Charlie Haas Charles " Charlie " Doyle Haas II ( March 27 , 1972 ) is a former American professional wrestler and former collegiate amateur wrestler best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment . Haas was an amateur wrestler in high school , and attended Seton Hall University on a wrestling scholarship , before becoming a stockbroker . He became a professional wrestler in 1996 , and teamed regularly with his brother , Russ , with the two winning numerous championships on the independent circuit , including the CZW World Tag Team Championship and the JAPW Tag Team Championship . After signing contracts with WWE , The Haas Brothers were assigned to WWE ' s developmental territories , where they won the MCW Southern Tag Team Championship on three occasions . After Russ ' death in 2001 due to a heart attack , Haas began wrestling in singles competition , winning the HWA Heavyweight Championship once . Haas formed a team with Shelton Benjamin and the two debuted on " SmackDown " in December 2002 . They won the WWE Tag Team Championship twice , and dubbed themselves The World ' s Greatest Tag Team before they split in 2004 . Haas won the WWE Tag Team Championship once more with Rico , and gained Miss Jackie as a valet . Haas then transferred into singles competition before being released from WWE in 2005 . After a short stint in Jersey All Pro Wrestling ( JAPW ) and other independent promotions , Haas was re - signed to WWE in April 2006 . He formed a short - lived team with Viscera , before reforming the World ' s Greatest Tag Team with Benjamin . After Benjamin transferred to the ECW brand , Haas began wrestling with a comical luchador persona , before developing a character where he imitated other wrestlers and WWE Hall of Fame rs . He was released from WWE in February 2010 . He soon returned to the independent circuit , including returning to JAPW and appearing for Ring of Honor . In September 2010 he won the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship . On April 1 , 2011 , Haas and Benjamin won the ROH World Tag Team Championship and held it until December 2011 . Haas announced his retirement from professional wrestling in March 2013 . Aside from wrestling , Haas and his wife Jackie , his former valet , run a nutritional store , Custom Muscle Nutrition and Smoothie Shop , in Frisco , Texas , which they opened in October 2008 . Professional wrestling career . Independent circuit ( 1996 – 2000 ) . After debuting in 1996 as a professional wrestler , Haas regularly teamed with his brother Russ for numerous independent promotions . On July 22 , 1998 , The Haas Brothers won the Jersey All Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship by defeating The Skin Head Express . They lost it to The Nation of Immigration just over a month later on August 25 . They won the championship for the second time on May 21 , 1999 , by defeating The Big Unit ( Rick Silver and Dave Desire ) , and held the championship until February 25 , 2000 when they were defeated by Da Hit Squad . During 2000 they also held the Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship and the ECWA Tag Team Championship in the East Coast Wrestling Association promotion , which they won by defeating The Backseat Boyz ( Trent Acid and Johnny Kashmere ) . The Haas brothers began competing for Combat Zone Wrestling ( CZW ) in November 1999 , losing to The King Pinz at " The War Begins " on November 20 , 1999 . They competed regularly for CZW throughout early 2000 , and won the CZW World Tag Team Championship on February 12 at " Climbing The Ladder " by defeating The Kashmerino Brothers and The Thrill Kill Kult in a three - way match . On July 10 , they lost the championship to The Backseat Boyz at " Caged To The End " , when Johnny Kashmere defeated Russ in a singles match and was awarded the championship . World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment ( 2000 – 2005 ) . After a World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) tryout match at Madison Square Garden on August 7 , 2000 , they signed a developmental contract with WWF . The two worked their way through the tag ranks in the WWF ' s developmental territories , Memphis Championship Wrestling ( MCW ) and the Heartland Wrestling Association ( HWA ) . The brothers won the MCW Southern Tag Team Championship three times during early 2001 , defeating The Dupps the first time and The Island Boyz and Joey Matthews and Christian York in a three - way match on both the second and third occasions . Russ died from a heart attack due to a pre - existing heart condition , on December 15 , 2001 at age 27 . The brothers fought in house shows and dark matches in the WWF up until Russ passed away . After Russ ' death , Charlie continue to fight in dark matches . After Russ ' death as a tribute to him , Haas wrote Russ ' name on his wrist tape , and used the name " R . C . Haas " ( standing for Russ – Charlie ) before