title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Since the events of "Dazzler: The Movie", Alison's body can store sound energy for future discharge as light. Thanks to Professor X, Dazzler's costume contains devices that enable her to store sonic energy more efficiently and to gauge and focus the light she generates with greater skill. She has also demonstrated on at least one occasion the ability to expel the stored sound into a devastating wave of sonic energy that destroyed her foe Silence.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler is immune to the injurious effects of her light transducing abilities. Her ability to transduce sound also protects her from being deafened by loud sounds; In "Dazzler" vol. 2 #1, it was indicated that her ears are highly developed allowing her to detect sounds on frequencies that others cannot register. In "X-Treme X-Men" vol. 2 #4, she demonstrates the ability to use sound waves for echolocation before absorbing them for energy. Dazzler has also been shown to be immune to the powers of her half-sister Mortis, which ordinarily kills living subjects instantly.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: With considerable strain, Dazzler is capable of generating ultraviolet light in omnidirectional waves of such intensity that it will melt large metal structures.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler is a highly skilled athlete and hand-to-hand combatant thanks to her training with the X-Men and Gladiators, able to defeat over a dozen human combatants at once while purposely avoiding use of her mutant abilities. In addition, she is a talented singer, actress, and dancer. Dazzler is also a highly accomplished roller skater and can move at high speed; she is skilled enough to use her roller skates as weapons to strike an opponent's solar plexus in a flying kick. Dazzler occasionally wears a pair of roller skates which magnetically adhere to her boots.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Jerry Stanford of "CBR.com" referred to Dazzler as a "compelling hero," writing, "Dazzler has a fan following strong enough to keep a strong demand for her in the X-Menfamily of titles. Although her creation is mired in a failed cross-media event with a record company, her legacy in comics is achieving greatness despite her crass origins. Although much of her early adventures are trite, she went on to fame as one of the X-Men." Mike Avila of "Syfy" described Dazzler as "one of Marvel’s most unique and even notorious characters," writing, "After Dazzler headlined her own comic book series, Claremont further developed her as a member of the X-Men. She’s no longer quite as prevalent as she used to be, but Dazzler still has a devoted fan following 40 years after her debut." Chris Condry of "Looper" found Dazzler to be "worthy of more film time and fandom," asserting, "If Alison Blaire, aka Dazzler, were a real person, we daresay that she would be the most iconic woman on Earth. Blaire's day job, or more accurately night job, is as a world-famous pop star. Using her mutant powers which allow her to transduce sound into light and heat, Blaire proves her mutant name true by dazzling audiences with uniquely extravagant laser shows. She's both singer and special effects artist. In between gigs, Blaire operates as a superhero, working at various times as a member of the X-Men, a member of Excalibur, and agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Essentially, Dazzler is what would happen if Lady Gaga spent her free time as John Wick." Bradley Prom of "Screen Rant" called Dazzler one of the characters who would be "perfect for their own animated series," saying, "An alternative character that would incorporate music in an impactful way is Dazzler. Her powers literally allow her to transform sound and music into powerful blasts of light and energy, which could make for some very interesting animation. As a mutant, she is part of the X-Men and her introduction is contingent on theirs. When they do finally make their way into the MCU, hopefully then Dazzler can take center stage."


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Alex Welch of "Inverse" wrote, "A fan-favorite comics character, Dazzler is a professional singer with the power to manipulate sound into light. She’s capable of creating light shows, holograms, blinding people, and can even shoot bursts of light out of her body. She’s basically what it would look like if a pop star was an actual superhero." George Marston of "Newsarama" stated, "Dazzler is the gimmickiest, campiest, most ridiculous concept Marvel has ever let come to fruition - if you only judge her by her Abba-meets-roller-disco '70s costume. Though her proposed movie and album tie-ins never came to fruition, Dazzler herself went on to join the X-Men, becoming a cult classic fan-favorite mutant along the way. And why not? The fact is, Dazzler kicks ass. Her ability to turn sound into light has been expanded in creative and crafty ways time and time again, and her look has evolved from disco queen to aerobic video model, to an angst-inspired, darker look, and finally to her current style that combines elements of her previous looks with a modern twist. Still, Dazzler has somehow captured our hearts and fought tooth and nail to earn our respect, even earning a slot on the one-time all-female Avengers spin-off A-Force(opens in new tab)." Marc Buxton| of "Den of Geek" asserted, "Alison Blaire may have started out as somewhat of a joke, a way for Marvel to take advantage of the disco craze of the 70s, but she hasn’t remained that way. Instead, Dazzler has become one of the most beloved X-Men characters ever. She has the power to turn sound into music and is now the SHIELD mutant liaison. She remains one of the few mutants to ever have a solo comic title and not be given a film role." In November 2005, during an interview with "Newsarama", writer Brian K. Vaughan asserted, "Ultimate Dazzler, on the other hand, may very well be Bendis’ single greatest contribution to the free world, so I use her way too much."


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Ira Madison III of "MTV" described Dazzler as a "gay icon in the annals of Marvel legends," asserting, "Dazzler remains a hugely popular character, particularly among queer Marvel fans. [...] Even though her stories were never tied to the disco scene at large, her journey of struggling for acceptance from a dismissive father and longing for the love of her missing mother was something that queer readers, who only years earlier could have been arrested for showing signs of affection toward a member of the same sex in public, connected with. Embracing your sexuality had to happen in dark, sweaty nightclubs with disco music blaring, or, for younger gay men far from the metropolises of New York and San Francisco, it could occur in their childhood bedrooms, reading Dazzler's exploits in between more butch fare like "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" that wouldn't get them bullied." Jerry Stanford of "CBR.com" asserted, "Almost since the beginning, the story of mutants in the Marvel Universe has been an allegory for the civil rights of marginalized groups. Initially, it was the civil rights movement for African Americans, but in recent years, it has taken on aspects of the fight for LGBTQ rights. In "Dazzler: X-Song", this became very apparent. The friction between mutants, still recovering from Scarlet Witch's decimation of their numbers, and Inhumans, whose numbers expanded into the general population is on full display here. Dazzler strives for unity and her words mirror things said in the LGBTQ community. Different groups sometimes seek to alienate others as not worthy of inclusion, and the fight here makes a stand for a big tent movement." Brian Andersen of "The Advocate" said, "Dazzler isn’t queer. But being the premier superhero pop singer in the Marvel Universe means a strong argument can be made that she’s a gay icon. Dazzler debuted in 1980 as a roller-skating, catsuit-wearing rocker. She would be a fabulous addition to an X-movie set in the ’80s – the era in which "X-Men: Apocalypse" will reportedly take place. Ditch the skates and the disco influence and reintroduce Dazzler as a Madonna/Cyndi Lauper kind of rubber band bracelet–wearing, teased hair–sporting, fashion-trendsetting pop songstress, and you’ve got one fabulous addition to the team." Hayden Manders of "Nylon" wrote, "All socio-political commentary aside, superhero narratives are filled with strong female characters, which we know makes up a huge percentage of queer icons. Characters like Wonder Woman, Storm, Dazzler, Captain Marvel, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are fierce and independent, capable of kicking just as much (if not more!) ass as their male counterparts. [...] That sort of representation is vital to the queer experience; it helps normalize what the world often sees as abnormal. Their superpowers only add another element of fearlessness to the community, because to be queer is to have superpowers." Andrew Wheeler of "ComicsAlliance" stated, "Ideas of self-ownership occur again and again in Claremont's stories and characters. [...] Dazzler is mutantdom's first drag performer, using stage theatrics to present her true self to the world. On the stage she could embrace her mutant identity in a way that wouldn't feel safe on the street."


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Angelo Delos Trinos of "CBR.com" ranked the "Dazzler" comic book series 5th in their "10 Times Comics Changed The World" list, writing, "The '80s were some of comics' most profitable years, and this was thanks in part to the growing speculator market. Publishers were already moving away from young readers to adults who treated comics more as an investment than populist entertainment. They finalized this shift after "Dazzler" #1 , by Tom Defalco, John Romita Senior and Junior, John Buscema, Alfredo Alcala, Bob McCleod, and Glynis Wein became a blockbuster. In 1981, Marvel tested the collectors' market by selling "Dazzler" #1 exclusively in comic shops. The experiment was a success, and "Dazzler" #1 quickly sold upwards of 400,000 copies. From this point onwards, many comics were only sold in comic shops and the speculator market became comics' dominant sales demographic, until the bubble burst in 1996."


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: According to Diamond Comic Distributors, "Dazzler" #1 was the 115th best selling comic book in May 2010.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Doug Zawisza of "CBR.com" called "Dazzler" #1 a ""Greatest Hits" comic album of Dazzler's best material," stating, "The true story here is Dazzler figuring out what she wants, and what she needs to do for herself. I'm not completely sold on the need for a Dazzler series, nor do I think this story is strong enough to warrant anything further than a backup tale or additional one-shot, but given the potential for a character like Dazzler -- she's a widely known mutant who has had a successful entertainment-based career and needs to stage a comeback -- I can see Marvel granting this character more story time." Bryan Joel of "IGN" gave "Dazzler" #1 a grade of 7.3 out of 10, saying, "Those original issues of "Dazzler" are full of off-the-wall lunacy, to be sure (at the end of the day, it's about a disco artist regularly dragged into the world of superheroics against her will -- what else can you expect?), but at the heart is a solid character who proved she could stand on her own well before she ever officially joined the ranks of her fellow mutants in "Uncanny X-Men", making her a great candidate to show off the themes central to the "Women of Marvel" drive."


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: According to Diamond Comic Distributor, "Dazzler: X-Song" #1 was the 100th best selling comic book in June 2018.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Mike Fugere of "CBR.com" referred to "Dazzler: X-Song" #1 as "the most important X-story Marvel has published in years," writing, ""X-Song" might go down in comic book history as just another footnote in the massive tome that is the X-Men comic canon, but that doesn’t make its message any less meaningful or important. This is a comic of the times, and hopefully, in decades to come, young readers first discovering the X-Men will stumble upon Visaggio and Braga's story, only to find the negative notions harbored by the less than desirable Inhuman characters as passé. Maybe Dazzler isn’t the beckon of social progress we were looking for, but it seems she has become the one we have." Joshua Davison of "Bleeding Cool" stated, ""Dazzler: X-Song" is a looser and more free-flowing narrative than many superhero comics. This is contrasted by the serious nature of its themes, making for an interesting and almost modernist comic. It's about downtrodden people on the fringes of society just trying to have some joy in their lives while, even there, people try to take it away. It's smartly-written too, acknowledging the subtle aspects of racism and how it can manifest. The loose and jumping plot conveys the feeling of people just trying to get by. [...] "Dazzler: X-Song" #1 is an excellent self-contained story centering around the ever-lovable Allison Blaire of the X-Men. The themes are interesting, the characters that are supposed to be likable succeed in being so, and the art looks great. This one earns a recommendation. Give it a read."


