Marvin Lambert (December 14, 1977 – October 18, 2012) 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 o ...
best known by his
ring name Brain Damage.
Brain Damage competed for a number of different promotions throughout his career, but is best known for his work in
Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
Independent Wrestling Association (IWA) Mid-South (also known as IWA Mid-South, IWA-MS, and IWA Mid South Wrestling) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in New Albany, Indiana. It was formed by Ian Rotten in 199 ...
(IWA Mid-South) and
Combat Zone Wrestling
Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent wrestling promotion. In 1998, John Zandig and five of his students, Ric Blade, T.C.K, Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain, along with trainer Jon Dahmer, began to run professional wrestling ...
(CZW). In IWA Mid-South, Brain Damage formed 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 Deranged, known as the Vulgar Display of Power. They won the
IWA Mid-South Tag Team Championship once and also won the
IWA Mid-South Double Death Tag Team Tournament in both 2007 and 2008. In CZW, Brain Damage is a
two time CZW Iron Man Champion and a
two time CZW Ultraviolent Underground Champion. He held both the Iron Man Championship and the Ultraviolent Underground Championship simultaneously.
Career
Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
Brain Damage began wrestling in
Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
Independent Wrestling Association (IWA) Mid-South (also known as IWA Mid-South, IWA-MS, and IWA Mid South Wrestling) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in New Albany, Indiana. It was formed by Ian Rotten in 199 ...
(IWA Mid-South) in 2000, making his first appearance at the second night of the King of the Death Match tournament on October 21. He defeated his trainer, Toby Klein, in a
singles match that was not a part of the tournament. His next appearance for the promotion was in 2005, when he competed in the
2005 edition of the annual
King of the Deathmatch tournament. He lost his first round match, an "Unlucky Seven Staple Gun match" on the first night of the tournament to Mitch Page and Tank, who both qualified for the second round.
In 2006, Damage began competing primarily for IWA Mid-South.
It was during this time that he formed the tag team the Vulgar Display of Power with Deranged, with the two making their first IWA Mid-South appearance on January 20, 2006 at ''The Edge of Insanity'', where they unsuccessfully challenged for the
NWA Midwest Tag Team Championship in a scramble match.
Just under a month later at ''Hardcore Hell and Back'' on February 17, the Vulgar Display of Power lost to
Necro Butcher
Dylan Keith Summers (born July 13, 1973), better known by the ring name Necro Butcher, is an American professional wrestler. Throughout the years he has worked for various promotions, including Ring of Honor, Full Impact Pro, IWA Mid-South, Pr ...
and Toby Klein in a three-way
street fight, which also involved the team of
Corporal Robinson
Stephen Robinson, known by the ring name Corporal Robinson, is an American professional wrestler best known for his hardcore wrestling style, Robinson has wrestled for various wrestling promotions, including Juggalo Championship Wrestling, Combat ...
and Mitch Page. The following night, at ''Payback, Pain and Agony'', Damage lost to Klein in a singles match. After a short hiatus, Damage returned to IWA Mid-South at the end of March, when the Vulgar Display of Power defeated Corporal Robinson and Hardcore Craig at ''Hurt''. A week later, at ''We're No Joke'', Team Underground (Chandler McClure and Eric Priest) defeated the Vulgar Display of Power, however, the Vulgar Display of Power were able to defeat
The Iron Saints
The Thomaselli Brothers are the professional wrestling stable that consists of real life brothers Pauly Thomaselli (Brandon Thomas), Vito Thomaselli (Kent Thomas), and storyline brother Sal Thomaselli (Sal Takavoli). Kent Thomas and Sal Takavoli a ...
(
Sal and
Vito Thomaselli
The Thomaselli Brothers are the professional wrestling stable that consists of real life brothers Pauly Thomaselli (Brandon Thomas), Vito Thomaselli (Kent Thomas), and storyline brother Sal Thomaselli (Sal Takavoli). Kent Thomas and Sal Takavoli a ...
) at the following show. In June, Damage competed in the
2006 King of the Deathmatch tournament, defeating Darin Childs, his tag team partner Deranged, and Tank en route to the final, where he lost in a four-way "House of Pain Total Elimination match". Following the tournament, Damage took another hiatus from IWA Mid-South, returning in August at ''Simply the Best 7'', when the Vulgar Display of Power defeated
Ian Rotten
John Benson Williams (born June 1, 1970) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Ian Rotten. He has wrestled in the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), the United States Wrestling As ...
and
Drake Younger
Drake may refer to:
Animals
* A male duck
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name
* Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...
to win the
IWA Mid-South Tag Team Championship. The following night, Damage defeated Younger in a "first to two straight falls barbed wire board barbed wire bat match".
