Post by Scott Joyce on Jul 20, 2006 19:30:50 GMT -5
**Ashley Massaro posed for Playboy under the pseudonym "Ryan MacKenzie."
**Tatsumi Fujinami, the last remaining member of the New Japan promotion from its 1972 start, quit on June 20, 2006.
**John Tenta (Earthquake) debuted as Kototenta, which was later changed to Kototenzan.
**Tallest full-time wrestler was Jorge "Giant" Gonzales (El Gigante), who was a legit 7'6 1/2".
**Paul Heyman's ECW peaked at 99,000 pay-per-view buys for a single PPV.
**Heyman's ECW produced a total of twenty one pay per views. Their first was "Barely Legal" on April 13, 1997.
**WWE purchased the Championship Wrestling from Florida library from Mike Graham for approximately $1 million.
**Tommy Dreamer and Bealuh McGuillicuddy (Teresa) have twin daughters named Kimberly and Brianna Laughlin.
**Buelah McGillicutty briefly portrayed Teresa Pillman in Stampede Wrestling, the "brother" of the late Brian Pillman.
**There are only 200 parking spaces at Arena Mexico. Most fans come to the matches via the subway.
**Before breaking into pro wrestling, Mexico's Latin Lover was a stripper in Monterrey.
**In 1963, Ricky Romero started training Dory Funk Jr. at an empty Amarillo Sports Arena.
**El Texano (real Juan Conrado Aguilar Jauregui) once wrestled as a masked Billy The Kid.
**AAA Owner Antonio Pena once booked for EMLL (now CMLL).
*The Sheik and John Tolos used snakes as a prop in the early 70's, well before Jake Roberts.
**Fritz Von Erich was a star football player at Southern Methodist University.
**Somoa Joe's high school football coach was Tank Abbott's brother. Tank's dad was one of Samoa's Joe teachers.
**Kenzo Suzuki played Rugby football at Meiji University.
**Michael Cole graduated from Syracuse University in 1988.
**Ken Shamrock was promised an IWGP title reign prior to signing with WWF.
**Jackie Gayda ran track and cross country at the University of Toledo in 2000 and 2001.
**Nikita Koloff, Bret, Ted DiBiase and Rick Rude are the only wrestlers that collected money from their Lloyd's of London insurance policy to never wrestler again. (Although, at the time of his death, Rude was training for a WWF comeback)
**Simply Luscious was married to former hockey star Ryan Pisiak.
**Nidia is from Puerto Rico.
**One Man Gang (George Gray) works as a prison guard in Louisiana.
**Billy Kidman and Mikey Batts are cousins.
**Former WWF jobber Barry O is the brother of "Cowboy" Bob Orton Jr.
**Kevin Fertig (the former Mordecai) played football at the University of Memphis.
**In addition to wrestling, Jerry Jarrett owns and runs a successful construction company.
**In 1968, Vince McMahon graduated from East Carolina State University with a degree in business administration.
**At one time, Vince McMahon approached Verne Gagne about buying the AWA from him.
**WWE paid $3 million in 2003 to acquire the AWA videotape library.
**Vince McMahon Jr. was Shane McMahon's best man for his son's 1996 marriage.
**The ladder match as invented by Dan Kroffat (not Phil Lafon) in the 1970s.
**Diana Hart (sister of Bret Hart, and the widow of the British Bulldog) is a former competitive bodybuilder.
**Hercules Hernandez wrestled as the Assassin #2 (under a mask) at the first Starrcade on November 24, 1983.
**Hernandez was the last wrestler to be managed by Freddie Blassie.
**Hernandez formed a tag team with Scott Norton called Jurassic Powers in Japan, a name given by Hercules' trainer, Hiro Matsuda.
**Former WWF manager Slick's real name is Ken Johnson.
**Eric Bischoff came up with the idea for the New World Order after seeing a Tokyo Dome show during the New Japan vs. UWFI feud.
**Former Bushwacker Luke (Williams) works on the IWA Puerto Rico creative committee.
**Koko B. Ware's bird Frankie was killed in a 2002 house fire.
**Jonathan Coachman is the all-time basketball scoring leader at McPherson College in Kansas.
**"Ragin' Bull" Manny Fernandez is the head wrestling coach at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, CA.
**Victoria once performed as a cheerleader at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii.
**Former wrestler George "The Animal" Steele played defensive tackle at Michigan State University.
**At one time, Road Warrior Hawk dated Eleanor Mondale, the daughter of the former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale.
**WWE talent agent Johnny Ace has three degrees in business and two minors, one in economics and one in computer science.
**Road Warrior Animal and Ace are brothers.
**Legion of Doom is the only tag team in wrestling history to hold the AWA, NWA, and WWF tag titles.
**Paul London took theatre classes at the University of Austin (Texas).
**Kim Woods is created with coming up with the 'loose cannon' gimmick for Brian Pillman.
**Melanie Pillman (widow of Brian Pillman) had a relationship with the Ultimate Warrior before she met Brian.
**Jim Hellwig (Warrior) is orginally from Crawfordsville, Indiana. He attended the Life Chiropractic College in Atlanta.
**Former AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel appeared in an episode of "The Monkees."
**Jesse Ventura gave Gene Okerlund the nickname "Mean Gene."
**Japanese promoters originally created the Big Van Vader gimmick/mask for Jim Hellwig, the Ultimate Warrior.
**Hellwig studied to be a chiropractor in Atlanta.
**"Rowdy" Roddy Piper was originally hired by the WWF to be a manager.
**Red Bastien was Piper's best man at his wedding.
**Piper was Ric Flair's best man.
**In 1975, Flair was in a plane crash with Johnny Valentine, Bob Bruggers and "Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods. Modern medical science said that he'd never wrestle again.
**From 1986-1989, Flair averaged 34 minutes per-match. In that span he had 19 matches that lasted longer than 50 minutes.
