recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Pete Doherty

The Golden Terror

Doherty began his career in the 1970's, wrestling for Vince McMahon, Sr. in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). At the time, Doherty wrestled all over in small and large venues. Doherty wrestled under the name, "The Duke of Dorchester", paying homage to his hometown of Dorchester, Massachusetts. The Duke was generally relegated to undercard status either wrestling against the stars of his era or against other undercard "jobbers". The Duke had a short lived run as a masked wrestler named **The Golden Terror** and was managed by Captain Lou Albano. Although, The Duke was used as "enhancement talent" in the WWF, The Duke scored upset victories against fellow preliminary wrestlers like Fred Marzino and Jose Luis Rivera, including The Duke defeating Marzino twenty-eight times with no wins scored by Marzino.

In 1985, The Duke appeared on the WWF's *Saturday Night's Main Event I*; the Duke lost a match to the Junkyard Dog. In 1987, although a heel, The Duke had a short feud with fellow heel wrestler King Kong Bundy. In addition to feuding with Bundy, The Duke had several grudge matches against the likes of S.D. Jones, "Leaping" Lanny Poffo and Scott Casey, even gaining a win over Poffo in his hometown of Boston. In fact, his feud with Jones came about due to him getting a fluke win after a losing streak the announcers alleged had crossed the 300 mark.

In the late 1980's, Vince McMahon put Doherty in the broadcasting booth with The Duke announcing several WWF events around the United States, but mostly in Boston as a heel commentator, usually alongside the likes of Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes in Boston and Bruce Prichard and Mike McGuirk (and sometimes Bobby "The Brain" Heenan) around the country.

The Duke's biggest win came on July 14, 1990, when he pinned Haku at the Boston Garden. In September 1991, he competed in the King of the Ring tournament as a substitute for "The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich, but was eliminated in the first round when he was defeated in just thirty-three seconds by Bret "Hitman" Hart.
Ric Rage

Rage debuted in World Championship Wrestling, where he would perform at several television tapings in 1992, but was used as a jobber until he left later that year.

In 1996, Rage debuted for Extreme Championship Wrestling, where he wrestled several house shows as Shane Douglas' bounty hunter in an ongoing feud with The Pitbulls. He left the promotion soon thereafter.
Rich Swann

Swann made his WWE debut at an *NXT* house show on October 30, 2015, wrestling in a Halloween battle royal, which was won by Bayley. Swann made his singles match debut at a house show on November 20, losing to Riddick Moss. He made his first televised appearance on the January 20, 2016 episode of *NXT*, losing to Baron Corbin. On the March 23 episode of *NXT*, Swann was defeated by NXT Champion Finn Bálor. On October 13, Swann and No Way Jose entered the 2016 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, defeating Drew Gulak and Tony Nese in their first round match. They were eliminated from the tournament on October 28 by The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar).

On June 13, 2016, Swann was announced as a participant in the upcoming Cruiserweight Classic tournament. The tournament began on June 23 with Swann defeating Jason Lee in his first round match. On July 14, Swann defeated Lince Dorado in his second round match. On August 26, Swann was eliminated from the tournament in the quarterfinals by eventual winner T.J. Perkins.

On the August 22 episode of *Raw*, Swann was announced as part of the upcoming cruiserweight division. Swann made his *Raw* debut on September 19, wrestling in a four-way match won by Brian Kendrick and also included Cedric Alexander and Gran Metalik. On the November 21 *Raw*, Swann defeated Noam Dar and T.J. Perkins to become the number one contender to the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. On November 29, Swann defeated Brian Kendrick on the premiere episode of *205 Live* to win the title. The following week, Swann defeated Kendrick in a rematch to retain the title, following a distraction from Perkins. On December 18 at Roadblock: End of the Line, Swann retained the title in a triple threat match against Kendrick and Perkins. After the match, Swann and Perkins were attacked by a returning Neville. On January 29, 2017, Swann lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Neville at the Royal Rumble. After recovering from a minor injury, Swann received his title rematch against Neville on the March 6 *Raw*, but again lost.

On December 10, 2017, WWE suspended Swann indefinitely for violating the company's zero tolerance policy. He was originally scheduled to face Drew Gulak in a match to determine the number one contender to the Cruiserweight Championship, (which was then held by Enzo Amore), the following night on *Raw*, but the match was cancelled. On February 15, 2018, WWE officially announced that Swann and WWE had mutually agreed on his release.
Power and Glory

In early 1990, Paul Roma had come off a breakup of The Young Stallions in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and was used as an "enhancement talent" for wrestlers getting a push. Roma was paired up with Hercules into a regular tag team. At this point, they were not given a name, nor did the two faces get much air time as a team, being relegated to a few matches against jobbers.

During the summer of 1990, Paul Roma faced Dino Bravo on *WWF Superstars of Wrestling*, losing after being hit with Jimmy Hart’s megaphone and then pinned. Due to the blow to the head, Roma was still in the ring feeling groggy when The Rockers came out for their scheduled match. Roma got mad at the Rockers over coming out and was soon joined by Hercules as the two sides argued. Moments later, Roma and Hercules turned heel by attacking the Rockers, beating them down before leaving the ring together.

