artist , or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for

1782-753: The WWF as a masked jobber named "Mr. X"). Davis had also been the assigned referee when the Harts stole the WWF Tag Team Championship from the Bulldogs in January 1987, allowing the Harts to double team Davey Boy throughout the entire match after their manager "the Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart had knocked Dynamite out with his megaphone. The story for WrestleMania III being that the Bulldogs and Santana wanted revenge on Davis as

1848-577: The WWF in 1983, making his televised return on the May 14 episode of Championship Wrestling by defeating José Estrada . Being brought in for TV tapings only, Santana continued to wrestle for GCW until July when he signed for the WWF full time. In 1984, Santana fought the Iron Sheik to a double-disqualification for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at the Philadelphia Spectrum . He then engaged in

1914-644: The above rules were enforced. Brunzell even refereed the first match for the AWF Championship in 1994, between Orton and Santana. The promotion held several house shows and was building towards a pay per view event, but it closed in December 1996 for financial reasons. A full decade later, Santana defended the AWF championship belt at a November 2006 National Championship Wrestling event in York, Pennsylvania against former AWF wrestler Salvatore Sincere . The storyline

1980-526: The cluster of Astra satellites at 19.2° east . Tito Santana Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953), better known by the ring name Tito Santana , is an American professional wrestler , trainer , and retired school teacher. Solis has stayed a babyface character his entire career and is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation between 1979 and 1993 (missing part of 1980 and returning in 1983) where he

2046-605: The company. The company announced its launch at a press conference at the Official All Star Café in Times Square featuring Missy Hyatt , Santana, and Sgt. Slaughter . He intended to reintroduce rules as a significant part of professional wrestling . This was carried out by the use of timed rounds and judges in every match, which is similar to the rules of professional wrestling in Europe and as well as boxing . Each round

American Wrestling Federation - Misplaced Pages Continue

2112-592: The first WrestleMania , at Madison Square Garden , in March 1985, and in the opening match defeated a masked wrestler known as the Executioner ("Playboy" Buddy Rose), making him submit to the figure four in 4:05. Santana made an appearance in the ring later in the card during the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship match between Valentine and Santana's friend the Junkyard Dog . Wearing street clothes, Santana rushed to

2178-555: The first eight WrestleManias matches. In his final in-ring WrestleMania appearance, he defeated Papa Shango at WrestleMania IX in the untelevised opening match called another dark match. Because of this he is later recognized as having a 1–7 record. Unfortunately for Santana, despite regaining the IC title from Greg Valentine later in 1985, and two years later winning the Tag Team title with Rick Martel as part of Strike Force, he would never again win

2244-426: The first match at the original WrestleMania in 1985. He also said that Vince McMahon later told Santana that his reason for putting him in the opening match was to kick the show off with a quality match, something he knew Santana, as a solid fan-favorite and former Intercontinental champion, would produce. Santana and Valentine went on to wrestle a memorable series of singles and tag team matches with neither gaining

2310-500: The formative years of ECW . Then known as Eastern Championship Wrestling, he won the ECW Heavyweight Championship on August 8, 1993, by defeating former WWF rival Don Muraco, but forfeited the championship later that year to Shane Douglas . During 1994 and 1996 Santana wrestled in the short-lived American Wrestling Federation (AWF). He was both the first and last AWF Heavyweight Champion, defeating Bob Orton, Jr. in

2376-606: The gap between the 1980s " Rock 'n Wrestling Connection " era to the 1990s "New Generation" era. Solis was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004 and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame class of 2013. During his time in the WWF, Solis, despite being born and raised in Mission , Texas , was billed from "Tocula, Mexico", which may be a misspelled reference to the city of Toluca . To this day, he still appears on

2442-477: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which

2508-543: The locker room with his suit in tatters. Following this, Reed entered the ring to fight off Santana but was sent from the ring by a double dropkick from Santana and Ware. Santana formed the popular tag team Strike Force with Canadian Rick Martel in August 1987. They defeated The Hart Foundation for the WWF Tag Team championship on a televised edition of WWF Superstars of Wrestling when Martel made Jim Neidhart submit to

2574-646: The majority of points on each of the three scorecards. Another rule implemented was that throwing opponents over the top rope resulted in an automatic disqualification. Only a few wrestlers in this organization had experience in European wrestling, most notably England's Chris Adams and "Mr. Ambassador" Steve Casey (not to be confused with the World Class wrestler of the same name). Wrestlers such as Tito Santana , Bob Orton, Jr. , Jim Powers , Koko. B Ware , Johnny Gunn and Greg Valentine , headlined AWF's events between

2640-468: The match after accidentally being hit by Santana's Flying forearm smash . Martel refused to tag in and walked back to the dressing room leaving Santana to face both opponents alone (the Busters then easily defeated Tito with a Spike piledriver ). In an interview with "Mean" Gene Okerlund immediately following the match, Martel called Santana a loser and said he was sick and tired of carrying him. His feud with