**WCW paid Flair $75,000 to give back the WCW title after he had departed to the WWF in 1991.
**Flair's first match against Hulk Hogan took place in October 1991 with the "Nature Boy" winning the contest.
**Flair was adopted.
- In WCW, Jim Herd wanted Flair to cut his hair and name him "Spartacus."
**Early in his career, Hogan teamed with "Dizzy Hogan" who would later be known as Brutus Beefcake.
**Hogan earned $1.8 million for his match against Randy Savage at Wrestlemania V.
**In 1979, Hogan earned $125 a week from the AWA.
**Hogan weighed 195 pounds at age twelve.
**Maven taught sixth grade at Twality Middle School in Oregon.
**One of the conditions of the sale of WCW to WWF was that Turner Networks agreed not to air pro wrestling until April 2006.
**"Lethal" Larry Cameron was at one time being considered by WCW to be the third member of Doom.
**Tough Enough 2 winner Linda Miles played basketball at Rutgers. She played four seasons, 1998-2001, averaging 7.6 points and 5.5 rebounds.
**A-Train (Matt Bloom) played offensive tackle at the University of Pittsburgh, 1990-1994. He majored in legal studies.
**WWE Ring announcer Lilian Garcia lived in Spain for eight years and is fluent in both English and Spanish.
**WWE CEO Linda McMahon worked as a paralegal at Washington, D.C., law firm.
**Shane McMahon was on camera at Wrestlemania VI, as a referee named Shane Stevens.
**The Dudley clan featured in ECW included the Dudley Boyz, Sign Guy Dudley, Little Snot Dudley, Dances with Dudley, Dudley Dudley, Big Dick Dudley, Chubby Dudley, and of course, Spike Dudley.
**Spike Dudley is a former third grade teacher from Rhode Island before getting into the wrestling business.
**Elektra (Donna Adamo) was once married to Big Dick Dudley.
**Stacy Keibler was once a cheerleader for the Baltimore Ravens.
**The Midnight Express theme music was originally used by Randy Savage in Kentucky. Savage later used the theme from "Fame."
**Savage signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds in 1974, and was also cut by the Chicago White Sox.
**Savage received the Harvard Lampoon's 1998 Real Man of the Year award.
**Savage bought the Gorgeous George name for his brother Lanny Poffo to use in WCW.
**Gorgeous George (real name Stephanie Bellars) spent jail time as a teenager for burglaziring a home and slashing a girl's face with a broken beer bottle.
**For a time the WWF was apart of the NWA.
**Kanyon wrestled under the ring Chris Morgan in his pro debut match.
**Chief Wahoo McDaniel once played for the New York Jets.
**Shawn Stasiak graduated from Boise State with a degree in Communications.
**Madusa trademarked her ring name in 1985.
**Lita got her tattoo in Amsterdam.
**Tammy Lynn Sytch (Sunny) attended Wellesley College where she majored in Pre-law.
**In 1990, the Black Scorpion's voice was Ole Anderson's.
**Ivory majored in journalism at the University of Southern California.
**Vito (Vito Lograsso) holds a rare victory over All Japan superstar Mitsuhara Misawa.
**Jacqueline has a black belt in Tai-Kwon-Do.
**Abdullah the Butcher owns a restaurant in Atlanta, GA called Abdullah's house of Chinese Food and Ribs.
**The WWF considered giving Dustin Rhodes a "Gunslinger" gimmick, before coming up with Goldust.
**Dustin wrestled as Dusty Rhodes Jr. during a 1989 All Japan tour.
**Test only had 15 pro matches when he made his 1998 WWF debut.
**The Maryland State Athletic Commission banned Balls Mahoney for life.
**HWA's Les Thatcher provided color commentary on Smoky Moutain Wrestling's syndicated television shows.
**Andre the Giant was the first wrestler inducted into the WWF's Hall of Fame in 1993. Members include Chief Jay Strongbow, Arnold Skaaland, Bobo Brazil, Freddie Blassie, Buddy Rogers, Gorilla Monsoon, James Dudley, the Fablous Moolah, Pedro Morales, Ivan Putski, Antonio Rocca, The Grand Wizard, George "The Animal" Steele, Ernie Ladd, Capt. Lou Albano, "Killer" Kowalaski, Baron Mikel Scicluna, Johnny & Jimmy Valiant, Johnny Rodz, Pat Patterson, Vince McMahon Sr., and Jimmy Snuka.
**The Top 5 all time U.S. Gates: 1) Wrestlemania XXVII - April 1, 2001, Houston, TX - $3,530,904, 2) Wrestlemania XIX - March 30, 2003, Seattle, WA - $2,760,035, 3) Wrestlemania XX - March 14, 2004, NY, NY - $2,400,000, 4) Wrestlemania V - April 2, 1989, Atlantic City, NJ - $1,628,000, 5) Wrestlemania III - March 29, 1987, Pontiac, MI - $1,599,000.
**The top 5 all time wrestling crowds: 1) NJPW - April 29, 1995, Pyongyang, North Korea - 170,000, 2) NJPW - April 28, 1995, Pyongyang, North Korea - 150,000, 3) WWF - March 29, 1987, Pontiac, MI - 78,000, 4) WWF - August 29, 1992, London, England - 75,000, 5) WWF - August 28, 1986, Toronto, 69,300.
**The largest crowd ever to witness a live wrestling event was in Pyongyang, North Korea. Over 190,000 fans paid to attend the "International Sports and Culture Festival for Peace" in 1995. The crowd saw Asian legend Antonio Inoki defeat Ric Flair in the main event. The largest U.S. crowd was Wrestlemania II in 1987 when the event drew just over 93,000 to the Pontiac Silverdome.
**Verne Gagne held the AWA World title for a total of 4,686 days.
**Gagne trained Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat.
**Steamboat debuted as Richard Blood. He adopted the Steamboat name from ring veteran Sammy "Steamboat" Mokuahi Jr.
**Steamboat suffered his career ending back injury in a match with Steve Austin, while they were in WCW.
**When the Honkeytonk Man beat Steamboat for the IC title, he was a replacement for "The Natural" Butch Reed who was scheduled to win the gold.