being called up to the main WWE roster . On January 2 , 2002 , Haas won the HWA Heavyweight Championship , his first singles championship , by defeating Val Venis . He was later stripped of the title on January 29 due to a scripted contract loophole . After World Wrestling Entertainment ( renamed from the WWF ) ended its affiliation with the HWA , Haas was moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling ( OVW ) where he competed until December 2002 . Haas debuted on WWE ' s main roster on the December 26 , 2002 episode of " SmackDown ! " as a heel ( villainous character ) along with Shelton Benjamin as " Team Angle " . The tag team was the " contingency plan " of Paul Heyman , and were intended to help WWE Champion Kurt Angle retain his title , attacking Chris Benoit and Brock Lesnar in an attempt to soften them up . They quickly won the WWE Tag Team Championship on February 6 , 2003 , by defeating Los Guerreros ( Eddie and Chavo Guerrero ) . They held the championship for three months , including a successful title defense at WrestleMania XIX against Los Guerreros and the team of Chris Benoit and Rhyno , before losing the championship to Eddie Guerrero and his new partner Tajiri in a ladder match on May 18 at Judgment Day . On the June 12 episode of " SmackDown " , Angle fired Haas and Benjamin after they blamed him for losing the Tag Team Championship and began to question his leadership . The duo then dubbed themselves The World ' s Greatest Tag Team , although announcers made sure to add " Self Proclaimed " to the name . Haas and Benjamin regained the championship from Guerrero and Tajiri on the July 3 episode of " SmackDown " , but lost it to the reformed Los Guerreros on September 18 . The team was separated when Benjamin was moved to the Raw brand as part of the 2004 Draft Lottery . After Benjamin ' s draft , Haas turned into a fan favorite and gained Miss Jackie as a valet . He teamed with Rico to win the WWE Tag Team Championship on April 22 , 2004 . The pair lost the championship to the Dudley Boyz on June 17 , and shortly afterwards , Haas became a singles wrestler , although he retained Miss Jackie as his valet . Haas lost a match to Luther Reigns at the Great American Bash . Haas was later involved in an angle in which he was in a love triangle with Miss Jackie , who was acknowledged on - screen as his fiancée , and Dawn Marie . The storyline culminated when Haas served as the Referee in a match at Armageddon 2004 between the two women . After the match , Haas left both women in storyline , although he continued his relationship with Miss Jackie off - screen . In early - 2005 , he formed a tag team with Hardcore Holly . They were involved in a feud ( scripted rivalry ) with MNM for the WWE Tag Team Championship , but never won the championship . On July 8 , 2005 , Haas was released by World Wrestling Entertainment along with his real - life wife Jackie Gayda . Independent circuit ( 2005 ) . He returned to JAPW later in July 2005 , and began a feud for the JAPW Heavyweight Championship with Jay Lethal . On September 10 at " JAPW Haas of Pain " , Lethal defeated Haas to retain his title . In JAPW , on October 27 , 2007 , Haas was inducted along with his late brother Russ into the first class of the Jersey All Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame . He won the Natural Heavyweight Championship at " Ballpark Brawl V " on August 13 , 2005 , defeating then - champion Christopher Daniels and Chris Sabin in a triple threat match . He successfully defended the title the next night at " Ballpark Brawl VI " against Harry Smith with Mick Foley as a referee . During his time back in the independent circuit , Haas competed in the East Coast Wrestling Association ' s ( ECWA ) Super 8 Tournament in 2006 , where he advanced all the way to the finals before losing to Davey Richards . Return to World Wrestling Entertainment . Singles competition ( 2006 ) . Haas returned to WWE in 2006 , appearing on the April 17 , 2006 , episode of " Raw " as Rob Van Dam ' s handpicked opponent for his former partner , Shelton Benjamin . Haas defeated Benjamin in the ensuing match . Haas continued to wrestle on the lower midcard spot , becoming a regular fixture on " Heat " . On the June 5 , 2006 episode of " Raw " , Haas inadvertently knocked Lilian Garcia off the ring apron as he was entering the ring . It was announced on WWE ' s official website that as a result , Garcia suffered a sprained wrist . As a result of the legitimate accident , Haas began a feud with Garcia ' s onetime storyline love interest Viscera . Haas made advances towards Garcia , at one point forcefully kissing her and then dropping her to the ground . Haas and Viscera continued to fight for Garcia ' s affection in the ring , until she told them both that she wanted to be " just friends " . Haas gave Viscera an eye rake in anger , and a blinded Viscera accidentally gave Garcia a Samoan drop . Though it was unintentional , when both Haas and Viscera had seen what had happened to their now former love interest , they simply had a laugh about it , thus making Haas a villain . After that , Viscera and Haas became a tag team , competing on both " Raw " and " Heat " until splitting in December 2006 . Return of The World ' s Greatest Tag Team ( 2006 – 2007 ) . After Shelton Benjamin won a match against Super Crazy on the December 4 , 2006 , edition of " Raw " , Haas came out to celebrate his win with a bewildered Benjamin . Haas and Benjamin announced the return of The World ' s Greatest Tag Team on the December 11 , 2006 edition of " Raw " , and they defeated The Highlanders in their return match . They then started a feud with Cryme Tyme . They continued to compete on " Raw " through the start of 2007 , facing teams including John Cena and Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair and Carlito . In mid - 2007 , The World ' s Greatest Tag Team feuded briefly with The Hardys in storyline ; at the One Night Stand pay - per - view on June 3 , 2007 , they challenged The Hardys for the World Tag Team Championship in a ladder match but were unsuccessful . The team broke up once again when Benjamin moved to the ECW brand on November 20 , 2007 . Various gimmicks and SmackDown return ( 2008 – 2010 ) . Early in 2008 , Haas developed a gimmick in which he would go under the ring in the middle of his matches and re - emerge wearing a mask . In this " alter - ego " , Haas would sometimes perform luchador - esque maneuvers in a comical fashion ( such as attempting a diving splash , but instead landing on his feet and hitting a standing splash ) . The opponent would often unmask Haas mid - match , returning him to his normal demeanor . During this persona , Haas usually competed in dark matches before the live broadcast of " Raw " or on " Heat " . Beginning in late August , Haas turned into a face ( heroic character ) and began a storyline in which he began to impersonate other wrestlers , a concept created by John Laurinaitis , a WWE executive . His first match under this gimmick was a loss to Carlito ' s real - life brother Primo Colón , while Haas was parodying Carlito with the name " Charlito " . He has portrayed such superstars as John Cena , John " Bradshaw " Layfield , Jim Ross , The Great Khali , Montel Vontavious Porter , legends such as Stone Cold Steve Austin , Bret Hart , " Mr . Perfect " Curt Hennig , Jimmy " Superfly " Snuka , Rowdy Roddy Piper , Hulk Hogan and even WWE Diva Beth Phoenix for which he won a Slammy Award . On April 15 , 2009 , Haas was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft . On the May 8 , 2009 episode of " SmackDown " , Haas made his in - ring return to the brand as a heel , abandoning his persona of imitating other wrestlers , and losing to John Morrison in a match where he was accompanied by his former World ' s Greatest Tag Team partner , Shelton Benjamin . The following week on the May 15 , 2009 episode of " SmackDown " , Benjamin and Haas unofficially reunited and competed against John Morrison and CM Punk in a losing effort , but Benjamin was traded to the ECW brand in June . After an absence of several months , Haas made his return to television by teaming with Mike Knox in a losing effort against Cryme Tyme on the December 31 , 2009 episode of " Superstars " . On February 28 , 2010 , WWE announced that Haas had been released from his contract . Return to the independent circuit ( 2010 – 2013 ) . On March 20 , 2010 , Haas made a surprise return to Jersey All Pro Wrestling and defeated Devon Moore for the JAPW New Jersey State Championship . On May 22 Haas and JAPW Heavyweight Champion Dan Maff put their titles on the line in a tag team match against the Hillbilly Wrecking Crew ( Brodie Lee and Necro Butcher ) . In the end Maff turned on Haas and hit him with a chair , after which Lee pinned him to win the JAPW New Jersey State Championship . On September 10 , 2010 , Haas won the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship by defeating Michael Faith in Amarillo . In May 2011 , Haas took part in New Japan Pro Wrestling ' s first tour of the United States . In the main event of the first night on May 13 in Rahway , New Jersey , Haas teamed with Rhino in a tag team match , where they defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi and Togi Makabe . The following day in New York City , Haas unsuccessfully challenged Tanahashi for his title . On August 20 , 2011 , Haas became the inaugural Family Wrestling Entertainment ( FWE ) Heavyweight Champion by defeating Jay Lethal and Eric Young . He held the championship for four months before losing it to Young on December 17 . Haas then in 2013 signed a contract with the Italian federation Nu - Wrestling Evolution forming a team with Nelson Frazier Jr . named Road Killers . Ring of Honor ( 2010 – 2013 ) . On September 11 , 2010 , Haas and Shelton Benjamin