Chuck Palumbo

Charles "Chuck" Ronald Palumbo Jr. (June 15, 1971) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler under the ring name Chuck Palumbo. Palumbo is best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment. Throughout his career, he has become a six-time World Tag Team Champion (four times in WCW and twice in WWF/E).
==Professional wrestling career==
===World Championship Wrestling (1998–2001)===
====Training and undercard (1998–1999)====
Palumbo began his career in 1998 on the Independent circuit, using a surfer gimmick and the ring name "The Dude". He made his debut appearance on World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s Nitro on October 19, 1998 as a fan who accepted the challenge of Ernest "The Cat" Miller. Six months later, he was offered a training contract by WCW in April 1999. Just prior to the hiring of Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera as bookers for WCW, many of the Power Plant wrestlers debuted on Saturday Night and WorldWide. Palumbo's initial WCW run was under the name Jungle Jim, his gimmick being a man of the jungle. Palumbo was undefeated in matches on the lower-tier programs, which were mostly against other Power Plant graduates.
====Perfect Event; Natural Born Thrillers (2000–2001)====
In 2000, Palumbo made his debut on the March 22, 2000 edition of Thunder under his real name, losing to Scott Steiner. After this match, Palumbo was chosen by Bischoff and Russo to be the New Blood's version of Lex Luger in May 2000. He was given the nickname "The Main Event".
Palumbo feuded with Luger until late May 2000 when Palumbo formed a team called "The Perfect Event" with Shawn Stasiak and the pair won the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Their main feud was against KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clark). In August, Stasiak and Palumbo helped form the Natural Born Thrillers with Mike Sanders, Sean O'Haire, Mark Jindrak, and Reno. They were briefly "coached" by Kevin Nash.
Palumbo and Stasiak won the WCW Tag Team Title two more times before splitting in early January 2001 when he and Stasiak won a tag team battle royal with O'Haire and Jindrak for a future tag team title shot. After the conclusion of the match Mike Sanders declared both teams victorious and that any combination of the four would face The Insiders (Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash). Palumbo and O'Haire were the two members of the Natural Born Thrillers who would face and defeat Page and Nash for the tag titles at Sin on January 14, 2001. Following the title victory, the Natural Born Thrillers broke up when the team of Jindrak and Stasiak became jealous of Palumbo and O'Haire. The teams faced each other at SuperBrawl Revenge on February 18, 2001 for the tag team title, which Palumbo and O'Haire retained. The duo also retained the title against Totally Buff (Buff Bagwell and Lex Luger) at Greed in March, WCW's last pay-per-view. On the final episode of Nitro, Palumbo and O'Haire defeated Team Canada's Mike Awesome and Lance Storm in the final WCW World Tag Team Championship title defense on the program.
===World Wrestling Entertainment (2001–2004)===
====The Alliance (2001)====
Palumbo and O'Haire made their WWF debuts on the June 28, 2001, episode of SmackDown! as part of The Alliance, attacking the Hardy Boyz. O'Haire and Palumbo started feuding with the A.P.A. in the following weeks, which ended at WWE Invasion on July 22, 2001 when the APA defeated them. Subsequently, O'Haire and Palumbo defeated the Hardy Boyz on the August 2, 2001 edition of SmackDown!. O'Haire and Palumbo next dropped the WCW Tag Team title to the Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane) on the August 9, 2001 edition of SmackDown! and lost their rematch for the tag-team gold in a steel cage match the following week on Raw. O'Haire and Palumbo's last televised match together was on the August 26 edition of Heat defeating The Holly Cousins (Hardcore and Crash).
O'Haire was sent to developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling in early September 2001, and Palumbo was thrown out of The Alliance in late October by storyline co-owner of The Alliance, Stephanie McMahon. He joined the WWF in November.
====Billy and Chuck (2002)====
When he returned, Palumbo found a tag team partner in Billy Gunn. The pair started as a tag team working dark matches, but were later given a gimmick that saw the pair grow increasingly affectionate towards each other, showing evidence of a homosexual relationship. The two turned had increased in becoming affectionate, it was spoken by fans that they were a homosexual couple but never confirmed by World Wrestling Entertainment itself. Palumbo became known simply as Chuck, and he bleached his hair blond to match Gunn's.
