Misplaced Pages

#394605

58-505: Jonathan Figueroa (born April 26, 1982), better known by his ring name Amazing Red , is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler and promoter. He is best known for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is a former three-time X Division Champion and one-time NWA World Tag Team Champion . He has worked on the American independent circuit and appeared for Ring of Honor (ROH) and Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). Figueroa

116-625: A Four Way Double Elimination match to be crowned the inaugural champion; this match was announced as being for the NWA X Championship on the onscreen graphic while the ring announcer stated it was for the "NWA–TNA X Championship". Afterwards, the title was renamed the NWA–TNA X Division Championship and then shortened to just the TNA X Division Championship. It is the oldest title in Impact Wrestling. Option C

174-517: A ladder match . On the following Impact! , Red won the X Division Championship for the second time by pinning Samoa Joe following interference by Bobby Lashley . On the October 15 episode of Impact! , Don West debuted as Red's new manager. On October 18, at Bound for Glory , Red retained his X Division title in an Ultimate X match against Homicide , Daniels, Suicide, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. The following week on Impact! , Red lost to Homicide in

232-462: 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

290-493: A new belt was introduced. The inaugural champion was A.J. Styles , who won the championship by defeating Low Ki, Jerry Lynn, and Psicosis in a Four Way Double Elimination match on June 19, 2002 at TNA's second weekly PPV event. At 301 days, Austin Aries ' first reign holds the record for longest in the title's history. At less than one day, Eric Young 's only reign, Chris Sabin's sixth reign and Rockstar Spud's second reign are

348-476: A non-title match. The return match between the two was booked for Turning Point , where Red was able to retain his title. Afterwards Don West quietly broke off his affiliation with Red, while he went on to defend his title on TNA's weekly Webmatches against the likes of Chris Sabin and Homicide. At Genesis , Red retained his title in a match against the returning Brian Kendrick . On the January 28 episode of Impact! ,

406-515: A rematch the following week, Sangriento was not seen again for two months, until appearing in a backstage segment with Eric Young at Destination X on July 10. At the same pay-per-view Amazing Red wrestled in an X Division number one contender's Ultimate X match, which was won by Alex Shelley, and which would turn out to be his final match for the promotion. On August 4, 2011, Figueroa announced via his Twitter account that he had parted ways with TNA. On March 4, 2012, Red returned to Ring of Honor at

464-439: A tour with All Japan Pro Wrestling . During the tour, he suffered a near career-ending knee injury, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and having to undergo surgery which kept him on the sideline for an entire year. Red wrestled CM Punk in a dark match at a SmackDown taping on May 12, 2005. In June 2012, Red wrestled a tryout dark match for WWE . Red's last appearance was at a New York Wrestling Connection event at

522-751: 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

580-534: Is a concept in which the current X Division Champion may voluntarily vacate the championship in exchange for a World Heavyweight Championship match. It began in June 2012 when then-champion Austin Aries said that he was not satisfied with being just the X Division Champion, which led to then-General Manager Hulk Hogan offering him a match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but only if he first vacated

638-637: 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

SECTION 10

#1732881360395

696-446: Is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). It debuted on June 19, 2002, at the taping of TNA's second then- weekly pay-per-view (PPV) event . The current champion is Moose , who is in his first reign. The championship is named after TNA's X Division . A division which emphasizes high-flying, high-risk, fast-paced matches including specialty matches often fought for

754-448: 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

812-484: Is also the founder of House of Glory wrestling school , where he is also one of the head trainers. He is the cousin of wrestlers Joel and Jose Maximo and Zelina Vega . In April 2019, Red announced his retirement from professional wrestling due to a severe neck injury. However, he would return to the ring only a few months later, to work for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Figueroa originally wrestled as Red, but Savio Vega decided to expand his ring name to include

870-795: The 10th Anniversary Show , where he teamed with T. J. Perkins in a losing effort against the House of Truth ( Michael Elgin and Roderick Strong ). In August 2019, Red was announced for the New Japan Pro-Wrestling Super J Cup that takes place in late-August. He would be defeated in the first round by the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay . He would then be booked for the September U.S. tour Fighting Spirit Unleashed . Also, Red opened his own training school, House of Glory . During his initial stint in

928-573: The Canadian Destroyer . Figueroa is married and has two children with his wife. Ring name Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or

986-567: The Destination X edition of Impact! TNA started a tournament to determine a new TNA X Division Champion , since the title was vacated after Austin Aries traded it in for a shot at the World Championship . The tournament consisted of three three–way semifinal matches, taking place on the July 31 edition of Impact! , with the finals, another three-way match, taking place on August 7, 2014. On

