James Tilquist is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

better known by the ring name Big Tilly. He is best known for being a member of the

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

Phi Delta Slam Phi Delta Slam (ΦΔS) is a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Big Tilly and Bruno Sassi. They wrestle principally on the Floridian independent circuit. History When Sassi began wrestling on the Floridian independent circuit, he f ...

as well as his appearances in

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...

. In early 2009 he returned to TNA under ring name Big Rocco as one half of

The Main Event Mafia The Main Event Mafia (MEM) was an American professional wrestling stable in the American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Beginning in 2008, the group included former WWF/E wrestler Kurt Angle as leader, four of the former World C ...

's (and later Mick Foley's) personal security force.

Professional wrestling career

Tilly worked for

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

throughout the mid-1990s as a

jobber Jobber may refer to: Athletics * Job (professional wrestling) - A professional wrestler who routinely loses a match. * Wichita Jobbers, a minor league baseball team in the Western Association from 1905 to 1911 Commerce * A person or corporation ...

. He later began wrestling primarily on the Floridian

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

, where he formed a

with

Bruno Sassi Bruno Sassi (born December 15, 1970) is an American professional wrestler best known for being a member of the tag team Phi Delta Slam, as well as his appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. In early 2009 he returned to TNA under the ring ...

known as

. Phi Delta Slam used the

gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...

of a pair of boisterous

fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

members.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005, 2007, 2009–2010)

Phi Delta Slam were introduced to

(TNA) after Dusty Rhodes told his two competing assistants,

Traci Brooks Tracy Brookshaw (born May 22, 1975) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, professional wrestling valet and professional wrestling referee, better known by her ring name Traci Brooks. She is best known for her work in Total Nonstop Action Wr ...

and

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

, to each find a tag team. The tag teams would wrestle one another at

Destination X Destination X is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event held by Impact Wrestling currently in the month of August. The event primarily revolves around the X-Division, the 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2010 events had Ultimate X matches. It w ...

, with the winning tag team's sponsor becoming Rhodes' sole assistant. Trinity selected Phi Delta Slam, and they debuted in February 2005, wrestling

dark matches Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...

. They made their on-screen debut on March 13 at Destination X, where they lost to Traci's choice,

The Harris Brothers Donald Harris and Ronald Harris (born October 23, 1960) are American twin brothers best known for their professional wrestling careers with promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling ...

. Phi Delta Slam remained in TNA for several weeks afterwards, but were unable to get

over Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pe ...

with fans, and began appearing only sporadically with the promotion. In September 2005, their profiles were removed from the TNA website, confirming that the team was gone from TNA. Tilly and Sassi later made a cameo appearance in a series of comedy segments on the December 20, 2007 episode of '' Impact!'' where they were seen at Eric Young's Christmas party, which also involved the likes of Luke Williams,

Kevin Nash Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he performed under his r ...

ODB ODB may refer to: People * Ol' Dirty Bastard (1968–2004), American rapper and founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan * ODB (wrestler) (born 1978), Stage name of American professional wrestler Jessica Kresa * Original David Baker (born 1972), a monik ...

, and

Awesome Kong Kia Stevens (born September 4, 1977) is an American actress and retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)/Impact Wrestling under the ring name Awesome Kong. She also worked with Ring ...

Return

In early 2009, both Tilly and Sassi returned to TNA as the personal security of

in order to help them fend off

The TNA Front Line The TNA Front Line (also spelled Frontline and commonly referred to as the Front Line) was a heroic alliance in the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). They were also known as The TNA Originals. They feuded with ...

. In order play into the

mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

aspect of the stable, Tilly was renamed to Rocco (before it was later tweaked to Big Rocco), he began wearing sunglasses at all times, he dyed his normally brown hair to black and began sporting a goatee. On the March 13 edition of ''Impact!'', Sal and

Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler, Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, Olympic gold medalist in American freestyle wrestling, and former Collegiate wrestling, ...

accompanied Rocco as he wrestled Front Line member Eric Young in the main event, which he lost after Young pinned him following a

Death Valley driver Professional wrestling throws are the application of professional wrestling techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming them down. They are sometimes also called "power" maneuvers, as they are meant to emphasize a wrest ...

. On the April 2 edition of ''Impact!'', Rocco and Sal challenged and lost to

Team 3D The Dudley Boyz (also known as Team 3D) are an American professional wrestling tag team that consisted of kayfabe half-brothers Bubba Ray Dudley (Mark LoMonaco) and D-Von Dudley (Devon Hughes). The team was also joined by various Dudley family me ...

. On the May 7 edition of ''Impact!'' they were defeated in a handicap match by

Matt Morgan Matthew Thomas Morgan (born September 10, 1976) is an American politician, actor and retired professional wrestler. He is a current City Commissioner in Longwood, Florida. He is known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is ...

. On the May 28 edition of ''Impact!''

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

, the new leader of the Main Event Mafia, fired Rocco and Sal. On the June 4, 2009, edition of ''Impact!'' Rocco and Sal were hired by

Mick Foley Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American actor, author, retired professional wrestler, and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE under the company's Legends program, acting as a company ambassador. Foley worked for m ...

. The two of them have since made only sporadic appearances as security men. On August 8, 2010, at

ECW ECW may refer to: Professional wrestling * Extreme Championship Wrestling (originally Eastern Championship Wrestling), a professional wrestling promotion that operated from 1992 to 2001 * The Alliance (professional wrestling) (originally the WCW/E ...

reunion show,

Hardcore Justice Hardcore Justice, originally known as Hard Justice, is an annual professional wrestling Impact Plus event produced by Impact Wrestling. It was originally introduced as a pay-per-view (PPV) event held by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 200 ...

, Tilquist portrayed a fake version of

The Blue Meanie Brian Heffron (born May 18, 1973), better known by his ring name The Blue Meanie, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation between 1995 and 2 ...

, using the name Blue Tilly, and, along with Hollywood Nova, accompanied

Stevie Richards Michael Stephen Manna (born October 9, 1971), better known by his ring name Stevie Richards, is an American professional wrestler. Over the course of his career, Richards has performed for major professional wrestling promotions including Easte ...

to the ring. Later in the night Tilly and Nova attacked

Tommy Dreamer Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971), is an American professional wrestler and promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Impact Wrestling and is the owner and promoter of the House of Hardcore (HOH) promo ...

during his match with

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

Independent circuit

Phi Delta Slam is currently wrestling with the

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

based Coastal Championship Wrestling. In addition, all three members of Phi Delta Slam (Sassi, Tilly and Evans) operate a

professional wrestling school Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...

called "Bodyslam University" in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

Championships and accomplishments

*American Wrestling Federation (Puerto Rico) **AWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

*Coastal Championship Wrestling **CCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bruno Sassi *Florida Wrestling Alliance **FWA Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Bruno Sassi *Independent Pro Wrestling Association **IPWA Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Bruno Sassi *International Wrestling Federation **IWF Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Bruno Sassi *South Eastern Championship Wrestling **SECW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bruno Sassi *World Wide Wrestling **WWW Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bruno Sassi

References

External links

PhiDeltaSlam.com (Official Website of Phi Delta Slam)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Tilly American male professional wrestlers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people)