One of the matches the new team had was against the other newly formed team of Roma's former partner, Jim Powers and Hercules's former rival, Jim Brunzell, in which Roma and Hercules were victorious when Roma pinned Brunzell after hitting their finisher on Brunzell for the win. (Roma faced Powers numerous times at houses shows, with Roma in all the bouts coming as the winner)

Shortly after their attack on the Rockers, Roma and Hercules unveiled their new manager Slick (who briefly managed Hercules a few years prior), and a new name to go with their attitude - **Power and Glory**, along with matching outfits. Power and Glory clashed with the Rockers at SummerSlam 1990, with Marty Jannetty being forced to wrestle the match on his own after Power and Glory injured Shawn Michaels' knee before the match. Once Michaels returned, the feud continued, with the two teams being on opposite sides at Survivor Series, with Power and Glory once again coming out as the victors.

Despite having a number of shots at the WWF Tag Team Champions, The Hart Foundation, Roma and Hercules never won the gold. Their misfortune continued at WrestleMania VII, where they lost to the Legion of Doom in fifty-nine seconds.

Soon after, Power and Glory teamed up with Slick’s other charge, The Warlord, for a series of six-man tag team matches that usually saw the team on the losing side. Their last pay-per-view outing came when they teamed with The Warlord to face Ricky Steamboat, Kerry Von Erich and Davey Boy Smith at SummerSlam 1991 in a losing effort. In one of their last recorded matches together as a team, they lost to the Legion of Doom in England. Roma left the WWF soon after in October 1991, while Hercules would remain with the company for a few months before departing as well.
Palmer Cannon

Cannon made his televised debut with WWE on the August 25, 2005 episode of *SmackDown!* as an authority figure. His character was ostensibly a representative of the oppressive "Network". His character and booking of matches that the fans disliked led to mainly heel reactions, though he played face at times such as during Survivor Series, where he helped *SmackDown!* general manager Theodore Long defeat *Raw* General Manager Eric Bischoff. His character also consisted of booking matches behind the back of Theodore Long (e.g. he made Eddie Guerrero the number one contender, despite Long's wishes to have that right go to Rey Mysterio). He also introduced The Boogeyman, added "The Juniors", a midget wrestling division and the tag team The Dicks (Chad Dick and James Dick).

On the February 3, 2006 edition of *SmackDown!*, William Regal and Paul Burchill told Palmer Canon that they no longer wanted to be a tag team so they could go their separate ways. During this discussion, Burchill informed Canon that his family heritage traces back to pirates, and that he wanted to do a pirate gimmick on *Friday Night SmackDown!*. Later, on the April 21, 2006 edition of *SmackDown!*, Canon remarked that The Miz was acting inappropriately, and had him escorted from the arena by security.

Cannon was released on April 27, 2006.
Nicole Bass

Bass debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during the first half of 1998. She aligned herself with Justin Credible, Chastity and Jason. She participated in feuds with Tommy Dreamer, Mikey Whipwreck and Beulah McGillicutty.

Bass soon joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), debuting as Sable's villainous bodyguard at WrestleMania XV on March 28, 1999. She became involved in an extended feud with Debra, which culminated in a mixed tag match pitting Bass and Val Venis against Jeff Jarrett and Debra at Over the Edge, which took place directly after the tragic death of Owen Hart at that pay-per-view. Bass was then aligned with Venis until she accidentally whacked him with Jarrett's guitar after losing a bikini contest to Debra. The following week, she interfered in a match between Debra and Ivory, with Debra losing her Women's Championship due to Nicole's interference.

This led to a brief alliance between Bass and Ivory, which ended abruptly when Bass left the WWF.

On February 17, 2017, Bass passed away.
Pierroth

Pierroth debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the December 16, 1996 *Raw is War* by teaming up with Cibernético and defeating the New Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Leif Cassidy). The following night, the team lost to Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon by disqualification when Cibernético pulled the referee out of the ring. The duo participated in the 1997 Royal Rumble match and were eliminated without any storylines. On March 10, 1997, Pierroth made his last WWF appearance, teaming with Heavy Metal and Pentagón to defeat the trio of Latin Lover, Héctor Garza and Octagón.
Rebecca DiPietro

On the July 31, 2006 edition of *Raw*, DiPietro became the third contestant eliminated from WWE's *Diva Search*. Despite being eliminated from the contest, she was hired by WWE four days later.

In mid October 2006, DiPietro began making appearances at *ECW* brand house shows, and eventually became the brand's television "backstage interviewer" on the October 17 episode of *ECW on Sci Fi*. She also made a pay-per-view appearance at the November 2006 Cyber Sunday event, acting as a "Lumberjill" for the WWE Women's Championship match. On March 22, 2007, however, DiPietro was released from her World Wrestling Entertainment contract.
Penny Banner

In August 1961, Banner was booked into a match with June Byers for the newly-formed American Wrestling Alliance (AWA), but Byers no-showed. Instead of their scheduled match, the AWA booked a battle royal, which Banner won to become the first AWA World Women's Champion. After 493 days as champion, Banner vacated the title on January 1, 1963.

Banner appeared for WCW at Slamboree 1994, along with other wrestling legends.

On May 12, 2008, Banner passed away.
Persia Pirotta

Pirotta made her *NXT* debut as the close friend of Indi Hartwell who had come all the way from Australia for Hartwell's wedding with Dexter Lumis. On the October 12 episode of *NXT*, Persia teamed with Hartwell in a tag match against Amari Miller and Sarray. On October 26, during the NXT Halloween Havoc television special, Pirotta and Hartwell teamed again to compete in a triple threat Scareway to Hell ladder match against Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne) and the reigning NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Io Shirai and Zoey Stark. She won her first victory in WWE on the November 16 episode of *NXT*, defeating Gabby Stephens and Jenny Levy in a two-on-one handicap match. Her final television match of the year was made on the November 30 episode of *NXT*, during which she teamed with Indi Hartwell in a tag match against Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon.