1044-647: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) ended their five-year partnership with TNA, which allowed the NWA to regain control over the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team Championships that TNA had controlled since June 2002. TNA then introduced a new TNA X Division Championship belt on the May ;16, 2007 edition of TNA's online podcast TNA Today . Jeremy Borash and Management Director Jim Cornette , TNA's on-screen authority figure at

1102-607: The ROH Tag Team Championship from The Prophecy, defeating Christopher Daniels and Xavier . The duo would subsequently feud with the Prophecy and the Briscoes, but Homicide subbed in for Red for a successful title defense over Daniels and Dan Maff . Amazing Phenomenon's title reign lasted 158 days, and was vacated due to Red's injury. Through late 2003, Amazing Red wrestled as Misterio Red as well as Airwalk Spriggan, while on

1160-588: The TNA World Heavyweight and IGF 's version of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship . This win made Angle the only in the history of TNA to hold every active championship at the same time; TNA World, X Division, and World Tag Team. On March 4, 2014, The title was defended in Japan as part of Kaisen: Outbreak - a supershow event promoted by Wrestle-1 in partnership with TNA - where

1218-602: The X Division Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Jerry Lynn , simultaneously. At Victory Road 2004 , Red competed in a 20-man X-Division Gauntlet match for the X Division Cup which was won by Héctor Garza . While working for TNA, he also wrestled for Ring of Honor as a member of the three-man tag team The S.A.T. with cousins, Jose and Joel Maximo. Eventually, he began to team with "The Phenomenal" A.J. Styles , becoming known together as Amazing Phenomenon. The team would go on to win

SECTION 20

#1732881360395

1276-438: The independent circuit . TNA contracted wrestlers Douglas Williams , Kid Kash and Zema Ion were given automatic spots in the first round of the tournament. The eighth and final spot in the tournament would be filled by the winner of a four-way between the losers of the qualifying matches. At Destination X the eight wrestlers will face each other in four singles matches, with the winners advancing to an Ultimate X match for

1334-482: 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

1392-680: 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

1450-569: The British Invasion attacked Red after his six-man tag team match. As Rob Terry was going to cash in his " Feast or Fired " briefcase, which gave him the right to challenge for the X Division Championship anytime, anywhere, his stable mate Doug Williams managed to convince him to hand it over to him and defeated Red to win the Championship. On the April 12 episode of Impact! , Red took the place of

1508-457: The Destination X 2015 edition of Impact! TNA started a tournament to determine a new TNA X Division Champion , since the title was vacated after Rockstar Spud traded it in for a shot at the World Championship . The tournament consisted of three single semifinal matches, taking place on the June 10th edition of Impact! , with the finals, a three-way match, taking place on June 27, 2015. On

1566-470: The Global Force Wrestling moniker. On October 26, 2017, Trevor Lee was seen in a taped segment on Impact! with the title belt re-branded for Impact Wrestling. In 2018, Impact Wrestling redesigned the belt, putting a big red "X" on the center plate (a nod to the original belt), and made blue the dominant color. In 2020, red became the dominant color. With the company's return to the TNA name in 2024,

1624-424: The House of Gangone stable, and would then, of his own choice, turn heel by attacking two of his students, Private Party (Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy). Red is known for his high-flying style. He has been described as a pioneer and an innovator during the early 2000s. Will Ospreay has called him an inspiration. Red is also credited for inventing the front flip piledriver , which is later known by many wrestlers as

1682-521: The Impact X Division Championship for a shot at the Impact World Championship it was announced that there will be an eight-man tournament to determine who will be the new Impact X Division Champion on November 18, 2022, at Impact Pay-per-view Over Drive . In July 2002, the X Division Champion AJ Styles defended the title against Adam Jacobs and David Young at Ring of Honor's Crowning a Champion,

1740-487: The May 28 episode of Impact! , he challenged Suicide for the X Division Championship but was unsuccessful in winning the title for a second time. On August 16, at Hard Justice , Red competed in a Steel Asylum match in another losing effort. On the October 1 episode of Impact! , Red became the number one contender to Samoa Joe 's X Division title by defeating Jay Lethal , Consequences Creed , Sheik Abdul Bashir and Kiyoshi in

1798-440: The September 23 episode of Impact! , Impact started a tournament to determine the new Impact X Division Champion , since the title was vacated after Josh Alexander invoked Option C to challenge for the Impact World Championship . The tournament consist of three three–way semi-final matches, with the finals, another three-way match, will taking place at Bound for Glory . On October 20, 2022, after Frankie Kazarian vacated