Following this match, in October, Damage announced his retirement from professional wrestling and vacated the IWA Mid-South Tag Team Championship.
Despite this, Damage returned to wrestling a few months later, and eventually returned to IWA Mid-South in June 2007 competing at the
2007 King of the Deathmatch tournament, where he reached the semi-finals before losing to Freakshow. The Vulgar Display of Power defeated The Devil’s Rejects (Tank and
Iceberg) and Six Feet Under (Insane Lane and Freakshow) and Darin Childs and Massive in a four-way tag team hardcore rumble match at ''Point Proven'' later that month, before taking another hiatus until October. On October 26, the Vulgar Display of Power won the
2007 Double Death Tag Team Tournament by defeating Ian Rotten and Insane Lane in a House of Horrors match in the final.
Damage did not appear in IWA Mid-South again until March 2008, when the Vulgar Display of Power accompanied to the ring by HalfBreed Billy Gram, defeated Mean n' Hard (Mitch Page and Rollin Hard) at IWA Mid-South's 500th show. Damage returned to IWA Mid-South in October to join Deranged to compete in the
2008 Double Death Tag Team Tournament. The team was accompanied to the ring by Halfbreed Billy Gram, and even though they were still billed as Vulgar Display of Power, they were openly representing Cult Fiction. After defeating The Tough Crazy Bastards (Toby Klein and Necro Butcher), Corporal Robinson 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 ...
, and Dysfunction and
Danny Havoc
Grant Amos Berkland (May 19, 1986 – May 31, 2020), better known by his ring name Danny Havoc, was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his work in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), and was noted for mixing his technical style wi ...
en route to the final, they defeated Drake Younger and Devon Moore to win the tournament for the second year in a row.
Combat Zone Wrestling
Damage began competing for
Combat Zone Wrestling
Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent wrestling promotion. In 1998, John Zandig and five of his students, Ric Blade, T.C.K, Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain, along with trainer Jon Dahmer, began to run professional wrestling ...
(CZW) in 2005, appearing at their ''
Tournament of Death IV'' show on July 30 in
New Castle, Delaware
New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 5,285.
History
New Castl ...
. In his first round match, he defeated
Beef Wellington
Beef Wellington is a steak dish of English origin, made out of fillet steak coated with pâté (often pâté de foie gras) and duxelles, wrapped in puff pastry, then baked. Some recipes include wrapping the coated meat in a crêpe or parm ...
in a
two out of three falls tables match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
after winning the third
fall
Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...
by powerbombing Wellington through a "Light Tube Table". He lost his second round match to
Necro Butcher
Dylan Keith Summers (born July 13, 1973), better known by the ring name Necro Butcher, is an American professional wrestler. Throughout the years he has worked for various promotions, including Ring of Honor, Full Impact Pro, IWA Mid-South, Pr ...
, however, in a
fans bring the weapons match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. So ...
, where the fans at the show provided the weapons used during the match. In 2006, Damage participated in the
Tournament of Death V, defeating Necro Butcher and Toby Klein in a Fans Bring The Weapons Death match, by eliminating Klein to eliminate him from the tournament. He won a four-way Barbed Wire and Panes of Glass Death match in the second round, but was defeated by
Nick Gage
Nicholas William Wilson (born September 22, 1980), better known by his ring name Nick Gage, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), where he is the current GCW World Champion in his record-setting t ...
in the final.
Damage began competing full-time for CZW in 2007, competing mainly in singles competition. On April 7, at ''Out With the Old, In With the New'', Damage defeated Danny Havoc, before Drake Younger at ''Restore the Order'' in May to win the
CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship
The CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship was a professional hardcore wrestling championship owned by the Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) promotion. The title was introduced on February 5, 2005 at CZW's Only the Strong event. It has since been re ...
.
After the match, he quickly established himself as a
villainous character by joining Maven Bentley's faction, also including
Mitch Ryder
Mitch Ryder (born William Sherille Levise, Jr.; February 26, 1945) is an American musician who has recorded more than 25 albums over more than four decades.
Career
Ryder formed his first band, Tempest, when he was at Warren High School, and th ...
and
D. J. Hyde, and being involved in a scripted altercation with
Lobo.
Damage also competed at
Tournament of Death VI, but lost to Drake Younger in the final. Damage defended the Ultraviolent Underground Championship against Younger at ''Dishonorable Conduct'' in August, however, the match ended in a double
pin
A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together.
Pin or PIN may also refer to:
Computers and technology
* Personal identification number (PIN), to access a secured system
** PIN pad, a PIN entry device
* PIN, a former Dutch ...
, so the owner of CZW,
Zandig
John Corson (born April 4, 1971), better known by the ring name John Zandig, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and Professional wrestling promotion, promoter. He is the Entrepreneurship, founder and former owner of the p ...
vacated the championship.
