Joseph Edward Hitchen (born September 2, 1969) is a Canadian 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 ...

and trainer, known under his

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 ...

Joe E. Legend. He also wrestled for 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) from 2000 to 2001 under the ring name Just Joe.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1992–1997)

Joe Legend began wrestling in Canada before becoming a part of the successful

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 ...

Sex and Violence with

Sexton Hardcastle Adam Joseph Copeland (born October 30, 1973), is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Edge. He is considered to be one of the greatest professional wr ...

in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

area. His debut match was against Zakk Wyld (Keith Assoun) in Brampton. Ontario in 1992. During 1997, Sex and Violence were a part of a bigger gang which was known as THUG Life, which was composed of Legend, Hardcastle,

Christian Cage William Jason Reso (born November 30, 1973) is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Christian Cage. He is best known for his tenure in WWE under the ring name Christ ...

, Zakk Wyld, Bloody Bill Skullion and Rhino Richards. Among his catchphrases used was "Heroes come and heroes go, but legends live forever!"

Touring Europe (1998–present)

Hitchen later competed under XL Legend in the Catch Wrestling Association which is based in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He later teamed with Rhino Richards to win the vacant

World Tag Team Championship The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championships in professional wrestling promotions. Nomenclature The name of the promotion is often preceded to the term "world tag team championship" as the ...

s by defeating Rico de Cuba and August Smisl on October 10, 1998, in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, Germany. The title was vacated in October 1998 when Rhino Richards left the promotion after signing with

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

. After his departure from the WWF in the spring of 2001, Legend found success in Germany and England. In April 2005, he was one of the lead trainers of ''

Celebrity Wrestling ''Celebrity Wrestling'' is a British television programme, broadcast on ITV in 2005. It involved two teams of celebrities, competing against each other in wrestling style events. The series was presented by Kate Thornton and Rowdy Roddy Piper. ...

'' in the United Kingdom on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

. This Saturday evening reality show saw celebrities learn wrestling and compete in challenge matches. After a few weeks the program was set to be cancelled, but instead was moved to Sunday morning to finish its final episodes. He can now be found wrestling in and around the United Kingdom for promotions such as

All Star Wrestling All Star Wrestling (ASW) is a British professional wrestling promotion operated by Brian Dixon and based in Birkenhead, England. Founded as Wrestling Enterprises of Birkenhead in October 1970, it has also been known over the years as All Star P ...

, working regular shows at Butlins holiday parks after throwing out an open challenge to potential rivals for his Pan Pacific and GSA heavyweight titles. He has also toured Wales for both Orig Williams and Alan Ravenhill. During his time in the now defunct

Frontier Wrestling Alliance Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) was a professional wrestling promotion in Britain. Established in 1993 as the Fratton Wrestling Association it soon became the Frontier Wrestling Alliance six years later and until 2007 when it lost a scripted ...

he wrestled for the

FWA British Heavyweight Championship The British Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship contested for in the XWA. The championship was originally created and contested for in the Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) but moved to XWA when the former company ...

in a five-way match at The Champions Series Final on January 5, 2006, in

Hoddesdon Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon is ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England, but was defeated by Hade Vansen. Hitchen also has wrestled in many other countries around the continent, countries such as Denmark, Poland, Italy, France, Portugal, Austria, Russia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium and Greece. Overall, he wrestled in more than 24 countries around the world. In 2014, in February he lost to

David Hart Smith Harry Francis Smith (born August 2, 1985) is a Canadian professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Davey Boy Smith Jr. and his real name Harry Smith. He currently performs for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where he was ...

in a DWA/PWF match in Germany. Then he lost to Andrei Ivanov in Pro Wrestling Showdown in the Netherlands. In March he lost to Wolfgang in Premier British Wrestling. In April and May he competed in German organizations Deutsche Wrestling Allianz, German Hurricane Wrestling,

Westside Xtreme Wrestling Westside Xtreme Wrestling, commonly shortened to wXw, is a German professional wrestling promotion based in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. wXw has been one of the leading professional wrestling promotions in Germany, and most of its event ...

and Power of Wrestling.

World Wrestling Federation (2000–2001)

After a few try-out matches, Joe got signed in early 2000. He made his TV debut on the July 2, 2000 episode of ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...