Amazing Red - Misplaced Pages Continue

1856-518: The TNA X Division Championship was defended in the main event for the first time at a monthly PPV event; then-champion Christopher Daniels defended the championship against A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe. The title was once again defended in the main event of a monthly event at TNA's August 2007 Hard Justice PPV event, where Kurt Angle defeated Samoa Joe to win the TNA X Division and the TNA World Tag Team Championship and retain

1914-578: The X Division Championship for the third time. Red re-lost the title to Lethal two days later at a live event in Rahway, New Jersey . On the December 23 episode of Impact! , Red answered Jeff Jarrett 's MMA Challenge, but was defeated by submission. After the match Red, told Jarrett that he had a younger brother, who would answer the challenge the following week. The following week Red's storyline brother, billed simply as Little Red (later renamed Crimson), answered

1972-431: The X Division Championship. On the Destination X edition of Impact! TNA started a tournament to determine a new TNA X Division Champion , since the title was vacated after Chris Sabin traded it in for a shot at the World Championship . The tournament consisted of three single semifinal matches, taking place on the July 18 edition of Impact! , with the finals, a three-way match, taking place on July 25, 2013. On

2030-488: The X Division Championship. Aries agreed to Hogan's terms, on the condition that future X Division Champions be given the same opportunity. The tournament was the result of a match for the TNA X Division Championship at Final Resolution between Eric Young and Sheik Abdul Bashir ending in a controversial fashion, with Young winning the championship thanks to the referee's help. Management Director Jim Cornette stripped Young of

2088-493: The X Division would have a weight limit of 225 lb (102 kg). Following Hulk Hogan becoming the new on-screen General Manager in March 2012, the weight limit was ignored on June 10, 2012, at Slammiversary when the 280 lb (130 kg) Samoa Joe was allowed to challenge for the belt. In October 2012, the weight limit was officially repealed when 237 lb (108 kg) Rob Van Dam challenged for, and eventually won,

2146-600: The X-Division championship. Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won as a result of a predetermined match. There have been 109 reigns among 54 wrestlers. Since 2012 under a concept known as option C the current X-Division champion can chose to vacate the title in exchange for a future match for the TNA World Championship . This has occurred seven times in the championship's history, with three matches resulting in wins. The TNA X Division

2204-518: The beginning of 2006, where he lost his match to Javi-Air and re-injured his knee. After being on the sidelines with his injury, Red made his return on December 13, 2008, at Jersey All Pro Wrestling's Best of the Light Heavyweights. The match was won by Archadia as he defeated Flip Kendrick and Louis Lyndon. In April 2009, it was announced via the TNA website that the Amazing Red would return to

2262-532: The belt and announced the tournament to crown the new champion. The tournament final took place at Genesis . On the June 28, 2012, episode of Impact Wrestling , TNA announced a tournament for the TNA X Division Championship , which would take place at Destination X , where Austin Aries would vacate the title for a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship . The tournament was preceded by four qualifying matches featuring wrestlers from

2320-514: The challenge and was winning his match against Jarrett, before Jarrett was pulled away from the ring by his security guards Gunner and Murphy . Shortly afterwards, Crimson broke away from Red and the relation between the two was seldom mentioned again. On the April 19 episode of Xplosion , Figueroa debuted as Sangriento , a masked luchador , in a three-way match, where he defeated Jay Lethal and Chris Sabin. Sangriento made his Impact! debut on May 5, defeating Suicide. After defeating Suicide in

2378-538: The championship. At Jason Takes PWG on May 13, Daniels fought A.J. Styles for the X Division Championship and Styles' PWG Championship to a one-hour time-limit draw. Daniels successfully defended the X Division Title two more times in PWG; once at Guitarmageddon on June 11 against El Generico , while once at The 2nd Annual PWG Bicentennial Birthday Extravaganza - Night One on July 9 against fellow TNA wrestler Chris Sabin. In September 2005 at TNA's Unbreakable PPV event,

Amazing Red - Misplaced Pages Continue

2436-464: The company in the Team 3D Tag Team Invitational Tournament . On the April 30 episode of Impact! , he teamed with then- X Division Champion Suicide to defeat The Motor City Machine Guns ( Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin ). Suicide and Amazing Red were eliminated from the tournament on the May 14 episode of Impact! , by new stable The British Invasion , after interference from Shelley and Sabin. On

2494-546: The company, he became one-time HOG Tag Team Champion with his former teammate Crimson after defeating the Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson). He also won the HOG Heavyweight Championship at House of Glory's "High Intensity 6" and would hold the title for a record setting 364 days. He lost the title almost a year later at "High Intensity 7" to Anthony Gangone in a No Ropes Match. Red would be forced to join