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler appears as a member of the X-Men. She is a chain smoker, having no use for a singing voice in this timeline. She is also more skilled with her powers, being able to create hard-light constructs, as well as manipulate both light and sound energies. With this new power-set, Dazzler serves as a one-woman training facility, as well as a messenger via holographic transmissions. She was romantically involved with Exodus, and did not accompany the main team of X-Men in the final assault on Apocalypse.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler was one of the characters involved in the original Age of Apocalypse to be brought back for the "Age of Apocalypse 10th Anniversary" miniseries. Like many of the other X-Men, Dazzler's costume in the 10th anniversary reflects an updated take on her original costume: the silver jumpsuit. Against the battle with Mr. Sinister's Sinister Six, Dazzler was swallowed within Cloak's dark dimension, but is ultimately saved by a lightning bolt from Storm which forces Cloak to spit her back out.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: In "", a series about the X-Men's hypothetical future, Dazzler reverted her costume to reflect her classic, silver design, continuing her career as a singer. Dazzler, an occasional "reserve" team member, joined Storm and X-Men members Iceman, Bishop, Psylocke, and Sage for Xavier's "Plan B" team. Co-piloting the ship to the extraterrestrial Shi'ar homeworld, Dazzler uses her powers to create a light show, calming the passions of the battling X-Men and Shi'ar Imperial Guard. The series' primary villain—Cassandra Nova—then manifests, slaying the Imperial Guard and leaving the remaining X-Men as her sole adversaries. Dazzler attempts to subdue Cassandra along with Storm and Iceman. While she uses her ability to laser a hole through Cassandra's head, Storm strikes her with lightning, giving Iceman a chance to freeze her. Bishop then shatters her in order to prevent her from returning. However, Cassandra simply reforms and, as a form of retaliation, blasts a hole through Dazzler, strikes Storm with energy, and freezes Iceman. She successfully killed Storm and Dazzler, but Iceman survived the ordeal. Dazzler is believed to be among the slain X-Men that were invited to a plane of higher existence by the Phoenix.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: When Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, used her reality-altering powers to change the world, Dazzler became one of the most famous mutants on Earth. After having a successful singing career as a teenager, Dazzler continued her career as the world's primary media personality via her syndicated talk show.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: The "House of M" newsprint special featured a tabloid-esque blind article, indicating that Alison's signature lightshow was fading due to a rare blood disorder, which was causing her to lose her mutation. Storm used Alison's popular talk show to sound off on her disapproval of Magneto's handling of mutant affairs and Mister Sinister was seen watching the Alison show when Deadpool went to rescue an infant Cable.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Author Brian Michael Bendis scripted for this version of Dazzler to be this altered reality's answer to Oprah.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler appears as one of the few uninfected heroes in the limited series "Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness". There, she is almost eaten by an infected Winter Soldier until he is killed by Ash Williams. Ash is attracted to Dazzler, but she does not reciprocate his feelings. As a thanks for saving her, Dazzler agrees to help Ash find the Necronomicon book that might put an end to the zombies. The duo pair up with the Scarlet Witch to discover that the Necronomicon is being kept at Doctor Doom's fortress in Latveria. Ash discovers the Necronomicon, but the sentient book reveals to Ash that it had nothing to do with this world's infection, which was of extraterrestrial and not supernatural origin. On his way back, he meets an imprisoned Enchantress. Because of the unusual nature of her powers, Ash believes the Enchantress is uninfected and frees her. In a confrontation with Dazzler, the Enchantress bites off her finger, infecting her, but Doom appears and vaporizes the two before Dazzler is turned.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: The Ultimate Marvel incarnation of Dazzler is introduced as a punk rock singer in "Ultimate X-Men" #42. She briefly joins Emma Frost's Academy of Tomorrow when promised a record deal, but joins the X-Men after they rescue her from a Sentinel attack. There she is called "Dazzler" after the name of her band.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: She often shows a lack of enthusiasm for the X-Men and their endeavors, but after learning of a proposed public execution of a mutant, she convinces a group of teammates to go on a rescue mission. When the mission goes astray and Angel is captured, Dazzler takes initiative and leads the team in a recovery operation. This leads to the accidental release of Longshot.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Later, she and Angel go out on a presumed 'date' (really an effort to get themselves involved with the X-Men's latest mission) preventing the "Academy of Tomorrow" students from attacking the Triskelion. During the incident, power is lost and one of the inmates, Deathstrike, impales Dazzler through the chest. Ironically, Deathstrike is defeated by the very killer Dazzler has assisted before.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler stays in a coma for several weeks, visited many times by Nightcrawler having an unrequited crush on her. Unfortunately, many factors have combined to unhinge Nightcrawler and as soon as she is able to be moved, she is fooled into thinking they must escape. Initially trusting Nightcrawler, she cooperates until the rest of the X-Men rescue her. The others, understanding Nightcrawler is mentally ill, plan to rehabilitate. Dazzler does not accept this and quits the team in protest.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: She has since been labeled as one of the "most important" mutants to the X-Men's cause by the future Bishop. Dazzler later joins Bishop's new team in "Ultimate X-Men" #82. When Bishop dies in "Ultimate X-Men" #90, Dazzler returned to the Xavier Institute to be with Angel and on Xavier's X-Men team once again. She is seen to be on Colossus's enhanced team, using the drug Banshee to boost her powers. The drug enhanced team battles Xavier's main X-Men and eventually leave their drug-filled lives and return to the X-Mansion.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: When Magneto's worldwide devastation hits the X-Men, Dazzler is revealed by Jean Grey to have been killed along with teammates Beast and Nightcrawler.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: The Ultimate iteration of Dazzler does not convert sound into light in this continuity. Her powers are defined as "Matter Detonation"; by detonating small particles in the air, she is able to create brilliant photokinetic effects, controlling the color and intensity of the light created. Under the influence of the drug Banshee, Dazzler's powers are vastly increased, and she is able to create solid light constructs such as a sword, a tiger for her to ride into battle, and even a copy of Wolverine's claws, which she uses to fight Wolverine. Dazzler's true powers are shown when she detonates the matter making up Sentinel robots, completely destroying them with her sheer power.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: A woman from Earth-721 was given the powers and appearance of Dazzler by Interlocking Technologies. She came to Earth-616 and impersonated the original Alison. She toured the Western States of the US in Dazzler's original costume. However, she was ultimately discovered, stripped of her powers and returned to Earth-721.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: In the Earth X timeline, Dazzler had her heart torn out by Mephisto though due to the "death" of Death, she lives on in constant agony.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: In "What If" #33 (June 1982), Dazzler decides to stay Galactus’ herald after she defeats Terrax. After many years of servitude, during which she guides Galactus to feed on uninhabited worlds in order to spare the lives of beings on other planets, she is free to return to Earth. When she arrives, Dazzler discovers the Earth had become a barren wasteland and, with nowhere else to go, she returns to Galactus who welcomes her return.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: In a two-part What If? story (What if Cable had destroyed the X-Men? and What if Magneto took over the U.S.A.?) based on "Uncanny X-Men" #269, Dazzler is an agent of Magneto. She is ultimately killed by a Sentinel warhead.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: In "X-Men: Battle Of The Atom", Dazzler becomes the first mutant President of the United States in the future. However, during her Inauguration speech, she is assassinated by fire from flying demons along with Jamie Madrox, and several audience members.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: A version of Dazzler appeared during the 2015 "Secret Wars" storyline as part of the Thor Corps, a paramilitary organization charged with policing Battleworld and enforcing the will of God Emperor Doom. Dazzler Thor later appears in the mainstream Earth-616 universe, after coming through a multi-dimensional portal and joins A-Force in their fight against the Countess, a dragon who came through the same portal. After Countess is defeated, Dazzler Thor succumbs to the effects that this universe's Terrigen Mists had on her system and vanishes.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Richard Joseph Gannon (born December 20, 1965) is an American former football quarterback who played 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Subsequently, he was a sports commentator with CBS Sports for 16 years.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and played college football at the University of Delaware where he directed coach Tubby Raymond's Wing-T offense. He recorded at least 2,000 offensive yards for three straight seasons at Delaware and was Yankee Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a senior. In the 1987 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots selected Gannon in the fourth round intent upon converting Gannon to running back. He was soon traded to the Minnesota Vikings and would play with the Vikings until 1992. Gannon began his career as a backup for Wade Wilson. Gannon started his first games in 1990 in relief of an injured Wilson and would start many games in 1991. In 1992, he formally became the starting quarterback for the Vikings and led the Vikings to an 11–5 season and the playoffs after two consecutive losing seasons.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon played with the Washington Redskins in 1993, the Kansas City Chiefs from 1995–98, and the Oakland Raiders from 1999–2004. With the Raiders, he achieved his greatest successes, including four consecutive seasons making the Pro Bowl (1999–2002), three consecutive postseason appearances for the Raiders (2000–2002), two All-Pro selections (2000, 2002), one MVP, and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003. However, Gannon spent much of his final two seasons (2003 and 2004) with injuries, and the Raiders had losing records in those seasons. After retiring from football before the 2005 season, Gannon began a career in sports broadcasting. He served as a sports analyst for "NFL on CBS" through the 2020 NFL season.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon attended Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and won three varsity letters each in football and crew, and twice in basketball. In his senior season, he won first team All-City as a punter and quarterback. He threw for 1,567 yards his senior season.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon attended the University of Delaware where he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. In football, he was coached by Tubby Raymond and played within Raymond's wing T offense. With the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team, Gannon first played as a punter before switching to quarterback in sophomore year. Gannon set 21 school records, including total offense (7,432 yards), passing yards (5,927), pass attempts (845), and completions (462) and was the only Delaware player at the time to achieve at least 2,000 yards of offense three years in a row. As a sophomore, Gannon won the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division I-AA Rookie of the Year award in 1984. In 1986, during his senior season, Gannon won Yankee Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors and was an honorable mention All-American selection.