**Former oddity Giant Silva (7'3") is a former member of the Brazilian Olympic basketball team.
**Abraham Lincoln actually wrestled prior to entering the White House.
**Sho Funaki is a Shawn Michaels mark. He moved to San Antonio, Texas just to live in the same town as HBK.
**In the summer of 1995, Kurt Angle failed in a tryout to make the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League.
**Dr. David Schultz trained Angle for amateur wrestling.
**Chris Jericho competed in Mexico as Corazon de Leon, which is Spanish for "Lionheart."
**Steve Austin learned the art of the interveiw from Brian Pillman. Austin has admitted numerous times that his speaking ability was perfected by Pillman who constantly gave him pointers and advice.
**Austin is an antique collecter.
**Austin was born Steve Anderson in Austin, Texas.
**Austin worked on a loading dock prior to entering wrestling.
**Austin has a commercial driver's license.
**Austin played defensive tackle at North Texas State. In his senior, he recorded 55 tackles, 4 sacks, and an interception.
**Debra was introduced to Steve McMichael through Mongo's mother.
**Debra once studied acting at the world-famous Lee Strasberg Institute in New York.
**Jerry Saggs (Jerry Segenowich) of the Nasty Boys suffered a career ending injury from a Scott Hall chair shot.
**Hall earned a premed degree from the college of William & Mary.
**Bobby Eaton is married to Bill Dundee's daughter.
**In 1987, Benoit wrestled as "Dynamite" Chris Benoit in honor of his childhood hero, the Dynamite Kid.
**In addition to training at Stu Hart's Dungeon, Benoit also trained in the Orient at New Japan's Dojo.
**Former Horsemen manager J.J. Dillon was an English teacher before breaking into the wrestling business.
**The WWF hired Bobby "The Brain" Heenan to manage Jesse "The Body" Ventura.
**Diamond Dallas Page credits Bobby "The Brain" Heenen for coming up with the name Diamond cutter.
**Joe E. Legend was Rhyno's best man at his May 2000 wedding.
**Prior to entering the squared circle, Steve Corino worked in a milk processing plant in Philadelphia.
**Washington Redskins head coach George Allen once offered Andre the Giant a contract to play professional football.
**Andre the Giant drank fourteen bottles of wine before his match with Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania III.
**The Rock is a skilled light tackle salt water fisherman.
**The Peoples Eyebrow was first named the "Heat Brow". The Rock called it that in college, but he changed the name do to the fact that the name didn't catch on.
**The Rock the first African American to hold the WWF Championship.
**The Rock's wife Dany is the Associate Vice President of Merrill Lynch.
**Demolition Ax (Bill Eadie) is a former school teacher.
**The Big Bossman was a prison guard in Georgia.
**Dusty Rhodes played college football at West Texas.
**Tito Santana played in the Canadian Football League.
**Lex Luger played college football at Penn State and at the University of Miami, FL. He was an offensive lineman.
**Luger played in the CFL for the Montreal Alouettes.
**Haku once wrestled as jobbber Larry Hurst.
**Sharmell Sullivan (Paisley) is a former Miss Black America.
**The original idea for UPN's "Smackdown" was for an all women wrestling show.
**Kevin Nash was a doorman/bouncer at a Michigan night club before entering the wrestling business.
**Nash introduced Shawn Michaels to his wife, the former Nitro Girl Whisper (Rebecca Curci).
**In 1991, Nash played Super Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2.
**Disco Inferno was released from his WCW contract in '97 after refusing to do the job for Jacquelin. He returned to the promotion later in the year only after agreeing to wrestle her. However, Ted Turner had a 'no man against woman violence' clause on his networks. So Disco had to avoid making physical contact with her throughout the entire match.
**Bad News Brown used the name "The Ultimate Warrior" before Jim Hellwig.
**"Sweet" Stan Lane is the only wrestler ever trained by Ric Flair.
**Del Wilks sold the rights to the Patriot gimmick to Tom Brandi.
**Simon Diamond was a catcher on the Virginia Commonwealth baseball team for three years but then he got hurt and that ended his baseball career. He did eventually go back to college and get his degree in English.
**Bruce Hart gave Wayne Farris The Honkey Tonk Man name.
**Chyna majored in Spanish Literature at University of Tampa.
**Jimmy Hart thought of the 3 Count gimmick.
**Hart and Jerry Lawler attended the same high school in Memphis (not at the same time).
**Chris Ford (Crowbar) is also a Physical Therapist.
**J.J. Dillon and Vince McMahon thought of the Model gimmick for Rick Martel.
**Martel is a gourmet chef.
**Konnan briefly appeared in the WWF as "Max Moon" in 1992. Konnan played the role of the man who hailed from "outer space" for a single WWF Superstars TV taping. The role was continued by Paul Diamond.
**The Warlord (real name Terry Szopinski) was forced to retire following a 1996 car accident involving a Pizza Hut delivery carrier. A lawsuit is depending.
**Al Snow is well trained in martial arts, mat grappling, free style, hardcore, and shoot-fight wrestling.
**"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan got the idea of bringing a 2x4 to the ring from the movie, "Walking Tall."
**Dick the Bruiser actually gave Bobby Heenan the nickname "The Weasel."
**Glen Jacobs (Kane) has degrees in English and Teaching.
**Former WWF announcer Craig DeGeorge is now the number one sports anchor for an NBC affiliate in Miami and now uses his given name, Craig Minnervni.
**Mike Awesome and Horace Hogan are cousins (Awesome and Hulk Hogan are not related).
**Two days before WrestleMania 9, Hogan was injured in a jet-ski accident. That explains the shiner he had when he wrestled at WrestleMania 9.
**Silver King and Dr. Wagner Jr. are brothers.
**That before Mark Henry joined the WWF, he was actually sponsored by Titan Sports during the 1996 Olympic's in which he competed in the sport of weight lifting.