Pirotta returned on the January 11, 2022 episode of *NXT*, during which she teamed with Indi Hartwell and Wendy Choo in a tag match against Amari Miller, Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter. In the following weeks, Pirotta and Hartwell started a feud with Toxic Attraction, which resulted in a match for the Women's Tag Team Titles at Vengeance Day, where they were unsuccessful in winning the match.

On April 22, Pirotta was released from her contract.
Ray Combs

Combs made an appearance for the World Wrestling Federation as a guest ring announcer at WrestleMania VIII, where he amused the capacity crowd by lashing into the team of the Nasty Boys, The Mountie, and Repo Man with various scathing insults before being ultimately chased out of the ring. He later served as a guest commentator alongside Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan at Survivor Series 1993, in a match between the Hart Family against Shawn Michaels and his Knights.

Combs passed away on June 2, 1996.
Snooki

Snooki made an appearance on the March 14, 2011 episode of *WWE Monday Night Raw*, where she had a segment with John Morrison, Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler. During the segment, she slapped Vickie, starting a feud with the couple. Later at night, she got into a brawl with LayCool, which led to the formation of a six-person mixed tag team match at WrestleMania XXVII. Snooki made an appearance on the March 28, 2011 episode of *WWE Monday Night Raw* in a segment where Snooki introduced Trish Stratus to the Jersey Shore, were they started a street fight with LayCool in a bar. At WrestleMania, Snooki and her partners Trish Stratus and John Morrison won the match. On December 12, 2011, on *WWE Raw*, she was awarded the WWE 2011 A-Lister of the Year Slammy Award, which she accepted via satellite.
Scotty Goldman

On the August 15, 2008 episode of *SmackDown*, Goldman made his WWE debut, losing to The Brian Kendrick. On the August 22 episode of *SmackDown*, Goldman was a participant in a 10-man battle royal to determine a qualifier for the WWE Championship scramble match at Unforgiven, but was eliminated by Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder. His last singles match on *SmackDown* was a quick loss against The Great Khali. A show starring Goldman premiered on WWE.com as *What's Crackin'?*, later renamed *Good as Goldman*, on January 14, 2009. In his first appearance on television in five months, he participated in an Elimination Chamber qualifying battle royal on February 6, 2009, but was eliminated first. Goldman was released from his WWE contract on February 20, 2009, the same day that his final match for WWE, a loss to Umaga, aired on *SmackDown*.
Rick Michaels

Michaels debuted for Extreme Championship Wrestling on June 23, 1992, under the gimmick of "**Super Ninja**" and lost to Hurricane Curry. Throughout late 1992 and early 1993, Michaels would team up with various partners such as the Canadian Wolfman, Bay Ragni and The Samoan Warrior to take on the ECW Tag Team Champions. In his last match in ECW, Michaels would lose to Tommy Cairo.
Ryan Braddock

Braddock wrestled at WWE's *Raw* house shows on August 11 and 12, 2007, and September 1, 2007 (losing to "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan). He wrestled in a dark match against D'Lo Brown before a *SmackDown* television taping in August 2007.

Braddock debuted on the main *SmackDown!* roster on the August 15, 2008 episode of the show. He was easily defeated by Big Show after a knockout punch. On the August 22 episode of *SmackDown!*, Braddock competed in a battle royal to qualify for the WWE Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven, but was eliminated by Big Show, who was not officially in the match. On the September 2 episode of *ECW*, Braddock faced Ricky Ortiz in a losing effort after being pinned by Ortiz's *Big O* finisher. On the September 19 episode of *SmackDown!*, Braddock competed in a match with Festus, who was accompanied by Jesse. Braddock won the match as a result of a disqualification, after Jesse and Festus wrapped him in bubble wrap and duct tape.

Braddock was released by WWE in March 2009.
Sam Roberts

Roberts first appeared on WWE's pay-per-view pre-show panel at December 2016's Roadblock: End of the Line. Following the pay-per-view, Roberts became part of the pre-show panels and other pre-show responsibilities for various WWE Network events.

In December 2017, following Clash of Champions, Roberts made his debut as a host of *WWE Talking Smack*. Roberts later hosted the final *Talking Smack* following Fastlane in March 2018.

In January 2018, Roberts hosted the *Raw 25* kickoff show.

During the April 15, 2018 taping of *WWE Main Event*, Roberts made his debut as a commentator. He infrequently became a commentator on *Main Event* afterwards.

On April 1, 2020, Roberts made his guest commentator debut during *NXT* alongside Tom Phillips.
Rikidozan

Rikidozan was a pioneer in the burgeoning professional wrestling scene, especially in Japan. Wrestling for what would eventually be known as World Championship Wrestling, Rikidozan competed against other legends such as Lou Thesz, Antonio Inoki, and Giant Baba in the 1950's. In the 60's, he feuded with the likes of Freddie Blassie and The Destroyer, as well as went sixty minutes with Thesz over the latter's Heavyweight Title.

On December 15, 1963, Rikidozan passed away.

In 2017, Rikidozan was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of its Legacy wing for his contributions to wrestling in its early days.
Scotty Riggs

Riggs

Riggs signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling in 1995. He was immediately placed in to a tag team with Marcus Alexander Bagwell and they became known as The American Males. Together, they captured their first and only World Tag Team Championship, but only held it for eight days before losing it back to Harlem Heat, the team they won it from in the first place.