On the February 2, 2002 edition of SmackDown!, Billy and Chuck defeated Tazz and Spike Dudley to win the World Tag Team Championship. They lost the tag team gold to Rikishi and their stylist Rico Constantino, who was forced to team with Rikishi on May 19, 2002 at Judgment Day. Less than a month later Rico helped Billy and Chuck recapture the title, but they later lost it to Edge and Hulk Hogan.
In the late summer of 2002, Billy and Chuck were the source of controversy when Chuck apparently proposed to Billy on September 5, 2002 edition of SmackDown! asking him to be his "partner for life". They had a marriage ceremony on the 2002 season premiere of SmackDown!. Just before they tied the knot, however, they revealed that the entire ordeal was a publicity stunt, and both characters disavowed their on-screen homosexuality. When Billy and Chuck decided not to go through with the marriage, Rico turned on them by helping Eric Bischoff and 3-Minute Warning attack the duo. Rico subsequently jumped to Raw as the manager of 3-Minute Warning, who beat Billy and Chuck at Unforgiven. Billy was injured in early October 2002, and Chuck worked on Velocity for a few months using his original ring name Chuck Palumbo once again.
====Full Blooded Italians; release (2003–2004)====
In February 2003, Palumbo formed the Full Blooded Italians (F.B.I.) in WWE, a faction which had previously been seen in Extreme Championship Wrestling. After a beating at the hands of Rikishi, Nunzio threatened to bring in his "family" in order to gain revenge. The next week, Chuck Palumbo and Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli joined Nunzio to form the F.B.I. and attacked Rikishi. This version initially gained little success, but would go on to have brief feuds with Los Guerreros, Chris Benoit, Rhyno, Brian Kendrick, Nathan Jones, the APA, and The Undertaker.
Palumbo was traded to the Raw brand on March 22, 2004 along with A-Train in exchange for Rico and Jackie Gayda. After Palumbo was traded to the Raw brand, he was kept off television until July 2004, when he debuted as Custom Chucky P with a new look and entrance music. His new image resembled a cross between an auto mechanic and a greaser. It was not long before Palumbo was a regular on Sunday Night Heat. His new gimmick started off as a jobber but began to rise on Heat, defeating the likes of The Hurricane, Rosey, Val Venis, Ollie Young, and Stevie Richards. Palumbo was later released by WWE on November 4, 2004.
===Overseas===
Palumbo, along with Johnny Stamboli, went on to become a member of Voodoo Murders of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and feuded against Roughly Obsess and Destroy. Palumbo teamed with former FBI partner Stamboli to challenge for the AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship on March 20, 2005, but were defeated by Jamal and Taiyo Kea of RO&D.
Stamboli and Palumbo's next stop would be with the Nu-Wrestling Evolution promotion in Italy, where the pair reformed the FBI. The duo also made appearances in a World Wrestling Council show where they challenged Último Dragón, Místico, and Negro Casas, in a tag team match which they would win by securing both the first and third falls.
===Return to WWE (2006–2008)===
During March 2006, Palumbo began working dark matches for both brands of WWE. He continued to wrestle very sporadically at house shows and in dark matches over the next year. On April 30, 2007, Palumbo defeated Kenny Dykstra in a dark match on Raw and debuted a new biker gimmick based on his real life love for motorcycles.
Palumbo officially returned on the May 25, 2007 edition of Heat (retaining the biker gimmick, as well as growing his hair out). Chuck would be heavily criticized for 'stealing the Undertaker's former gimmick' where he also rode a bike during his entrance and both donning a biker gimmick. He defeating Charlie Haas. He would then make appearances on Heat, defeating jobbers. On July 6, 2007, Palumbo made his return to SmackDown!, defeating Kenny Dykstra. In an interview with WWE.com Palumbo claimed that the biker character was not a gimmick and that he works on bikes two or three times a week. A Palumbo-made motorcycle was featured in the April edition of American Iron Magazine.
Palumbo began a storyline with Michelle McCool, which led to a scripted rivalry with Jamie Noble, after Noble made advances towards Palumbo's "girlfriend" McCool, with Noble winning two consecutive matches. In their third encounter, Noble won a date with McCool, after her inadvertent distraction led to Noble winning the match. Afterward, Palumbo blamed McCool for the loss. On the January 4, 2008, episode of SmackDown!, McCool was pinned by Victoria in a mixed tag match, also featuring Palumbo and Dykstra. This loss gave Palumbo his fourth loss in a row and Palumbo again blamed McCool for the loss. The following week on SmackDown!, Palumbo again faced Noble, this time in a Royal Rumble qualifying match. Noble again beat Palumbo, giving him his fifth loss in a row. After Noble left the ring, Palumbo attempted to take his anger and frustration out on McCool, which brought Noble back out, and he distracted Palumbo long enough for McCool to get out of the ring. On January 26, a double turn started as Noble checked on an injured McCool and Palumbo attacked him, become a villain, while Noble would turn into a face character. On the next SmackDown!, Palumbo apologized to McCool, but she slapped him, leading to him vowing to get revenge on Noble. He defeated him the following week, before the storyline abruptly ended.
As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft, Palumbo was drafted to the Raw brand. He never made his return to the brand however, as he was released from his WWE contract on November 7, 2008.
===Independent circuit===
In November 2009, Palumbo won the HEW Championship from Brett Meadows in Braintree, England. He, however, lost the championship back to Meadows two days later in Colchester, England.
===Later career===
Palumbo fabricates custom motorcycles for his business CP Kustoms and also plays in his own band, 3 Spoke Wheel.
In 2014, he began co-hosting the Discovery Channel's Lords of the Car Hoards with custom car builder Rick Dore. He spoke of his retirement from wrestling on the debut of the show.
==Personal life==
Palumbo's brother, Chris, is a war hero, often mentioned in commentary during Palumbo's televised matches. Chris was awarded several medals for his military service in Afghanistan. Palumbo also has two younger sisters, Kelly and Liz. Palumbo has a daughter Charli and now resides in an eastern suburb of San Diego, California. 
Outside of wrestling, Palumbo runs a custom motorcycle shop, which has produced numerous custom bikes for other WWE employees. The name of the company is "CP Kustoms".
Palumbo also plays guitar in the band "3 Spoke Wheel". The band mainly plays at biker rallies and other similar events.
==In wrestling==
*Finishing moves
**Backbreaker rack – 2000, 2005; parodied from Lex Luger
**Full Throttle 2006–present
**Italian Drop (Scoop lift thrown into a Samoan drop) – 2003–2004; used as a regular move from 2005–present
**Jungle Kick (WCW) / Superkick (WWF/E) – 1998–2005
*Signature moves
**Chuck Deluxe (Overhead belly to belly suplex)
**Diving shoulder block
**Padlock (Inverted Boston crab)
**Roaring elbow
**Running big boot
**Springboard dropkick
*Managers
**Kevin Nash
**Torrie Wilson
**Rico
**Michelle McCool
*Nicknames
**"The Main Event"
**"Chucky"
*Tag teams and stables
**Natural Born Thrillers
**Perfect Event
**The Alliance
**Billy and Chuck
**Full Blooded Italians
*Entrance music
**"You Will Remember Me" by Jim Johnston (WWE; 2006–2008)
**"You Look So Good To Me" by Jim Johnston (WWE; 2002;Used while teaming with Billy Gunn)
==Championships and accomplishments==
*Herts and Essex Wrestling
**HEW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI Tag Team of the Year (2002) – with Billy
**PWI ranked him #37 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2002
*World Championship Wrestling
**WCW World Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Shawn Stasiak (3), and Sean O'Haire (1)
*World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment
**WWF/E World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Billy
==External links==
* Profile
* Profile
Category:American wrestlers
Category:All Japan Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:Nu-Wrestling Evolution alumni
Category:Toryumon Mexico alumni
Category:Ultimate Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:World Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:World League Wrestling alumni
Category:World Wrestling Council alumni
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni
Category:1971 births
Category:1998 debuts
Category:Heartland Wrestling Association alumni
Category:New Japan Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:New Wrestling Entertainment alumni
Category:Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre alumni
Category:Herts And Essex Wrestling alumni
Category:International Wrestling League alumni
Category:Rhode Island wrestlers
Category:WWE World Tag Team Champions
Category:WCW World Tag Team Champions
Category:2014 retirements
Category:Living people
Category:Male wrestlers