**Terry Funk first announced his retirement in 1983.
**Funk is Jason Hervey's Godfather.
**Steve 'Mongo' McMichael was one of Lawrence Taylor's backup men during his match against Bam Bam Bigelow at Wrestlemania XI.
**Bigelow opened a "Bam Bam Bigelow Deli" in Hamlin, PA.
**D'Lo Brown began his career as the "head of security" for the Gangstas in Smokey Mountain Wrestling. He later debuted in the WWF as one of the many members of Faarooq's Nation of Domination entourage.
**Brown is a certified accountant.
**Former Nitro Girl Fyre (Teri Byrne) attended Arizona State University, and used to be a mortgage home broker.
**Dawn Marie appeared in the original Austin Powers MTV special as one of the go-go dancers and actually had a couple of speaking lines
**Chris Chetti was the first man to graduate from ECW's School of Hardcore.
**Tazz and Chetti are cousins.
**Paul Wight (The Big Show) played college basketball at Wichita State.
**Nicole Bass's married name is Fuchs.
**Rick Rude still held half of the NWA tag titles when he signed with the WWF (the NWA later claimed that the Rock 'n' Roll Express regained those titles in a match that never actually took place).
**Jerry Jarrett brought Rude to Memphis, and gave him the nickname "Ravishing."
**Rude, for a time, was managed by his sister Raven in the World Class promotion.
**Rude was the only foreign talent to make the finals of G-1 Tournament in Japan.
**Rude worked as a bouncer at Gramma B's in Minneapolis before he was discovered, working with the Road Warriors and Barry Darshow.
**Rude was trained by Eddie Sharkey, who also trained the Road Warriors, Barry Darsow, and Nikita Koloff.
**The original Midnight Express was a six man tag team in Alabama, consisting of Dennis Condrey, Randy Rose, and Norvell Austin.
**The British Bulldog (Davey Boy Smith) paid the WWF $100,000 to get out of his contract to leave for WCW.
**Tom "Dynamite Kid" Billington despises his cousin Davey Boy Smith so much, he can't bring himself to say his name.
**The Dynamite Kid left the WWF because he got into a backstage brawl with former Quebecer Jacques Rougeau.
**Emiko Kado, 23, suffered a brain injury that ended her life in only her 15th professional match.
**Bill Goldberg's mother is a concert violinist.
**Goldberg, Missy Hyatt, Giant Bernard, Raven, Madusa, and Dean Malenko are all Jewish.
**Larry Zbyszko and Jimmy Garvin are licensed pilots.
**Justin Credible first competed in the WWF as both P.J. Walker and "The Portuguese Man O' War" Aldo Montoya. He also briefly became the third member of PG-13, going by the name P.G. Walker.
**Buff Bagwell, before becoming a wrestler was a model, exotic dancer and acted in a few adult movies.
**Bagwell had calf implants in 1995 but they later leaked and had to be removed.
**Seventeen months is the age gap between the Steiner Brothers. They have a sister named Crystal.
**Leatherface caused the scar on Mick Foley's left arm.
**Shawn Michaels is a huge Garth Brooks fan.
**Michaels and Marty Jannetty won the WWF tag team title from Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart in October of 1990 at a taping for Saturday Night's Main Event. Neidhart had been fired and was filling contractual obligations, which including jobbing the tag titles to another team. In what should have been a minor point, the top rope broke at one point during the match. The Rockers defended the titles for a week after that, but then Neidhart was re-hired by the WWF, and Vince McMahon decided that the title change never actually happened, in one of the goofier decisions of the 90s, and one of many to affect the careers of Shawn and Bret. As an explanation, a story was sent to Pro Wrestling Illustrated about the rope break causing an "unfair working environment" for both teams, and hence the title reign was annulled. This was simply to cover up for the fact that they reported the title change as fact a week prior and needed a reason to no longer report it as such. The title change was edited out of the Main Event broadcast, and thus went down in history that the Rockers never had the belt.
**Michael's "Boy Toy" theme debuted on St. Valentine's Day '92.
**Vader knows how to play the Piano.
**Vader played offensive lineman at the University of Colorado.
**Vader, Genichiro Tenryu, and Keiji Mutoh (the Great Muta) are the only three men to capture both the All Japan Triple Crown and the IWGP World Heavyweight titles.
**Sgt. Slaughter's character was portrayed in the cartoon G.I. JOE.
**Road Dogg Jesse James (BG James) fought in Desert Storm.
**Before becoming a wrestler, Sean Morley (Val Venis) used to race Motocross.
**Ahmed Johnson played in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys.
**Faarooq (Ron Simmons) was an All American linebacker at Florida State University.
**Simmons was cut by the Cleveland Browns.
**Terri was a hair stylist for the Larry King show prior to wrestling.
**Raven was a manager in the WWF that went by the name Johnny Polo. Under this name he managed the Quebecers and Adam Bomb. He left the WWF because he wanted to wrestle, not do office stuff.
**Tom Pritchard and Bruce Pritchard (aka Brother Love) are brothers.
**Gangrel and Luna Vachon are married.
**Duane Gill and Barry Hardy made up the team called The Executioners in the WWF in the early 90s.
**In the RAW tag team tournament of summer 1997, Jerry Lawler teamed with Rob Van Dam.
**The Honkytonk Man and Lawler are cousins, and do not get along.
**Van Dam has an unique weightlifting record of doing a split across two benches and lifting a 200 lbs. Dumbbell.
**King of the Ring started as an idea for an annual stadium show in the Boston area after being created by local radio host Eddie Andelman.
*Eddy Guerrero did the frog splash as a tribute to his fallen tag team Art Barr, who used it as his finishing move.
**The Gobbledygooker was Hector Guerrero in a chicken suit.
**Gori Guerrero invented the camel clutch.
**Jim Londos is credited with the invention of the sleeper hold.
Kevin Nash faked a heart attack to avoid doing a job for Show at Starrcade 97.