title: Rich Gannon

text: When he led the Raiders to Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003, he was the second player from the University of Delaware to go to the Super Bowl.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon was selected in the 4th round (98th overall) of the 1987 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, who envisioned converting him to a running back, defensive back, or wide receiver. Gannon balked at the idea, and he was quickly traded to the Minnesota Vikings. Gannon began his career with the Vikings as a backup to starting quarterback Wade Wilson. Gannon played four regular and one postseason games in his rookie season of 1987 and accumulated statistics in the Week 10 (November 22) game, a 24–13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons where he completed 2 of 6 passes for 18 yards. Despite the Vikings finishing just above .500 on the season at 8–7, they unexpectedly won their first two postseason games, though Gannon was lightly used in the playoffs, rushing for 3 yards in the Vikings' , a 44–10 win over the New Orleans Saints on the road. That game was the first playoff game in Saints team history. The Cinderella Vikings eventually lost lost the to the eventual Super Bowl XXII champion Washington Redskins.


title: Rich Gannon

text: For the 1988 season, Gannon was third-string after Wade Wilson and Tommy Kramer. Gannon played three games in 1988. In a Week 5 (October 2) 24–7 loss to the Miami Dolphins, Gannon completed 7 of 15 passes for 90 yards but was sacked twice for 15. He also rushed twice for 15 yards. Gannon took a knee in the Vikings' Week 8 (October 23) victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In Week 10 (November 6), Gannon was sacked for 7 yards and rushed for 15 yards in a 44–17 win over the Detroit Lions. Improving from 1987, the 1988 Vikings finished 11–5 and advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon did not play at all during the regular season, during which the Vikings went 10–6. In the Vikings' , a 41–13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Vikings used all three quarterbacks (Wilson, Kramer, and Gannon), and Gannon was 13-for-18 passing for 144 yards and 1 interception. He rushed for 7 yards and was sacked twice for a total 20 yards.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon started his first game in Week 4 (September 30) of 1990 after Wade Wilson had torn thumb ligaments. The Vikings lost that game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime 23–20. Steve Christie kicked the winning field goal for Tampa in a drive started from a Wayne Haddix interception of a Gannon pass. Gannon would play 14 games in 1990 and start 12.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon won his first career start in Week 9 (November 4) with a 27–22 win over the Denver Broncos. John Elway, starting quarterback for the Broncos, left the game due to injury after building a 16–0 first-half lead for Denver. Gannon made the winning touchdown drive on a 56-yard trick play pass: first to Herschel Walker, who pitched back to Gannon, who made a deep pass to Anthony Carter for the touchdown. Minnesota won despite Gannon completing less than half of his passes (6-for-13) and being sacked 7 times. The following week against the Detroit Lions, Gannon rushed for a one-yard touchdown and passed for 147 yards completing 12 of 17 passes as the Vikings won 17–7. These games began a five-game winning streak for Minnesota after a 1–6 start. However, the Vikings would finish 6–10 after losing the last four games of the year. For the season, he was 182-for-349 in passing for 2,278 yards and threw for 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He was sacked 34 times and rushed 52 times for 268 yards.


title: Rich Gannon

text: In the 1991 preseason, Vikings coach Jerry Burns demoted Gannon to third-string and elevated Sean Salisbury to second-string behind Wade Wilson. Gannon played his first game of the year in Week 5 (September 29) against the Denver Broncos, replacing Wade Wilson with 7:20 left in the fourth quarter after Wilson threw three interceptions. On fourth down at Denver's 13-yard line with 43 seconds left, a wide-open Hassan Jones dropped Gannon's pass, and Minnesota lost 13–6. Gannon would replace Wilson as starter for the last 11 games of 1991, and the Vikings went 6–5 with Gannon as starter for an overall 8–8 season. Gannon was 211-for-354 in completed passes for 2,166 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. He was sacked 19 times for 91 yards and rushed 43 times for 236 yards, including two rushing touchdowns.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Competing with Sean Salisbury for the starting job, Gannon ultimately became the Vikings' starting quarterback for 1992. In the final exhibition game of 1992, and with first-year coach Dennis Green, he led the Vikings to a 30–0 defeat of defending Super Bowl champions Washington Redskins in the Redskins' home field, completing 14 of 21 passes for 124 yards and three touchdowns.


title: Rich Gannon

text: In the fourth quarter of the Week 5 (October 4) home game against the Chicago Bears, Gannon led a Vikings rally from a 20–0 deficit to a 21–20 victory. Following a touchdown off an interception by Todd Scott, Gannon led a touchdown drive with four consecutive passes, the last one to Cris Carter in the end zone. With 6:40 left in the fourth quarter, Gannon led a 78-yard touchdown drive that included the Vikings' seventh straight first-down play of the game. The drive began with Gannon handing off to running back Terry Allen for a 21-yard rush, followed by a 22-yard rush by Roger Craig, who would make the tying 1-yard touchdown run, followed by the winning extra point kick.


title: Rich Gannon

text: In Week 7 (October 15), Gannon started against the Detroit Lions and completed 8 of 10 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns for a 24–0 lead. Salisbury took over in the second quarter after Gannon suffered a hyperextended left knee, and the Vikings beat the Lions 31–14. The Vikings now were a surprising 5–1 after going a combined 14–18 in the 1990 and 1991 seasons.


title: Rich Gannon

text: With Minnesota leading the NFC Central with an 8–3 record, Dennis Green benched Gannon in favor of Salisbury following the Week 12 (November 23) win over the Cleveland Browns.


title: Rich Gannon

text: On August 19, 1993, the Vikings traded Gannon to the Washington Redskins for a conditional 1994 fifth-round draft pick. Gannon was the third-stringer behind starter Mark Rypien and backup Cary Conklin. With the Redskins, Gannon played in eight games and started the four games from Weeks 12 to 15.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon played his first game of 1993 in Week 5 (October 4), a Monday night game, taking over for Cary Conklin against the Miami Dolphins and Dan Marino. Gannon could only lead one touchdown drive that brought Washington within a 14–10 deficit behind Miami. With 59 seconds left, Gannon threw an interception to the Dolphins' Troy Vincent to seal the Dolphins' 17–10 victory. Gannon injured his foot during the game. However, Gannon would play in limited roles in Weeks 6 and 7. After a 2–7 start, Redskins coach Richie Petitbon announced he would bench Mark Rypien and start Rich Gannon once Gannon recovered from the injury.


title: Rich Gannon

text: In Week 12 (November 21) against the Los Angeles Rams, Gannon completed 24 of 39 passes for 170 yards, was sacked three times for 11 yards, and rushed twice for 18 yards. With Los Angeles leading 10–6 and 3:10 left in the game, Gannon missed an opportunity for a game-winning drive. At the Rams' 27, Gannon's 23-yard pass intended for Art Monk bounced off Rams safety Anthony Newman's hands and into Michael Stewart's hands for an interception, sealing the victory for the Rams.


title: Rich Gannon

text: The following week (November 28), Gannon made two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to give the Redskins a 14–10 lead over the Philadelphia Eagles. However, Philadelphia would win 17–14 on a touchdown reception by James Joseph. On 20-for-31 passing for 279 yards, Gannon threw two interceptions and two touchdowns that game. He was sacked five times for 27 yards and rushed four times for 25 yards.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon led the Redskins to a Week 14 (December 5) victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 23–17, starting with a cumulative 17–0 lead by the third quarter. Gannon completed 9 of 16 passes for 71 yards and rushed 7 times for 12 yards. Gannon's one interception that game came when Buccaneers defensive tackle Santana Dotson deflected the pass from the Redskins 8 and Ray Seals caught the ball in the Redskins' end zone for a touchdown. The score was 17–10 Redskins as the Buccaneers rallied with 10 unanswered points.


title: Rich Gannon

text: In the Redskins' 3–0 loss to the New York Jets in Week 15 (December 12), Gannon was benched in the fourth quarter in favor of Mark Rypien, but the Redskins could not handle the Jets' defense. Gannon completed 7 of 15 passes for 62 yards (including one 50-yarder).


title: Rich Gannon

text: On 74-for-125 passing (59.2 percent), Gannon passed for 704 yards with three touchdowns and seven interceptions and rushed 21 times for 88 yards and one touchdown. The Redskins finished 1993 with a 4–12 record, and Gannon was 1–3 as a starter, with the three losses all being within margins four points or less.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon sat out the 1994 season after shoulder surgery. In 1995, Gannon signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. For two years he served as a backup to Steve Bono. In 1997 a quarterback controversy was created when the Gannon-led Chiefs excelled in the absence of the injured Elvis Grbac. In the playoffs, coach Marty Schottenheimer elected to play Grbac instead of Gannon, and the Chiefs lost 14–10. The two ended up splitting snaps in 1998, after Grbac was injured in Week 1.


title: Rich Gannon

text: In February 1999, Gannon was signed as a free agent by the Oakland Raiders. He excelled in head coach Jon Gruden's West Coast offense and was voted to the Pro Bowl in his first year as a Raider – the first of four straight selections. In 2001 and 2002 he won the Pro Bowl MVP award consecutively, a feat achieved by no other NFL player.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award after a record-setting 2002 season, throwing for 4,689 yards and 26 touchdowns and recording a career-high 97.2 passer rating, which helped the Raiders advance to Super Bowl XXXVII, making him the first former Blue Hens quarterback to start a Super Bowl. He was passing at a record pace with more passing yards than any quarterback in history through 14 games at the time but fell off the pace in the last few weeks. He led the league with 418 completions on 618 attempts.


title: Rich Gannon

text: In the Super Bowl, Gannon threw a Super Bowl-record five interceptions – three of which were run back for touchdowns – in a 48–21 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers' defense was aided by the fact that their new head coach was Jon Gruden, who had knowledge of the Raiders' playbook as well as Gannon's mannerisms and even some audibles, which Raiders head coach Bill Callahan had left unchanged after Gruden's departure.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon's 2003 season was ended by a shoulder injury in Week 7 after a 2–5 start. A serious neck injury in 2004 effectively ended his career. Gannon was hurt in Week 3 when he scrambled, and slid into a helmet-to-helmet collision with Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks.