At ''TOD: Fast Forward'', Damage won a
four-way elimination match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
to win the vacant championship.
Damage also competed at ''Cage of Death 9'', but was eliminated from the Cage of Death match.
On January 12, 2008, Damage defeated Joker in a 20-minute Iron Man Home Run Derby Deathmatch in overtime, to retain the Ultraviolent Underground Championship and win the
CZW Iron Man Championship
The CZW Iron Man Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned by the Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) promotion. The championship was created and debuted on February 13, 1999, at CZW's Opening Night event. The title is currently inact ...
.
At the following CZW show, ''9 F'N Years'', Damage lost the Ultraviolent Underground Championship back to Younger, although he still remained the Iron Man Champion.
He
dropped the Iron Man Championship to D. J. Hyde at ''Summer School'' in a four-way match, which also involved Danny Havoc and Insane Lane.
The following month, on July 12, Damage defeated Hyde to win back the championship.
In September 2008 Halfbreed Billy Gram began appearing with Brain Damage in CZW, and Brain Damage began openly representing Cult Fiction in CZW. Damage defended the championship over the following months, defeating opponents including Hyde, Cobein, before competing in the Cage of Death match at ''
Cage of Death 10: Ultraviolent Anniversary'', which was won by Zandig.
At the start of 2009, Damage began teaming with Deranged again, they were accompanied by
Halfbreed Billy Gram, and both Damage and Deranged dropped the VDOP moniker and were simply known as Cult Fiction. On February 14, at ''Decade of Destruction – 10th Anniversary'', Damage lost the Iron Man Championship to
Sami Callihan
Samuel Alton Johnston (born September 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Sami Callihan, currently signed with Impact Wrestling and is a former Impact World Champion. He also wrestled for Luch ...
.
Other promotions
In 2004, Damage began competing for the Independent Wrestling Revolution
promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
in
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 t ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
, and on March 21, at ''IWR Brawl At The Hall 3'', he unsuccessfully challenged Deranged for the XICW Xtreme Championship in a match also involving Necro Butcher, The DBA and George Morbid. In 2006, he wrestled at IWA East Coast's ''The Evil That Men Do'' on August 2, but was defeated by
Bull Pain
Frank Vizi (born June 9, 1961) is a German born American professional wrestler, better known by the ring names Bull Pain, Rick Gantner and Psycho. He is best known for his appearances with promotion such as the American Wrestling Association, Worl ...
.
Brain Damage made his one and only appearance for
CHIKARA Pro's "King of Trios" tournament in 2009, where he teamed with
Necro Butcher
Dylan Keith Summers (born July 13, 1973), better known by the ring name Necro Butcher, is an American professional wrestler. Throughout the years he has worked for various promotions, including Ring of Honor, Full Impact Pro, IWA Mid-South, Pr ...
and Toby Klein. Together, they were known as "The Death Match Kings". They lost in the first round of the tournament to Team F.I.S.T. (
Icarus,
Gran Akuma
Gran Akuma (born December 20, 1974) is a retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in Chikara. He has also worked for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Dragon Gate USA and Full Impact Pro (FIP). In Chikara, he was a member of The Kings ...
, &
Chuck Taylor).
Death
Lambert was found dead on October 18, 2012.
[ His death is believed to be a suicide.][
]
Championships and accomplishments
*Combat Zone Wrestling
Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent wrestling promotion. In 1998, John Zandig and five of his students, Ric Blade, T.C.K, Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain, along with trainer Jon Dahmer, began to run professional wrestling ...
**CZW Iron Man Championship
The CZW Iron Man Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned by the Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) promotion. The championship was created and debuted on February 13, 1999, at CZW's Opening Night event. The title is currently inact ...
( 2 times)
**CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship
The CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship was a professional hardcore wrestling championship owned by the Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) promotion. The title was introduced on February 5, 2005 at CZW's Only the Strong event. It has since been re ...
( 2 times)
** CZW Tournament of Death: Fast Forward
*Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
Independent Wrestling Association (IWA) Mid-South (also known as IWA Mid-South, IWA-MS, and IWA Mid South Wrestling) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in New Albany, Indiana. It was formed by Ian Rotten in 199 ...
** IWA Mid-South Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Deranged
** Double Death Tag Team Deathmatch ( 2007, 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
) – with Deranged
*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 Publi ...
**PWI ranked him #470 of the top 500 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 Publi ...
in 2011
*Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling
**XICW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Toby Klein
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
CZW profile
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brain Damage
1977 births
2012 deaths
American male professional wrestlers
2012 suicides
21st-century professional wrestlers
CZW Ultraviolent Underground Champions
CZW Iron Man Champions