Virgil

Michael "Mike" Jones (June 13, 1962 - February 28, 2024) was an American professional wrestler he was best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under the ring name Virgil, where he appeared on its Raw brand as Ted DiBiase's personal assistant. He also performed under the ring names Vincent, Shane and Curly Bill in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 2013, Jones was inducted into the Deadspin Hall of Fame under his ring name Virgil.
==Professional wrestling career==
===Championship Wrestling Association (1985–1987)===
After a standout amateur career, Jones started wrestling professionally as Soul Train Jones in the Championship Wrestling Association based in Memphis, Tennessee in 1985. He feuded with Chick Donovan and Big Bubba. He also made appearances in ICW with the Soul Train Jones gimmick.
===World Wrestling Federation (1987–1994)===
Moving to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he first appeared as a jobber wrestling under the name Lucius Brown, losing a squash match to "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff.
He then went on to debut in the summer of 1987 as Virgil, the bodyguard for "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. His stage name, thought up by Bobby Heenan, was meant as a jab against then World Championship Wrestling (WCW) wrestler Virgil Runnels, better known as Dusty Rhodes. Virgil carried DiBiase's cash that he liked to flaunt and was the one who got beaten up while DiBiase ran away after a devious act against a face.
Eventually, Virgil got tired of being humiliated by DiBiase and turned on him, hitting him with his own Million Dollar Title belt at the Royal Rumble in January 1991. After forming a friendship and training with Roddy Piper, he defeated DiBiase by count-out at WrestleMania VII and pinned him for the belt on August 26, 1991 at SummerSlam. He lost the belt back to DiBiase in November of that year as a result of outside interference by the Repo Man. This led to a tag team match at the This Tuesday in Texas PPV, where Repo Man and DiBiase defeated Virgil and Tito Santana.
At WrestleMania VIII, Virgil teamed with The Big Boss Man, Sgt. Slaughter, and Jim Duggan to defeat The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags), Repo Man, and The Mountie. Virgil pinned Knobs following a heel miscommunication. He would then primarily be used to put over numerous rising talents. However, he did receive a shot at Bret Hart's WWF Championship on the November 21, 1992 episode of WWF Superstars. After a valiant effort, Virgil submitted to Hart's Sharpshooter. After the match, the two shook hands out of respect. Virgil then remained in the undercard until he left the company in mid-1994. His last appearance on a PPV event was the 1994 Royal Rumble where he was a late substitute for Kamala.
===World Championship Wrestling (1996–2000)===
He appeared in WCW as Vincent in 1996, where he was the "Head of Security" for the nWo. His name was meant to be a mockery of WWF owner Vince McMahon. Jones had minor success when first arriving, winning a few matches on the low profile WCW Saturday Night. Rarely wrestling, he often valeted nWo members such as Scott Norton and Scott Steiner. Jones, like his role in the WWF, would again take the brunt of the beatings as other nWo members scurried away. Vincent's first PPV match with WCW was at Starrcade 1997, when he teamed with Scott Norton and Randy Savage to defeat The Steiner Brothers and Ray Traylor. His next match on pay per view came in November 1998, when he competed in the World War 3 Battle Royal, unsuccessfully. He was part of the nWo Hollywood faction when the stable split and he was one of the last members of the nWo when it dissolved in 1999. Vincent's one and only WCW singles match on pay per view came at Uncensored 1999 when he was on the losing end of a Harlem Street Fight against his nWo Black and White partner Stevie Ray. During the 'Powers That Be' angle in fall of 1999, Jones was renamed Shane, again a mockery of WWF owner Vince McMahon's son Shane McMahon. During this time Jones teamed with Curt Hennig and the Harris Brothers (known briefly as Creative Control), doing the bidding of the mysterious Powers That Be (played by Vince Russo). In late 1999, he joined The West Texas Rednecks in their dying days as Curly Bill but the faction split shortly after. His last role for the company had him managing Ernest "The Cat" Miller under the name Mr. Jones, but he was soon replaced by a valet coincidentally named Ms. Jones. He would then go on to compete under his real name, Mike Jones, for the remainder of his days in WCW.
===Retirement and return (2000–2013)===
Following his departure from WCW he retired from wrestling and is a math teacher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He holds a degree in mathematics from the University of Virginia. Later it was proven that he lied and never taught at any school. He now does home shows for JD Waterproofing in Canonsburg Pa. He did autograph appearances in both wrestling conventions and non-wrestling conventions. In April 2006, Jones toured Asia at different US Military installations as part of the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation program for soldiers stationed overseas. He wrestled as Vincent of the nWo against one of the Ballard Brothers dressed as Doink the Clown in the second to last match during this tour. On November 28, 2008, Jones returned to the ring as "Virgil" and wrestled for Next Era Wrestling in Lockport, NY, in a tag match with Patrick O'Malley, defeating Ryot and Superbeast.
Shortly prior to January 31, 2009 in Manchester, England, Virgil had produced a promo for UK fan convention WrestleSlam 2 calling out Liverpool independent wrestler The Vulture for a proposed 'shoot'. However, when The Vulture arrived at the event, Virgil instead offered him a T-shirt. On July 2, 2009, Jones returned to the ring, once again, in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, as Virgil, this time for Ultimate Championship Wrestling (UCW).
===Return to World Wrestling Entertainment (2010)===
On the May 17, 2010 episode of Monday Night Raw from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Jones returned to WWE reprising his Virgil bodyguard character, this time with Ted DiBiase, Jr. He carried out all of his old actions, such as holding the ropes open for DiBiase and bringing him a microphone when asked. On the June 14 episode of Raw, Virgil and DiBiase were in a tag team match against Big Show and Raw guest host Mark Feuerstein. After Virgil got pinned and lost the match, DiBiase stuffed a $100 bill in Virgil's mouth and walked out on him. The following week DiBiase first apologized to Virgil, but then fired him and replaced him with Maryse.
==In wrestling==
*Finishing moves
:*Camel clutch
:*Million Dollar Dream
:*Russian legsweep
*Signature moves
:*Airplane spin
:*Back elbow smash
:*Belly to back suplex
:*Diving clothesline
:*Dropkick, sometimes from the top rope
:*Fallaway slam
:*Fujiwara armbar
:*Inverted atomic drop
:*Knockout punch
:*Neckbreaker
:*Superplex
:*Various boxing punches
*Managers
:*Roddy Piper
:*Ted DiBiase
*Wrestlers managed
:*Larry Sharpe
:*Ted DiBiase
:*Curt Hennig
:*Ernest "The Cat" Miller
:*Ted DiBiase, Jr.
*Teams and stables managed
:*nWo (Hollywood Hogan, Scott Hall, Ted DiBiase, Vicious and Delicious (Scott Norton and Buff Bagwell), Konnan, Scott Steiner, Brian Adams and Horace Hogan, Stevie Ray)
:*West Texas Rednecks (Curt Hennig, Barry Windham and Kendall Windham)
*Entrance themes
:*"Living in America" by James Brown (CWA; Soul Train Jones; 1985-1987)
:*"Rockhouse" by J.Hart and H.Helm (WCW; used while a part of the New World Order; 1996–1999)
:*"Tear It Up" by J.Hart and H.Helm (WCW; used while a part of the New World Order; 1996–1998)
:*"Good Ol' Boys" by the West Texas Rednecks (WCW; 1999)
==Championships and accomplishments==
*American Wrestling Association
**AWA International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rocky Johnson
*New Jack City Wrestling
**NJCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI ranked him #74 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1992
**PWI ranked him #483 of the top 500 singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003
*United States Wrestling League
**USWL Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
*World Wrestling Federation
**Million Dollar Championship (1 time)
==External links==
* WWE.com Profile
* Profile
* Profile
Category:American wrestlers
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni
Category:World Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:WrestleReunion alumni
Category:1962 births
Category:2024 deaths
Category:Wrestlers who have died
Category:1985 debuts
Category:2000 retirements
Category:Million Dollar Champions
Category:African American wrestlers
Category:Texas wrestlers
Category:Male wrestlers
Category:Billtown Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:International Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:Security and Bodyguards