title: Rich Gannon

text: When the Raiders signed Kerry Collins prior to the 2004 season, some thought that Gannon would be cut in favor of the strong-armed Collins, whom skeptics thought was a better fit in new head coach Norv Turner's vertical offense. Gannon not only kept his starting quarterback spot, but thrived. He threw for 305 yards in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, including a 40-yard touchdown strike to Doug Gabriel. The Raiders nearly won the game over a Steelers team that finished the 2004 season with 15 victories. The Raiders were a competitive team with Gannon as their quarterback, going 2–1 when he started and 3–10 after his injury.


title: Rich Gannon

text: On August 6, 2005, Gannon officially retired from football and joined CBS television as an NFL analyst. He was inducted into the University of Delaware athletics hall of fame the same year.


title: Rich Gannon

text: For his career accolades, Gannon was named the twenty-eighth greatest quarterback of the modern era by Football Nation.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon joined CBS Sports as an NFL game analyst in August 2005 alongside Kevin Harlan. He also works as a game analyst for Las Vegas Raiders preseason games.


title: Rich Gannon

text: On February 22, 2021 Gannon was let go as an analyst for CBS. However, he still works for CBS as he is still on Monday QB on CBS Sports Network.


title: Rich Gannon

text: Gannon's father-in-law was former Minnesota Vikings running back Bill Brown. Gannon and his wife, Shelley, have two daughters. One daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease and her parents serve as national spokespeople for the Celiac Disease Foundation and organize an annual Celiac Walk at Holy Family Catholic High School in Victoria, Minnesota. Gannon is a practicing Roman Catholic.


title: Mike Rinder

text: Michael John Rinder (; born 10 April 1955) is an Australian-American former senior executive of the Church of Scientology International (CSI) and the Sea Organization based in the United States. From 1982 to 2007, Rinder served on the board of directors of CSI and also held the post of executive director of its Office of Special Affairs, overseeing the corporate, legal and public relations matters of Scientology at the international level.


title: Mike Rinder

text: Rinder left Scientology in 2007. Ever since then, he has spoken about the physical and mental abuse inflicted upon staff members by Chairman of Scientology, David Miscavige and by Rinder himself before his departure from the cult and explained how abuse was embedded into the culture of Scientology. From 2016 to 2019, he co-hosted the A&E documentary series "". In 2020, he and Remini reunited to launch the podcast "Scientology: Fair Game". In September 2022, he published a memoir named "A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology".


title: Mike Rinder

text: Rinder was born in Adelaide, Australia to Ian and Barbara Rinder in 1955. When he was 5 years old his parents became interested in Scientology and the family began attending the Church of Scientology International center in Australia. After finishing high school he joined the Sea Org on the ship "Apollo" at 18. This ship functioned as the headquarters for Sea Org. Rinder quickly became an early member of the Commodore's Messenger Organization, after which he continued to rank up until he had his position with the Office of Special Affairs.


title: Mike Rinder

text: In a 2006 interview with "Rolling Stone", Rinder said he had experienced discrimination in Australia during the period when the state of Victoria had banned Scientology: "You couldn't own Scientology books ... If you did, you had to hide them because if the police came and found them, they'd take them away."


title: Mike Rinder

text: As executive director of the Office of Special Affairs, he served as the chief spokesperson and representative of Scientology to the media for 25 years until replaced by Tommy Davis in 2005 under orders from David Miscavige. This office is responsible for overseeing public relations and legal issues for the church, as well as handling "internal investigations into members' behavior."


title: Mike Rinder

text: Rinder cites specific examples of this duty, saying that he personally traveled to London to prevent journalist John Sweeney, who is responsible for "Scientology and Me", from attending a movie premiere and to attempt to "discredit Sweeney in any way that he could".


title: Mike Rinder

text: Rinder has said that he was living in The Hole for over two years "when he was suddenly pulled from his prison and sent on [a] mission to London to defend the Church against John Sweeney's film", "Scientology and Me", in March 2007. Rinder defended Scientology leader David Miscavige, but Miscavige was unhappy that Rinder was unable to stop the documentary from being shown. As a result, Rinder "was to report to the church's facility in Sussex, and dig ditches" and then was to be allowed to return to the United States.


title: Mike Rinder

text: Rinder claimed his moment of clarity came in a confrontation with the filmmaker, which was recorded on video. In the exchange, Rinder denied Sweeney's allegation that he had been abused by Miscavige and was instructed by him to deny it happened. Rinder realized afterwards though that Sweeney's allegation about him was true and he was unable to rationalize why he was denying it. Afterwards, instead of reporting to Sussex, Rinder decided to leave Scientology.


title: Mike Rinder

text: Rinder went to Virginia and told Scientology officials that he wanted to speak to his wife and also wanted his possessions. He did not speak to his wife, but was sent a FedEx package with a check for $5,000. His family photos were not sent. Rinder's official biography has since been removed from the official Scientology website.


title: Mike Rinder

text: After leaving Scientology, Rinder relocated to Denver, Colorado and initially didn't intend to speak out against the organization and in 2009, when "St. Petersburg Times" asked Rinder for an interview, he declined. However, a month later, two Washington-based Scientology lawyers went to his home unannounced, informed Rinder that they knew about the newspaper's visit and asked what he had revealed. This incident was another moment of clarity according to Rinder because he realized he was now being subjected to Scientology's practice of Fair Game despite declining to speak out. Afterwards, he decided to do the interview with the "Times" and said he was speaking out because "I don't want people to continue to be hurt and tricked and lied to." He spoke about Scientology's management and repeated beatings, he gave as well as received, and the interviews became part of the paper's "The Truth Rundown" special issue.


title: Mike Rinder

text: Since then, Rinder has given numerous interviews to journalists and participated in several documentaries about Scientology. In March 2010, Rinder again confirmed allegations of abuse within Scientology to CNN's Anderson Cooper on "Anderson Cooper 360°".


title: Mike Rinder

text: On 28 September 2010, Rinder appeared on "The Secrets of Scientology" broadcast by the BBC series "Panorama." In 2015 he appeared in the HBO documentary entitled "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief" by Alex Gibney which is based on the book by Lawrence Wright. Along with Leah Remini, Rinder co-hosts the A&E documentary series "". He further published a memoir in September 2022 named "A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology".


title: Mike Rinder

text: His intimate knowledge about the organization, both as a Sea Org member for 46 years and as head of the OSA for 25 years, has been a revelation about the organization to the world. Rinder has discussed how the OSA responds to critics of the church who are Scientologists and those who aren't and stated that several events in the history of Scientology have rocked the organization: the death of L. Ron Hubbard in 1986, the discovery of Operation Snow White, the rise of the Internet in the 1990s, the mobile revolution of the 2000s and the rise of social media in the 2010s. These events have made it difficult for the church to attract new followers and retain current adherents and resulted in the church taking increasingly more draconian measures to ensure its survival.


title: Mike Rinder

text: According to Rinder, Scientology's two principal weapons against critics within the organization are Auditing and Disconnection. Initially, auditing was meant to be a form of counseling (for which members pay over $500 per hour) to obtain the spiritual benefits of Scientology but by the time of his departure, he stated the practice had degenerated into a tool for interrogation and mind control. Non-compliant parishioners are labelled "suppressive persons" and disconnected from by other members of the church, including family members.


title: Mike Rinder

text: The device used during auditing, called an E-meter, has a disclaimer on it that says "it does nothing by itself" but members are told that it functions like a lie detector. Rinder stated that auditing sessions are secretly recorded, including ones with secrets about Tom Cruise and initially were forms of spiritual counseling. That changed due to the reaction by many early Scientologists to the Xenu origin of man story found in OT III. They balked at it and began leaving the church and encouraging others to do so as well. According to Rinder, this is where the term "suppressive person" originated from. Rinder also stated that the prophecy of Hubbard's messiah like return after death to prevent an apocalyptic alien invasion in OT VIII (released in 1988, two years after his death) garnered a similar response, prompting many high-ranking Scientologists – including Pat Broeker – to leave the organization as a result. According to Rinder, virtually all of the executives, himself included, had rejected both of the above mentioned Scientological tenets, however they nevertheless continued to train parishioners to accept them as true.


title: Mike Rinder

text: Rinder's moment of clarity after the confrontation with Sweeney came when he realized that it was the auditing sessions that led him to deny Sweeney's allegations that he knew were true. He later discovered the training he received during those sessions was developed from a book written by Hubbard in 1955 called "Brain-Washing".


title: Mike Rinder

text: According to Rinder, for decades enrollment has been declining, but departures were more concerning. Without new Scientologists entering the organization, the church became increasingly dependent on retaining the followers they already had. The church's disconnection policy is primarily how the church discourages Scientologists from departing and is a mechanism of emotional blackmail. All communication with any Scientologist that "blows", or has an unauthorized departure as Rinder did, is immediately ceased. Since Scientologists are not permitted to have social relationships with non-Scientologists, they essentially lose contact with all their social contacts when they leave. Sea Org members are even more vulnerable when they leave because they are financially dependent on the church. Any Scientologist that doesn't disconnect from someone that leaves will be declared a suppressive person and expelled as well. This policy led to what Rinder stated are "captive" Scientologists – church members who stay not because they are faithful to the tenets but because they fear disconnection – and cites Leah Remini's mother as an example of this because she stated she wanted to leave Scientology prior to Leah's departure but delayed doing so because she didn't want to be disconnected from the rest of her family.


title: Mike Rinder

text: Rinder stated that the policy of "routing out", or authorized departure, is a sham. The church claims that anyone can voluntarily leave, or route out, and not be declared by paying a fee for leaving but in reality everyone that leaves gets declared by policy because they will have access to the internet after leaving and any parishioner who remains in contact with them will also have unauthorized access as well.


title: Mike Rinder

text: After leaving Scientology in 2007, Rinder and his first wife, Cathy, divorced after 35 years, and he has had no contact with her or his two adult children from his first marriage because of disconnection. In April 2010, Rinder, who lived in Clearwater, Florida, attempted to meet his son, who also lives in Clearwater, after learning he was diagnosed with cancer, but his son refused to see him. The church also refused to let him on the property and had him cited for trespassing by the Clearwater Police. Rinder stated his biggest regrets in life is having two children that were born into Scientology and having enforced the disconnection policy (to which he is now being subjected) when he was director of the OSA.


title: Mike Rinder

text: He stated the rise of social media in the late 2000s has allowed ex-Scientologists to connect with each other and form support groups for members who have left or want to leave. He credits the disconnection policy for the consistently negative media portrayal of Scientology. The reports of Scientology extracting large fees and their space opera beliefs were controversial, but their portrayal didn't become consistently negative until ex-Scientologists started sharing their stories through social media about families intentionally being broken up by disconnection because a family member decided to leave (or wasn't a member of) the church of Scientology.


title: Mike Rinder

text: Rinder stated that his primary role as Director of the Office of Special Affairs was defending the church against critics by employing Scientology's fair game tactics which essentially are to "intimidate, defame, harass, discredit, and effectively silence any criticism of Scientology". He and fellow defector Marty Rathbun, former head of the Religious Technology Center, revealed through these interviews how this was done. For instance, Rinder told the "Times" that Scientology critic Bob Minton ceased his criticism of Scientology after Rinder discovered "things that, really, he was worried about and had caused problems for him in the investigation that we had done" and that they had reached a private settlement. Rinder regrets his role in that investigation and has stated he considered Minton a friend at the time of Minton's death in January 2010. Both have said the policy was backfiring because victims, such as John Sweeney, reported their experiences with fair game and this led to more negative publicity and thus produced more critics than they were silencing. Rinder's own decision to speak out against Scientology is an example of this as well because he decided to speak out against the church after being victimized by fair game despite "not" criticizing the church after leaving. Rinder has been victimized by fair game numerous times and recalled an incident where he was sitting in his car at a doctor's office parking lot during a phone interview with BBC journalist John Sweeney when "five senior members of [Scientology's] California-based international management team – surrounded and screamed at him". The screaming was so loud, Sweeney was able to record the episode and later aired the recording on "The Secrets of Scientology" broadcast by the BBC's "Panorama" program.


title: Mike Rinder

text: The policy was becoming increasingly ineffective starting the 1980s as it was unable to stop publication of "A Piece of Blue Sky" by ex-Scientologist Jon Atack or the documentary "Scientology and Me" which ultimately led to Rinder's departure. The internet made it even less effective because information can be uploaded anonymously and then viewed by anyone with internet access.


title: Mike Rinder

text: Rinder said fair game's most significant failure came with the discovery of Operation Snow White by the FBI and the subsequent raid of hundreds of church facilities as a result. The operation was undertaken as a result of the continued refusal of the IRS to reinstate the church's tax exempt status after more than two decades of fair game tactics. The raid led to the discovery of hundreds of documents detailing criminal activity within the church which led to the prosecution of dozens of high ranking church officials and provided grounds for the IRS to continue to deny tax exempt status to the church as well. According to Rinder, David Miscavige's claim that fair game was ultimately successful in regaining tax exempt status in 1993 is not true. It was reinstated because they abandoned fair game against the IRS after Hubbard's death and instead adhered to the IRS's policy for obtaining tax exempt status.


title: Mike Rinder

text: According to Rinder, the church never recovered from the FBI raid because it provided documentary evidence to support critics' claims of the church and was the primary source of information used in the article "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power" published by "Time" magazine in 1991.


title: Mike Rinder

text: After the FBI raid, Rinder stated that fair game tactics had to be changed. Intimidation tactics were still used but took the form of vexatious litigation instead. Rinder stated this was effective at silencing organizations from disseminating information critical of Scientology and credits them with why the public was relatively unaware of the information seized during the FBI raid. Not until the "Time" magazine article, "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power," and the litigation that followed did that end. The year prior to the defamation lawsuit against "Time" magazine, the church was successful at shutting down the Cult Awareness Network (CAN) with these lawsuits. However, unlike CAN, the Time Warner Corporation had the resources to defend itself and the documents from the FBI raid to justify their claims. The biggest impact was that Time Warner was able to successfully prove that this lawsuit was vexatious in nature and meant to financially drain the critic into submission and not to resolve any actual dispute. Because the discovery process allowed for the subpoena of church documents, it essentially allowed the church to be "raided again" and the documents that described the churches vexatious litigation policy were found. The result was the church lost its lawsuit and was permanently discredited in all future litigation. The courts were also no longer receptive to litigation brought by the church after the case either because it had been conclusively demonstrated that the church was abusing the legal system. The approximately seven million dollars the church spent attempting to discredit the article had the opposite effect of drawing more attention to the case as well.


title: Mike Rinder

text: In the early 1990s, when the internet was in its infancy, internet startups could be intimidated by the threat of litigation by the church but a decade later those same companies were now large corporations with the resources to defend themselves and lobbied for legislation that shielded them from user liabilities, "loser pays" laws that indemnify the church if they lose a lawsuit, and anti-SLAPP laws that prohibit them from using lawsuits to financially drain a critic into submission. Lawsuits against individual critics did continue but clever defendants began using the process of discovery to circumvent Scientology's copyright infringement claims by deliberately introducing secret church documents into evidence, making them part of the public record and thus viewable by anyone. An example of this"boomerang effect" was the 1993 case "Church of Scientology International v. Fishman and Geertz".


title: Mike Rinder

text: According to Rinder, the Time Warner lawsuit is ultimately what was responsible for "shattering the cone of silence" concerning criticism of Scientology. In the decade that followed, criticism became bolder, more public and consistently negative especially in the media.


title: Mike Rinder

text: Rinder had three children with his first wife Cathy: daughter Taryn, son Benjamin, and another daughter, Kimberley, who died in infancy.


title: Mike Rinder

text: In 2012, his partner, Christie King Collbran, gave birth to the couple's son, Jack. In 2013, Rinder and Christie married, and he became stepfather to her son, Shane.


title: Regional Rural Bank

text: Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) are government owned scheduled commercial banks of India that operate at regional level in different states of India. These banks are under the ownership of Ministry of Finance , Government of India. They were created to serve rural areas with basic banking and financial services. However, RRBs also have urban branches.


title: Regional Rural Bank

text: The area of operation is limited to the area notified by the government of India covering, and it covers one or more districts in the State. RRBs perform various functions such as providing banking facilities to rural and semi-urban areas, carrying out government operations like disbursement of wages of MGNREGA workers and distribution of pensions, providing para-banking facilities like locker facilities, debit and credit cards, mobile banking, internet banking, and UPI services.


title: Regional Rural Bank

text: Regional Rural Banks were established under the provisions of an ordinance passed on 26 September 1975 and the RRB Act 1976 to provide sufficient banking and credit facility for agriculture and other rural sectors. As a result, five RRBs were set up on 2 October 1975 on the recommendations of the Narsimhan Committee on Rural Credit, during the tenure of Indira Gandhi's government. The purpose was to include rural areas into the economic mainstream since around 70% of the Indian population was rural.


title: Regional Rural Bank

text: Prathama Bank, with head office in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh was the first RRB. It was sponsored by Syndicate Bank and had an authorised capital of Rs. 5 crore. The other four RRBs were Gaur Gramin Bank (sponsored by UCO Bank), Gorakhpur Kshetriya Gramin Bank (sponsored by State Bank of India), Haryana Kshetriya Gramin Bank (sponsored by Punjab National Bank), and Jaipur-Nagaur Anchalik Gramin Bank (sponsored by UCO Bank).


title: Regional Rural Bank

text: The RRBs were owned by the central government, state government, and the sponsoring bank with 50%, 15%, and 35% shareholding respectively.


title: Regional Rural Bank

text: A review of the RRBs in August 2009 by the Union Finance Minister revealed that a large number of RRBs had a low Capital to Risk weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR). A committee was constituted in September 2009 under the chairmanship of K C Chakrabarty, the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to analyse the financials of the RRBs and suggest measures, including re-capitalisation to bring the CRAR of RRBs to at least 9% in a sustainable manner by 2012. The committee submitted its report in May 2010.


title: Regional Rural Bank

text: The committee recommended RRBs to have a CRAR of at least 7% on 31 March 2011 and at least 9% from 31 March 2012 onwards. The recapitalization requirement of Rs 2,200.00 crore for 40 of the 82 RRBs were to be released in two installments in 2010–11 and 2011–12. The remaining 42 RRBs will not require any capital and will be able to maintain CRAR of at least 9% as of 31 March 2012 and thereafter, on their own. A fund of ₹100 crore to be set up for training and capacity building of the RRB staff.


title: Regional Rural Bank

text: The Government of India approved the recapitalization of the RRBs to improve their CRAR in the following manner:


title: Regional Rural Bank

text: The organizational structure for RRB's varies from branch to branch and depends upon the nature and size of business done by the branch. The head office of an RRB normally had three to nine departments. The following is the decision making hierarchy of officials in a RRB.


title: Regional Rural Bank

text: RRBs periodically go through a process of amalgamation. In January 2013, 25 RRBs were amalgamated into 10 RRBs, totaling 67 RRBs. In March 2016, there were 56 RRBs, covering 525 districts with a network of 14,494 branches. As of 1 April 2020, there are 43 RRBs in India.


title: Regional Rural Bank

text: RRBs are recognized by the law and they have legal significance. The Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 Act No. 21 Of 1976 [9 February 1976.] reads:


title: GP2 Series

text: The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecclestone also has the rights to the name GP1. The series was organized by Bruno Michel. In 2010, the GP3 Series class was launched, as a feeder class for the GP2 series. In 2017, the series was rebranded as the FIA Formula 2 Championship.


title: GP2 Series

text: Designed to make racing affordable for the teams and to make it a better training ground for life in Formula One, GP2 made it mandatory for all of the teams to use the same chassis, engine and tyre supplier so that true driver ability is reflected. All but three races had taken place as support races at Formula One race weekends to boost the series' profile, to give drivers experience of the Grand Prix environment, and to take advantage of the infrastructure (marshals, medical facilities etc.) in place for a Formula One event. GP2 mainly raced on European circuits, but appearanced on other international race tracks such as the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia and the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore.


title: GP2 Series

text: Many drivers have used GP2 as a stepping stone into Formula One. The 2005 Champion Nico Rosberg was hired by the Williams team for the 2006 F1 campaign, 2006 GP2 winner Lewis Hamilton made the transition to F1 the following year with McLaren and the 2007 Champion Timo Glock to Toyota for the 2008 F1 season. 2009 GP2 champion Nico Hülkenberg moved up to a Williams F1 race drive in the 2010 Formula 1 season. In addition, Heikki Kovalainen (2005), Nelson Piquet Jr. (2006) and Lucas di Grassi (2007)—all runners up—became Renault test drivers the following year. All three earned F1 seats, but have since been replaced.