Sting cheated on his wife with Rick Steiner and Lex Lugers wives.
**Tatsumi Fujinami, the last remaining member of the New Japan promotion from its 1972 start, quit on June 20, 2006.
**John Tenta (Earthquake) debuted as Kototenta, which was later changed to Kototenzan.
**Tallest full-time wrestler was Jorge "Giant" Gonzales (El Gigante), who was a legit 7'6 1/2".
**Paul Heyman's ECW peaked at 99,000 pay-per-view buys for a single PPV.
**Heyman's ECW produced a total of twenty one pay per views. Their first was "Barely Legal" on April 13, 1997.
**WWE purchased the Championship Wrestling from Florida library from Mike Graham for approximately $1 million.
**Tommy Dreamer and Bealuh McGuillicuddy (Teresa) have twin daughters named Kimberly and Brianna Laughlin.
**Buelah McGillicutty briefly portrayed Teresa Pillman in Stampede Wrestling, the "brother" of the late Brian Pillman.
**There are only 200 parking spaces at Arena Mexico. Most fans come to the matches via the subway.
**Before breaking into pro wrestling, Mexico's Latin Lover was a stripper in Monterrey.
**In 1963, Ricky Romero started training Dory Funk Jr. at an empty Amarillo Sports Arena.
**El Texano (real Juan Conrado Aguilar Jauregui) once wrestled as a masked Billy The Kid.
**AAA Owner Antonio Pena once booked for EMLL (now CMLL).
*The Sheik and John Tolos used snakes as a prop in the early 70's, well before Jake Roberts.
**Fritz Von Erich was a star football player at Southern Methodist University.
**Somoa Joe's high school football coach was Tank Abbott's brother. Tank's dad was one of Samoa's Joe teachers.
**Kenzo Suzuki played Rugby football at Meiji University.
**Michael Cole graduated from Syracuse University in 1988.
**Ken Shamrock was promised an IWGP title reign prior to signing with WWF.
**Jackie Gayda ran track and cross country at the University of Toledo in 2000 and 2001.
**Nikita Koloff, Bret, Ted DiBiase and Rick Rude are the only wrestlers that collected money from their Lloyd's of London insurance policy to never wrestler again. (Although, at the time of his death, Rude was training for a WWF comeback)
**Simply Luscious was married to former hockey star Ryan Pisiak.
**Nidia is from Puerto Rico.
**One Man Gang (George Gray) works as a prison guard in Louisiana.
**Billy Kidman and Mikey Batts are cousins.
**Former WWF jobber Barry O is the brother of "Cowboy" Bob Orton Jr.
**Kevin Fertig (the former Mordecai) played football at the University of Memphis.
**In addition to wrestling, Jerry Jarrett owns and runs a successful construction company.
**In 1968, Vince McMahon graduated from East Carolina State University with a degree in business administration.
**At one time, Vince McMahon approached Verne Gagne about buying the AWA from him.
**WWE paid $3 million in 2003 to acquire the AWA videotape library.
**Vince McMahon Jr. was Shane McMahon's best man for his son's 1996 marriage.
**The ladder match as invented by Dan Kroffat (not Phil Lafon) in the 1970s.
**Diana Hart (sister of Bret Hart, and the widow of the British Bulldog) is a former competitive bodybuilder.
**Hercules Hernandez wrestled as the Assassin #2 (under a mask) at the first Starrcade on November 24, 1983.
**Hernandez was the last wrestler to be managed by Freddie Blassie.
**Hernandez formed a tag team with Scott Norton called Jurassic Powers in Japan, a name given by Hercules' trainer, Hiro Matsuda.
**Former WWF manager Slick's real name is Ken Johnson.
**Eric Bischoff came up with the idea for the New World Order after seeing a Tokyo Dome show during the New Japan vs. UWFI feud.
**Former Bushwacker Luke (Williams) works on the IWA Puerto Rico creative committee.
**Koko B. Ware's bird Frankie was killed in a 2002 house fire.
**Jonathan Coachman is the all-time basketball scoring leader at McPherson College in Kansas.
**"Ragin' Bull" Manny Fernandez is the head wrestling coach at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, CA.
**Victoria once performed as a cheerleader at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii.
**Former wrestler George "The Animal" Steele played defensive tackle at Michigan State University.
**At one time, Road Warrior Hawk dated Eleanor Mondale, the daughter of the former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale.
**WWE talent agent Johnny Ace has three degrees in business and two minors, one in economics and one in computer science.
**Road Warrior Animal and Ace are brothers.
**Legion of Doom is the only tag team in wrestling history to hold the AWA, NWA, and WWF tag titles.
**Paul London took theatre classes at the University of Austin (Texas).
**Kim Woods is created with coming up with the 'loose cannon' gimmick for Brian Pillman.
**Melanie Pillman (widow of Brian Pillman) had a relationship with the Ultimate Warrior before she met Brian.
**Jim Hellwig (Warrior) is orginally from Crawfordsville, Indiana. He attended the Life Chiropractic College in Atlanta.
**Former AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel appeared in an episode of "The Monkees."
**Jesse Ventura gave Gene Okerlund the nickname "Mean Gene."
**Japanese promoters originally created the Big Van Vader gimmick/mask for Jim Hellwig, the Ultimate Warrior.
**Hellwig studied to be a chiropractor in Atlanta.
**"Rowdy" Roddy Piper was originally hired by the WWF to be a manager.
**Red Bastien was Piper's best man at his wedding.
**Piper was Ric Flair's best man.
**In 1975, Flair was in a plane crash with Johnny Valentine, Bob Bruggers and "Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods. Modern medical science said that he'd never wrestle again.
**From 1986-1989, Flair averaged 34 minutes per-match. In that span he had 19 matches that lasted longer than 50 minutes.
**WCW paid Flair $75,000 to give back the WCW title after he had departed to the WWF in 1991.
**Flair's first match against Hulk Hogan took place in October 1991 with the "Nature Boy" winning the contest.
**Flair was adopted.
- In WCW, Jim Herd wanted Flair to cut his hair and name him "Spartacus."
