George B. Caiazzo (January 13, 1969 – July 18, 2007) was 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 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 ...
, John Kronus, and later simply Kronus. Caiazzo worked for
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 ...
, 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 ...
and
Xtreme Pro Wrestling
Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion owned by Rob Zicari.
Zicari originally ran the promotion out of Los Angeles from 1999 to 2003. He appeared on shows as the on-camera owner under the name Ro ...
. He was perhaps best known as one-half 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 ...
The Eliminators
The Eliminators were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of Perry Saturn and John Kronus who were best known for their time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) between 1995 and 1997.
History
Formation
While working as the m ...
with
Perry Saturn
Perry Arthur Satullo (born October 25, 1966) is an American retired professional wrestler known by his ring name, Perry Saturn. Since debuting in 1990, Saturn wrestled for promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Champions ...
.
Early life
Caiazzo's father, George Caiazzo Sr., played
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
with the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
before suffering an
injury
An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, o ...
.
Professional wrestling career
Early career
In the late 1980s, Caiazzo met professional wrestler
Perry Saturn
Perry Arthur Satullo (born October 25, 1966) is an American retired professional wrestler known by his ring name, Perry Saturn. Since debuting in 1990, Saturn wrestled for promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Champions ...
when he began working as a
bouncer
A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or ...
in a Boston
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
managed by Saturn. Caiazzo expressed an interest in becoming a wrestler to Saturn, who responded by directing Caiazzo to 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 ...
operated by
Killer Kowalski
Walter Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008), known professionally as Killer Kowalski, was a Polish-Canadian professional wrestler.
Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, includin ...
. Caiazzo debuted in 1989, briefly wrestling as "The Eliminator".
In the early 1990s, Saturn offered to form a
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 ...
with Caiazzo. The
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
equivalent of the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
deity
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...
was
Cronus
In Ancient Greek religion and mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos ( or , from el, Κρόνος, ''Krónos'') was the leader and youngest of the first generation of Titans, the divine descendants of the primordial Gaia (Mother Earth) and ...
, so Saturn chose the ring name "John Kronus" for Caiazzo. As Saturn and Kronus were their civilizations' respective
harvest
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
deities, Saturn proposed that the tag team be known as "The Harvesters of Sorrow". After
promoter Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "The King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since Apr ...
advised Saturn that the significance of the name would not be evident to many fans, Saturn named the team "
The Eliminators
The Eliminators were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of Perry Saturn and John Kronus who were best known for their time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) between 1995 and 1997.
History
Formation
While working as the m ...
".
The Eliminators wrestled their first match together at a
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 ...
house show
A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...
in 1993. They were hired at a starting salary of $40 a week (they later negotiated a 100% pay raise), and shared an apartment with four other wrestlers. On May 2, 1994, The Eliminators defeated
Brian Christopher
Brian Christopher Lawler (January 10, 1972 – July 29, 2018) was an American professional wrestler. He is best remembered for his career in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), where he performed as "Too Sexy" Brian Christopher and Grand M ...
and
Eddie Gilbert for the
USWA Tag Team Championship
The USWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Memphis, Tennessee-based United States Wrestling Association (USWA). The Continental Wrestling Association and World Class Wrestling ...
. They held the USWA World Tag Team Championship until June 13, 1994, when they were defeated by
PG-13
The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures ...
.
In 1994 and 1995, The Eliminators wrestled in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
for the
WAR
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
promotion.
Extreme Championship Wrestling
The Eliminators (1995–1997)
![The Eliminators ECW](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/The_Eliminators_ECW.jpg)
The Eliminators debuted in the
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
-based
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 ...
promotion at
Gangstas Paradise in September 1995. They were initially brought in to
job
Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and wants of themselves, others, or a wider community. In the context of economics, work can be viewed as the human activity that contr ...
to the
Steiner Brothers
The Steiner Brothers are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Robert "Rick Steiner" Rechsteiner and Scott "Scott Steiner" Rechsteiner.
The brothers wrestled as amateurs at the University of Michigan. The team mad ...
but after it became apparent that Steiners were leaving ECW, the Eliminators were
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
ed to win their debut match, a
six-man tag team match
Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...
, which pitted Eliminators with
Jason
Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...
against
Taz Taz or TAZ may refer to:
Geography
*Taz (river), a river in western Siberia, Russia
*Taz Estuary, the estuary of the river Taz in Russia
People
* Taz people, an ethnic group in Russia
** Taz language, a form of Northeastern Mandarin spoken by ...
and Steiner Brothers. ECW promoter
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman (born September 11, 1965) is an American professional wrestling manager, former promoter, photographer, and executive. He is currently signed to WWE, appearing on the SmackDown brand as manager for Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweig ...
quickly abandoned plans to give them a
sadism and masochism
Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...
character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
and instead booked them as an unstoppable force in the ECW tag team division. They were
managed by Jason. The Eliminators won the
ECW Tag Team Championship
The ECW World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was introduced in National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate and ECW precursor, Eastern Championship Wrestli ...
on three occasions between 1996 and 1997,
feuding with teams such as the
Dudley Boyz
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 ...
,
The Gangstas
The Gangstas was a professional wrestling tag team and stable, consisting of New Jack and Mustafa Saed in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). The group originally started as a three-man group with D'Lo Brown in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW), ...
,
The Pitbulls
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 ...
,
Sabu and Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam and Sabu are a professional wrestling tag team who often compete in Extreme Championship Wrestling and WWE's ECW brand. While teaming in the original ECW, the duo was managed by Bill Alfonso.
History
Extreme Championship Wrestling ...
and the Steiner Brothers.