title: GP2 Series

text: Karun Chandhok, Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov were also granted an F1 seat in 2010. For 2011 Pastor Maldonado was granted a seat at Williams. Sergio Pérez was given the drive alongside Kamui Kobayashi, another former GP2 driver and GP2 Asia Series winner, at Sauber. Jérôme d'Ambrosio got his Virgin Racing drive for the 2011 season. However, some drivers have reached Formula One without competing in GP2, including Paul di Resta, Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Éric Vergne, Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen and Max Verstappen.


title: GP2 Series

text: During 2011, it was announced that in 2012 the GP2 and GP2 Asia Series would combine to make a single, longer GP2 series.


title: GP2 Series

text: Current Formula One drivers that have graduated from the GP2 series include Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly (who triumphed in the 2016 staging amongst various others). Lewis Hamilton stepping straight into the McLaren team and Nico Rosberg, Nico Hülkenberg, Pastor Maldonado and Kazuki Nakajima going straight to Williams have particularly highlighted how F1 teams take GP2 seriously, and Hamilton's Formula One World Championship title in only his second year in F1 is probably the strongest example of the series creating highly competitive racers.


title: GP2 Series

text: By the end of the 2016 season, nine of the twelve (GP2) champions so far had been able to secure a seat in Formula 1, a correlation of 75%.


title: GP2 Series

text: On Friday, drivers had a 45-minute free practice session and a 30-minute qualifying session. The qualifying session decided the grid order for Saturday's race which had a length of 180 kilometres (112 miles).


title: GP2 Series

text: During Saturday's race, each driver had to make a pit stop in which at least two tyres have to be changed.


title: GP2 Series

text: On Sunday there was a sprint race of 120 kilometres (75 miles). The grid was decided by the Saturday result with top 8 being reversed, so the driver who finished 8th on Saturday started from pole position and the winner started from 8th place.


title: GP2 Series

text: With this points system, the most points anyone could score in one round is 20 by claiming pole position, winning both races with the fastest lap in each race. This feat was only been achieved twice; by Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr. in the 9th round of the 2006 season in Hungary and by German Nico Hülkenberg in the 5th round of the 2009 season in Germany.


title: GP2 Series

text: From the 2012 season the GP2 series changed its scoring system. Feature races ran with a scoring system similar to the one used in Formula One:


title: GP2 Series

text: Pole position for the feature race was worth 4 points, and 2 points was given for the fastest lap in each race. Therefore, the maximum number of points a driver can score at any round will be 48.


title: GP2 Series

text: The GP2 Series car was used by all of the teams, and features a Dallara carbon-fiber monocoque chassis powered by a Mecachrome normally-aspirated fuel-injected V8 engine and Pirelli dry slick and rain treaded tyres. Overall weight is 688 kg including driver.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2011 specification GP2 Series car was designed by Dallara Automobili. The 2006 GP2 car featured a biplane rear wing, with the triplane rear wing used in previous seasons only to be used at the Monaco race. The front upper and lower wishbones have been reinforced, as have the front and rear suspension uprights. The Dallara GP2/11 were the obsolete chassis since the debut in 2011 and would be used until end of 2017 season. The price of Dallara GP2/11 FIA Formula 2 Championship cars are approximately up to €1.5 million-€2 million per car (including wheels, tyres, wings, steering wheel and other components excluding engine).


title: GP2 Series

text: The 4.0-litre naturally-aspirated electronic indirect fuel-injected Mecachrome V8 engine features internal, cartographic and software upgrades designed to improve performance and fuel consumption. The engine produces 612 hp and 500 Nm (380 ft-lb) of torque @ 8500 rpm. FIA Formula 2 Championship Series engines are rev-limited to 10000 rpm and need a rebuild after 4000 to 4500 km. The valve train is a dual overhead camshaft configuration with four valves per cylinder. The Mecachrome V8 engine weight is . The crankshaft is made of alloy steel, with five main bearing caps. The pistons are forged aluminum alloy, while the connecting rods are machined alloy steel. The electronic engine management system is supplied by Magneti Marelli, firing a high-power inductive (coil-controlled) ignition system. The engine lubrication is a dry sump type, cooled by a single water pump.


title: GP2 Series

text: Mecachrome came to the GP2 Series in 2005, and by 2005 was clearly the dominant engine manufacturer. Starting in 2005, they became the only engine manufacturer in the GP2 Series, and continued in that capacity through 2016. Mecachrome also has a mutually beneficial technical relationship with Teos Engineering of Montigny-le-Bretonneux. They will continue working together for on-going research and development, engine maintenance and trackside support for the Mecachrome GP2 V8 racing engine at all GP2 Series venues.


title: GP2 Series

text: During that time, since the GP2 Series had only one engine manufacturer, Mecachrome still focusing on minimizing engine failure and minimizing costs instead of defeating rivals. As such, the engines were moderately de-tuned. The engines proved themselves to be quite durable—there had been no engine failures at all F2 tracks from 2005 to present, which also lowered the number of crashes. Most of the engines, including those used for the Monaco race, are used for multiple races and were intended to last 1,100 miles between rebuilds. The Mecachrome engines were only available via lease arrangement from Mecachrome currently.


title: GP2 Series

text: Mecachrome V8 GP2 engines were crated and shipped to all GP2 teams on a serial-number basis as determined by the sanctioning body (FIA) to ensure equality and fairness in distribution.


title: GP2 Series

text: Since 2005, Elf exclusively provide the LMS 102 unleaded fuel and also Elf HTX 840 0W-40 lubricants for all GP2 Series cars (except Total Quartz 9000 with ART Grand Prix).


title: GP2 Series

text: The current gearbox has been manufactured by Hewland and features an 8-position barrel with ratchet body and software upgrades as well as a new transverse shafts fixing system designed to facilitate improved gear selection. The GP2 gearbox used a 6-speed sequential gearbox configuration with electronically controlled paddle-shifters + reverse gear operated by a button on the steering wheel.


title: GP2 Series

text: O.Z. Racing exclusively supplied wheel rims for all GP2 Series cars from 2005 until the final season.


title: GP2 Series

text: Similar to the 2011 change for Formula 1, Pirelli was the sole tyre supplier for the series. The GP2 Series runs the same compounds as F1. The front tyre size are 245/660-R13 and rear tyre size are 325/660-R13.


title: GP2 Series

text: Brembo supplied monobloc brake calipers and disc bells, which are exclusive to the GP2 Series. Hitco also supplies carbon brake discs and pads for FIA Formula 2 Championship. The brake discs are 278 x 28 mm in size (similar to Formula One).


title: GP2 Series

text: The car also features internal cooling upgrades, a new water radiator, radiator duct, oil/water heat exchanger, modified oil degasser, new oil and water pipes and new heat exchanger fixing brackets.


title: GP2 Series

text: From 2011, XAP Technology exclusively provided the XAP single-seater GP2 Series steering wheel as well as XAP SX steering wheel dash display. The XAP steering wheel features 6 buttons in the front with 5 paddles (DRS, gear shift and clutch) in the back of steering wheel.


title: GP2 Series

text: According to research and pre-season stability tests, the 2005 model can go 0 to 200 km/h (124 mph) in 6.7 seconds. The car has a top speed of 320 km/h (198 mph) meaning that it is the fastest single seater racing car behind Formula One and IndyCar Series. The 2011 model can go 0 to 200 km/h (124 mph) in 6.6 seconds. The car has a top speed of 332 km/h (208 mph) with the Monza aero configuration.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2005 Season was the first of the series, succeeding the now defunct Formula 3000 championship. Arden International won the last F3000 titles, thus starting as one of the favourites.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2005 season began on April 23, 2005, on the weekend of the San Marino Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. In the pre-season test to decide the inaugural season's car numbers, the iSport International and HiTech/Piquet Racing teams showed a competitive edge. The latter team was largely funded by the former Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet in order to aid his son's route to the premier Formula sport.


title: GP2 Series

text: The championship lasted 23 rounds, two races occurring a weekend with the exception of a single race in Monaco. It was won by German Nico Rosberg, who was subsequently hired by the WilliamsF1 Team, with Heikki Kovalainen finishing second.


title: GP2 Series

text: It was also notable for being the only season that GP2 used grooved tyres like F1 cars rather than slicks.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2006 season was the second of the series. After championship holder Nico Rosberg's move to the Williams F1 team, and runner-up Heikki Kovalainen's move to be reserve driver at Renault F1, Nelson Piquet Jr. in the Piquet Sports car was installed as the early title favourite, though the ART Grand Prix cars of Alexandre Prémat and Lewis Hamilton also had fairly short odds, given ART were reigning champions.


title: GP2 Series

text: For the first time, the season began on a calendar separate to the 2006 Formula One calendar, starting out at the Circuit de Valencia, in Valencia, Spain on April 8, 2006, with Piquet Jr. the first victor.


title: GP2 Series

text: Piquet raced into an early lead before Lewis Hamilton came back into the fray. A dominant run by the Briton took him into the championship lead before the balance came back into Piquet Jr.'s favour.


title: GP2 Series

text: After an exciting championship battle lasting 20 races, Hamilton claimed the title in the penultimate race, at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, in Monza, Italy, and celebrated with a second place in the 21st and final round.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2007 GP2 Series began on 13 April at the Bahrain International Circuit, and completed on 30 September at the Circuit de Valencia (which was the only race that wasn't on the F1 calendar). Eventual champion Timo Glock was a driving force throughout the series but came under stiff competition from Lucas di Grassi in the closing stages- however, with a convincing win at the last race in Valencia, Glock sealed the championship. The season was the last with the first-generation chassis, the GP2/05.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2008 GP2 Series featured the same teams as in previous seasons. This was also the first time that the calendar supported all of the F1 races in Europe with a late deal to run at the Valencia Street Circuit. It was the first season to feature a new car design from Dallara, the GP2/08, the only non-F1 car to pass the 2007 FIA crash test in full. In the United Kingdom, the 2008 GP2 Series was exclusively aired on ITV4 from April 2008. It was won by Giorgio Pantano for Racing Engineering, with Bruno Senna finishing distant runner-up.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2009 season began and ended on the Iberian peninsula, with the first race weekend at Circuit de Catalunya (9–10 May) and ending in the stand-alone headline event (i.e. not supporting a corresponding Formula One event) at Portugal's Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (19–20 September). The title was won by German rookie Nico Hülkenberg at the penultimate round of the championship at Monza, the second time the championship had been won before the last race.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2010 season contained ten rounds, all of which were supporting F1 World Championship. The series started in May at Catalunya and concluded at Abu Dhabi in November.