The American Males broke up in November 1996 after Bagwell turned heel on Riggs and joined the New World Order. Following the split, Riggs began competing as a singles competitor. He immediately entered a feud with Bagwell, which resulted in a match at nWo Souled Out, which he lost, and a rematch at Uncensored in a strap match where Riggs was choked out by Bagwell with the strap while hanging from the ropes.

After performing in the mid-card for most of 1997, Raven took an interest in him and during a no disqualification match on the October 27 edition of *Nitro*, Raven caught Riggs in a drop toe-hold, sending him face-first into a steel chair and injuring his eye in the process. Riggs then began wearing an eye patch. At first, Riggs resisted joining Raven's Flock, but eventually joined after they kidnapped him following his loss to Raven at the World War 3 pay-per-view. Raven explained that Riggs's "ocular disability" had alienated him from society and that he was seeking acceptance within The Flock. Riggs remained within The Flock until Saturn defeated Raven at Fall Brawl in a match that forced The Flock to disband.

Following The Flock's disbanding, Riggs turned heel and adopted a narcissistic gimmick. However, the gimmick was unsuccessful, and Riggs remained on the undercard before being released from WCW in 1999.

In 2000, Riggs debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling as **Scotty Anton**, aligning with Rob Van Dam. At Hardcore Heaven, Anton betrayed Van Dam, knocking him off the top rope to the floor, allowing Jerry Lynn to pin him and thus end Van Dam's two-year undefeated streak. From there, he joined The Network as a "hired gun". Van Dam gained revenge at Heat Wave, where he defeated Anton by using his new *Van Terminator* finisher.
ShoMiz

On the January 18, 2010 episode of WWE's *Raw*, after Big Show helped United States Champion The Miz by attacking Miz's rival, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), guest host Jon Heder arranged for Show and Miz to form a tag team to take on Shawn Michaels and Triple H of D-Generation X (DX).

## ShoMiz

### Members

Big Show and The Miz

On the February 8 episode of *Raw*, Big Show and The Miz, both villains, competed in a triple threat elimination match for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship against The Straight Edge Society (CM Punk and Luke Gallows) and the defending champions DX, which Miz and Big Show won to capture the titles. At Elimination Chamber on February 21, Big Show interfered in Miz's United States Championship match against MVP, helping Miz retain the title. The next night on *Raw*, **ShoMiz** successfully retained their championships against MVP and Mark Henry. ShoMiz also retained the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship in a rematch against DX on the March 1 episode of *Raw* after Michaels was distracted by The Undertaker, and Triple H was then attacked by Sheamus.

On the March 5 episode of *SmackDown*, John Morrison and R-Truth defeated Cryme Tyme (Shad Gaspard and JTG) and The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd) to earn a shot at ShoMiz's Unified WWE Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania XXVI. On the next episode of *Raw*, The Miz mocked the new challengers, claiming that no one in the locker room was worthy enough to face ShoMiz, but Morrison and Truth laid out ShoMiz during a "WrestleMania preview" which went to a no contest. In the following weeks, both Morrison and Truth would pin The Miz during singles matches, and ShoMiz was once again laid out by Morrison and Truth on the March 26 episode of *SmackDown*. However, ShoMiz would successfully defend the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship against Morrison and Truth at WrestleMania on March 28.

ShoMiz then started a feud with The Hart Dynasty on the March 29 episode of *Raw*, when ShoMiz interrupted Bret Hart's speech, prompting The Hart Dynasty to come out to back up Bret, who challenged ShoMiz on The Hart Dynasty's behalf, which Miz accepted despite Big Show's protests to walk away, but that match ended in a no contest. At Extreme Rules on April 25, after ShoMiz came out and bragged about themselves, challenging anyone to face them, *SmackDown* General Manager Theodore Long ruled that ShoMiz had to face three tag teams in succession in a gauntlet match, and that the team who defeated ShoMiz would get a title match the next night on *Raw*. ShoMiz managed to beat the first two teams in the gauntlet match (John Morrison and R-Truth by disqualification, and then Mark Henry and MVP), but The Hart Dynasty managed to beat ShoMiz to earn their title shot.

On the following episode of *Raw*, ShoMiz lost the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship to The Hart Dynasty after The Miz submitted to the sharpshooter, after which Big Show knocked out Miz with a right-handed knockout hook, turning into a fan favorite and symbolizing their break-up.
Richie Steamboat

In June 2012, Steamboat debuted for *NXT* at the inaugural taping from Full Sail University, defeating both Rick Victor and Leo Kruger in separate matches. The latter match was a quarter-final in the Gold Rush tournament to determine the inaugural NXT Champion. On the August 15 episode of *NXT*, Steamboat was eliminated by Jinder Mahal in the semi-finals. Steamboat then started a feud with Kassius Ohno; Steamboat defeated Ohno twice, but Ohno conducted successful post-match assaults on Steamboat. Ohno then injured and pinned Steamboat during a six-man tag match while teaming with the Ascension against Steamboat and the Usos on the October 17 episode of *NXT*. Steamboat returned from injury and decisively pinned Ohno on the November 21, 2012 episode of *NXT* to end the feud.

This was his final televised match after suffering a back injury for which he required surgery. More than a year later in December 2013, it was reported Steamboat had been released from his WWE contract.
Primo Carnera

Starting out as a successful boxer, Carnera transitioned into professional wrestling in the 1940's. While pioneering the early days of what would become World Championship Wrestling and WWE, Carnera faced off with legendary grapplers such as Jules Strongbow, Ed "Strangler" Lewis, and, famously, Lou Thesz.