debuted in Ring of Honor ( ROH ) in a loss to The Kings of Wrestling ( Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli ) at the Glory By Honor IX pay - per - view . They returned to ROH at the " Ring of Honor Wrestling " television tapings on December 9 , where they defeated the Bravado Brothers . The following day , at the second set of television tapings , Haas and Benjamin defeated the All - Night Xpress of Kenny King and Rhett Titus , and participated in an eight - man tag team match , teaming with the Briscoe Brothers against the Kings of Wrestling and the All - Night Xpress , which ended in a no contest . At the Final Battle 2010 pay - per - view on December 18 , Haas and Benjamin announced they would be wrestling regularly for ROH in 2011 . At the following pay - per - view , 9th Anniversary Show , on February 26 , 2011 , Haas and Benjamin defeated the Briscoe Brothers in the main event of the evening to earn another shot at the Kings of Wrestling and the ROH World Tag Team Championship . On April 1 , at the first night of the Honor Takes Center Stage pay - per - view , Haas and Benjamin defeated the Kings of Wrestling to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship . On June 26 at Best in the World 2011 , Haas and Benjamin successfully defended the ROH World Tag Team Championship in a four - way match against the Briscoe Brothers , the Kings of Wrestling and the All - Night Express . The following day ROH announced that both Haas and Benjamin had signed contracts with the promotion . At Final Battle 2011 , Haas and Benjamin lost the ROH World Tag Team Championship to the Briscoes despite severely attacking them before the match started , turning them into villainous characters . On May 12 , 2012 , at Border Wars 2012 , Haas and Benjamin regained the ROH World Tag Team Championship from the Briscoe Brothers . On June 24 at Best in the World 2012 , Haas and Benjamin lost the title to Kenny King and Rhett Titus . Shortly after their loss , Benjamin was suspended in storyline , to explain his absence while wrestling in Japan . Benjamin returned at the Death Before Dishonor X pay - per - view , accompanying Haas and Rhett Titus in a tag team championship match . Following Death Before Dishonor , Haas and Benjamin would continue to feud with Titus and his new tag team partner B . J . Whitmer defeating them at Glory By Honor XI . They defeated them again in a street fight at , where Hass won the match after sent BJ against a table . On February 2 , 2013 , Haas turned on Benjamin during an ROH World Tag Team Championship match against the Briscoe Brothers . He continued his feud with BJ , fighting in the ROH 11 Anniversary show in a No Holds Bared Match . BJ won the match when the referee stop the match . On March 30 , 2013 , Charlie Haas announced his retirement through his Twitter account . Personal life . Haas competed in amateur wrestling during high school , and for Seton Hall University , where he attended on a wrestling scholarship . He also has various other awards for wrestling from high school . Haas was a two - time Big East Champion at Seton Hall and graduated with a degree in economics and business . He then became a stockbroker with Goldman Sachs . According to Haas via the Q & A section on his website , he is a devout Christian . Following the death of his brother , Haas has wrestled with Russ ( his brothers name ) written on his wrist tape as a tribute . His grandfather , Hugh Devore , was an assistant with the Houston Oilers and a former Head Coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish . Haas ' brother Russ was also a professional wrestler , until his death in 2001 due to a heart attack . After getting engaged in September 2004 , Haas married fellow wrestler Jackie Gayda on June 10 , 2005 . It was announced on May 5 , 2006 that they were expecting their first child . On December 14 , 2006 at 3 : 01 a . m . , Gayda gave birth to a daughter , Kayla Jacquelyn Haas , who weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces ( 2 . 9 kg ) , and was 19 . 5 inches ( 500 mm ) long . The couple ' s second daughter , Taylor Suzanne , was born on September 17 , 2008 . On June 1 , 2010 , the couple ' s third child , a son named Thomas Russell Haas , was born . Haas and his wife opened " Custom Muscle Nutrition and Smoothie Shop " , a nutritional store in Frisco , Texas on October 1 , 2008 . On 23 July 2012 Charlie Haas announced the birth of his second son . On August 30 , 2007 , an article on " Sports Illustrated " ' s website named Haas as one of ten superstars found to have purchased illegal steroids not in compliance with WWE ' s Talent Wellness program . He was allegedly prescribed anastrozole , somatropin , stanozolol , nandrolone , and chorionic gonadotropin between August 2006 and January 2007 . Haas later said that he thought it was legal , and he was doing it for " maintenance " after he had both his knees reconstructed .