**Early in his career, Hogan teamed with "Dizzy Hogan" who would later be known as Brutus Beefcake.
**Hogan earned $1.8 million for his match against Randy Savage at Wrestlemania V.
**In 1979, Hogan earned $125 a week from the AWA.
**Hogan weighed 195 pounds at age twelve.
**Maven taught sixth grade at Twality Middle School in Oregon.
**One of the conditions of the sale of WCW to WWF was that Turner Networks agreed not to air pro wrestling until April 2006.
**"Lethal" Larry Cameron was at one time being considered by WCW to be the third member of Doom.
**Tough Enough 2 winner Linda Miles played basketball at Rutgers. She played four seasons, 1998-2001, averaging 7.6 points and 5.5 rebounds.
**A-Train (Matt Bloom) played offensive tackle at the University of Pittsburgh, 1990-1994. He majored in legal studies.
**WWE Ring announcer Lilian Garcia lived in Spain for eight years and is fluent in both English and Spanish.
**WWE CEO Linda McMahon worked as a paralegal at Washington, D.C., law firm.
**Shane McMahon was on camera at Wrestlemania VI, as a referee named Shane Stevens.
**The Dudley clan featured in ECW included the Dudley Boyz, Sign Guy Dudley, Little Snot Dudley, Dances with Dudley, Dudley Dudley, Big Dick Dudley, Chubby Dudley, and of course, Spike Dudley.
**Spike Dudley is a former third grade teacher from Rhode Island before getting into the wrestling business.
**Elektra (Donna Adamo) was once married to Big Dick Dudley.
**Stacy Keibler was once a cheerleader for the Baltimore Ravens.
**The Midnight Express theme music was originally used by Randy Savage in Kentucky. Savage later used the theme from "Fame."
**Savage signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds in 1974, and was also cut by the Chicago White Sox.
**Savage received the Harvard Lampoon's 1998 Real Man of the Year award.
**Savage bought the Gorgeous George name for his brother Lanny Poffo to use in WCW.
**Gorgeous George (real name Stephanie Bellars) spent jail time as a teenager for burglaziring a home and slashing a girl's face with a broken beer bottle.
**For a time the WWF was apart of the NWA.
**Kanyon wrestled under the ring Chris Morgan in his pro debut match.
**Chief Wahoo McDaniel once played for the New York Jets.
**Shawn Stasiak graduated from Boise State with a degree in Communications.
**Madusa trademarked her ring name in 1985.
**Lita got her tattoo in Amsterdam.
**Tammy Lynn Sytch (Sunny) attended Wellesley College where she majored in Pre-law.
**In 1990, the Black Scorpion's voice was Ole Anderson's.
**Ivory majored in journalism at the University of Southern California.
**Vito (Vito Lograsso) holds a rare victory over All Japan superstar Mitsuhara Misawa.
**Jacqueline has a black belt in Tai-Kwon-Do.
**Abdullah the Butcher owns a restaurant in Atlanta, GA called Abdullah's house of Chinese Food and Ribs.
**The WWF considered giving Dustin Rhodes a "Gunslinger" gimmick, before coming up with Goldust.
**Dustin wrestled as Dusty Rhodes Jr. during a 1989 All Japan tour.
**Test only had 15 pro matches when he made his 1998 WWF debut.
**The Maryland State Athletic Commission banned Balls Mahoney for life.
**HWA's Les Thatcher provided color commentary on Smoky Moutain Wrestling's syndicated television shows.
**Andre the Giant was the first wrestler inducted into the WWF's Hall of Fame in 1993. Members include Chief Jay Strongbow, Arnold Skaaland, Bobo Brazil, Freddie Blassie, Buddy Rogers, Gorilla Monsoon, James Dudley, the Fablous Moolah, Pedro Morales, Ivan Putski, Antonio Rocca, The Grand Wizard, George "The Animal" Steele, Ernie Ladd, Capt. Lou Albano, "Killer" Kowalaski, Baron Mikel Scicluna, Johnny & Jimmy Valiant, Johnny Rodz, Pat Patterson, Vince McMahon Sr., and Jimmy Snuka.
**The Top 5 all time U.S. Gates: 1) Wrestlemania XXVII - April 1, 2001, Houston, TX - $3,530,904, 2) Wrestlemania XIX - March 30, 2003, Seattle, WA - $2,760,035, 3) Wrestlemania XX - March 14, 2004, NY, NY - $2,400,000, 4) Wrestlemania V - April 2, 1989, Atlantic City, NJ - $1,628,000, 5) Wrestlemania III - March 29, 1987, Pontiac, MI - $1,599,000.
**The top 5 all time wrestling crowds: 1) NJPW - April 29, 1995, Pyongyang, North Korea - 170,000, 2) NJPW - April 28, 1995, Pyongyang, North Korea - 150,000, 3) WWF - March 29, 1987, Pontiac, MI - 78,000, 4) WWF - August 29, 1992, London, England - 75,000, 5) WWF - August 28, 1986, Toronto, 69,300.
**The largest crowd ever to witness a live wrestling event was in Pyongyang, North Korea. Over 190,000 fans paid to attend the "International Sports and Culture Festival for Peace" in 1995. The crowd saw Asian legend Antonio Inoki defeat Ric Flair in the main event. The largest U.S. crowd was Wrestlemania II in 1987 when the event drew just over 93,000 to the Pontiac Silverdome.
**Verne Gagne held the AWA World title for a total of 4,686 days.
**Gagne trained Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat.
**Steamboat debuted as Richard Blood. He adopted the Steamboat name from ring veteran Sammy "Steamboat" Mokuahi Jr.
**Steamboat suffered his career ending back injury in a match with Steve Austin, while they were in WCW.
**When the Honkeytonk Man beat Steamboat for the IC title, he was a replacement for "The Natural" Butch Reed who was scheduled to win the gold.
