Billy Reil (born June 19, 1979) is an American former

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 ...

currently working the Northeastern

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 ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. A longtime veteran of the Tri-State area, he was a mainstay of

Jersey All Pro Wrestling Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) was an independent wrestling promotion based in New Jersey, United States. History 1997 Jersey All Pro Wrestling was an independent wrestling promotion that was founded by "Fat" Frank Iadeavia and Angel Surita ...

during the late 1990s. He is also a guest writer for wrestling websites such as ''Wrestling-News.com'', most notably his "Reil World" and "Billy Reil Uncut" columns. Reil is also a classically trained actor, having starred in films such as "Purgatory" and "The Pit".

Career

Early life and career

Born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Reil was a wrestling fan growing up and often attended

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

events at The Spectrum during the late 1980s. As a teenager, he began hanging out at the ECW Arena attempting to make contacts in the professional wrestling business and eventually met Angel Orsini, who then introduced Reil to

Reckless Youth Thomas Carter (born September 18, 1974) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Reckless Youth. He has competed in numerous North American independent promotions including the East Coast Wrestling Association, Comba ...

. He soon made his in-ring debut on May 19, 1995 in a match against his childhood friend

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 Kashm ...

. During the summer of 1996, Reil began training with

The Pit Bulls The Pitbulls (sometimes written as The Pit Bulls) were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of "Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe and "Pitbull #2" Anthony Durante. They were best known for their tenure in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where ...

before leaving for college the following year. In 1997, he was given a 4-day

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

for his athletic skills on the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

. While at Penn State, Reil continued to wrestle outside the university. Unfortunately, his baseball career was cut short when he was released for pitching an ERA of 16.3.

Jersey All Pro Wrestling and the independents

Reil continued to wrestle and was honing his craft working in

, the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

(NWA)

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

territory, and Grande Wrestling Alliance. He would team with Trent Acid to defeat

Homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

and Kane D for the JAPW Tag Team titles in

Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne ( ) is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is situated on a peninsula located between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east. As of ...

on January 29. The two would defend the titles for a month before losing the titles to Dave Desire and Rick Silver on February 26, 1999. Reil attended

Dory Funk, Jr. Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American retired professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promoter ...

's Dojo in 1999. By 2000, Reil had gained a considerable following in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

and had notable matches including a 3-way dance against Sabu and Low Ki on April 7, 2000. Later that year, while wrestling at an event for the Central Wrestling Coalition, Reil suffered a

separated shoulder A separated shoulder, also known as acromioclavicular joint injury, is a common injury to the acromioclavicular joint. The AC joint is located at the outer end of the clavicle where it attaches to the acromion of the scapula. Symptoms include non ...

and neck injuries in a match against Breaker Morant in South Philadelphia in November.

Recent years

During the next two years he would continue competing in independent promotions including Frank Goodman's UXW teaming with Mike Tobin as "Knight Life" to defeat the

Christopher Street Connection The Christopher Street Connection were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Buff E and Mace Mendoza. They primarily compete in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions, most notably, World-1 South, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, ...

for the vacant UXW Tag Team titles on April 15, 2005 and was scheduled to defend their titles against Papadon and Havok, the Solution at the Chris Candido Memorial Show in

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

on May 21 however Reil failed to show up for the event. During the show, Reil's partners Mike Tobin and Trent Acid criticized Reil during an interview in which they mentioned his staged retirement via the Internet earlier that year and introduced

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 ...

and Justin Credible to the "Knight Life" stable. The following year at an event for National Wrestling Superstars, Reil defeating Corey Havoc, Dan Petit and J.R. in a Four-Way Jobbers Match on December 29, 2006. Throughout this period of his legendary wrestling career, Reil began acting and appeared in films such as "Purgatory", "In the O-Zone", "Cord Jumpers 2", and "Shakespeare & Steve". In January 2007, he began feuding with Danny Demanto and, while their first encounter on January 26 resulted in a no contest, Reil defeated Demanto and Bison Bravado in a tag team match with Jim Neidhart the following day. The following month, in a match for the vacant UXW X-Treme Championship, he would participate in a 7-way match with Chasyn Rance,

Kirby Mack Kirby Mack (born November 25, 1983) is a retired American professional wrestler, known for his appearances on the independent circuit. He also wrestled for mainstream promotions such as World Wrestling Entertainment, Ring of Honor and Total Nonstop ...

, T.J. Mack,

Naphtali According to the Book of Genesis, Naphtali (; ) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Bilhah (Jacob's sixth son). He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Naphtali. Some biblical commentators have suggested that the name ''Naphtali'' ma ...

Greatness Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than all others. An example of an expressio ...

, Jerrelle Clark later losing to Kirby Mack in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

on February 24. As of February 2016, Reil announced he is planning a comeback to the ring via his official Twitter account (@BillyReilWWE ), citing he can still keep up with today's talent pool.

Championships and accomplishments

*Grande Wrestling Alliance **GWA Cruiserweight Championship (2 times) *Independent Superstars of Professional Wrestling **ISPW Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *

JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship The JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship is a championship in the Jersey All Pro Wrestling promotion in the United States.It became official title on December 5, 1997 when Rik Rachet defeated Chino Martinez in a tournament final to crown the first ...

(3 times) **

JAPW Tag Team Championship The JAPW Tag Team Championship is a championship in the Jersey All Pro Wrestling promotion. It became official title on December 5, 1997 when The Blood Angels (Diablos Macabre and Lucifer Grimm) defeated Don Montoya and Homicide in a tournament fi ...

(1 time) - with Trent Acid * Pro Wrestling Illustrated **PWI ranked him #430 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2000 *Trademark Wrestling **TMF Cruiserweight Championship (1 time) *USA Pro Wrestling **USA Pro United States Championship (1 time) **USA Pro Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Mike Tobin

References

External links

The Minority Report: The Masked Maniac Show w/ Billy Reil
by Gerry Strauss

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reil, Billy 1979 births American male professional wrestlers Living people