2552-601: The division more prominently. The division is described as wrestling reinvented, as it takes traditional wrestling and mixes it with the fast-paced, high–risk style of wrestling incorporated in cruiserweight divisions and lucha libre . The division was until 2011 promoted under the motto "It is not about weight limits, it is about no limits" by commentator Mike Tenay . On the August 11, 2011, edition of TNA's primary television program, Impact Wrestling , TNA authority figure Eric Bischoff announced that from that point onwards

2610-569: The first defense outside TNA. In May 2003, before the professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling All-Stars ' (WWA) foreclosure, then NWA–TNA X Division champion Chris Sabin defeated WWA International Cruiserweight Champion Jerry Lynn, Frankie Kazarian , and Johnny Swinger in a Four Corners championship unification match to unify the X Division Championship with the WWA International Cruiserweight Championship. In Winter 2004, Petey Williams defended

2668-477: 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

2726-520: The injured Hernandez and teamed up with Matt Morgan to successfully defend the TNA World Tag Team Championship against the Motor City Machine Guns. After the match, Morgan attacked Red for getting the pinfall in the match. After a few weeks out of action, Red returned to Impact! , on the June 10 episode, in a losing effort against Kurt Angle . On September 23 Red defeated Jay Lethal at a live event in his hometown of New York City to win

2784-596: The prefix "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Numerous boxers have used ring names or nicknames as their mode of identification during their professional boxing careers, particularly during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The ring name "Kid" was particularly popular, indicating the boxer's comparative youth. Since the mid 20th century, ring names for boxers have typically been less common, although nicknames have become more popular in recent years. Famous examples of boxers who used ring names include: Impact X Division Championship The TNA X Division Championship

2842-548: The talent within the division and to defend the TNA X Division Championship in more marketable matches. Three of the matches used in TNA are the Ultimate X match , The Steel Asylum , and the Xscape match . The championship was created and debuted before the main event at the taping of TNA's second weekly PPV event on June 19, 2002; the event aired on June 26, 2002. Later, A.J. Styles defeated Low Ki, Jerry Lynn, and Psicosis in

2900-455: The time, unveiled the new belt and awarded it to then-champion Chris Sabin. On July 19, 2013, then TNA President Dixie Carter unveiled a new design for the championship, with blue accents to match the color scheme of the company. On June 16, 2015, TNA tweaked the belt's design by recoloring its accents from blue to green. On August 18, 2017, the X Division Championship belt was given a complete overhaul to reflect TNA's short-lived change to

2958-473: The title at Bound for Glory . In March 2013, the X Division was given a new set of rules, which meant all matches were wrestled in Triple Threat format, and a new weight limit of 230 lbs. This proved to be extremely unpopular with fans, and the rules and weight limit were repealed once again in August of that year. The Total Nonstop Action X Division has multiple styles of match types used to showcase

SECTION 50

#1732881360395

3016-406: The title in various IWA-Mid South events. During Christopher Daniels ' first reign in mid-2005, he defended the X Division Championship at several Pro Wrestling Guerrilla shows. The first defense happened at All Star Weekend - Night One on April 1 against Alex Shelley , while the second occurred at All Star Weekend – Night Two on April 2 against Chris Hero ; Daniels won both encounters retaining

3074-514: The title was won by Wrestle-1 star Seiya Sanada . On March 22, Sanada defended and retained the title on a Wrestle-1 show. Five Women have unsuccessfully challenged for the X Division Title during its 20-year history. Athena (became the first female challenger on January 22, 2003), Trinity (March 19, 2003), Tessa Blanchard (October 20, 2019, and February 9, 2020), Jordynne Grace (October 20, 2020, and April 1, 2022), and Billie Starkz (October 4, 2022, during Pro Wrestler Revolver). In May 2007,

3132-586: The word "Amazing" while he worked for the International Wrestling Association in Puerto Rico, giving origin to his more common pseudonym, Amazing Red. Red, who was already known for his work in the United States independent circuit , joined NWA Total Nonstop Action (NWA TNA) at its 2002 inception, quickly establishing himself in its X Division . During his first run in TNA, Red held both

3190-455: 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

3248-596: 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

3306-595: 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

3364-475: Was established on June 19, 2002 at Total Nonstop Action's first weekly PPV event with a Six Man Tag Team match resulting in Jimmy Yang , Jorge Estrada , and Sonny Siaki —collectively known as The Flying Elvises—defeating A.J. Styles , Jerry Lynn , and Low Ki . Later that day at the taping of the next weekly PPV event, TNA introduced the X Division Championship—then known as the X Championship—to showcase

#394605