**Former oddity Giant Silva (7'3") is a former member of the Brazilian Olympic basketball team.
**Abraham Lincoln actually wrestled prior to entering the White House.
**Sho Funaki is a Shawn Michaels mark. He moved to San Antonio, Texas just to live in the same town as HBK.
**In the summer of 1995, Kurt Angle failed in a tryout to make the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League.
**Dr. David Schultz trained Angle for amateur wrestling.
**Chris Jericho competed in Mexico as Corazon de Leon, which is Spanish for "Lionheart."
**Steve Austin learned the art of the interveiw from Brian Pillman. Austin has admitted numerous times that his speaking ability was perfected by Pillman who constantly gave him pointers and advice.
**Austin is an antique collecter.
**Austin was born Steve Anderson in Austin, Texas.
**Austin worked on a loading dock prior to entering wrestling.
**Austin has a commercial driver's license.
**Austin played defensive tackle at North Texas State. In his senior, he recorded 55 tackles, 4 sacks, and an interception.
**Debra was introduced to Steve McMichael through Mongo's mother.
**Debra once studied acting at the world-famous Lee Strasberg Institute in New York.
**Jerry Saggs (Jerry Segenowich) of the Nasty Boys suffered a career ending injury from a Scott Hall chair shot.
**Hall earned a premed degree from the college of William & Mary.
**Bobby Eaton is married to Bill Dundee's daughter.
**In 1987, Benoit wrestled as "Dynamite" Chris Benoit in honor of his childhood hero, the Dynamite Kid.
**In addition to training at Stu Hart's Dungeon, Benoit also trained in the Orient at New Japan's Dojo.
**Former Horsemen manager J.J. Dillon was an English teacher before breaking into the wrestling business.
**The WWF hired Bobby "The Brain" Heenan to manage Jesse "The Body" Ventura.
**Diamond Dallas Page credits Bobby "The Brain" Heenen for coming up with the name Diamond cutter.
**Joe E. Legend was Rhyno's best man at his May 2000 wedding.
**Prior to entering the squared circle, Steve Corino worked in a milk processing plant in Philadelphia.
**Washington Redskins head coach George Allen once offered Andre the Giant a contract to play professional football.
**Andre the Giant drank fourteen bottles of wine before his match with Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania III.
**The Rock is a skilled light tackle salt water fisherman.
**The Peoples Eyebrow was first named the "Heat Brow". The Rock called it that in college, but he changed the name do to the fact that the name didn't catch on.
**The Rock the first African American to hold the WWF Championship.
**The Rock's wife Dany is the Associate Vice President of Merrill Lynch.
**Demolition Ax (Bill Eadie) is a former school teacher.
**The Big Bossman was a prison guard in Georgia.
**Dusty Rhodes played college football at West Texas.
**Tito Santana played in the Canadian Football League.
**Lex Luger played college football at Penn State and at the University of Miami, FL. He was an offensive lineman.
**Luger played in the CFL for the Montreal Alouettes.
**Haku once wrestled as jobbber Larry Hurst.
**Sharmell Sullivan (Paisley) is a former Miss Black America.
**The original idea for UPN's "Smackdown" was for an all women wrestling show.
**Kevin Nash was a doorman/bouncer at a Michigan night club before entering the wrestling business.
**Nash introduced Shawn Michaels to his wife, the former Nitro Girl Whisper (Rebecca Curci).
**In 1991, Nash played Super Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2.
**Disco Inferno was released from his WCW contract in '97 after refusing to do the job for Jacquelin. He returned to the promotion later in the year only after agreeing to wrestle her. However, Ted Turner had a 'no man against woman violence' clause on his networks. So Disco had to avoid making physical contact with her throughout the entire match.
**Bad News Brown used the name "The Ultimate Warrior" before Jim Hellwig.
**"Sweet" Stan Lane is the only wrestler ever trained by Ric Flair.
**Del Wilks sold the rights to the Patriot gimmick to Tom Brandi.
**Simon Diamond was a catcher on the Virginia Commonwealth baseball team for three years but then he got hurt and that ended his baseball career. He did eventually go back to college and get his degree in English.
**Bruce Hart gave Wayne Farris The Honkey Tonk Man name.
**Chyna majored in Spanish Literature at University of Tampa.
**Jimmy Hart thought of the 3 Count gimmick.
**Hart and Jerry Lawler attended the same high school in Memphis (not at the same time).
**Chris Ford (Crowbar) is also a Physical Therapist.
**J.J. Dillon and Vince McMahon thought of the Model gimmick for Rick Martel.
**Martel is a gourmet chef.
**Konnan briefly appeared in the WWF as "Max Moon" in 1992. Konnan played the role of the man who hailed from "outer space" for a single WWF Superstars TV taping. The role was continued by Paul Diamond.
**The Warlord (real name Terry Szopinski) was forced to retire following a 1996 car accident involving a Pizza Hut delivery carrier. A lawsuit is depending.
**Al Snow is well trained in martial arts, mat grappling, free style, hardcore, and shoot-fight wrestling.
**"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan got the idea of bringing a 2x4 to the ring from the movie, "Walking Tall."
**Dick the Bruiser actually gave Bobby Heenan the nickname "The Weasel."
**Glen Jacobs (Kane) has degrees in English and Teaching.
**Former WWF announcer Craig DeGeorge is now the number one sports anchor for an NBC affiliate in Miami and now uses his given name, Craig Minnervni.
**Mike Awesome and Horace Hogan are cousins (Awesome and Hulk Hogan are not related).
**Two days before WrestleMania 9, Hogan was injured in a jet-ski accident. That explains the shiner he had when he wrestled at WrestleMania 9.
**Silver King and Dr. Wagner Jr. are brothers.
**That before Mark Henry joined the WWF, he was actually sponsored by Titan Sports during the 1996 Olympic's in which he competed in the sport of weight lifting.