On May 31, 1997, Saturn tore his
anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...
during a match. After intense reconstructive surgery, he was given a recovery time of up to a year. Kronus briefly defended the ECW Tag Team Championship single-handedly before losing to the Dudley Boyz. In late 1997, Saturn left ECW 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 ...
.
The Gangstanators and departure (1997–1999)
Kronus competed in the singles division, challenging
ECW World Television Champion Taz Taz or TAZ may refer to:
Geography
*Taz (river), a river in western Siberia, Russia
*Taz Estuary, the estuary of the river Taz in Russia
People
* Taz people, an ethnic group in Russia
** Taz language, a form of Northeastern Mandarin spoken by ...
at
Orgy of Violence
Orgy of Violence was a professional wrestling live event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) on June 28, 1997. The event was held in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. Excerpts from Orgy of Violence aire ...
in June 1997, before forming a new tag team, "
The Gangstanators
The Gangstanators were a professional wrestling tag team in Extreme Championship Wrestling. The team consisted of New Jack, formerly of The Gangstas, and John Kronus, formerly of The Eliminators, with "Gangstanators" being a portmanteau of the ...
", with
New Jack
Jerome Young (January 3, 1963 – May 14, 2021) was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name New Jack. He was best known for his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where he became notorious for his willingnes ...
. The Gangstanators won the ECW Tag Team Championship in September 1997 at
As Good as It Gets
''As Good as It Gets'' is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by James L. Brooks, who co-wrote it with Mark Andrus. The film stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, bigoted, and obsessive–compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt ...
.
Kronus left ECW in early 1999.
Independent circuit (2000–2002)
He joined the
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
-based
Xtreme Pro Wrestling
Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion owned by Rob Zicari.
Zicari originally ran the promotion out of Los Angeles from 1999 to 2003. He appeared on shows as the on-camera owner under the name Ro ...
promotion. In 2000, Kronus aligned himself with the "Black Army"
faction
Faction or factionalism may refer to:
Politics
* Political faction, a group of people with a common political purpose
* Free and Independent Faction, a Romanian political party
* Faction (''Planescape''), a political faction in the game ''Planes ...
. He remained with XPW until leaving in 2001. During this period, Kronus appeared in the 2000 softcore bondage film ''Violence on Violence''.
Kronus also helped develop and promote local Philadelphia, Pennsylvania company Dangerously Intense Wrestling. During his time as champion he feuded with G.O.D.D., Method and The Sickness. Kronus held both the DIW World Heavyweight Title and Inner City Title.
Retirement
In 2002, Kronus retired from professional wrestling, relocating to the Lakes Region in
Sanbornton, New Hampshire
Sanbornton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,026 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of North Sanbornton and Gaza.
History
Located in the fork of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers, ...
. He temporarily came out of retirement in 2005, making two appearances with the ECW reunion promotion
Hardcore Homecoming
Hardcore Homecoming was a series of professional wrestling events which were advertised as a reunion of talent from the defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion. The tour was booked and promoted by Cody Michaels, Shane Douglas (a forme ...
.
Death
Caiazzo was found dead in his fiancée Brandy Laundry's home in
Laconia, New Hampshire
Laconia is a city in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,871 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 15,951 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Belknap County. La ...
on July 18, 2007, several days after undergoing knee surgery. He was 38 years old. Caiazzo died in his sleep. According to an autopsy, his death was subsequently attributed to heart failure resulting from an
enlarged heart. He was survived by his nine-year-old son, Gage Christian Caiazzo. His family stated that Kronus had a history of heart problems and that he knew he could die at any time. Former tag team partner
New Jack
Jerome Young (January 3, 1963 – May 14, 2021) was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name New Jack. He was best known for his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where he became notorious for his willingnes ...
was the only ECW alumnus to attend his funeral.
Championships and accomplishments
*Dangerously Intense Wrestling
**DIW Heavyweight Champion (1 time)
**DIW Inner City Champion (1 time)
*
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 ...
**
ECW World Tag Team Championship
The ECW World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was introduced in National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate and ECW precursor, Eastern Championship Wrestli ...
(
4 times) – with
Perry Saturn
Perry Arthur Satullo (born October 25, 1966) is an American retired professional wrestler known by his ring name, Perry Saturn. Since debuting in 1990, Saturn wrestled for promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Champions ...
(3 times) and
New Jack
Jerome Young (January 3, 1963 – May 14, 2021) was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name New Jack. He was best known for his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where he became notorious for his willingnes ...
(1 time)
*Mayhem Independent Wrestling
**MIW Hardcore Championship (1 time, last)
*''
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 No. 73 of the top 500 wrestlers of the year 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 Publi ...
in 1997
**PWI ranked him No. 382 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the
PWI Years
''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 Publi ...
in 2003
**PWI ranked him No. 89 of the 100 best tag teams of the PWI Years in 2003 with Perry Saturn
*
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 World Tag Team Championship
The USWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Memphis, Tennessee-based United States Wrestling Association (USWA). The Continental Wrestling Association and World Class Wrestling ...
(
1 time) – with Perry Saturn
See also
*
List of premature professional wrestling deaths
According to a 2014 study by Eastern Michigan University examining professional wrestlers who were active between 1985 and 2011, mortality rates for professional wrestlers are up to 2.9 times greater than the rate for men in the wider United State ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kronus, John
1969 births
2007 deaths
American male professional wrestlers
ECW World Tag Team Champions
People from Sanbornton, New Hampshire
Professional wrestlers from Massachusetts
Sportspeople from Everett, Massachusetts
USWA World Tag Team Champions