title: GP2 Series

text: Pastor Maldonado won the title in his fourth season in the series. He won a record-breaking six successive feature races mid-season. Sergio Pérez was his closest rival, but the title was sealed already in the penultimate round at Monza. It was the last season for the Dallara GP2/08 chassis and Bridgestone as the series' official tyre supplier.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2011 season contained nine rounds and a final tenth round with no points, all of which were supporting F1 World Championship. The series started in May at Istanbul and concluded at Abu Dhabi in November.


title: GP2 Series

text: The championship was won by reigning GP2 Asia champion Romain Grosjean at the penultimate round of the series. Following a three-year cycle, the previous GP2 chassis was replaced by a brand new car, the GP2/11, built by Italian racing car manufacturer Dallara. The series will change tyre supplier from Bridgestone to Pirelli for 2011–13. The 2011 season saw the addition of two new teams to the grid, Carlin and Team AirAsia. Meanwhile, DPR was not selected to continue in the series.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2012 season contained twelve rounds, eleven of which supported the F1 World Championship and one stand alone round in Bahrain. The series started on March 24 in Malaysia and concluded in Singapore on September 23. Davide Valsecchi (DAMS) won the title by 25 points from Arden's Luiz Razia, with Lotus GP's Esteban Gutiérrez third.


title: GP2 Series

text: For the 2012 season, Team Lazarus replaced Super Nova Racing using the name "Venezuela GP Lazarus". Lotus ART was renamed "Lotus Grand Prix", reflecting their increased relationship with title sponsor 'Lotus Cars'.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2013 season contained eleven rounds, all of which supported the F1 World Championship. The series started on March 23 in Malaysia and concluded in Abu Dhabi on November 3.


title: GP2 Series

text: Fabio Leimer won the title driving for Racing Engineering, with a total of 201 points and 3 wins. Sam Bird, driving for Russian Time, finished runner-up. The season was originally proposed to be the final season for the GP2/11 chassis introduced in 2011, but the series organisers decided to use this chassis for a further three seasons to keep costs down.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2014 GP2 Series contained eleven rounds, all of which supported the F1 World Championship. The series started on April 5 in Bahrain and concluded in Abu Dhabi on November 23.


title: GP2 Series

text: Jolyon Palmer won the title in Sochi driving for DAMS. Stoffel Vandoorne, driving for ART Grand Prix, finished runner-up in Abu Dhabi.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2015 season contained eleven rounds, supporting the F1 World Championship and the final round of the World Endurance Championship at the 6 Hours of Bahrain. It started in Bahrain on 18 April and finished in Abu Dhabi on 29 November.


title: GP2 Series

text: While still continuing to use the Dallara GP2/11 chassis introduced in 2011, this season saw the series introduce the Drag Reduction System (DRS) used in Formula One. The series used the same detection and activation points at each circuit as Formula One, and followed the same rules for activation, requiring drivers to be within one second of the car in front at the detection point for DRS to become available.


title: GP2 Series

text: Stoffel Vandoorne won the title in Sochi driving for ART Grand Prix. Alexander Rossi, driving for Racing Engineering, finished runner-up.


title: GP2 Series

text: The 2016 season contained eleven rounds, supporting the F1 World Championship. It started in Spain on May 14 and finished in Abu Dhabi on November 27. It was also again proposed to be the final season for the Dallara GP2/11 chassis package that débuted in 2011 and the Mecachrome 4.0 litre (244 cu in) V8 naturally-aspirated engine package that débuted in the series' first season in 2005 before a brand new chassis and engine package was introduced for the 2017 season, but due to another cost-cutting, the series organisers decided to use the current chassis and engine package for a further season.


title: GP2 Series

text: Pierre Gasly won the title driving for Prema Racing (who won the team's championship in their debut season). Antonio Giovinazzi, also driving for Prema, finished runner up.


title: GP2 Series

text: The television rights are held by Formula One Management, which also manages the rights to Formula One.


title: GP2 Series

text: Sky Sports F1 broadcast every race live in the UK and Ireland, while Setanta Sports also broadcast in Ireland.


title: GP2 Series

text: The races were also broadcast in the United States on Comcast's NBC Sports Network, while in Brazil it is broadcast by cable TV channel SportTV. In Venezuela MeridianoTV broadcast, and in the rest of Latin America, the races from 2012 were shown on delay in South Cone and live in North Cone on Fox Sports +.


title: GP2 Series

text: In Spain, races were broadcast by MarcaTV, Antena 3 and TV3. In Germany, PayTV Channel Sky broadcast all races live, and in Finland Pay-TV-channel MTV3 MAX broadcast all races and qualifying live. RAI broadcast only the races.


title: GP2 Series

text: In the UK, races were being shown on Setanta Sports until the channel ceased broadcasting in June 2009. Setanta took up coverage of the series from ITV, who had shown GP2 in all four seasons to date (highlights only for 2005–2007, live coverage for 2008). However, by the German GP, Setanta GB had gone into administration so UK viewers could have been left without a GP2 broadcaster, but British Eurosport subsequently picked up the UK rights to GP2 for the next two and a half years. Setanta Ireland continues to operate for the Irish market and retain GP2 rights for that country. In February 2012, it was announced that Sky Sports F1 had secured the broadcasting rights to the GP2 series and will broadcast every race live in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Formula One pundit Will Buxton provided commentary for the UK broadcast until he departed at the end of the 2014 season and was succeeded by Alex Jacques.


title: Jenny Ryan

text: Jenny Alexis Ryan (born 2 April 1982) is an English quizzer, singer and television personality, best known as one of the six chasers on the ITV game show "The Chase". In 2019, she competed in the ITV competition series, "", in which she placed third.


title: Jenny Ryan

text: Ryan's first quiz show appearance was on "University Challenge", helping the University of Leeds to reach the semi-finals in 2003. She also appeared on "Mastermind" in 2006, choosing the American television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as her specialist subject, and featured in both series of "Are You an Egghead?" in 2008 and 2009. She found success on "Only Connect" as a member of the team The Gamblers, who won the third series of the show in 2010. Additionally, she has made appearances on "Fifteen to One" and "Weakest Link", and worked as a QI Elf.


title: Jenny Ryan

text: Ryan wrote questions for game shows. She joined "The Chase" as a chaser in 2015, making her debut appearance on 2 September. She was recommended for "The Chase" by Anne Hegerty, as they had both competed together on the same quiz team, where Ryan was the captain of the team. Her nickname on the show is "The Vixen", in reference to her red hair, freckles and ponytail; Bradley Walsh came up with the name and the producers liked it since "vixens are notoriously clever and cunning". She is also referred to as "The Bolton Brainiac" and more recently "The Bolton Bombshell" for her place of birth.


title: Jenny Ryan

text: In 2017, Ryan appeared alongside fellow chasers Anne Hegerty, Shaun Wallace and Mark Labbett on "Let's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief". They won the competition, performing a "Wizard of Oz" medley.


title: Jenny Ryan

text: In 2018 Ryan, along with comedian Lucy Porter, launched in 2018 Fingers On Buzzers, a podcast about quiz and game shows. The duo appeared on Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast in early 2019, where they discussed Fingers On Buzzers and other topics.


title: Jenny Ryan

text: In July 2019, Ryan appeared on the 14th series of "Celebrity MasterChef". In October 2019, she began competing in "". She was initially eliminated before the live shows, with heavy criticism of this decision from viewers leading to her being asked back to join the live shows. She went on to reach the final and finished in third place.


title: Ilja Dragunov

text: Ilya Rukober (; born October 10, 1993) is a Russian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ilja Dragunov (). He is currently signed to WWE, appearing on the NXT brand, and is a former NXT United Kingdom Champion. Prior to signing with WWE, Dragunov competed on the European independent circuit and is also known for his time with Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), where he is a former one-time wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion, three-time wXw World Tag Team Champion and two-time wXw Shotgun Champion. Rukober is the first non-kayfabe Russian male wrestler to compete in the WWE, and is also the first Russian-born champion in the company's history.


title: Ilja Dragunov

text: Rukober was born in Moscow, Russia and migrated to Germany with his mother when he was five years old. Neither he nor his mother could speak the German language. Prior to entering wrestling, Rukober worked various jobs from a young age to help provide for his family, including working at a pizza parlor and gas station.


title: Ilja Dragunov

text: Rukober started his professional wrestling training at the German Wrestling Federation (GWF) training school under veterans Axel Tischer (who wrestled for WWE under the ring name Alexander Wolfe) and Rick Baxxter. He made his in-ring debut in 2012. A year later, he became a regular with wXw and would remain there until getting signed by WWE.


title: Ilja Dragunov

text: On 14 May 2018 at Super Strong Style 16, wXw general manager Christian Michael Jakobi arrived in Progress Wrestling, and challenged Pete Dunne to a match with Dragunov at an undetermined date. At "Chapter 69", Dragunov appeared in the promotion for the first time, squaring off with Dunne, much to Jakobi's delight. At "Chapter 72", Dunne accepted the challenge and the match would be set at Progress' upcoming event at Wembley Arena. At "Chapter 75", Jakobi continued to insult Dunne, to which he would drag Jakobi to the ring to attack him, before Dragunov made the save and the two faced off again. During Progress' tour of Germany, at the Oberhausen show, Dunne called out Dragunov, following British Strong Style's win over Rise (Ivan Kiev, Lucky Kid and Pete Bouncer). Once again, the two had a scuffle which had to be broken up by the officials. On 1 October, Dragunov's debut match for Progress ended in defeat, when Dunne trapped Dragunov's arm and then manipulated his hand to force the submission.