**Terry Funk first announced his retirement in 1983.
**Funk is Jason Hervey's Godfather.
**Steve 'Mongo' McMichael was one of Lawrence Taylor's backup men during his match against Bam Bam Bigelow at Wrestlemania XI.
**Bigelow opened a "Bam Bam Bigelow Deli" in Hamlin, PA.
**D'Lo Brown began his career as the "head of security" for the Gangstas in Smokey Mountain Wrestling. He later debuted in the WWF as one of the many members of Faarooq's Nation of Domination entourage.
**Brown is a certified accountant.
**Former Nitro Girl Fyre (Teri Byrne) attended Arizona State University, and used to be a mortgage home broker.
**Dawn Marie appeared in the original Austin Powers MTV special as one of the go-go dancers and actually had a couple of speaking lines
**Chris Chetti was the first man to graduate from ECW's School of Hardcore.
**Tazz and Chetti are cousins.
**Paul Wight (The Big Show) played college basketball at Wichita State.
**Nicole Bass's married name is Fuchs.
**Rick Rude still held half of the NWA tag titles when he signed with the WWF (the NWA later claimed that the Rock 'n' Roll Express regained those titles in a match that never actually took place).
**Jerry Jarrett brought Rude to Memphis, and gave him the nickname "Ravishing."
**Rude, for a time, was managed by his sister Raven in the World Class promotion.
**Rude was the only foreign talent to make the finals of G-1 Tournament in Japan.
**Rude worked as a bouncer at Gramma B's in Minneapolis before he was discovered, working with the Road Warriors and Barry Darshow.
**Rude was trained by Eddie Sharkey, who also trained the Road Warriors, Barry Darsow, and Nikita Koloff.
**The original Midnight Express was a six man tag team in Alabama, consisting of Dennis Condrey, Randy Rose, and Norvell Austin.
**The British Bulldog (Davey Boy Smith) paid the WWF $100,000 to get out of his contract to leave for WCW.
**Tom "Dynamite Kid" Billington despises his cousin Davey Boy Smith so much, he can't bring himself to say his name.
**The Dynamite Kid left the WWF because he got into a backstage brawl with former Quebecer Jacques Rougeau.
**Emiko Kado, 23, suffered a brain injury that ended her life in only her 15th professional match.
**Bill Goldberg's mother is a concert violinist.
**Goldberg, Missy Hyatt, Giant Bernard, Raven, Madusa, and Dean Malenko are all Jewish.
**Larry Zbyszko and Jimmy Garvin are licensed pilots.
**Justin Credible first competed in the WWF as both P.J. Walker and "The Portuguese Man O' War" Aldo Montoya. He also briefly became the third member of PG-13, going by the name P.G. Walker.
**Buff Bagwell, before becoming a wrestler was a model, exotic dancer and acted in a few adult movies.
**Bagwell had calf implants in 1995 but they later leaked and had to be removed.
**Seventeen months is the age gap between the Steiner Brothers. They have a sister named Crystal.
**Leatherface caused the scar on Mick Foley's left arm.
**Shawn Michaels is a huge Garth Brooks fan.
**Michaels and Marty Jannetty won the WWF tag team title from Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart in October of 1990 at a taping for Saturday Night's Main Event. Neidhart had been fired and was filling contractual obligations, which including jobbing the tag titles to another team. In what should have been a minor point, the top rope broke at one point during the match. The Rockers defended the titles for a week after that, but then Neidhart was re-hired by the WWF, and Vince McMahon decided that the title change never actually happened, in one of the goofier decisions of the 90s, and one of many to affect the careers of Shawn and Bret. As an explanation, a story was sent to Pro Wrestling Illustrated about the rope break causing an "unfair working environment" for both teams, and hence the title reign was annulled. This was simply to cover up for the fact that they reported the title change as fact a week prior and needed a reason to no longer report it as such. The title change was edited out of the Main Event broadcast, and thus went down in history that the Rockers never had the belt.
**Michael's "Boy Toy" theme debuted on St. Valentine's Day '92.
**Vader knows how to play the Piano.
**Vader played offensive lineman at the University of Colorado.
**Vader, Genichiro Tenryu, and Keiji Mutoh (the Great Muta) are the only three men to capture both the All Japan Triple Crown and the IWGP World Heavyweight titles.
**Sgt. Slaughter's character was portrayed in the cartoon G.I. JOE.
**Road Dogg Jesse James (BG James) fought in Desert Storm.
**Before becoming a wrestler, Sean Morley (Val Venis) used to race Motocross.
**Ahmed Johnson played in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys.
**Faarooq (Ron Simmons) was an All American linebacker at Florida State University.
**Simmons was cut by the Cleveland Browns.
**Terri was a hair stylist for the Larry King show prior to wrestling.
**Raven was a manager in the WWF that went by the name Johnny Polo. Under this name he managed the Quebecers and Adam Bomb. He left the WWF because he wanted to wrestle, not do office stuff.
**Tom Pritchard and Bruce Pritchard (aka Brother Love) are brothers.
**Gangrel and Luna Vachon are married.
**Duane Gill and Barry Hardy made up the team called The Executioners in the WWF in the early 90s.
**In the RAW tag team tournament of summer 1997, Jerry Lawler teamed with Rob Van Dam.
**The Honkytonk Man and Lawler are cousins, and do not get along.
**Van Dam has an unique weightlifting record of doing a split across two benches and lifting a 200 lbs. Dumbbell.
**King of the Ring started as an idea for an annual stadium show in the Boston area after being created by local radio host Eddie Andelman.
*Eddy Guerrero did the frog splash as a tribute to his fallen tag team Art Barr, who used it as his finishing move.
**The Gobbledygooker was Hector Guerrero in a chicken suit.
**Gori Guerrero invented the camel clutch.
**Jim Londos is credited with the invention of the sleeper hold.
Kevin Nash faked a heart attack to avoid doing a job for Show at Starrcade 97.
Sting cheated on his wife with Rick Steiner and Lex Lugers wives.
