Curtis Thompson (born January 20, 1963) is an American retired

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 ...

. He is best known for his appearances with

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 ...

from 1991 to 1992 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 ...

Firebreaker Chip.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1987-1991)

Curtis Thompson started wrestling in 1987 in NWA. Subsequently, he wrestled in the

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor J ...

in Puerto Rico under a mask as a heel (White Angel) and was betrayed and unmasked by his manager

Chicky Starr José Anibal Laureano Colón (born June 24, 1958) is a retired Puerto Rican professional wrestler and manager. He is better known by his ring name, Chicky Starr. He's currently the general manager of the International Wrestling Association (IWA ...

resulting in a feud including a cage match, in

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...

(as the masked Archangel),

South Atlantic Pro Wrestling South Atlantic Pro Wrestling (SAPW, formerly known as the North American Wrestling Association) was a professional wrestling promotion founded by George Scott, John Ringley and Mike Lamberth in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1990, and later taken o ...

, and in Pacific Northwest Wrestling where he won the

NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of ...

, defeating

Scotty the Body Scott Levy (born September 8, 1964) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Raven. He is known for his appearances with professional wrestling promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Champions ...

. He formed a tag team with

Ricky Santana Ricardo Santana Ortiz (born November 21, 1958), better known as Ricky Santana, is a professional wrestler of Cuban descent who has worked for World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Federation, World Wrestling Council and the National Wrestl ...

called the U.S. Males in PNW and won the

NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of O ...

. He also wrestled briefly in 1988 as a jobber in 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 ...

, losing to the likes of

The Ultimate Warrior Warrior (born James Brian Hellwig; June 16, 1959 – April 8, 2014) was an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. Best known by his ring name The Ultimate Warrior, he wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 198 ...

and

Bad News Brown Allen James Coage (October 22, 1943 – March 6, 2007) was an American judoka and professional wrestler. He won medals for the United States at several international judo competitions, including the heavyweight bronze medal at the 1976 S ...

. In 1990/1991 Thompson would use the "U.S. Male" gimmick where he wore a mailman uniform to the ring in the

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 Wrestlin ...

(USWA) and South Atlantic Pro Wrestling (SAPW) in the Carolinas as a member of Robert Fuller's Stud Stable. Thompson would eventually free himself from the Stud Stable, turning face in the process at the end of 1990 while wrestling in SAPW. In 1990 he went to North Georgia Wrestling and won a match against Fabulous Fabian (aka

Buff Bagwell Marcus Alexander Bagwell (born January 10, 1970) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Buff Bagwell. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1991 to 2 ...

World Championship Wrestling (1991-1993)

In 1991 he joined

. He became Firebreaker Chip and teamed with

Todd Champion Todd Bradford (born September 2, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Todd Champion. He competed in the Southeastern United States, winning titles in several promotions, including World Championship ...

as The Patriots. He had the gimmick of being a fireman while teaming with Todd Champion who had the gimmick that he'd returned from

Desert Storm The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

and were billed as being from "WCW Special Forces". They feuded with the

Fabulous Freebirds The Fabulous Freebirds were a professional wrestling tag team who attained fame in the 1980s, performing into the 1990s. The team usually consisted of three wrestlers, although in different situations and points in its history, just two performed ...

and won the

WCW United States Tag Team Championship The NWA United States Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship contested for previously in the United States-based Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) promotions, with the title now i ...

. They next feuded with

Steve Armstrong Steven James (born March 16, 1965), better known by his ring name Steve Armstrong, is an American professional wrestler. He is the son of fellow wrestler "Bullet" Bob Armstrong, and has three brothers who also wrestled: Scott, Brad, and Brian. ...

and

Tracy Smothers Tracy Stanton Smothers (September 2, 1962 – October 28, 2020) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation, and Extreme Champ ...

who beat them for the titles.

Independent circuit (1993-2005)

Thompson left WCW in early 1993 and wrestled in the independent promotions and took time to participate in several bodybuilding competitions and came in top three in Mr. North Carolina bodybuilding contest. He also wrestled briefly for

Smoky Mountain Wrestling Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, w ...

from 1993 to 1995. In 1996 he became the first CWA (Texas) Heavyweight Champion defeating Scott Putski. Thompson and Todd Champion reunited as the Patriots in WCW on December 15, 1997, defeating Samu and

Sam Fatu Samuel Larry Anoa'i Fatu (born October 11, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names The Tonga Kid and Tama and with World Championship Wrest ...

in a dark match for Monday Night Nitro. Later in late 1999, he turned up in the

NWA NWA or Nwa most commonly refers to: * N.W.A ("Niggaz Wit Attitudes"), a hip hop group from Compton, California, US * National Wrestling Alliance, a professional wrestling organization NWA or Nwa may refer to: Music * New Weird America, a subgenr ...

's Mid-Atlantic promotion in a tag team with Drake Dawson called "Triple X". Together they won the

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed member promotions to create their own territorial version of the "NWA World ...

and the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship in 2000. Following the disbandment of the tag team, he wrestled in various independent circuits and won some indy heavyweight titles. He retired in 2005, married and now works for

JetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York C ...

Championships and accomplishments

Bodybuilding

*Mr. North Carolina (1987)

Professional wrestling

*Confederate / Continental Wrestling Alliance **CWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time, first) **CWA Television Championship (1 time) *

International World Class Championship Wrestling International World Class Championship Wrestling (IWCCW, originally known as International Championship Wrestling) was an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was promoted by Angelo Savoldi and his son ...

IWCCW Television Championship The IWCCW Television Championship was the short lived secondary championship of International World Class Championship Wrestling. The title existed for a little over a year before being abandoned by the promotion. The IWCCW Television title has th ...

( 1 time) *

National Championship Wrestling NWA Wildside was an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Cornelia, Georgia, with an office in Atlanta, Georgia, operating between September 1999 and April 2005. It was originally formed when National Championship Wrestli ...

** NCW United States Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *

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 ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) - with Drake Dawson *

NWA Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promoti ...

¹ **

NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship The NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship was a tag team title defended in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Mid-Atlantic territory. The championship was originally created in the summer of 1968 and was originally named the NWA Atlantic Co ...

( 1 time) - with Drake Dawson **NWA Northern Continental Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Drake Dawson * Pacific Northwest Wrestling **

( 1 time) **

( 1 time) - with Ricky Santana *''Ring Around The Northwest Newsletter'' **Tag Team of the Year (1990) with Ricky Santana *

( 1 time) - with

¹This promotion, while operating out of the same area and having begun using some of the same championships, is not the same Mid-Atlantic promotion once owned by

Jim Crockett, Jr. James Allen Crockett Jr. (August 10, 1944 – March 3, 2021) was an American professional wrestling promoter. From 1973 to 1989, he was part owner of Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), a wrestling company affiliated with the National Wrestling Allian ...

That promotion was sold to

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, cable news ch ...

in November 1988 and was renamed

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Firebreaker Chip 1963 births 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Living people People from Charlotte, North Carolina Professional wrestlers from North Carolina Stampede Wrestling alumni NWA World Tag Team Champions NWA/WCW United States Tag Team Champions