Chad A. Fortune (born August 13, 1967) is a former

monster truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock pic ...

driver, former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

and 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 ...

in both the

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 ...

(WWF) and

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 ...

(WCW).

Football career

Fortune played

at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

from 1986 to 1989. In 1987, he appeared in 11 games and recorded 16 receptions for 204 yards and one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

. In 1988, he appeared in 11 games and recorded 35 receptions for 339 yards and four touchdowns. In 1989, he appeared in 11 games and recorded 30 receptions for 353 yards. Following his college career he signed an undrafted free agent contract with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

but was released prior to the start of the 1990 season. Fortune spent time on the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

of both the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

and Colts during the 1990 season. He competed in the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

1991

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

, but the team released him to clear a roster spot for

Kenny Jackson Kenny Jackson (born February 15, 1962) is an American former football player. He played wide receiver for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Oilers and was twice named a collegiate All- ...

. Fortune was signed at various points of 1992 preseason, with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

, and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. He was on the Bears practice squad at the start of the 1992 season, missing some time due to an allergic reaction caused by a bee sting. He was promoted to the main roster, and spent part of the 1992 season as the team's third string tight end. Fortune was also a starting tight end for the Frankfurt Galaxy during both their

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

seasons.

Professional wrestling

Early career

Fortune joined the

(WWF) under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Travis and teamed with college teammate

Erik Watts Erik Watts (born December 19, 1967) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation in the 1990s. He is the son of wrestler Bill Watts. ...

(as Troy) as Tekno Team 2000. Wearing silver smocks and tight zubaz, their

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 ...

was that they represented the cutting edge of cyberculture. Their tag team made its debut on the May 27, 1995 episode of '' Superstars'' in a victorious effort against

Brooklyn Brawler Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behin ...

and

Barry Horowitz Barry Horowitz (born March 24, 1959) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Early life Horowitz attended Florida State University, where he studied sports nutrition and wrestled. ...

. They wrestled two more matches on television the following month before disappearing from television until July 1995 for the

In Your House In Your House (known as NXT TakeOver: In Your House in 2020 and 2021 and then NXT In Your House beginning in 2022) is a professional wrestling series of events created by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The events or ...

pay-per-view acting as lumberjacks for the main event. After the pay-per-view they disappeared off of television for a year being sent to

United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Wrestling ...

(USWA), only to resurface back on WWF television in 1996. They got a WWF Tag Team title shot against

The Bodydonnas The Bodydonnas were a professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the mid-1990s, consisting of Chris Candido as Skip, Candido's real-life girlfriend Tammy Lynn Sytch as Sunny, and Tom Prichard as Skip's kayfabe cousi ...

World Championship Wrestling

Fortune signed a

(WCW) contract in 1997. He wrestled mainly on the taped shows such as ''

WCW Saturday Night ''WCW Saturday Night'' is an American weekly Saturday night television show on TBS that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Launched in 1971 initially by Georgia Championship Wrestling, the program existed through various incarna ...

'' and ''

WCW Worldwide ''WCW WorldWide'' was an American syndicated television show that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) that aired from October 8, 1975, to March 31, 2001. At the time of its cancellation, ''WorldWide'' was the longest-running, uni ...

''. He made his WCW debut on the June 24 episode of WCW Saturday Night in a loss to

Joey Maggs Joseph Magliano (1968/1969 – October 2006), better known by the ring name "Jumping" Joey Maggs, was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1991 to 1998. Profession ...

. Fortune is also known as the first wrestler to defeat

Bill Goldberg William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966), often known mononymously as Goldberg, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and former professional football player. He is best known for his tenures in WCW and WWE. One of the most ...

in a singles match on July 24, 1997, albeit in a dark match on Saturday Night before Goldberg's television debut. He and

Dale Torborg Dale Christian Torborg (born October 24, 1971) is an American baseball trainer and professional wrestler. In wrestling, he is best known for portraying the Kiss themed character, The Demon. He is the son of former Major League Baseball manager Je ...

were briefly a tag team known as "The Pit Crew". He would barely perform throughout 1998, returning in early 1999 before again being taken off TV. His last WCW match would come on July 8, 1999, in a loss to The Barbarian. Fortune was one of many wrestlers released by WCW in October 1999.

Monster trucks

In 2000, SFX Entertainment (recently

Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...

, now

Feld Entertainment Feld Entertainment Inc. is an American live show production company which owns a number of traveling shows. The company began with the now-defunct Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus then expanded into additional live events, including Di ...

) signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling to bring WCW-based trucks to their

USHRA The United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA) is an organization that sanctions various motorsports. These included the Monster Jam monster truck series as well as motocross, quad racing and others. Having passed through multiple owners, the righ ...

Monster Jam Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour operated by Feld Entertainment. The series began in 1992, and is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association. Events are primarily held in North America, with some additional ...

series, which gave Fortune, through wrestling, his start in monster trucks. He was initially an unnamed "spokesman" for the nWo truck, who would give antagonistic interviews while the driver, Rob Knell, acted as being focused on the truck. Many in the industry were vocal against the use of professional wrestling gimmicks for drivers, and the truck only lasted one season. The following year, Fortune began driving the

WCW Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the United ...

Machine truck in the winter season, then bounced around trucks during the summer.Chad Fortune Monster Jam bio
/ref> He gave

Karl Malone Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Mailman", he is considered one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. Malone spen ...

a ride in the WCW Nitro truck and the two became friends. In 2002, Malone signed a deal with SFX/ Clear Channel to create a truck called Power Forward. Fortune was chosen as the driver and drove the truck for three years, reaching the World Finals in 2002 and 2003.Monsterjamonline
In 2005, Fortune brought to the table the idea of the

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

truck. The company created the new truck. Based on his professional wrestling background, he decided to dye his hair black and alter his look to match the character of

. He was successful in the Superman truck, and made the final rounds of several stadium events. He was then given the "Most Improved Driver" award for 2005. In 2012, 2013 and 2014 Monster Jam Seasons, Fortune drove the new

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

truck, one of the two

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

themed trucks coming back onto the circuit along with Alex Blackwell who was to drive

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...

. In the 2015 season, Fortune initiated the idea of the "Soldier Fortune" truck honoring the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

. In 2019, Fortune announced his retirement from

References

External links

Chad Fortune
at

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune, Chad 1967 births Living people American football tight ends Louisville Cardinals football players Indianapolis Colts players Miami Dolphins players Philadelphia Eagles players Frankfurt Galaxy players Washington Redskins players Dallas Cowboys players Chicago Bears players American male professional wrestlers Monster truck drivers