2706-511: The match. He stopped appearing on WWF programming in North America, but he continued working on the WWF Summer tour in Europe and the international house show circuit through the course of August–September. Santana, along with only Hulk Hogan, holds the unique distinction of appearing in the first nine WrestleManias, accumulating a 2–7 record during that time. Officially he is recognized only for

American Wrestling Federation - Misplaced Pages Continue

2772-457: The mid-1990s. Santana and Orton were seemingly considered the top wrestlers in the company, with Santana presented as the top babyface and Orton as the top heel . The AWF used tournaments for its titles, each wrestler would advance in the tournament by defeating the respective opponent, like in a normal match. Points scored in a card during a tournament. Jim Brunzell was named AWF commissioner by Alperstein in hopes that he would make sure

2838-655: The name "Richard Blood". In January 1978, he moved onto Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling where he wrestled for a calendar year, he also toured with All Japan Pro Wrestling in October and early November. Reverting to his real name, Solis joined Western States Sports in 1979, winning the NWA Western States Tag Team Championship with Ted DiBiase . Santana joined the World Wrestling Federation defeating Mike Hall in his debut match on Championship Wrestling on April 17, 1979. He teamed with Ivan Putski to defeat Johnny Valiant and Jerry Valiant for

2904-488: The newly heel Martel would last throughout 1989, with both men on opposing teams at both SummerSlam and Survivor Series and Santana defeating Martel in the finals of the 1989 King of the Ring tournament. Santana even allied with his former archenemies Demolition against Martel, defeating him and The Fabulous Rougeaus in a six-man tag match on June 22, 1989, in Hartford , Connecticut . After The Ultimate Warrior won

2970-484: The old championship belt was seen as a way of moving forward with Santana having the honor of being the first to wear the new title belt. Santana would hold on to the title until February 8, 1986, when he lost it to "Macho Man" Randy Savage at the Boston Garden , after Savage knocked him out with a foreign object he had hidden in his tights that supposedly went unnoticed by referee Danny Davis . Although Santana lost

3036-550: The one responsible for losing their respective titles. The Harts and Davis won the match when Davis used Jimmy Hart's megaphone to 'knock out' and pin Smith. Santana made a second appearance during Wrestlemania III when he came to the ring and attacked manager Slick after his man "the Natural" Butch Reed had defeated Koko B. Ware . Santana, in response to previous attacks by Slick, tore the clothing from Slick who managed to scamper back to

3102-403: The ring to inform referee Dick Kroll that Valentine had used his feet on the ropes to help pin the JYD. Despite having already called for the bell, Kroll restarted the match and an incensed Valentine was counted out as he did not get back into the ring to continue. On Right After Wrestling , hosted by Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas , Santana stated that he was somewhat disappointed with being in

3168-645: The ropes previously. Santana had the upper hand in the bout until Atlas' manager Tony Rumble interfered by distracting and enraging Santana by repeatedly putting Atlas' foot on the rope. Santana then went after Rumble, pulled him onto the ring apron, and knocked him onto the floor. Atlas took the opportunity to blindside Santana with a pair of brass knuckles from behind. The referee saw this illegal attack, and disqualified Atlas. After leaving ECW in 1993, Santana returned to IWCCW in 1994 where he wrestled some of his old WWF rivals such as Hercules Hernandez , Rick Martel , and Greg Valentine . During his second stint, he won

3234-422: The title back to Valentine. On the November 15, 2010 "Old School" episode of Raw , he ring-announced Alberto Del Rio . Santana later appeared in the "Legends Roll-On" On April 14, 2012, he made an appearance wrestling a match for Pro Wrestling Superstars against Shawn Spears defeating him with an inside cradle. In July 2012, Santana wrestled in Winnipeg MB for Canadian Westling Elite against Matt Fairlane , but

3300-477: The title loss and the injury to Martel. The Powers would later find more permanent management with The Baron before finally turning heel at the 1988 Survivor Series by stealing away Demolition's manager Mr. Fuji , leaving the champions as babyfaces . Martel returned at the Royal Rumble in 1989 and reunited with Santana. However, in their WrestleMania V match against The Brain Busters ( Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson ), Martel turned on Santana during

3366-467: The title until March 11, 1999, when he left the promotion. On March 13, 2004, he was inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004 , with an induction speech by his WrestleMania VIII opponent Shawn Michaels. In September 2008, he was inducted into the Spanish Hall of Fame of Pro Wrestling (Salón del Catch). He defeated his former rival Greg Valentine for the IWA Heavyweight Championship at WrestleReunion 2 on August 27, 2005. A few weeks later he dropped

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3432-418: The title. Soon after, the storyline had Valentine injuring Santana's knee and putting Santana out of action for several months. Santana returned in December 1984 and set his sights on getting the Intercontinental title back from Valentine. During this time, he started using Valentine's finishing hold, the figure-four leglock and also wrestled in tag-team competition with Blackjack Mulligan . Santana wrestled at

3498-434: The upper hand. They wrestled in a variety of different types of matches such as regular title matches, no disqualification matches , and lumberjack matches . The pair also faced off in tag team competition with Santana teaming with the Junkyard Dog and Valentine teaming with Brutus Beefcake in a team that would become known as the Dream Team . Santana recaptured the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship from Valentine in

3564-474: The vacant IWCCW Heavyweight Championship (a title which had been vacated by Tony Atlas a man Santana first feuded with during his first stint in IWCCW back in 1991, Tony Atlas had left IWCCW for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) back in 1992) with a tournament victory over Greg Valentine who later claimed the title in a rematch. In IWCCW Santana resumed his feuds from the WWF with Rick Martel and Greg Valentine, and again wrestled Tony Atlas, who defeated him in

3630-409: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude

3696-553: The wrong reasons, or projecting the wrong image. Since the advent of the Internet , it is relatively easy to discover a fighter's real name. Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or

3762-410: Was a two-time WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion and a two-time WWF Tag Team Championship with Ivan Putski in his first individual reign, and most notably with Rick Martel in his second individual reign. He also won the 1989 King of the Ring tournament and wrestled and won the first WrestleMania match against The Executioner and competed in the first nine, as well as helping bridge

3828-444: Was disqualified due to outside interference. He also embarked on a three-day tour of Saskatchewan, Canada with High Impact Wrestling Canada . He wrestled and defeated Jumpin' Joe by pinfall in Yorkton, SK on July 16, lost by disqualification to Rex Roberts at Pile O' Bones Rumble XVII on July 17, and then on July 18 defeated King Kash by pinfall. On September 14, 2012, Santana made an unadvertised appearance for Chikara , when he entered

3894-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as

3960-496: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with

4026-408: Was four minutes long with a one-minute rest period between rounds. Title bouts were scheduled for twelve rounds while all other fights were scheduled for three. One referee and two judges were assigned to each match. The winner of each round was decided by both the judges' scorecards and the referee's scorecard. If a match lasted the full amount of scheduled rounds, the winner was declared as whoever had

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4092-695: Was last doing Spanish commentary at WrestleMania XIV . In November 1997, he made on-air appearances as El Matador in the Karate Fighters Holiday Tournament, facing Carlos Cabrera and Jerry Lawler. On July 19, 1997, Santana lost by disqualification to "Playboy" Jonathon Luvstruk w/Bodacious Pretty Boy in the finals of the United States title tournament at RCW's Battleground event. On August 8, 2009, Santana defeated Jerome Hendrix at RCW's Rumblemania 6 event. On May 6, 2012, Santana defeated Tokyo Dragon w/Rich Rogers in tournament final to become RCW champion at RCW's Rumblemania 8 event. On May 10, 2013, Santana and Tokyo Dragon defeated Mad Russian, Jack Molson and Rich Rogers in

4158-448: Was replaced by Lord Alfred Hayes in 1996. Ken Resnick handled interview segments. Resnick was eventually replaced by Missy Hyatt in 1996. In 2005, the entire run of 1995 episodes was released as a 4-disc DVD set by Highland Entertainment. It is unknown when or if a second volume will be released with the remaining episodes as there were many not in the DVD set. As of January 2006, reruns can be seen on Europe's Clear Television via

4224-558: Was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs but cut during training camp, due to a poor performance in the 40-yard dash because of a twisted Achilles tendon two weeks before camp. He played a single season for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League , appearing in 13 regular season games. After training under Hiro Matsuda and Bob Orton , Solis made his professional wrestling debut on February 23, 1977, for Championship Wrestling from Florida , losing to Crusher Verdu. In April, he joined Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) where he adopted

4290-547: Was that Santana had dodged Sincere during their AWF days in the mid-1990s and Santana agreed to put the belt on the line against Sincere. Santana won the match for his last title defense, albeit unofficial. In 1995, the company introduced a program called Warriors of Wrestling for syndication. The initial run consisted of footage shot from 1994 to 1995. The program resurfaced throughout the United States in late 1996 with new episodes. The announce team consisted of Mick Karch as announcer and Terry Taylor as color commentator. Taylor

4356-554: Was the winner and sole survivor in the elimination-style match against Sgt. Slaughter , Boris Zhukov , and The Orient Express ( Sato and Tanaka ). As a result, Santana advanced to the final elimination match, teaming with Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior against Martel, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase , The Warlord, and Power and Glory ( Hercules and Paul Roma ). Santana would eliminate The Warlord with his Flying forearm before being pinned by DiBiase. Santana would then wrestle at WrestleMania VII , losing to The Mountie in

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