title: Ilja Dragunov

text: Dragunov began 2019 with a win over Timothy Thatcher at "Chapter 83", but did not appear for the promotion until Super Strong Style 16. On night one, Dragunov defeated Chris Brookes in the first round. On night two, he quickly defeated Trevor Lee in the quarter-final, and on night three, he was in a three way elimination match in the semi-final with David Starr and Travis Banks. Dragunov was the first wrestler to be eliminated when Banks defeated him by pinfall. At "Chapter 91", he defeated Jordan Devlin in a number one contender match for the Unified World Championship, but the following day, at "Chapter 92", he was defeated by Walter.


title: Ilja Dragunov

text: At "Chapter 95", Dragunov took part in a rumble match for the Proteus Championship, which replaced the Atlas Championship. Dragunov entered in at number two in the match, and eliminated Niwa, TK Cooper and Chuck Mambo, before he and William Eaver simultaneously eliminated each other. From October to December, he was involved in a series of matches with Cara Noir. Having traded wins over each other at "Chapter 96" and "Chapter 97", the feud was ended at "Chapter 99" in a two out of three falls match, in which Dragunov lost.


title: Ilja Dragunov

text: During January 2019, it was reported that Rukober would be signing with WWE, with the intention of performing for the promotion's NXT UK brand. He previously had a tryout for the promotion in November 2013, but suffered a skull injury which kept him out for almost a year. He had a second tryout in Cologne during WWE's European tour in November 2018, where he was said to have "turned heads". On February 27, 2019, WWE officially announced his signing. On the May 15 episode of "NXT UK" (taped April 19), Dragunov made his debut for the brand as a fan favorite, defeating Jack Starz. He then began a short undefeated streak, defeating Joseph Conners on the June 12 episode (taped April 20), and Ashton Smith on the July 10 episode (taped June 16). However, this ended on the August 15 episode (taped July 19), when Dragunov was defeated by Kassius Ohno. On August 31, at , Dragunov answered Cesaro's open challenge in a losing effort.


title: Ilja Dragunov

text: On the October 17 episode of "NXT UK" (taped October 4), Dragunov defeated Saxon Huxley under the watchful eye of Alexander Wolfe. Following the win, Wolfe applauded Dragunov, which turned into a brief staredown with the Russian when Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner joined him. However, it did not turn into a fight, as Barthel and Aichner walked past Dragunov for their match against The Hunt (Primate and Wild Boar), while Wolfe took him to the back, presumably to convince him to join Imperium. On the November 11 episode of "NXT UK" (taped October 5), Dragunov seemingly joined Imperium in their ongoing feud with Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang), before allying himself with the Scotsmen, who then proceeded to have a brawl in the ring as the show went off the air. On the November 21 episode of "NXT UK" (taped November 15), Dragunov was defeated by Wolfe, and after the match, was beaten down by the other members of Imperium before Gallus made the save. On the November 28 episode of "NXT UK" (taped November 15), Dragunov alongside Gallus, fought Imperium to a double countout. Although he got some offence in on Wolfe, he was mostly overpowered by the other members of Imperium, including a call back to the 2017 wXw 16 Carat Gold final with its leader Walter. On the December 5 episode of "NXT UK" (taped November 15), Dragunov appeared during the main event negotiation segment between Walter and Joe Coffey, for their title match at . Walter wanted Dragunov to face Wolfe in a no disqualification match at a future date, but Coffey refused, since Dragunov was not a member of Gallus. Walter then said "No Ilja, no deal", to which Dragunov came out from the back and told Coffey to make the agreement. Following the negotiations, Walter told Dragunov that he had made a really bad decision, and the Russian was ambushed by the other members of Imperium before being powerbombed by Wolfe through a table. On the January 2, 2020 episode of "NXT UK" (taped November 16, 2019), Dragunov defeated Wolfe in the no disqualification match. In retaliation, he was beaten down by Barthel and Aichner after the match.


title: Ilja Dragunov

text: On January 12, during the main event title match between Walter and Coffey, Wolfe interfered in the match attacking the latter, leading to Dragunov coming out and hitting the "Torpedo Moscow" on Wolfe, which caused him to accidentally fall on Coffey's left knee, exacerbating the injury. On the February 13 episode of "NXT UK" (taped January 18), after Gallus had retained the NXT UK Tag Team Championship over Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, Dragunov came out to confront Gallus, but was outnumbered and suffered a beat down. This was due to Coffey earlier stating that Dragunov owed "the Gallus firm" a debt, and it led to a match between the two men on the February 20 episode of "NXT UK" (taped January 18), resulting in Dragunov defeating Coffey. After the match, the other two members of Gallus appeared in order to commit a post-match assault on the Russian, but Coffey stopped them and informed Dragunov that he had paid his debt and that matters were now settled. Parallel to the Coffey storyline on "NXT UK", Dragunov also appeared on "NXT" programming in promos with Finn Bálor. He accepted Balor's challenge to a singles match at Worlds Collide on January 25, where he was defeated.


title: Ilja Dragunov

text: On the April 2 episode of "NXT UK" (taped March 7), Dragunov won a 20-man battle royal to become the #1 contender for the NXT United Kingdom Championship, last eliminating Tyler Bate. Due to the United Kingdom's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, NXT UK was put on hold and was relaunched in September, being filmed behind closed doors at Here East. On the September 17 episode of "NXT UK", after Dragunov defeated Noam Dar, he was confronted by Walter and their feud was reignited. On the October 1 episode of "NXT UK", Dragunov made the save on guest referee Pete Dunne, who was being beat down by Walter and Wolfe, following the latter's loss to Dar in the NXT UK Heritage Cup first round. This led to a tag team match between the four men on the October 15 episode of "NXT UK", in which Dragunov and Dunne were victorious. On the October 22 episode of "NXT UK", during the contract signing segment, Dragunov was stopped from finishing his catchphrase as he was struck in the face by Walter, who then tore his shirt off and started chopping him. He escaped but withstood more damage as Walter chopped him in mid-air, hit a powerbomb to him on the ring apron, followed by more chops. However, it was not enough to put him down, as he ran at Walter through the railings. On the October 29 episode of "NXT UK", he was defeated by Walter by referee stoppage, due to him passing out after being put in a rear naked choke. The match gained critical acclaim, and Dave Meltzer in particular, rated it 5 stars out of 5. WWE were quick to capitalize on this, uploading a playback video eight days after it aired, with commentary by Shawn Michaels, William Regal, Wade Barrett, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, Killian Dain and Drake Maverick.


title: Ilja Dragunov

text: Dragunov returned to the brand in January 2021. Haunted by the loss to Walter, he struggled to keep his emotions in check, resulting in his matches ending by referee stoppage. He then had a short feud with Sam Gradwell, who kept trash talking him throughout his match with Tyson T-Bone. On the March 4 episode of "NXT UK", their first match initially ended by referee stoppage and was changed to a win for Gradwell by disqualification, as Dragunov kept attacking him after the bell. On the March 25 episode of "NXT UK", the second match (a no disqualification match) ended by referee's decision, after Dragunov forced Gradwell to tap out following several ground-and-pound strikes to the Englishman. On the May 6 episode of "NXT UK", Dragunov faced Dave Mastiff, who had offered to fight him the previous week. The bout was cut short due to referee stoppage, but this was legitimate instead of scripted, as Mastiff actually had his nose broken, and the storyline of Dragunov's matches ending in this way was scrapped.


title: Ilja Dragunov

text: On the June 3 episode of "NXT UK", Dragunov defeated Dar in a singles match, following an altercation the two had on "Supernova Sessions". He later appeared after the main event, staring down Joe Coffey and Rampage Brown. On the June 24 episode of "NXT UK", Dragunov defeated Coffey and Brown in a triple threat match to again become the #1 contender for the NXT United Kingdom Championship. Afterwards, Walter held Dragunov in a sleeper hold until he passed out. On the July 15 episode of "NXT UK", during the in-ring press conference segment, Walter berated and belittled Dragunov. In turn, he told Walter that while he once respected him, he no longer did and all that is left is hate. It was revealed that Walter had an injured hand and was unable to defend the title on July 22. Triple H, Michaels and Regal announced that the match would happen a month later, at NXT TakeOver 36. Dragunov made his debut for NXT on the August 10 episode of "NXT", where he addressed the crowd but was interrupted by Dunne (who, by this point, had turned heel since their brief alliance in "NXT UK"). In the main event, Dragunov was distracted by Walter turning up, leading to him being defeated by Dunne, who countered the "Torpedo Moscow" with a forearm, followed by "The Bitter End". On the August 17 episode of "NXT", Dragunov answered Roderick Strong's open challenge in a winning effort. On August 22, at NXT TakeOver 36, Dragunov defeated Walter in yet another critically acclaimed match by submission, ending the Austrian's two-year hold on the NXT United Kingdom Championship. On an episode of "NXT UK", Dragunov defeated A-Kid to retain his NXT UK Championship. On the 27 January 2022 episode of "NXT UK" Dragunov made another successful title defense against Jordan Devlin in an empty arena match. On another episode of "NXT UK," Dragunov would successfully defend the NXT United Kingdom Championship against Roderick Strong. After back and forth verbal shots with Jordan Devlin, another match for Dragunov's NXT UK championship was made, under the stipulation that the loser leaves NXT UK. The match would take place on the 200th episode of "NXT UK" where Dragunov retained his title, and Devlin had to leave (kayfabe) NXT UK. He was forced to vacate the title on July 7, 2022 after he suffered an injury.


title: Ilja Dragunov

text: On the September 20 episode of NXT, Dragunov made his return, interrupting a segment between NXT Champion Bron Breakker and number one contender JD McDonagh.


title: Lost River (film)

text: Lost River is a 2014 American fantasy thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Ryan Gosling, in his feature directorial debut. The film stars Christina Hendricks, Saoirse Ronan, Iain De Caestecker, Matt Smith, Ben Mendelsohn, Barbara Steele, and Eva Mendes. Principal photography began in Detroit on May 6, 2013. The film premiered in competition in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, and was released in the United States on April 10, 2015.


title: Lost River (film)

text: Single mother Billy lives in a rapidly crumbling Detroit neighborhood with her two sons, the teenage Bones and toddler Franky. Billy and Bones both dote on Franky but are fairly distant from each other. In his spare time, Bones salvages copper piping from abandoned houses in the neighborhood while trying to avoid a vicious local criminal named Bully, who wants all the copper piping for himself. One day, Bully catches Bones taking piping, which Bones abandons and flees. Later, Bones reclaims the piping from Bully's hiding place and manages to escape from Bully's sidekick, Face.