Assault Championship Wrestling
Assault Championship Wrestling was an American independent wrestling promotion based in Connecticut and promoted by Jason Knight, a retired wrestler and manager, during the early 2000s. The first major independent promotion to operate in Connecticut, Assault Championship Wrestling became important on the independent circuit particularly after the close of Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2002 and featured many former ECW veterans including Danny Doring, Kid Kash, Justin Credible, Little Guido, Tony DeVito, Balls Mahoney, John Kronus, Francine and Joel Gertner who acted as its commissioner. New England Championship Wrestling, a rival promotion, often held inter-promotional events as well as allowing its champions to defend their titles at ACW cards. They also had a working arraignment with Knight's wrestling dojo. A number of independent wrestlers also made frequent appearances including Matt Stryker, Julio Dinero, Wagner Brown, Matthew Kaye, Homicide, Jeff Rocker, Scotty Charisma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 2020 Waterbury had a population of 114,403. As of the 2010 census, Waterbury had a population of 110,366, making it the 10th largest city in the New York Metropolitan Area, 9th largest city in New England and the 5th largest city in Connecticut. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Waterbury had large industrial interests and was the leading center in the United States for the manufacture of brassware (including castings and finishings), as reflected in the nickname the "Brass City" and the city's motto ''Quid Aere Perennius?'' ("What Is More Lasting Than Brass?"). It was also noted for the manufacture of watches and clocks ( Timex). The city is alongside Interstate 84 (Yankee Expressway) and Route 8 and has a Metro-North railr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wagner Brown
Wagner Brown (born September 5, 1979) is a Jamaican born professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, SWB or Slyck Wagner Brown. Brown currently wrestles on the Independent circuit in the Northeastern United States. Additionally, SWB was appointed head trainer at Killer Kowalski's school in Boston. Brown also had a longtime association with women's wrestler April Hunter. The duo held tag team titles together in Jersey All Pro Wrestling and Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling. Brown now runs his wrestling training school, Test of Strength, out of East Hartford, Connecticut and runs monthly shows. Professional wrestling career Brown began wrestling in 1997, joining Critical Mass Wrestling. He was trained at Killer Kowalski's school. He also learned ring psychology with Tom Howard at UPW. For the first several years of his career, Brown predominantly wrestled in the New England area. He won his first championship in February 2001, New England Championship Wrestling's NECW Championsh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Angel Orsini
Angel Orsini (born August 26, 1969) is an American professional wrestler, bodybuilder and mixed martial artist. She has competed in North American independent promotions including Women's Extreme Wrestling, Ohio Valley Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling, most notably as The Prodigette who managed the stable the 'Sideshow Freaks' during the last years of the promotion. Early life and martial arts Born in Washington, D.C., Orsini became involved in bodybuilding and strength training in 1991 and, the following year, began studying Tae Kwon Do and Hopkido. During 1993, she competed as a heavyweight in the North Miami Beach Bodybuilding Championship and the South Florida Bodybuilding Championships winning second place in both competitions. After three years of training, Orsini became a Black Belt and entered an instructor training program eventually teaching Tae Kwon Do. That same year, she began training with Bart Vale in freefighting and mixed martial arts. She began fig ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ana Rocha
Ana Otero (born December 28, 1984) is a Portuguese-American professional wrestler and manager known by her ring name "The Portuguese Princess" Ariel, who has competed in Northeastern independent promotions including Ring of Honor, IWA Mid-South and the National Wrestling Alliance. Career Early life and career Born in São Miguel, Azores, Ana immigrated with her family to the United States in 1996, settling in New Bedford, Massachusetts. An avid wrestling fan during the late 1990s, she and her brother began training for a career in professional wrestling at the Top Rope Academy, studying under Brickhouse Baker, Scott Ashworth, and José Pérez. In January 2001, she and her brother began training at Yankee Pro Wrestling's wrestling school in Sunshine Plaza. Several months later, while still only a junior in New Bedford High School, Rocha made her professional debut in South Coast Championship Wrestling on May 12, 2001. Originally appearing as a valet for "Heavenly" Johnny Angel ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Talia Madison
Jamie Lynn Szantyr (born June 2, 1981) is an American color commentator and retired professional wrestler, currently signed to NWA. She is best known for her time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Velvet Sky. She is a former two-time TNA Women's Knockout Champion and is a former TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion as part of The Beautiful People (with Madison Rayne and Lacey Von Erich), with the group defending the title under the Freebird rule. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2003–2007) Szantyr was trained by Jason Knight at the House of Pain Pro Wrestling Dojo in New Britain, Connecticut. After completing her training, she began working as a valet and wrestler on the independent circuit using the ring names Miss Talia, Talia Doll, and Talia Madison. On the independent circuit, she formed a tag team known as T&A with April Hunter. Talia made her debut for World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) on March 3, 2004, where she defeated Alere Litt ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nikki Roxx
Nicole Raczynski (born April 19, 1979) is an American former professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring names Roxxi Laveaux, The Voodoo Queen, and Roxxi. She is also known for her time in Shimmer Women Athletes and various other independent promotions under the ring name Nikki Roxx. Professional wrestling career Growing up, Raczynski attended professional wrestling events at the Boston Garden with her parents. She trained as a wrestler under Killer Kowalski at the urging of April Hunter who was already training there. Raczynski was allowed to train at the school for free, according to her, because of Kowalski's "soft spot for the women that were trying to get into the business" (other women, such as Chyna, are known to have paid, possibly because one of Kowalski's own students urged her to train). She debuted in March 2002 under the ring name Nikki Roxx and later formed a tag team with Hunter called The Killer Babes. Rac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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April Hunter