''. He competed as Just Joe in the WWF before he was released from his contract in March 2001. When he was in the WWF, his gimmick was that of a messenger who tried to stir the pot.

Touring the United States (2003–2004)

During his time in the United States, Hitchen competed in the Puerto Rican International Wrestling Association under the ring name Nord. On March 8, 2003, he captured the

IWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship The IWA Intercontinental Championship is a secondary professional wrestling title defended in Puerto Rico. It was originally defended in the original International Wrestling Association, later being reintroduced in the World Wrestling League (WW ...

by defeating

Glamour Boy Shane Shane Sewell (born September 5, 1972) is a Canadian professional wrestler and referee. He has worked for the World Wrestling Council, the International Wrestling Association and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as both a referee and wrestler. Shan ...

Toa Baja Toa Baja (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northern coast, north of Toa Alta and Bayamón; east of Dorado; and west of Cataño. Toa Baja is spread over five barrios, including Toa Baja Pueblo (the downtown area and ...

, Puerto Rico. He lost the championship to

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

in Bayamón, Puerto Rico on April 19 the same year. He returned to America in 2004 to compete in the

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

-based

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 ...

. During his time in TNA as part of the Red Shirt Security, he 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 ...

with

Kevin Northcutt Kevin Northcutt (born March 23, 1973) is a retired American professional wrestler. Career World Championship Wrestling (2000) After unsuccessful try-outs with Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation in the late 1990s, Nor ...

. They held the belts from January 28, 2004 to February 4 of the same year.

Russian and Japanese promotions (2006–2010)

Hitchen made his debut in Russia as he competed at Independent Wrestling Federation's ''Wrestliada 2006'' in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Russia, under the ring name Joe Legend. At the July 28, 2007 event he defeated Volcano to become the first IWF World Champion. During his reign he defeated

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 ...

to retain the championship. In August 2006, he worked for

Pro Wrestling NOAH (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left the ...

on their Shiny Navigation Tour, and in April 2007, he worked on the Spring Navigation tour. From July to September 2010, he toured with

Pro Wrestling Zero1 (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. I ...

working the likes of Masato Tanaka,

Shinjiro Otani is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler and the current acting president of Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). He is currently inactive from pro-wrestling competition due to a cervical spine injury substained in April 2022. A product of the ...

Ikuto Hidaka (born August 5, 1972) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently performing for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Hidaka was the regular partner of Minoru Fujita, with whom he has held the Zero1-Max International Lightweight Tag Team and Intercon ...

, and Sylvester Terkay.

World Wrestling Professionals (2007–2014)

Joe E. Legend tours annually with

World Wrestling Professionals Champions Pro Wrestling (formerly World Wrestling Professionals) is a South African professional wrestling promotion created in 2002. The promotion was televised in South Africa from 2004 to 2009 and internationally in 2009. CPW is owned by Mar ...

(WWP), a South African promotion currently airing on a nationally broadcast network. He also acts as their scouting agent, having been responsible for bringing Mikey Whiplash, Angelico and Murat over to WWP. Joe Legend worked for WWP in 2007 and 2008 and returned in 2009. The January 10, 2009 episode of WWP saw Joe Legend defeat PJ Black (better known as

Justin Gabriel Phillip Paul Lloyd (born 3 March 1981) is a South African-American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE, under the ring name Justin Gabriel. He is currently wrestling under the ring name P. J. Black. A second-generation ...

) to capture the then vacant WWP Heavyweight World Title for the first time. His most recent appearance for WWP was on a tour of Nigeria in August 2014, where he interfered in

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

's match, causing him to lose to Nigerian wrestler De Ultimate Commander.

Pro Wrestling Showdown (2017)

Joe Legend came back 25 November 2017 (Showdown 33), defeating Alexander James in a match for a spot in the Pro Wrestling Showdown World Cup.

Unlimited Wrestling (2019)

Joe Legend joined the German based company Unlimited Wrestling in 2019, where he mostly competes in the most important matches on the card.

Other media

In December 2007, Joe E. Legend became the co-host of ''The Main Event Radio'', the official podcast of TotalWrestling.net. In May 2009, Hitchen was announced as one of the competitors on the Turkish version of ''Gladiators'', which began filming in September 2009. Joe E Legend has also acted in several films in France and the UK as well as taking the role of "fight choreographer" for these features. Joe is represented by Jessica Soss of V.S Films and is actively pursuing further roles in film and TV.

Personal life

Hitchen is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers

Terry Gerin Terrance Guido Gerin (born October 7, 1975) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Rhyno or Rhino. He is currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where he is one-half of the Impact World Tag Team Champions in his secon ...

Don Callis Donald Callis (born October 13, 1963) is a Canadian professional wrestling manager, color commentator, and former professional wrestler and business executive. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he works as the on-screen manager of K ...

, Jay Reso, and

Adam Copeland Adam Joseph Copeland (born October 30, 1973), is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Edge. He is considered to be one of the greatest professional wr ...

. He and his wife, Svenia Hitchen, have twin boys named Connor and Maverick.

Published works

Hitchen is the co-author of ''Marie's World'', published in June 2014 by Austin Macauley Publishers.

Championships and accomplishments

*Association Biterroise de Catch **ABC Ultimate Championship (1 time) *Asylum Of Wrestling Maniacs **AWM Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Athletik Club Wrestling **ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling Grand Prix Wrestling (GPW) is a professional wrestling promotion run and owned by Emile Duprée. Grand Prix Wrestling has recently finished the 2013 Rising Sun In The Maritimes Tour. Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling tours parts of New Brunswick, P ...

**AGPW Continental Championship (1 time) * Catch Wrestling Association **

CWA World Tag Team Championship The CWA World Tag Team Championship was a major professional wrestling tag team title defended in the Continental Wrestling Association. It lasted from 1980 through 1983. Title history Footnotes References See also *Continental Wrestling ...

( 1 time) - with Rhino Richards *Deutsche Wrestling Allianz **DWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Do or Die Wrestling **DDW International Championship (1 time) *Flemish Wrestling Force **FWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with

Jerry Sags Jerome Saganowich (born July 5, 1964) is an American professional wrestler best known by his wrestling name Jerry Sags. He is a member of the tag team The Nasty Boys with partner and long-term friend Brian Knobbs. Early life and education Sags w ...

*German Stampede Wrestling **GSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *German Wrestling Promotion **GWP World Championship (1 time) **GWP WrestlingCorner.de Championship (1 time) *Herts And Essex Wrestling **HEW Heavyweight Championship (2 times, currant) *Insane Championship Wrestling **ICW/MWCW Mid-West Unified Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with

**ICW Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time) * International Wrestling Association **

( 1 time) **IWA Television Championship (1 time) *Independent Wrestling Federation (Russia) **IWF World Championship (1 time) *International Catch Wrestling Alliance **ICWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *LDN Wrestling **LDN British Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Outlaw Championship Wrestling **OCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sexton Hardcastle *Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling **PCW America's Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **Giorgio Foods Tag Team Tournament (1999) - with Jason Lee *Power of Wrestling **POW Intercontinental Championship (1 time) *Pro Wrestling Fighters **PWF Buckhorn Wrestling Cup (2009) *Power Wrestling Entertainment **PWE World Championship (1 time) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

'' **PWI ranked him #140 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishi ...

in 2009 *Pro Wrestling Showdown **PWS Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Pro Wrestling Xtreme **PWX Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Pan Pacific Wrestling Association **Pan Pacific Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Scottish School Of Wrestling **SSW Hardcore Championship (1 time) *Swiss Wrestling Federation **SWF Powerhouse Championship (1 time) *

( 1 time) - with

*World Wide Wrestling League **W3L Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

** WWP World Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *World Wrestling Superstars **WWS Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Wrestling-Family-Germany Promotion **WFG Championship (1 time) *YAWARA **YAWARA Championship (1 time) *Other titles **IMP Tag Team Championship (1 time) **GPW Continental Championship (2 times) **PPW World Super-Heavyweight Championship (1time)

References

External links

LegendWrestling.com - the official website of Legend

The Main Event on Wrestling-Radio - Co-Host Joe E. Legend

Official Facebook
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Legend, Joe E. 1969 births 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers Canadian male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from Toronto NWA World Tag Team Champions