Carnera passed away on June 29, 1967.

In 2019, Carnera was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of its Legacy wing.
Octagoncito

Octagoncito briefly worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), including a match at the 1996 Starrcade where he teamed with Mascarita Sagrada to defeat Jerrito Estrada and Piratita Morgan in a dark match before the pay-per-view portion of the show.

In 1997, he began working for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), working as **Mosaic**, teaming with and facing off against other mini wrestlers. His first major appearance was at the Badd Blood: In Your House pay-per-view, teaming with Tarantula, losing to Max Mini and Nova. At the 1998 Royal Rumble, Mosaic teamed with former opponents Max Mini and Nova to defeat the trio of Battalion, El Torito and Tarantula.

The WWF, now called World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), renewed their "minis" division in 2006, bringing in Octagoncito as one of their competitors in the short lived revival. He was gone from the company, along with the division as a whole, not long after.
Nidia

Nidia won a year's contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) after she co-won the first season of *Tough Enough.*

Nidia debuted on the *SmackDown!* brand on the June 6, 2002 episode, in a backstage segment with The Hurricane (who was her on-screen ex-boyfriend) and Jamie Noble. Noble and Nidia then became an on-screen couple undergoing a "trailer trash" gimmick. They were both heels, with Nidia leading Noble to several wins, due to interference during the matches. At King of the Ring, she led Noble to winning the Cruiserweight Championship from The Hurricane. She then began to feud with *SmackDown!* Diva Torrie Wilson, leading to many solo and mixed tag team matches with Nidia and Noble against Wilson and various other cruiserweights, including Funaki, Billy Kidman, Rey Mysterio, and Brian Kendrick.

On the October 16, 2003 episode of *SmackDown!*, Nidia was blinded by Tajiri during a match between Tajiri and Noble, after which Tajiri spewed his "Black mist" onto her face. Storyline-wise, this encounter resulted in a physical 'injury' to Nidia. After recovering, Nidia started appearing at ringside with sunglasses on, to 'sell' the after effects of her injuries. During this time, Noble would throw Nidia in front of various opponents at a match's climax, to both save himself and let him later accuse them of "hitting a woman". Later in this storyline, Rey Mysterio revealed to Nidia that Noble was exploiting her in the aforementioned manner, resulting in Nidia turning against Noble and becoming a fan favorite in the process. The two feuded, culminating in a match at No Way Out in which Noble had to wear a blindfold. True to character, Noble cheated to win as he removed his blindfold during the match.

Nidia was drafted to the *Raw* brand on March 22, 2004. She became a face and claimed to be excited that she was drafted to *Raw*, where she could compete for the WWE Women's Championship. She made her debut match on the March 29, 2004 episode of *Raw*, defeating Molly Holly. She then teamed regularly with Stacy Keibler and Victoria against heels Trish Stratus, Gail Kim, Molly Holly and Jazz. With the shift to *Raw*  also came a change in character, as Nidia's Hispanic heritage was played up; to this effect, she was no longer billed as being from the South but instead she was billed as being from Puerto Rico and she no longer spoke English during promos, instead speaking Spanish in a quick and angry fashion. Nidia was released from her WWE contract on November 3, 2004.
Paul Jones' Army

### Members

The Barbarian, The Warlord, Abdullah the Butcher, Superstar Billy Graham, Shaska Whatley, Baron von Raschke, Teijho Khan, Manny Fernandez, Rick Rude, Ivan Koloff, Vladimir Petrov, Assassin #1, Assassin #2, Russian Assassin 1, Russian Assassin 2

### Managers

Paul Jones

Paul Jones formed **Paul Jones' Army** in the early 1980's in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to help him battle "The Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant and his friends, Manny Fernandez, Wahoo McDaniel, Pez Whatley, and Hector Guerrero. In January 1984, Valiant was attacked by Paul Jones and The Assassins. They tied him to the wrestling ring ropes so that Jones could cut his beard off. This led to a grudge match in Greensboro, North Carolina. For this match, Dusty Rhodes, in Valiant's corner, was tied by a rope to Paul Jones. Valiant defeated Assassin II, who was unmasked and revealed as Hercules Hernandez. Due to the beard cutting attack, he feuded heavily with Paul Jones and his "Army" of wrestlers from 1984 through to late 1986. This army of wrestlers included The Barbarian, Baron von Raschke, Teijho Khan, and The Assassins. During this three-year feud, Valiant received help from Héctor Guerrero and "Raging Bull" Manny Fernandez. Although Jimmy Valiant would lose a Loser Leaves Town tuxedo street fight to Paul Jones at Starrcade 1984 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the feud with Paul Jones' stable continued, which would come to include Abdullah the Butcher. In 1985, Valiant and Ragin' Bull Manny Fernandez formed a team called B and B Connection ("Boogie Woogie" and "Bull"). In the spring of 1986, Pez Whatley turned on Valiant, cutting off his pony tail, later joining Jones' Army as Shaska Whatley. During The Great American Bash 1986 summer shows, Paul Jones adopted a military style look in his long feud with Valiant and labeled his stable of wrestlers. Valiant would beat Shaska Whatley in a hair versus hair match, but with outside interference lost a hair versus hair match to Paul Jones only weeks later. In the fall of 1986, The Ragin Bull Manny Fernandez, Valiant's best friend, accepted Jones' money and turned on Valiant, starting a feud between the two. Paul Jones at this point shortened his army to his newly acquired tag team of Ragin Bull and Rick Rude. The war between Valiant and Paul Jones climaxed at Starrcade 1986, with Valiant putting up the hair of Big Mama against the hair of Paul Jones in a no disqualification match, which Valiant won (while the Ragin Bull was placed in a cage above the ring).
Phil Lafon

Lafon joined Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in late 1996 alongside Doug Furnas, having a series of matches against Sabu and Rob Van Dam. At *Fright Fight 1997*, Lafon and Furnas were defeated by Shane Douglas and Chris Candido. At *Holiday Hell 1997*, The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Al Snow and Taz defeated Lafon, Rob Van Dam, Sabu and Doug Furnas. They won the ECW World Tag Team Championship from The Full Blooded Italians on December 5. Their reign would not last long, however, as they went on to lose the belts to Chris Candido and Lance Storm the next day. Prior to the team's tag team title success, LaFon had made an unsuccessful attempt to dethrone ECW Champion Shane Douglas in singles competition. On January 7, 1998 edition of *Hardcore TV*, LaFon, Doug Furnas, Rob Van Dam and Sabu lost to Al Snow, Taz, The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer in an 8-man tag team match.

Lafon and Furnas also formed a short-lived stable of "invaders" from the World Wrestling Federation with Lance Wright, Brakkus and Droz.

A few months later, both men made their World Wrestling Federation (WWF) debuts on November 17 at the Survivor Series pay-per-view. After failing to win the WWF Tag Team Titles, the duo began a slow heel turn and developed an anti American gimmick similar to that of The Hart Foundation. At In Your House 13: Final Four, Lafon and Furnas received a shot at the WWF Tag Team Championship, where they defeated Owen Hart and the British Bulldog by disqualification, but they did not win the titles. At WrestleMania 13, Lafon and Furnas competed in a four-way elimination match to determine the number one contenders for the WWF Tag Team Championship, which was won by The Headbangers. At In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker, Lafon and Furnas competed in a dark match, where they defeated The Godwinns. They returned in the fall of 1997 as full-fledged heels, most notably as a part of Team Canada at Survivor Series in his hometown of Montreal. Lafon would make a few more appearances with Furnas afterwards, mostly on *Shotgun Saturday Night* (notably with one match being against the then-unknown Hardy Boyz).
Nick Kiniski

Kiniski wrestled a few times for the WWF at their frequent Madison Square Garden shows as well as at the Boston Garden, including wins over Steve Lombardi, Frenchy Martin, Jimmy Jack Funk and Les Thornton in late 1986 and early 1987. He was featured on WWF's television shows at least once - including a very competitive match against WWF Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage, which he only narrowly lost, on the December 27, 1986 edition of *WWF Superstars of Wrestling*.

Kiniski joined the American Wrestling Association in late 1986. He formed a heel tag team with Kevin Kelly called The Perfect Tag Team to contend for the AWA World Tag Team Championship. The duo was managed by Sherri Martel. Martel left the AWA in July 1987 and was replaced by Madusa Miceli as the team's manager. They eventually pursued singles careers as Kiniski left the team.

The last promotion where Kiniski wrestled was World Class Championship Wrestling. He started his WCCW stint in 1987 and feuded with the Von Erichs.
Rockin' Rebel

Rebel made a few appearances in the World Wrestling Federation in 1989, losing to Honky Tonk Man and Brutus Beefcake.

In 1993, Rebel made appearances in the newly-formed ECW.

He then had a brief stint in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and numerous dark matches with the WWF in 1995.

On June 1, 2018, Rebel passed away.
Rachael Ellering

Rachael Fazio

Ellering made her WWE debut on *NXT* at the April 28, 2016, taping, in a match won by Alexa Bliss. Ellering returned to *NXT* on the September 14 episode under the name **Rachael Fazio**, losing a match to Liv Morgan, and on November 11, losing to Ember Moon. On May 3, 2017, Ellering participated in a number one contender's battle royal, but was eliminated by Aliyah. On the June 21 episode, she faced Sonya Deville in a losing effort.

On July 13, 2017, Ellering, under the ring name **Rachael Evers**, entered the Mae Young Classic tournament, defeating Marti Belle in her first round match. The following day, Evers was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Abbey Laith. In 2018, Evers was announced as one of the competitors in the second Mae Young Classic; she was defeated by the villainous Hiroyo Matsumoto in the opening round.

In January 2019 it was revealed that Evers signed with WWE and would start appearing on *NXT*. Shortly thereafter, she began appearing at *NXT* events under her real name, **Rachael Ellering**. On July 28, 2019, Ellering suffered a torn ACL at an *NXT* live event, sidelining her for over a year. In April 2020, Ellering was released from her WWE contract.
Nailz

Thor

The Prisoner

In 1985, Nailz wrestled as **Thor** for World Class Championship Wrestling, where he had feuds with Bobby Fulton and Brian Adias.

Nailz debuted in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) as **Kevin Kelly** in 1984, as a babyface midcarder. By 1986, he was a top heel and challenged for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship.

In 1987, he was managed by Sherri Martel and regularly issued arm wrestling challenges. This led to a feud with Tommy Rich, who answered one of his challenges on an edition of *AWA Championship Wrestling*. Rich appeared to have the contest won, when Martel interfered on Kelly's behalf. In retaliation, Rich tore off her dress. Rich would then dominate a series of matches between the two.

After Martel left the AWA, Kelly took Madusa Miceli as his manager. He often teamed with Nick Kiniski as "The Perfect Tag Team" to contend for the AWA World Tag Team Championship. He left the AWA in 1988.

Kelly received a tryout match on June 6, 1989 at a *WWF Superstars* taping in Madison, Wisconsin, defeating Tim Horner. One night later, he defeated Jim Powers at a *Wrestling Challenge* taping, but was not signed to a contract that year. Later, he received another tryout match, this time at a *WWF Superstars* taping on May 6, 1991, defeating Brian Costello. The following night at a *Wrestling Challenge* taping, he defeated Gary Jackson in a dark match.

In 1992, Kelly debuted in the WWF as **Nailz**, an ex-convict who, in a series of promos, alleged he was abused by former prison guard Big Boss Man during his incarceration. He also claimed to be innocent of his crimes. Following Big Boss Man's squash of Dave Roulette on the May 30 episode of *WWF Superstars of Wrestling*, Nailz (dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit) attacked Boss Man, handcuffing him to the top rope before repeatedly hitting and choking him with his own nightstick. Nailz easily defeated numerous jobbers en route to defeating Boss Man's ally Virgil at SummerSlam. He attacked Sgt. Slaughter before a match ended in a no contest in September 1992. He continued to feud with Boss Man, who had recovered from Nailz's beating. The feud came to its climax when Big Boss Man defeated Nailz in a nightstick match at Survivor Series. Before Nailz finished the feud with Boss Man, he began another feud, this time with The Undertaker. The two had a stare down on the October 24 episode of *Superstars.* He had a few matches losing to WWF Champion Bret Hart. He also had a short feud with The Ultimate Warrior. In December 1992, Nailz was released from his contract.

Nailz appeared at World Championship Wrestling's Slamboree event in 1993 as **The Prisoner** (looking identical to his Nailz persona), losing to Sting.

He returned to WCW for a few appearances from 1997 to 1998. On October 6, 1997, he defeated Yuji Nagata in a dark match before *Monday Nitro*. His last appearance was on April 17, 1998, where he defeated Barry Darsow at a house show.
Oba Femi

Femi made his in-ring WWE debut on the November 18, 2022 episode of *NXT Level Up*, losing to Dante Chen.

After going winless on the program through February 2023, Femi would make his formal *NXT* debut on April 25, at Spring Breakin', defeating Oro Mensah. After a hiatus on television, in December 2023, Femi entered the 2023 men's *NXT* Breakout Tournament. He defeated Myles Borne in the first round and Tavion Heights in the second round. On January 2, 2024, at NXT New Year's Evil, Femi defeated Riley Osborne in the third and final round to become the winner of the tournament. The following week, Femi cashed in his Breakout Tournament contract and defeated Dragon Lee to win the NXT North American Championship, the first title of his career, while also becoming the youngest and first African-born wrestler to hold the championship.
Norman Smiley

In 1990, Smiley competed at World Championship Wrestling's Starrcade event, teaming with Chris Adams against the team of Konnan and Rey Misterio, Sr..

In 1995 and 1996, he briefly competed in Extreme Championship Wrestling.

Smiley signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1997, making his debut on the October 13, 1997 episode of *WCW Monday Nitro*, defeating La Parka in a dark match. Smiley made his televised debut at the World War 3 pay-per-view, competing in the titular battle royal; however the match was won by Scott Hall. After being removed from television, he returned on the February 8, 1998 episode of *Nitro*, with a new gimmick, which saw him perform his signature dance move, the "Big Wiggle". However, in his return match, he would be defeated by Konnan. On the June 8 episode of *Nitro*, Smiley faced Fit Finlay for the WCW Television Championship, but failed to win the championship. At Fall Brawl, Smiley faced Ernest Miller in a losing effort.

Smiley turned heel in a backstage interview on the December 19 episode of *Saturday Night*, where he mocked the fans for saying his name incorrectly. At Starrcade, he defeated Prince Iaukea. He then feuded with Chavo Guerrero, Jr., on one occasion destroying Guerrero's hobby horse mascot, Pepè, by feeding it into a wood chipper on the January 11, 1999 episode of *Nitro*. At Souled Out on January 17, Smiley defeated Guerrero. In late 1999, Smiley entered the hardcore division. He would enter into a tournament to determine the inaugural WCW Hardcore Champion, which he won by defeating Brian Knobs in a tournament final at Mayhem on November 21. During his run with the championship, he would adopt the nickname 'Screamin', due to constantly screeching in a high-pitched tone during his matches, because of his fear of weapons. He would also often wear protective sports equipment as he entered the ring, usually also in the uniform of a local pro or collegiate sports team to gain a cheap pop. He lost the Hardcore Championship to Brian Knobs on the January 12, 2000 episode of *Thunder*, which he failed to regain at Souled Out in a fatal four-way match also involving Fit Finlay and Meng.

Smiley feuded with Brian Knobs, Meng and Terry Funk during his tenures as WCW Hardcore Champion, recruiting Chris Jericho's former associate Ralphus to be his manager. With the assistance of Ralphus, he stole a backyard wrestling championship from a group of children during a vignette.

Smiley remained in WCW until the company was sold to the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001. He was not hired by the WWF following the sale.

In 2012, when *NXT* became WWE's developmental territory, Smiley was hired as a trainer.
Sarray

On February 22, 2020, Sarray signed with WWE.

On the March 17, 2021 episode of *NXT*, vignettes began airing hyping her debut. She made her debut on the April 20 episode of *NXT*, in which she defeated Zoey Stark. On the August 10 episode of *NXT*, Sarray suffered her first loss against Dakota Kai. She made an appearance on the October 8 episode of *205 Live* and defeated Amari Miller.

On the January 18, 2022 episode of *NXT*, a vignette aired of Sarray sporting pigtails and a schoolgirl uniform, explaining that 2021 didn't turn out as she hoped it would. She returned to Japan to physically and mentally heal herself, and came across a medallion she got from her grandma, reminding her of where she came from and that she would return to *NXT* with "new passion and energy." Sarray made her in-ring return on the February 1 episode of *NXT*, sporting a new look and defeating Kayla Inlay. On the February 25 episode of *NXT Level Up*, she lost against Elektra Lopez. In March, Sarray started a feud with Tiffany Stratton after being attacked by her for rejecting her offer to replace her grandmother's necklace with one that she would give to her, this led them to a match on the March 15 episode of *NXT*, where Stratton prevented Sarray from transforming and defeated her. Two weeks later, a transformed Sarray distracted Stratton and caused her to lose in a match against Ivy Nile. On the April 19 episode of *NXT*, Sarray fought Stratton in another losing effort. On the May 10 episode of *NXT*, Sarray teamed with Andre Chase and defeated the team of Stratton and Grayson Waller in a mixed tag team match. On the June 23 episode of *NXT UK*, Sarray made her debut on the brand, defeating Nina Samuels.

On March 13, 2023, Sarray parted ways with WWE.
Pretty Wonderful

In the leading up to Paul Orndorff and Paul Roma teaming together in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Roma was a part of The Four Horsemen while Orndorff came off a stint as the WCW World Television Champion. Roma and Arn Anderson would hold the WCW World Tag Team Championship for a little over a month before losing the championship to The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags).

After the 1993 pay-per-view Battlebowl, the Horsemen Roma and Anderson faced the semi-regular team of Paul Orndorff and "Stunning" Steve Austin on *Saturday Night*. During the match, Roma acted very indifferent to his tag team partner. Next, Roma teamed with Erik Watts to take on the team of Orndorff and Lord Steven Regal, but this time Roma took it a step further and attacked Erik Watts before announcing that he was now teaming with Orndorff.

Under the tutelage of manager The Masked Assassin, the team quickly began to work well together in a feud with Marcus Alexander Bagwell and 2 Cold Scorpio. After a few months as a team, they targeted the then-WCW World Tag Team Champions, Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan. The champions had one last defense against former champions The Nasty Boys that also saw Kevin's injured brother Dave. The match degraded into a brawl that saw **Pretty Wonderful** interfere, using Dave's crutch to attack the champions. Before leaving the ring, they also took a couple of shots at The Nasty Boys for good measure.

Going into Bash at the Beach, Pretty Wonderful had the advantage as both champions were suffering from injuries inflicted by the challengers on previous occasions, which would lead Roma and Orndorff to win the championship. After successfully defending the championship against The Nasty Boys, Pretty Wonderful was challenged by the duo of Stars and Stripes (Marcus Alexander Bagwell and The Patriot) at Fall Brawl, where Pretty Wonderful retained the WCW World Tag Team Championship, only to lose it a week later to Stars and Stripes in a rematch. Pretty Wonderful was granted a rematch against the new champions with a match booked for Halloween Havoc, where Pretty Wonderful regained the championship when Roma used one of the title belts to knock Bagwell out cold. At *Clash of the Champions XXIX*, Stars and Stripes were granted one final shot at the WCW World Tag Team Championship, but the challengers also had to put up the Patriot's mask on the line, as if they lost he would unmask. After a controversial double pin, Stars and Stripes were declared the winners, and thus put an end to Pretty Wonderful's second and final run with the championship.

After their last title loss, Roma and Orndorff went their separate ways with Roma being used as "enhancement talent" to help build young stars.
P.N. News

In 1991, News joined World Championship Wrestling. He made his debut for the promotion on the May 11 episode of *World Wide Wrestling* with a rapper gimmick, where he defeated Terry Bronson in 44 seconds.

He soon began a brief feud against World Television Champion "Stunning" Steve Austin. At The Great American Bash, News and Bobby Eaton defeated Austin and his partner Terry Taylor in a scaffold match. During a house show on June 21, News inadvertently injured the Angel of Death. The injury came about when News botched his *Broken Record* finishing move during their match, as he splashed Angel's knees instead of his torso, which sidelined Angel for almost an entire year in order to recover. As a result, News was taken off television, his feud with Austin was dropped, and he was used solely at house shows and sporadically at pay-per-views. Despite this, News faced Austin in a match for the World Television Title at *Clash of the Champions XVII* on November 19, but was unsuccessful in winning the title.

After their feud, News was moved down the card and on December 21 at Starrcade, News teamed with Steve Armstrong in a losing effort to Ron Simmons and Thomas Rich. On January 21, 1992, News made his final television appearance, defeating Diamond Dallas Page at *Clash of the Champions XVIII*. Following this, News wrestled solely on house shows before being released on March 15, 1992.

On September 17, 1999, News debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling in a losing effort to Spike Dudley. News then joined Da Baldies, a heel stable composed of wrestlers who were all bald. At November to Remember, Da Baldies (News, Spanish Angel, Tony DeVito and Vito LoGrasso) defeated New Jack and The Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks (Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney) in a handicap match. On November 19, News and LoGrasso lost to The Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks in a Loser Leaves Town match, ending News' stint in ECW.