April Hunter (born September 24, 1976) is an American retired professional wrestler, professional wrestling valet, boxer, actress, writer, fitness model and glamour model. She has appeared in publications including ''MuscleMag International'' and ''Playboy'' and has her own comic book series titled ''Code Red''. Professional wrestling career World Championship Wrestling (1999–2000) In 1999, after Hunter appeared in ''Playboy'' magazine, she was hired by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Along with four other models (Tylene Buck, Kim Kanner (Shikira), Midajah and Pamela Paulshock), she accompanied members of the New World Order (nWo) to ringside for their matches. Independent circuit (2001–2002) Hunter trained to become a professional wrestler with Killer Kowalski in Boston. She was the only woman in the class and soon began working on the independent circuit and overseas. NWA Total Nonstop Action (2002, 2003) On August 28, 2002, Hunter appeared for Total Nonstop ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Becky Bayless
Rebecca Treston (born February 3, 1982) better known by her ring name Rebecca "Becky" Bayless, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, currently working for Independent circuit, independent promotions such as Women's Extreme Wrestling, Wrestling Superstars Unleashed, Wrestlicious, and Women Superstars Uncensored. In the past she has worked for a number of major independent promotions, primarily Ring of Honor (ROH), Full Impact Pro, and Shimmer Women Athletes. She is also known for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Cookie and for ROH and Shimmer as a backstage/in-ring interviewer. Career Prior to her 2004 accident, Bayless was initially known as a Manager (professional wrestling), valet for wrestlers, particularly Jimmy Jacobs, and mostly in Combat Zone Wrestling and IWA-Mid South, but occasionally wrestled for promotions. This includes during one 3-way tag team match in Mid South where during a point when many wrestlers perf ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mercedes Martinez
Jazmin Benitez (born November 17, 1980) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Mercedes Martinez. She also appears for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH), where she is a former ROH Women's World Champion. She is also known for her time in WWE, primarily on the NXT brand. Prior to going to WWE in 2020, Martinez was a mainstay on the independent circuit, winning numerous titles - including three WSU Championships, two Shimmer Championships, one Shine Championship and one Phoenix of Rise Championship. Early life Jazmín Benítez was born on November 17, 1980 in Waterbury, Connecticut. She is of Puerto Rican descent. In high school, she played both basketball and softball. She then attended college at Teikyo Post University, where her major was criminal justice. Professional wrestling career Early career (2000–2005) Mercedes Martinez got involved in professional wrestling after an injury sustained pl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Johnny Kashmere
John Kashmer (born November 6, 1978), better known by the ring name Johnny Kashmere, is an American professional wrestler. Kashmere has competed in Ring of Honor, Combat Zone Wrestling, Assault Championship Wrestling, and NWA New Jersey, and in Japan, Central America, Europe and Alaska. For much of his early career, he wrestled as one-half of The Backseat Boyz alongside Trent Acid. Professional wrestling career In the late 1990s, Kashmere joined the CZW Wrestling Academy, where he was being trained by The Pitbulls, Gary Wolfe, and the late Anthony Durante. After graduating, Kashmere joined the CZW main roster and started teaming with Trent Acid as The Backseat Boyz, a play on the American vocal group, The Backstreet Boys. Together they would go on to win multiple tag team championships on the independent scene, including three reigns with the CZW World Tag Team Championship, and one reign with the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Kashmere has also once also held the CZW World ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Trent Acid
Michael Verdi (November 12, 1980 – June 18, 2010), best known by his ring name Trent Acid, was an American professional wrestler. He worked as a tag team wrestler for most of his career, primarily as part of The Backseat Boyz with Johnny Kashmere, in several American independent promotions, including Combat Zone Wrestling and Ring of Honor. He also worked a singles career with several promotions, including Juggalo Championship Wrestling. Early life Verdi was childhood friends with Rocky Ciarrocchi (better known as fellow wrestler Hellter Skelter). Professional wrestling career Early Career (1995–1999) Acid wrestled at the age of 14. He wrestled in independent promotions only in Philadelphia, Delaware and New Jersey. Combat Zone Wrestling (1999–2004) Acid debuted in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) in 1999 and competed mostly in singles matches. At the first ''Cage of Death'', he teamed with White Lotus to face the Kashmerinoes (Johnny Kashmere and Robbie Mireno). Acid wres ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Backseat Boyz
The Backseat Boyz were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of Trent Acid and Johnny Kashmere who competed in Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Unplugged, Combat Zone Wrestling, Assault Championship Wrestling, the Premier Wrestling Federation, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, and Japan together. They were the first team in history to hold both the ROH Tag Team Championship and the CZW Tag Team Championship. History The Backseat Boyz were well known for their work in Combat Zone Wrestling. They began wrestling together in the early years of the company with Dewey Donovan as their manager. The Backseat Boyz became CZW Tag Team Champions by defeating the Haas Brothers in June 2000. They began a feud with Nick Mondo and Ric Blade, who eventually beat them for the tag team title. After losing the title, Acid and Kashmere continued teaming together and competed against teams such as The Briscoes, the H8 Club, and VD. They also competed in singles action, and Trent Acid even won some ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |